Bought Dotfrog.com. But Reseller still in Business.

[PowerUp]

Hi, I recently won dotfrog.com in an auction in the aftermarket. This domain will be mine in another few more days. At the time of this posting, the website of the reseller is still showing the normal page instead of the GoDaddy expired parking page. And I am guessing that the customers don't know what's coming.

I'm worried that upon me assuming control of the domain, and they no longer have access to their accounts, they will lookup the whois info and flood me with emails asking for refund.

What can I do to protect myself?

Also, by disclosing this domain name before it is fully transferred to me, I know I will risk somebody notifying the owner to renew the domain and I'll lose my chance of owning dotfrog.com. But I'm disclosing this name in the interest of the community so that you can transfer your domains out of dotfrog before I assume control of dotfrog.com

 

[irishmat]

its a reseller (directi i think) so there should be a way to log into a master account somewhere else even if the dotfrog website was taken away

wonder why they let it drop tho

 

[Coopey]

It looks like it has been renewed, Whois shows 2008-07-31 (domaintools), but GoDaddy's (not live) whois still shows a 2007 expiry (godaddy)

 

[PowerUp]

its a reseller (directi i think) so there should be a way to log into a master account somewhere else even if the dotfrog website was taken away

wonder why they let it drop tho

Does that mean they can login to their accounts from another site? Or must they login from dotfrog? These guys won't be able to login from dotfrog it I take over the domain.

It looks like it has been renewed, Whois shows 2008-07-31 (domaintools), but GoDaddy's (not live) whois still shows a 2007 expiry (godaddy)

It shows expiry 2008 because I bid and won the domain.

 

[irishmat]

Does that mean they can login to their accounts from another site? Or must they login from dotfrog? These guys won't be able to login from dotfrog it I take over the domain.

yep i think they will be able to log in from another site

 

[stscac]

http://dotfrog.myorderbox.com/

-Steve

 

[PowerUp]

http://dotfrog.myorderbox.com/

-Steve

Thanks Steve, Just what I need if I get any emails from dotfrog customers. I'm going to park this domain. Hopefully they are smart enough to lookup the whois info to get to me.

 

[Domagon]

It looks like it has been renewed, Whois shows 2008-07-31 (domaintools), but GoDaddy's (not live) whois still shows a 2007 expiry (godaddy)

Looks can be deceiving! The domain is expired.

The registrar date and registry dates are separate - many people have lost domains because they relied upon the registry date instead of the registrar date or vice-versa. Both expiry dates should be similar or ideally identical - any mismatch often signals trouble.

What happens is that the registry (speaking of .com / .net domains) typically adds another year automatically at expiry regardless of whether the domain is actually expired at the registrar...

This extra time (around 45 days or so) gives the registrar (and often the registrant) a grace period to work with - it's important to note that registrars do not have to provide a grace period, and some don't ... literally "gone" the day it expires, but I digress.

Ron

 

[irishmat]

its got a decent alexa rank and quite a few backlinks, could be a good pick up for you for the ppc rev


check out
http://estibot.com/results.php?domain=dotfrog.com

 

[Coopey]

It shows expiry 2008 because I bid and won the domain.

You see, that didn't cross my mind.
(That old "don't assume anything..." saying applies)

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Gutsy to give the old "heads up" - good PPC pickup depending on your TDNAM cost ($5 firesale, by chance? ).

Good luck, with users and the pickup.

-Allan :gl:

 

[PowerUp]

Gutsy to give the old "heads up" - good PPC pickup depending on your TDNAM cost ($5 firesale, by chance? ).

Good luck, with users and the pickup.

-Allan :gl:

I got it for $100 + renewal. The domain has fully transferred to me now.

 

[Spade]

Well, let us know how it goes... I smell some complications down the road.

 

[stscac]

Well, let us know how it goes... I smell some complications down the road.

Seconded. Try to pick up the business as well

-Steve

 

[PowerUp]

Seconded. Try to pick up the business as well

-Steve

Any good reseller program around? GoDaddy reseller doesn't look appealing to me.

I can't comprehend how a domain reseller can make money. Godaddy sells dot coms for $6.95 with coupons, and the WWD pro plan costs me $6.30 per domain. So, if I sell at $6.95, I'll only make $0.65 for each domain.

To cover the annual membership fee of $199, I have to sell 306 domains to break even. This is before taking into account credit card commissions, hiring support and so on.

If there's a reseller program whereby I don't have to worry about support, payment and collections, then I'd be interested. I'll only need to worry about marketing.

 

[Spade]

If there's a reseller program whereby I don't have to worry about support, payment and collections, then I'd be interested. I'll only need to worry about marketing.

Godaddy does offer what your looking for. You do nothing but send traffic to your site...

Justin

 

[whitebark]

Dotfrog is claiming they were hacked...

 

[Devil_Dog]

Dotfrog is claiming they were hacked...

If by "hacked" you mean they let the domain expire and go to TDNAM auction, then yeah... umm, I guess.

Whois history on Sep 9:
Registrant:
Mohawk River Technologies
PO Box 184
Mayfield, New York 12117
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DOTFROG.COM
Created on: 31-Jul-03
Expires on: 31-Jul-07
Last Updated on: 27-Apr-06

Administrative Contact:
Owner, Authorized Domain [email protected]
Mohawk River Technologies, Inc
PO Box 184
Mayfield, New York 12117
United States
15188637030 Fax --

Technical Contact:
Owner, Authorized Domain [email protected]
Mohawk River Technologies, Inc
PO Box 184
Mayfield, New York 12117
United States
15188637030 Fax --

Domain servers in listed order:
NS35.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS36.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
-----------
On Sep 11 it changed to:

Registrant:
Domain Name: DOTFROG.COM
Created on: 31-Jul-03
Expires on: 31-Jul-08
Last Updated on: 11-Sep-07

 

[whitebark]

Dear Customer,

Our domain has been hacked and we are working hard to get it back. In the meantime, please use the following link to get to your control panel:

http://dotfrog.myorderbox.com/

Everything works normal from there and you you should have no problems doing what you always do.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Regards,
Dotfrog,Com Team


That's what they are sending to those with accounts there. I don't know what's going on exactly but it seems odd a registrar would allow their own domain to expire!

 

[mwzd]

Crap, scary prospect, losing your primary company domain.

You planning on returning it PowerUp?

With suitable recompense of course...