Anyone has experience with NetSol's Certified Offer Service? (as a buyer)

[owntype]

I'm very interested in a domain name for my project. The domain is registered @ NetworkSolutions and it's not in use for more than 2 years. (Regged since 1996 and expires in 2012)

NetSol doesn't provide the info of registrant's email address. In the whois database, I can only see the administrative contact.

I have tried to send emails to the administrative email, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and most of the commonly used email prefix, the email delivery were all failed.

I called the owner, the phone number is not in use. I also sent a registered letter and waited for a month, no result.

Finally, I found there shows a 'Certified Offer Service' on NetSol's whois page, which costs $19 per offer and non-refundable.

My question is, I have tried possibly all the way but still can't reach the seller and I don't think NetSol can do more than me. Anyone knows how they process the offer service and how they contact the owner? I just do not want to waste $19 if they only sending an email to owner's administrative email.

Thanks in advance.

 

[-Adam-]

I recently had one of those NetSol offers. It was just an email sent to my whois email. It did not offer any other information such as who the person/company was other than the initial offer price and whether I could choose to accept or counter offer. I think more than likely they will try the contact information listed and if that fails check the users account to see if any other domain names may be listed under their account with the correct information but that's only speculation.

 

[owntype]

Thank you, Adam

Very appreciated!

 

[Pred]

i take it you have domaintools membership? upgraded so you can view whois history?

if the domain is that old it may have changed hands for sure, but also even if they have privacy they may have let slip for a few days or longer when renewing the privacy, in the past.
thats ur way in

you can check for a different email address in there somewhere, or even the old seller may know who bought?

just ideas

good luck

 

[gazzip]

Did you try checking archive.org to see if there are any names or other clues on the old website ? it sometimes pays off.

If you can get his name off that then maybe you can hunt him down using Google search and whitepages.com...works best when they have an unusual name :hehe:


.

 

[owntype]

Hi, Pred and gazzip, thanks for the tips.

The owner is the original registrant since 1996, I have tried all the emails that had been used for whois contacts and for his old website. All failed. No luck to other Tel numbers as well. I also searched via Google with the owner's name, very few results and mostly connected to indexed page of the whois info.

The first time I checked the domain was in Sep 2006 (being parked) and the expiration date was 2012. It seems the domain got neglected since 2005 by checking archive.org.

:td:

 

[Pred]

unless they put a robots.txt in site

maybe they just don't want to be contacted lol

hmmm. tricky one

 

[owntype]

Sigh ... I'm almost give up ...

 

[gazzip]

Sigh ... I'm almost give up ...

Nah, don't do that - The hunt is half the fun of it :tu:

If you want to PM me the domain I can take a looky for you tommorow, its gone 3am here and time for :zzz:



.

 

[bmugford]

I have used the service before, and been on the receiving end of a few offers. In my opinion it is just a waste of money. If you can't get a hold of the owner, then Netsol probably can't either but would be happy to pocket the $19 for their effort.

Brad

 

[Michael]

http://www.whitepages.com/reverse_address

Try doing a reverse on the address, maybe there is a new phone number. Also try searching in Google for the owner's name, and if it is too common add the city or state. You can usually find some trace of them, be it LinkedIn or some other professional profile.

If you need any help let me know.

 

[nameboi]

If whois email does not bounce, you need to send an attractive offer. Put offer in the title also. Start title with domain name, like that -
abcd.com - $20,000 USD offer for this domain name.
Keep re-sending this email a couple of times a month, possibly with larger offers. It's possible owner gets so much spam, he deletes emails without reading them.

 

[Pred]

interesting thread. let us know how u get on

 

[Jeff]

I have used the service before, and been on the receiving end of a few offers. In my opinion it is just a waste of money. If you can't get a hold of the owner, then Netsol probably can't either but would be happy to pocket the $19 for their effort.

I paid $19 one time, only to never hear anything ... but approximately 18+ months later the domain name actually dropped and guess who gobbled it up (can't remember if it was Snapnames or Pool at the time)?
And, I would have offered at least 5x the Snap price + the $19, as well. :yell:
Unsure if this helps, but it's a good story of what comes around, goes around IMHO. :music:

Best of Luck.
-Jeff

 

[owntype]

Thanks Michael, still no result but I bookmarked it, great method!


Thank you guys. I decide to save the $19 to buy a good lunch. (Thanks, Brad and Jeff)

So actually this can be another "how to contact with the domain owner" thread.

I will keep trying and see if someday the email/call/letter can be delivered. (until I found another decent domain for my project)


Thanks again!
A desperate buyer

 

[garptrader]

I received an offer once from Netsol's service for a Spanish .net. They started low at ~$149, then ~$279, then ~$439. These three offers came within a couple days time. I insisted on a higher price ($1000) because I had never used this service before, didn't like the long contract I had to read through and sensed this was an automated service which could be gamed. Then there was a couple-day delay and I thought I had missed out by pushing too hard. Then I received a response they had accepted my $1000 price! I suspect they just use the Whois email contact but the counteroffers were too easy. Yes, if you really want the domain you probably shouldn't give the seller a hard time. But if price is important to you, maybe this service isn't the best.

 

[Tribulatio]

Interesting and useful thread(s) about the Certified Offer Service. I just had an experience showing how potential buyers can be unpredictable, especially considering that they have to pay a $19 fee for submitting an offer through Certified Order Service.

I received an offer through Certified Order Service for a name I consider to be of a value between 2,000 and 5,000 (I have it listed for 4,500 on Sedo, fixed price).

I received a few hours ago a Certified Order Service offer for 250. After checking threads related to that service, I decided to counter with a 7,500 price, expecting the prospective buyer to counter with a significantly lower amount . To be frank, I would probably have accepted to go down to 2,000 (after all, better to sell than to keep a name on inventory for too long, especially when it is not exceptional).

Half an hour after making the counter offer, I received a reply informing me that the prospective buyer had rejected my counter offer and that "the Certified Offer for this domain name has ended and you will receive no future communications regarding this offer."

Puzzling... the guy was willing to pay $19 for submitting an anonymous offer, and does not even make use of the possibility to make a counter offer when he/she thinks the price is too high?! Once again, buyers are really unpredictable, and it is difficult to read their minds.

So I couldn't test the Certified Offer Service this time! But I understand that it can be attractive - certainly is for the seller, since there are no fees to be paid.

 

[Name Trader]

I never reply to any netsol's certified offers because I can't accept a US check, and there is no way you can convey this to netsol or the prospective buyer. But hey, thanks for resurrection a 2 year old thread.

@owntype -Did you try [email protected]. That's a commonly used email address.

 

[Tribulatio]

But hey, thanks for resurrection a 2 year old thread.

I felt it would be good to keep it alive, in order to see if anybody has more recent, either positive or negative experiences with them.

Regarding the US cheque issue: I agree with you. Netsol should be able to send money to a bank account. But I assume a check is the easiest thing for them to do, and many people in the US (or in France) seem to ignore that their cheques are not accepted all over the world. I can myself accept them, but only by paying fees - Ok for a substantial amount, not for a low one.

 

[spikedo]

Jeez, if the domain is that good for your project, 20 bucks is nothing. I'd do it just to say I did all I could. If you do get it, what a story that would make! Best of luck.