$10K Afternic transaction canceled after transfer

[Nick]

Got this email late Saturday night:

Provided auth code, domain released, in GoDaddy's possession, buyer's info updated on WHOIS:

Then I get this gem a little bit ago:

I try logging into my account and they suspended it. LOL So, I call up Afternic and they tell me their partner (GoDaddy) can't verify the customer's payment. Now I'm confused.

Payment was verified, you asked me to transfer the domain, I transfer the domain and all of a sudden the payment is not verified?

Is this not a breach of contract?

 

[ultradog]

The question why the payment was verified and transfer initiated is still unanswered. Buyers pay Afternic, so they would be the party to answer, I think.

 

[Joe Styler]

Issues as far as buyer victim getting their money back and them eventually getting my name back - yes.

Issues are far as a sh*tty way to run a marketplace, no. The funds were not actually verified when Afternic sent me the notification. That was a false statement - a complete lie.

If Afternic wants to treat GoDaddy like a partner, instead of the same company, and this domain was purchased through GoDaddy, then GoDaddy should be held to the same standards of being legally bound to contractual obligations as any regular Joe who makes a purchase through Afternic.

If Afternic wants to say they're the same company as GoDaddy, then they should be playing by their own rules of not accepting payments over $2500 via credit card or PayPal and ACTUALLY verifying the transactions before wasting the seller's time.

I'm not agreeing to a 17.5% commission to have my time wasted. I'm agreeing to it for simplicity and peace of mind - neither of which were provided.

I am not a lawyer so I am not going to interpret any of the agreements or comment on contracts etc. We do verify payments but sometimes more information comes to light or the issuing bank contacts us etc. We hold payments for 7 days to investigate in most high dollar transactions.
The Afternic terms of service state this in the sales section:

1. 
   C. Afternic Payment Terms; Fraud Notices
   
   1. Afternic will remit payment of the purchase price for a Sold Domain to the seller after the expiration of seven (7) days of the purchase of the Sold Domain, net of the twenty applicable commission according to the fee schedule available at http://www.AFTERNIC.COM/fees.php, except where Afternic has received a Fraud Notice from its reseller partner.
   2. In the case where a Fraud Notice has been issued, within seven (7) days, Afternic or its Reseller Partners shall cancel the sale transaction and make reasonable commercial efforts to return the Listed Domain back to the Transferring Registrar and under seller's control.

Fraud is rare, especially after the initial check, but it does happen.
Again I apologize for the fact that this sale was not successful.

 

[Nick]

I am not a lawyer so I am not going to interpret any of the agreements or comment on contracts etc. We do verify payments but sometimes more information comes to light or the issuing bank contacts us etc. We hold payments for 7 days to investigate in most high dollar transactions.
The Afternic terms of service state this in the sales section:

1. 
   C. Afternic Payment Terms; Fraud Notices
   1. Afternic will remit payment of the purchase price for a Sold Domain to the seller after the expiration of seven (7) days of the purchase of the Sold Domain, net of the twenty applicable commission according to the fee schedule available at http://www.AFTERNIC.COM/fees.php, except where Afternic has received a Fraud Notice from its reseller partner.
   2. In the case where a Fraud Notice has been issued, within seven (7) days, Afternic or its Reseller Partners shall cancel the sale transaction and make reasonable commercial efforts to return the Listed Domain back to the Transferring Registrar and under seller's control.

Fraud is rare, especially after the initial check, but it does happen.
Again I apologize for the fact that this sale was not successful.

Let me preface this with one thing, Joe. This isn't, at all, personal. When you and I met in Vegas at the Trop, I enjoyed our conversation outside by the pool during whatever evening-event was going on. You were a very nice guy and I respect you. I appreciate you replying to my PM, as well.

You have to see where I am coming from, though. Having my time wasted is aggravating. I believe Afternic's definition of "verifying" payments differs vastly from most anyone else. At the very least, a "verification" would have included getting in touch with the account owner initiating the payment. Instead, he let me know that his account was compromised - meaning he didn't acknowledge any verification. Furthermore, he told me that his on-file credit card was used, which goes against Afternic's own policy of maximum transaction amount. This should have all been handled and verified before an email gets dispatched to the seller, instructing them to transfer their domain.

So, for such a mature marketplace owned by the top domain registrar in the world, it seems there is great room for improvement.

 

[uzver]

We do verify payments but sometimes more information comes to light or the issuing bank contacts us etc. We hold payments for 7 days to investigate in most high dollar transactions.

You hold the funds for 7 days to investigate but you instruct the seller to transfer the domain well before that. Where is the logic here?

Following your procedures, you should probably wait for 7 days until the funds are secured prior to letting the seller transfer the domain. IMO

 

[Joe Styler]

Let me preface this with one thing, Joe. This isn't, at all, personal. When you and I met in Vegas at the Trop, I enjoyed our conversation outside by the pool during whatever evening-event was going on. You were a very nice guy and I respect you. I appreciate you replying to my PM, as well.

You have to see where I am coming from, though. Having my time wasted is aggravating. I believe Afternic's definition of "verifying" payments differs vastly from most anyone else. At the very least, a "verification" would have included getting in touch with the account owner initiating the payment. Instead, he let me know that his account was compromised - meaning he didn't acknowledge any verification. Furthermore, he told me that his on-file credit card was used, which goes against Afternic's own policy of maximum transaction amount. This should have all been handled and verified before an email gets dispatched to the seller, instructing them to transfer their domain.

So, for such a mature marketplace owned by the top domain registrar in the world, it seems there is great room for improvement.

I understand where you are coming from and that is why I apologized. I'd be upset if it were my domain as well.

 

[domainer111]

There's a few clowns going around who enjoy buying 10k names and then get the transaction cancelled.

I had exactly the same thing happen about two years ago, the domain contained the word "Money". In my case the domain was actually transferred to Google Domains.

Then I got the eMail "sorry, funds were returned and we have to cancel the transaction" or words to that effect.

Unfortunately it's not a sale until the money is in the bank. That is the rule every platform, every marketplace. It's not the platform's fault. BrandBucket also, you have to wait a good few days to be sure the sale is final after the initial eMail.

This is the domain business and it's cash only.

C'est la vie!

 

[GarretB]

This just happened to me as well. I sold a domain for $1995 on July 12th. It was sold via Fast Transfer and the transfer completed on July 12th as well. Now 30 minutes ago I receive an email stating:

Hello Garret,

Our partner had an issue with their buyer and we will have to cancel this transaction. Here is the auth code to return the domain to you:
We apologize for any inconvenience.

Very disappointed in Afternic. They didn't send me any more explanation than that which I find ridiculous. I guess it might be part of the same situation with fraud, perhaps even the same buyer that said his account was hacked (although this one was transferred from GoDaddy to Network Solutions), but it's very frustrating when the transfer was completed 6 days ago and I have been expecting to receive my funds any moment now. I have made a few recent purchases as well that I wouldn't have made if I didn't have these funds coming in and didn't think this transaction was a done deal with the payment verified and the transfer complete a long time ago.

I didn't think it was possible for the transaction to not go through anymore, the payment was verified. I also have to pay a renewal fee to transfer the domain back to my GoDaddy account, that cost is negligible but just an extra step that makes this experience very frustrating.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Hello @Joe Styler

I suggest the initial emails not contain the verbiage "verified."

Based on the definition, in these particular circumstances, it is not accurate to use the term "verified."

Hoping there can be an amicable solution to this issue.

ver·i·fy
verb
past tense: verified; past participle: verified

1. make sure or demonstrate that (something) is true, accurate, or justified.
   "his conclusions have been verified by later experiments"
   • LAW
     swear to or support (a statement) by affidavit.

 

[Windoms]

Automatic email verification (click button) could have been sent to buyer's primary mail to avoid fraud.
Or some expensive labor intensive phone call, as it's a $10.000 purchase on a 20% commission..
Afternic is a riot. From 1999.

 

[Windoms]

Imagine a bot getting control of the domain through an automatic push, and funds getting released instantly.
Sale is final, whatever transfer delay that has to happen next is between bot and buyer.
@Reza

 

[Nick]

A year and a half later, still going through this. LMAO

Afternic had ALL of 2020 to improve - and they failed. What a joke.

Got this email last night - for the same domain as last time:

PMed Joe, went to sleep. Woke up, no reply. Called Afternic Transaction Assurance and the lady assured me funds were received and the transaction looks good. She told me to begin the transfer process. I let her know my account was suspended the last time this happened. She told me to do a password reset and I'll be good. Hung up and the password reset email never came.

A few hours later, I called Afternic TA again. They told me it was a GoDaddy transaction and Afternic had to wait for them to do their due diligence. I let him now I still couldn't get into the account. He said he'd email a VP to get it sorted. Shortly after, I got this email:

Called Afternic TA once more. This guy told me the transaction was fraudulent. LOL! I asked him to remove my domain(s) from Afternic. Who is running the show over there? They are completely clueless!!

(Still haven't heard from Joe )

 

[NonHipster]

We stopped using those registrars and resales sites a while ago due to issue after issue unresolved.
Have you tried Dan.com?

 

[Nick]

We stopped using those registrars and resales sites a while ago due to issue after issue.
Have you tried Dan.com?

Dan.com is the only place I list them. When they told me they were suspending my account a year and a half ago, I assumed they'd remove any domains in my account for sale. I had no idea they still had this listed.

 

[NonHipster]

Glad to hear that. That shows you the level of their incompetence even more clearly. Definitely raises the eyebrow as a cause for concern in regards to inside scams.

 

[DaveX]

I get pretty steady sales on Afternic. Just had one this morning. I like them all. Never had any issues over the years.

 

[Joe Styler]

Hi @Nick I still haven't read your email. I took two weeks off around Christmas and I'm trying to catch up on everyone's PM's, alerts tagging me etc. Just to put it into perspective I recently checked and I have had over 1k interactions here in the past 12 months, that's not including texts, emails, blog comments, Twitter and FB messages and PMs etc from other platforms, that is just here.
So I try my best to answer everyone but the support teams are always around 24-7 if I am not able to answer right away and they can escalate issues for you. I will get to your email today. I am caught up to messages until January 4th now I believe

 

[Nick]

Hi @Nick I still haven't read your email. I took two weeks off around Christmas and I'm trying to catch up on everyone's PM's, alerts tagging me etc. Just to put it into perspective I recently checked and I have had over 1k interactions here in the past 12 months, that's not including texts, emails, blog comments, Twitter and FB messages and PMs etc from other platforms, that is just here.
So I try my best to answer everyone but the support teams are always around 24-7 if I am not able to answer right away and they can escalate issues for you. I will get to your email today. I am caught up to messages until January 4th now I believe

Thanks, Joe. No reply is necessary at this time, though. Hopefully any domains of mine are removed from the platform.

 

[Joe Styler]

Sure just didnt want you to think I am ignoring you and letting you know the best way to get a fast answer if I am not around.

 

[Do-Mains]

We stopped using those registrars and resales sites a while ago due to issue after issue unresolved.
Have you tried Dan.com?

Dan.com is a Godaddy (same shti) company.... not to be trusted as well.