I just wanted to take a few minutes to write about a major crossroads that I was faced with today. To the left was $35,000 in profit and to the right, doing the right thing and $0. Let me explain from the beginning.
I recently acquired a few domain names as part of a cash+domains deal for one of my premium names. After a few weeks, I decided to add these to Uniregistry for sale. Uniregistry displayed an error after adding my domains to the account but some were added. One of the names wasn't showing and I wasn't sure if I would get an inquiry if one was to come through. To make sure, I decided to log a test inquiry from a different email address with a random 100k offer to see if it comes through to me.
After logging the inquiry, I carried on working on some other tasks and forgot all about it. A short while later, I received a message on Skype from the previous owner asking if I want to sell back a domain name he previously sold to me. I said, I'm looking for what would be a 50k profit for the name, thinking he would say too high (seeing as he sold it to me). He replied back with a 30k offer which shocked me, we quickly settled on what would be a 35k profit for me. A few minutes later he sent an Escrow agreement which I accepted. Wow, that was a nice surprise!
After a while I checked my emails and saw that a Uniregistry broker had sent me an email to my secondary email address. He mentioned that he would be discussing the 100k offer I had made as a test inquiry with the seller and get back to me ASAP. I checked my primary email address expected a message from him and saw nothing ... then it clicked. The domain was still under the previous owner's name and the broker had contacted him not me! That was the reason he was buying the name back from me and why he was so quick to do it. I felt a bit angry that he didn't let them know he doesn't own it nor did he tell me about the inquiry but rather tried to buy it back from me at a much lower price... if it was a genuine offer I would have paid him commission if he had brought me a lead.
I was now at a crossroads, do I take a $35,000 profit on the name? After all, I never told him to buy it back from me, he is doing it to make a quick buck (and he is very well off already). Or do I tell him that the offer he is basing this on is not real and do the right thing. After all, if I was willing to sell it to him he wasn't really ripping me off. Maybe he was just good a business. Does that mean I should also be good at business and just sell him the name and make the profit? What do I do?
After a few minutes I told myself that it would be against my morals and beliefs as a Muslim to profit from something that was not entirely right. It just feels wrong to proceed and I'm not that kind of person. I messaged him and explained what had happened. He cancelled the deal after hearing it. I also contacted the broker to let him know that inquiries need to come to me.
The morale of the story is: Money isn't everything, do what's right.
What would you have done in this situation?
thanks,
Arfy
I recently acquired a few domain names as part of a cash+domains deal for one of my premium names. After a few weeks, I decided to add these to Uniregistry for sale. Uniregistry displayed an error after adding my domains to the account but some were added. One of the names wasn't showing and I wasn't sure if I would get an inquiry if one was to come through. To make sure, I decided to log a test inquiry from a different email address with a random 100k offer to see if it comes through to me.
After logging the inquiry, I carried on working on some other tasks and forgot all about it. A short while later, I received a message on Skype from the previous owner asking if I want to sell back a domain name he previously sold to me. I said, I'm looking for what would be a 50k profit for the name, thinking he would say too high (seeing as he sold it to me). He replied back with a 30k offer which shocked me, we quickly settled on what would be a 35k profit for me. A few minutes later he sent an Escrow agreement which I accepted. Wow, that was a nice surprise!
After a while I checked my emails and saw that a Uniregistry broker had sent me an email to my secondary email address. He mentioned that he would be discussing the 100k offer I had made as a test inquiry with the seller and get back to me ASAP. I checked my primary email address expected a message from him and saw nothing ... then it clicked. The domain was still under the previous owner's name and the broker had contacted him not me! That was the reason he was buying the name back from me and why he was so quick to do it. I felt a bit angry that he didn't let them know he doesn't own it nor did he tell me about the inquiry but rather tried to buy it back from me at a much lower price... if it was a genuine offer I would have paid him commission if he had brought me a lead.
I was now at a crossroads, do I take a $35,000 profit on the name? After all, I never told him to buy it back from me, he is doing it to make a quick buck (and he is very well off already). Or do I tell him that the offer he is basing this on is not real and do the right thing. After all, if I was willing to sell it to him he wasn't really ripping me off. Maybe he was just good a business. Does that mean I should also be good at business and just sell him the name and make the profit? What do I do?
After a few minutes I told myself that it would be against my morals and beliefs as a Muslim to profit from something that was not entirely right. It just feels wrong to proceed and I'm not that kind of person. I messaged him and explained what had happened. He cancelled the deal after hearing it. I also contacted the broker to let him know that inquiries need to come to me.
The morale of the story is: Money isn't everything, do what's right.
What would you have done in this situation?
thanks,
Arfy