Rick asked for $2.5k domains - Seller almost backed out

Michael M · Dec 3, 2020

So I saw an interesting event on Twitter and I am curious of everyone's opinion here...

What happened:
1. Rick Schwartz asked for people to spam him with their 3 best $2.5k domains for sale.
2. User "aghh16" listed 3 including Smart Gadget in King.
3. Rick responded with sold
4. User "aghh16" debated backing out citing a misunderstanding
5. User "aghh16" decided to honor his listing and sell.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334508880282390536

I contend that in good business practices and morals he should have followed through with the offer to sale, but in all honesty I also thought if he wasn't interested in holding the domain for end user value - then he was actually getting a fair price for wholesale value with little effort.

I am curious what you guys think. If this domain was in front of you as a domainer, how much would you be willing to spend on in reality? (right now, today)

Please be honest and do not venture outside of your budget. This will allow us to use this as an educational exercise whatever direction it goes.

TheBuyerz · Dec 4, 2020

trelgor said:
How? And please don’t say it was obvious, point to facts that makes you certain that another person understood that to be the terms, then convince a court.

I am giving my own opinion, not convicing anyone.

It was really obvious for me ! sorry for misunderstanding you ... this situation bypass me for sure.

The facts are the 170 comments on twitter even after this sale has happened ! He even bought another domain:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334587670337609730

Check tweets time of each users and you will find that they keep submitting their 3 domains even after that event happened.

kindly, sorry if you are offended, wasnt my intention.

equity78 · Dec 4, 2020

AEProgram said:
The seller did what most people do when you instantly agree to their price, they start having regrets, they think, "he would've paid more if I asked for more".

Did you ever experience the following. Someone contacts you about a domain, your price is 5k they offer 3k you agree and they vanish. This is probably one of the costliest mistakes people make when they sell something. What you just did is make the buyer think you would've agree for way less and now they are thinking they are overpaying. ALWAYS counter higher so if it does get to 3k they feel they really got a great deal and now are worried YOU will regret it so they make the payment fast.

In this case I think if Rick told him 2000 he would've said 2250 and there would be a good deal. Rick's instant agreement got him to flip out and backtrack with his lame excuse. Why did Rick not counter? Because he said its 2500. It is obvious from the word "Your best $2500 #Domains You can list up to 3" what he meant.

This happens all the time in real estate by the way. Guy wants to sell his house for 500k someone comes along and offers 500k suddenly the seller tells the real estate broker that the 500k was a mistake he meant 600k, no shame. At least those dishonest people would be happy to know that here they will be judged with kid gloves.

PS almost everyone that sells a domain with a BIN has the same thought "should've asked for more". This is why people don't like BIN and long term they lose money.

Very good point. I remember Mike Berkens telling me many years ago, you always have to counter. I said but what if it's an incredible offer where it was more than you ever expected? He said they never close. He had buyers come offer more than he wanted in the early days, Agree to sell and no sale. They immediately thought they could have gotten for cheaper.

And who you are selling to matters for many. If that name was listed here and sold for $2,5000 there would have been no hesitation but because it was Rick, right away the seller starts thinking oh man he is the Domain King if he said sold that fast I am underselling.

I have a real life story, someone asked me to sell a domain name for them that they never had an offer on, they knew I knew someone in the business who might be interested when I approached them and got it sold on a Sunday night, now my seller is like $10,000 oh maybe we should ask for $30,000. I said what? YOU ASKED FOR $10,000 they said sold.

But because they were who they were the sold meant the buyer think he was underselling which he wasn't. I actually played up to the buyer that he was the only person in the world who should own the name, they did not get my first email and say sold. It took three emails that night. But the seller just thought OH HE RICH, he wants it, it worth a lot more.

pb · Dec 4, 2020

equity78 said:
Very good point. I remember Mike Berkens telling me many years ago, you always have to counter. I said but what if it's an incredible offer where it was more than you ever expected? He said they never close. He had buyers come offer more than he wanted in the early days, Agree to sell and no sale. They immediately thought they could have gotten for cheaper.

Funny story from last month. I had a domain listed as make offer, I get an inquiry, I say 20k, the buyer writes back that it's a bit much and then goes silent. Typical domaining day, right? But a few days later he comes back with the offer of 14k. I usually try to close within 10-20% of my asking price, but it's still a fair offer so I counter 15k and a call to action. And the buyer goes silent. So a ~month later I call him and ask, do we have a deal or not. And he goes like, "I was thinking... 12k"(!), so I tell him, well, that's quite a bit less than what you previously offered, isn't it? So after some pondering he renews his offer of 14k and we close the deal, but it still took him a week to transfer the money.

So anyway, what I wanted to say, the buyer (or the seller) can feel the remorse even if they negotiate the price fair and square. I'm glad I decided to call or I probably still wouldn't have closed it. Although the domain had many inquirers so it would have sold sooner or later anyway for a similar amount.

equity78 · Dec 4, 2020

pb said:
Funny story from last month. I had a domain listed as make offer, I get an inquiry, I say 20k, the buyer writes back that it's a bit much and then goes silent. Typical domaining day, right? But a few days later he comes back with the offer of 14k. I usually try to close within 10-20% of my asking price, but it's still a fair offer so I counter 15k and a call to action. And the buyer goes silent. So a ~month later I call him and ask, do we have a deal or not. And he goes like, "I was thinking... 12k"(!), so I tell him, well, that's quite a bit less than what you previously offered, isn't it? So after some pondering he renews his offer of 14k and we close the deal, but it still took him a week to transfer the money.

So anyway, what I wanted to say, the buyer (or the seller) can feel the remorse even if they negotiate the price fair and square. I'm glad I decided to call or I probably still wouldn't have closed it. Although the domain had many inquirers so it would have sold sooner or later anyway for a similar amount.

Oh there is a lot of buyer and seller remorse, I agree. On all ends, I wish I had $100 Bill for everytime someone I know in this business texted or called and said I wish I did not pay $600 for this name on Godaddy auctions or $800 on NameJet.

The psychology behind it all is very interesting to me.

pb · Dec 4, 2020

equity78 said:
I wish I did not pay $600 for this name on Godaddy auctions or $800 on NameJet.

Bidder's remorse is probably the most common of them all.

oldtimer · Dec 4, 2020

equity78 said:
Oh there is a lot of buyer and seller remorse, I agree. On all ends, I wish I had $100 Bill for everytime someone I know in this business texted or called and said I wish I did not pay $600 for this name on Godaddy auctions or $800 on NameJet.

The psychology behind it all is very interesting to me.

I have noticed that when you make a blog post that lets people list their domains for sale you make the rules very clear as to the number of domains that each person can list and the format that they need to follow for their listings,

So perhaps there should be a standard format for all domain requests that everyone can understand and follow for the sake of all the new comers to the Industry.

IMO

equity78 · Dec 5, 2020

oldtimer said:
I have noticed that when you make a blog post that lets people list their domains for sale you make the rules very clear as to the number of domains that each person can list and the format that they need to follow for their listings,

So perhaps there should be a standard format for all domain requests that everyone can understand and follow for the sake of all the new comers to the Industry.

IMO

I agree, cut down on the ambiguity and leave no doubt for possible confusion.

bmugford · Dec 5, 2020

equity78 said:
I agree, cut down on the ambiguity and leave no doubt for possible confusion.

Pretty much every time I made a WTB thread on NamePros, not matter how specific, I was flooded with unrelated domains.

Brad

jamaltq · Dec 5, 2020

Smart Gadget .com
56 other extensions registered.
IMO it is worth more than $2,500.

FolioTeam · Dec 5, 2020

jamaltq said:
Smart Gadget .com
56 other extensions registered.
IMO it is worth more than $2,500.

To begin with, I wouldn't post a name like that on those showcase threads on Twitter, or WTB posts on NP or posts on domain blogs.

You post names you don't want or aren't too keen on or names you want to liquidate.

DomainRecap · Dec 5, 2020

The problem is that Rick's forte is not writing, and he assumes that everyone in the world knows what "Spam Rick Thursday" is.

This seller apparently didn't (and even if he didn't, Rick's tweet is very unclear) and just thought it was a method of showcasing his domains that are worth at least $2500. So he posts some stuff, Rick immediately jumps on an undervalued property, then bullies the guy when he states he had no idea what the thread meant.

It was a bit of bad form there, as again, not everyone in the world knows what "Spam Rick Thursday" is. Honestly, I follow Rick and often have no clue what the morass of letters, numbers and symbols even mean.

If Rick wants to play this game, he needs to clearly spell out this is a $2500 FOR SALE tweet and by posting a domain, he reserves to right to BIN at that price.

Rick Schwartz · Dec 5, 2020

For the record:

Believe me, I didn't like how it went down either. So let's be clear.

But we left on good terms and that should be noted.

If I ever sell I will give him a generous finder's fee that would likely be more than he would ever sell it for himself.

I gave an opportunity to many to spam me and sell their $2500 domains. Nearly 200 others were not confused and this is a follower of mine. We all KNOW what SPAM means! Regrets don't count.

Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

Happy Holidays!

Compassion · Dec 5, 2020

Rick Schwartz said:
For the record:

Believe me, I didn't like how it went down either. So let's be clear.

But we left on good terms and that should be noted.

If I ever sell I will give him a generous finder's fee that would likely be more than he would ever sell it for himself.

I gave an opportunity to many to spam me and sell their $2500 domains. Nearly 200 others were not confused and this is a follower of mine. We all KNOW what SPAM means! Regrets don't count.

Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for the transparent response.

I posted three names. First time doing so. Instructions were clear to me.

TheBuyerz · Dec 5, 2020

Rick Schwartz said:
For the record:

Believe me, I didn't like how it went down either. So let's be clear.

But we left on good terms and that should be noted.

If I ever sell I will give him a generous finder's fee that would likely be more than he would ever sell it for himself.

I gave an opportunity to many to spam me and sell their $2500 domains. Nearly 200 others were not confused and this is a follower of mine. We all KNOW what SPAM means! Regrets don't count.

Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

Happy Holidays!

It was a real opportunity for many of us, please do not stop what you are doing just for some confused people and negative returns ! Your followers already knews about the way you are exchanging with them. And without being an active follower, the tweet were clear for me and observed that sale of SmartGadget as an opportunity for the seller.

btw thanks for your intervention on this thread and your genereous attention to reward the actual seller if any sale occure for this domain in the future, even if it's not an obligation in any way, you got that sale on a clean way and there is no regret to feel from your side.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

DomainRecap · Dec 5, 2020

Rick Schwartz said:
Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Great first sentence, as that's all that anyone could ask.

Not such a great second sentence, and that one definitely needs work.

King · Dec 5, 2020

People are saying they would list in 5-10k range, lol.

JudgeMind · Dec 7, 2020

good buy for rick

FlipperC · Dec 8, 2020

Rick Schwartz said:
For the record:

Believe me, I didn't like how it went down either. So let's be clear.

But we left on good terms and that should be noted.

If I ever sell I will give him a generous finder's fee that would likely be more than he would ever sell it for himself.

I gave an opportunity to many to spam me and sell their $2500 domains. Nearly 200 others were not confused and this is a follower of mine. We all KNOW what SPAM means! Regrets don't count.

Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

Happy Holidays!

If you dont like how it went down then you should have taken the hgiher ground.

You are bully and no one is willing to stand up to you. I am. You bullied small guy who didnt understand what your unclear post was abt.

90% of domaining may have nothing to do with domains but clear communications is a big part of business. U should learn that.

Happy Holidays!

likemike · Dec 9, 2020

I just have to wonder how much a name of mine would bring that's similar? EliteGadgets.com ?

Super-Annuation · Dec 9, 2020

SmartGadgets, right?

Super-Annuation · Dec 9, 2020

Save Breach said:
Upon going through some of Rick's tweets I feel this is quite a serious matter. Taking a private communication public then THREATENING someone isn't done. As a seller/buyer I must have the freedom to back off from something I said or, wrote. Happened to me in the first ever name I won on NamePros, the seller @Mohammed Azheruddin threatened to get me banned because I had made a typos in an auction bid and hence I had to pay him way more than I should!

Your best $2500 #Domains You can list up to 3 -- This is what Rick said.

Furthermore, Rick just asked the prospective sellers to LIST their names --
https://twitter.com/x/status/1334508880282390536
It's up to the seller to sell it to them or, not. There's no way he can force something on to them. This is serious if you misuse your influence to force someone to incur losses!

IMO, neither sellers nor buyers should be FORCED into a contract. If they feel forced, its better to back off. Its kind of frustrating to see this happening -- honoring a sale on a social media platform just doesn't make sense unless you made a formal contract/commitment to buy it

IMHO, this is a kind of bullying because you have a lot of influence so you can force someone into a deal even though they aren't willing. You won't give them a chance to step back and decide.

Cheers

Man I love DomainKing!

equity78 · Dec 12, 2020

Rick Schwartz said:
For the record:

Believe me, I didn't like how it went down either. So let's be clear.

But we left on good terms and that should be noted.

If I ever sell I will give him a generous finder's fee that would likely be more than he would ever sell it for himself.

I gave an opportunity to many to spam me and sell their $2500 domains. Nearly 200 others were not confused and this is a follower of mine. We all KNOW what SPAM means! Regrets don't count.

Lesson learned for everyone. I will be much more clear IF I even do "Spam Rick" again.

Not sure I will repeat that opportunity again so it's a loss for those that do understand the high-profile showcase I was giving them to show off and sell their domain names quickly. Been doing that for many years and even when I did not buy, there were others that did.

Like I said the other day on Twitter, 90% of domaining has nothing to do with domains, it has to do with business.

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for the update Rick. You should continue don't let the negative element of the business sway you. I sold one to you a couple years ago it's worth the time.

Finest · Dec 16, 2020

bmugford said:
I see a lot worse domains sell for $2,500+ at auction almost daily.

Brad

I totally agree with this. Given how inflated auction prices are nowadays, I think the buyer's got a bargain.

DomainNature · Dec 17, 2020

As a beginner i would not know that Tweet is for a sale listing, i would have posted in same way domains, not knowing it can be sold for real.
If that user is a long term follower, then he should be aware of Rick rules when participating.
The other thinking from what i have read here in whole thread which comes to my mind is that, Rick might not plan to buy anything at all, he just observed a domain which catch his eye and decided to buy in that way. Of course i might be wrong but nothing is excluded, it's just my 6th sense 5 cent.
I myself have hand registered a domain with gadgets this year it was dropped by someone, lucky me i know it's potential.
P.s. sorry for my poor English it's not my native.

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