Bidding on your own names at NameJet...?

[webquest]

Once in awhile I see people bidding on their own domains at NJ. I would think it would be frowned upon.

Today's seems more obvious than normal. Or am I missing something here?

Airlinejobs.com owned by Andy Booth at Booth.com and high bidder is BQDNcom (James Booth).

3 bids down we see Boothcom as a bidder.

Same thing with MovieZone.com. Owned by Andy Booth in which he currently appears to be the high bidder.

High Bid: $2,475 USD by boothcom

They actually won their own domain airplanesforsale.com. Im guessing it didnt get as high as they wanted so needed to protect it.

Bidder Amount Date
bqdncom $2,001 7/17/2017 12:23 PM
boothcom $1,950 7/17/2017 12:23 PM

 

[Compassion]

I always had a great relationship with Namejet, sold lot's of names there, bought lot's of names there over the years, Jonathan has always been a class act, and so has Laurie. I trust they will do the right thing and clean this up.

.

I agree about this - the little bit of business I've done there as a seller went well and these two are helpful and fast to respond

 

[Beezy]

I asked web.com to forward to their investigative team a memo to look into communications between staff and the alleged shill bidders and they said they would forward it right away.

So, if that is true, we'll see what happens.

 

[Silentptnr]

And by the way...

Based on my NJ Domain Name Listing & Auction Services Agreement...

III. Auction Process
G. Backorder and Bidding Prohibition
Seller agrees that it will not place backorders or bids on the Domain Names being auctioned on the Auction Platform nor collaborate with others to do so on their behalf.

V. Representations And Warranties
8. Neither the Seller, nor any of its affiliates, employees, business partners, or associates will participate in an Auction or bid on any of the Domain Names.

 

[Jim Holleran]

I stopped going to Domain Conferences years ago 2009 was last one, ended it with a bang, with a blow out party at Domain Fest Playboy Mansion party. Ron Jeremy porn star was at the party, he had less filth, dirt, scum on him than half the domain speakers there who are suppose to be leaders of the industry.

75% of these people who you think are leaders, guru's are not, many are con artists and the only way to know is to expose them. 25% are great, Rick Schwartz, Michael Berkens, and a few other's. Michael Berkens is a very good friend of mine, and one of my mentor's so I was very blessed to follow and listen to the right person, but be careful who you guys listen to, most are full of BS.

Reputation is everything! And for people who think they can get away with shit, they will be brought down, I have seen it over and over and over.

 

[Silentptnr]

I stopped going to Domain Conferences years ago 2009 was last one, ended it with a bang, with a blow out party at Domain Fest Playboy Mansion party. Ron Jeremy porn star was at the party, he had less filth, dirk, scum on him than half the domain speakers there who are suppose to be leaders of the industry.

75% of these people who you think are leaders, guru's are not, the only way to know is to expose them. 25% are great, Rick Schwartz, Michael Berkens, and a few other's.

Reputation is everything! And for people who think they can get away with sh*t, they will be brought down, I have seen it over and over and over.

There are many successful people in the domain industry. Pretty much have good relationships all over. Of course, one bad move...and the love can turn to hatred. (oops, did I say hatred?)

 

[Suzoki]

If you are talking about shady deals happening. Start looking into NamesCON and their relation to Namejet. Those guys heading NamesCON are a bunch of crooks. Excuse me for being so direct.

 

[alcy]

god damn giphy

 

[Silentptnr]

^^^ won't load.


It's here: https://media0.giphy.com/media/yMcHULcGVcDsI/200.webp#24-grid1

 

[Chris Hydrick]

There have been some inaccuracies and misconceptions that have been brought forth by such a spirited discussion.

Let me be the first to clear up my mistakes.

In page 1 of this thread, I incorrectly assumed that the Booth Brothers were brokering Olivers domains. (Based off a quick WHOIS scan of seeing the batch of domains in question associated with domains belonging to Oliver.)

The shill scam is a lot more complex, and I think NameJet knows this. Hence, they have to be careful in how they handle this, or else risk exposing themselves to some questionable activity they allegedly have been affording to certain sellers.

I apologize for jumping the gun. Up until now my investigative strategy has been to compile any info I can, make an assumption, and put it out there for the community to decipher. After seeing the hard work @Michael put into his research, I am embarrassed of my approach, and will try harder in the future to get my facts straight before posting any assumptions.

 

[Jim Holleran]

There are many successful people in the domain industry. Pretty much have good relationships all over. Of course, one bad move...and the love can turn to hatred. (oops, did I say hatred?)

Like marriage, my wife of 20 years of marriage loves me at least I think she does(lol), but if I sleep with another woman she will hate me, my kids will hate me, I will be the scum of the earth overnight. So basically I will not sleep with another woman until I get to heaven

 

[Silentptnr]

Like marriage, my wife of 20 years of marriage loves me at least I think she does(lol), but if I sleep with another woman she will hate me, my kids will hate me, I will be the scum of the earth overnight. So basically I will not sleep with another woman until I get to heaven

LOL...if she found out.

 

[Want2learn]

Maybe they can bump my auctions up . . . I keed I keed!

 

[tldboss]

Grilled you have done a good job too.

NJ have to provide the facts. So far, they are not providing the facts, this why members are doing the digging. They keep giving us incomplete info, leaving us to fill in the gaps. Like others have said already, maybe it is better for a third party firm to investigate.

 

[Silentptnr]

It also makes me wonder why I keep getting advised to have no reserve. I was actually just about to give it a try with some very valuable domains. Based on what I have read today, not a chance in hell would I put valuable domains up for auction there without reserves.

 

[offthehandle]

I always had a great relationship with Namejet, sold lot's of names there, bought lot's of names there over the years, Jonathan has always been a class act, and so has Laurie. I trust they will do the right thing and clean this up.

I think the domain


We agreed on a deal and he backed out, then one of his cronies came back with a lower offer. I gave a big "Kiss my Ass" So not only do these dudes do shill bidding, but work in pairs to verbal agree to deals, than back out, than 1 day later one of there buddies comes in on the same name with an offer lower. I seen everything in 20 years in this business, my gut is right 99.9% of the time. We need to protect the noobies from getting screwed over, thank god for Namepros, where people don't kiss ass, and expose the BS in the industry.

So have I seen as the craziness in so many business dealings and auctions of physical assets way back in time. The collusion will always go on, its just way things are, unfortunately. Shill bidding won't disapper, it will just take on another name or lifeform. There always is a rotation in and out of scumbags into and out of all markets. The sad part is they scam in one market, then jump to the next one, like old time traveling snakeoil salesmen did from town to town. Similar to if you remember and watched the movie "the MusicMan", with Robert Preston.

It comes with education. Newbies are in need of education, finding a niche and about how to stay away from all these tricks and games and hype. The world is much easier now with so much data available, as long as you are willing to invest in learning it. Many people are into the "get rich quick" problem. I am pretty sick of hearing all these scams in such a short period of time.

 

[Jim Holleran]

So have I seen as the craziness in so many business dealings and auctions of physical assets way back in time. The collusion will always go on, its just way things are, unfortunately. Shill bidding won't disapper, it will just take on another name or lifeform. There always is a rotation in and out of scumbags into and out of all markets. The sad part is they scam in one market, then jump to the next one, like old time traveling snakeoil salesmen did from town to town. Similar to if you remember and watched the movie "the MusicMan", with Robert Preston.

It comes with education. Newbies are in need of education, finding a niche and about how to stay away from all these tricks and games and hype. The world is much easier now with so much data available, as long as you are willing to invest in learning it. Many people are into the "get rich quick" problem. I am pretty sick of hearing all these scams in such a short period of time.

You are 100% correct, greed will always be there. The good thing about the internet is it's easier to track down people fraud/scams. However, it also an easy place to scam people as well. Catch 22 I guess. But we all have a responsibility to expose scams/fraud when there is proof. Sitting on the sidelines doing nothing is being a coward. Thanks for all your efforts!

 

[tonyk2000]

Thanks goodness, so far there is no evidence that NameJet hired Nelson Brady Halvarez (or somebody else) to do shill bidding from inside the system as en employee. Which should mean that it is likely safe to bid on really expiring domains at NameJet, most notably on exclusive pre-release domains, where one still can find the gems such as good aged domains. With all due respect to GoDaddy who is competing with NameJet as a venue for registrars to sell their expireds, it would not be good for the industry if we end up with the only player in town. As a side note, it might be good idea for NameJet to stop - at least temporary - any and all non-expiring auctions, and continue the business as usual with expired domains _only_, in which area they originally started to develop their platform.

 

[equity78]

Thanks goodness, so far there is no evidence that NameJet hired Nelson Brady Halvarez (or somebody else) to do shill bidding from inside the system. Which should mean that it is likely safe to bid on really expiring domains at NameJet, most notably on exclusive pre-release domains, where one still can find the gems such as good aged domains. With all due respect to GoDaddy who is competing with NameJet as a venue for registrars to sell their expireds, it would not be good for the industry if we end up with the only player in town. As a side note, it might be good idea for NameJet to stop - at least temporary - any and all non-expiring auctions, and continue the business as usual with expired domains _only_, in which area they originally started to develop their platform.

I can't say I agree with the last part, there are plenty of people who sell on NameJet that don't break the rules, they should not be harmed because of the handful of people mentioned in this thread.

 

[Recons.Com]

I can't say I agree with the last part, there are plenty of people who sell on NameJet that don't break the rules, they should not be harmed because of the handful of people mentioned in this thread.

They are already harmed as there will be much less legitimate bidders there now. I know I am staying away.

 

[equity78]

They are already harmed as there will be much less legitimate bidders there now. I know I am staying away.

Well that's a good point.

 

[tonyk2000]

I can't say I agree with the last part, there are plenty of people who sell on NameJet that don't break the rules, they should not be harmed because of the handful of people mentioned in this thread.

Indeed, a hard question. Very hard to decide. If I was selling my domains on NJ (which, for the sake of clarity, I am not doing and never did) - I might even think of withdrawing my domains from this platform in the meantime, since if so many people are questioning the reputation and mode of operations @ NameJet - this fact alone might harm my reputation as a honest domainer in somebodys eyes ("Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are")

 

[GeorgeK]

Here's one thing I don't understand. According to the Namejet FAQ:

http://www.namejet.com/Pages/FAQ.aspx

You must agree to pay your bid amount when it meets the minimum bid requirements. Non-verified NameJet customers are limited to a combined total of $2,500 in all active actions that they participate in. See Verified Bidder page.

Why wouldn't that "bidder verification" process have caught the multiple accounts that some people allegedly have created?? (unless they were keeping below $2,500 in combined bids across active auctions?)

The bidder verification page requires colour photo ids, credit cards, etc:

http://www.namejet.com/Pages/VerifiedBidding.aspx

 

[offthehandle]

You are 100% correct, greed will always be there. The good thing about the internet is it's easier to track down people fraud/scams. However, it also an easy place to scam people as well. Catch 22 I guess. But we all have a responsibility to expose scams/fraud when there is proof. Sitting on the sidelines doing nothing is being a coward. Thanks for all your efforts!

I think its great you stick around here and take the time to post even though you are retired, same with Rick here when he does post and all his exposure he makes about RDNH like on his Queen win and all his posts about this scandal on Twitter, he really is strong and states things with great conviction. The world has too many "political windshield wipers" that are afraid to rub somebody the wrong way. Fu(k politics.

 

[Donny]

They may have had employees or friends create accounts and get verified.

Donny

 

[Want2learn]

It also makes me wonder why I keep getting advised to have no reserve. I was actually just about to give it a try with some very valuable domains. Based on what I have read today, not a chance in hell would I put valuable domains up for auction there without reserves.

I have gotten the same encouragement with no reserve pricing. Guess I'll choose my spots where I'm okay with a 100 or whatever.