question Can you sue a buyer for backing out of a deal?

[NewR]

Hi everyone,

The other day, after negotiating back and forth, we were offered a fair amount for one of our domains from the buyer and we accepted. This was over email.

Anyway, days later they say they are not doing it anymore because they think the domain is worth less and they’re willing to do half the price we agreed to. We have no interest in halving the price.

So, the question is does an accepted offer for a domain (over email) serve as a valid contract that we can take legal action over if they do not honor it?

Please let me know. Also, if anyone knows of any actual lawsuits where this happened please let me know of them. I imagine this is a common occurrence.

M

 

[NickB]

It has happens a lot, forget about it and move on. Make sure your landing page has the agreed price set as the BIN

Take action on what? They offered you a price and then changed their mind, if they have not signed a contract with you then you have little to no chance of getting a result.

Emails can be legally binding in the right circumstances but it can start to get very complicated very quickly.....

https://businessadvice.co.uk/business-development/business-planning/are-emails-legally-binding

 

[equity78]

In the U.S.: you may sue for specific performance but you may have to show that you somehow relied on the offer to your detriment. If both you and buyer are merchants other U.S. laws may apply and the detrimental reliance may not need to be demonstrated.

Realistically though unless you and buyer are local to each other and at a minimum in the same country such proceedings would be a waste of time. There’s also the issue of whether buyer has assets to perform.

Excellent answer, and if the op is so determined they should not be asking anonymous avatars on a domain forum but rather contact a professional who actually does this for a living.

 

[TERADOMAIN]

Hi friend & all other friends here,

Always believe in happy deal where buyer and seller both happy with end result. There is no fun in forcing someone to complete the deal if for any reason they changed their mind due to any circumstances.

I always make sure both side happy with end result as buyer/seller.

2019 I had completed many successful deal in good range.

2019 I had many buyer backed out deals totaling $XXXXXX . Yes we do not like when someone agree to something and changed their mind. But give them benefit of doubt.

Thanks

 

[NickB]

As a side note Myself and many others have people press BIN on marketplaces which means they have entered a legally binding agreement to buy the name and still they have not paid......there are a lot of time wasters in the world

 

[xynames]

In the U.S.: you may sue for specific performance but you may have to show that you somehow relied on the offer to your detriment. If both you and buyer are merchants other U.S. laws may apply and the detrimental reliance may not need to be demonstrated.

Realistically though unless you and buyer are local to each other and at a minimum in the same country such proceedings would be a waste of time. There’s also the issue of whether buyer has assets to perform.

 

[bursinventory]

I understand that is a lot of money, I would not be pleased if someone just backed out like that, but you cant force someone to pay money, but good luck, I hope you secure that sale.

 

[MapleDots]

Hi everyone,

The other day, after negotiating back and forth, we were offered a fair amount for one of our domains from the buyer and we accepted. This was over email.

Anyway, days later they say they are not doing it anymore because they think the domain is worth less and they’re willing to do half the price we agreed to. We have no interest in halving the price.

So, the question is does an accepted offer for a domain (over email) serve as a valid contract that we can take legal action over if they do not honor it?

Please let me know. Also, if anyone knows of any actual lawsuits where this happened please let me know of them. I imagine this is a common occurrence.

M

Imagine the car business, there would be a lot of lawsuits if every negotiation was considered final before an actual bill of sale was drawn up.

SO the answer to your question is no, an email chain is not a legitimate contract and hence your mistake. Send a bill of sale and once returned signed then you have a contract.

A bill of sale also protects you in case funds don't clear, it shows you as the owner until such time as you receive full payment.

 

[Bernard Wright]

@MrAcidic and @bursinventory already gave you the answer you’re going to get from 99% of the members here. You can drag this thread out until you get 100 responses or you can count my post as #3 through 99 and save everyone some time.

If you had incurred damages, you might have a case. What is your damage?

 

[cabotower]

for them to agree to spend that kind of money they must seriously be in need of a premium domain name, probably an exact match for what they need. there may be very few other options. don't get on their bad side. they may be back.

 

[Name Trader]

See but we are interested in suing them if it is binding. So, the question isn’t whether we should move on or not, but if they’re allowed to back out or not if we hold them to the deal.

You should be consulting a lawyer about this. Not asking in a domain forum.

 

[Keith]

Short answer is, no. It’s not worth your time and money.

 

[NameAcquisitions]

I’ll add. I’ve been in business 20 years and have initiated litigation several times. I can only recall one instance in (maybe two) which it was money well spent. For the others i think i made some attorneys very happy, but not me.

Litigating anything should be a last resort, and done only after very careful thought about the cost and likely result.

 

[Casey L]

Even if you sued and won, collecting payment is a whole other beast.

 

[bursinventory]

Legally speaking you can attempt to sue somebody for anything, the question is, will the judge even entertain it, if you attempt to sue someone for backing out of a deal, I can guarantee you it will not go anywhere especially if there is no legally binding contracts, and you said its over email, that holds no weight, and the lawyer fees would be expensive unless you are representing yourself, then you would have to take time off of work and lose money. Its best to just move on and find another buyer, and also who would want to buy from someone that just goes around suing everybody, definitely not me.

 

[Brands.International]

Hi everyone,

The other day, after negotiating back and forth, we were offered a fair amount for one of our domains from the buyer and we accepted. This was over email.

Anyway, days later they say they are not doing it anymore because they think the domain is worth less and they’re willing to do half the price we agreed to. We have no interest in halving the price.

So, the question is does an accepted offer for a domain (over email) serve as a valid contract that we can take legal action over if they do not honor it?

Please let me know. Also, if anyone knows of any actual lawsuits where this happened please let me know of them. I imagine this is a common occurrence.

M

This depends on:
a) your jurisdiction
b) buyers's jurisdiction
c) actual laws applicable on those jurisdictions

You need to ask your lawyer basically, but only in case he/she has good knowledge of b) and c)

People here on domaining forum can not give you good advise, particularly as they had not even asked questions about a) and b) so far...

 

[darb]

The saying goes, the only advice worth listening to is that which you pay for; so maybe step up to the plate and consult with a lawyer.

See but we are interested in suing them if it is binding. So, the question isn’t whether we should move on or not, but if they’re allowed to back out or not if we hold them to the deal.

 

[lock]

I will happen many times some will just bid and see how cheap can try get things for with no actual intension of buying.

 

[The Durfer]

if its a good of domain to be $100k, then you don't need that buyer anyway, there will be another and they might pay $125k. Move on.

 

[Lox]

Offer received for a domain via email serve as a valid document / prof (without obligations). Once y receive offer, send a contract (acknowledgment, obligation, price etc contact your lawyer how-to) to the buyer where company or person (in charge) need to add signature (I'm using SignNow service). Once signed, the next step is to send the invoice. // without contract - 0 //

 

[wwwweb]

New generation of buyers close deal first, worry about money/financing second. Many times it does not come thru, and they go radio silent. Just the way it goes, unless you signed contracts really no recourse.

 

[Silentptnr]

If you have actual damages as a result of the buyers failure to perform *under a valid executed contract* you could seek relief through litigation.

In the absence of a contract it would be futile.

Based on the exchange you described, I would double the price to that buyer and move on.

 

[NameAcquisitions]

Giving your money to an attorney to chase the nonpaying buyer will probably be a bad idea. One party is likely to make out in this situation, and it will not likely be you. Just my .02.

 

[bmugford]

The bar to actually file a lawsuit is pretty low. The bar and costs to actually win one are rather high.
It is rarely going to make financial sense to pursue a potential buyer that backs out.

Brad

 

[Silentptnr]

I never forget that as a seller I can never selling until a deal is completed.

To me, that means working on getting an increasing commitment from a buyer.

For example, i might ask, "Should I take the domain off the market?"

If yes, then let's do a loi. If no, then, Oh so we are just talking at this point, right?

Anyway, I never force a deal and I know I'm always selling until it's done. Sometimes closing a deal takes long.

 

[bulkdomainz]

That looks like a typo as it shows $10,000,500, obviously.

Dan tends to have a lot of deadbeats that make offers, and then stop responding, not sure why.

It wasn't a typo . I concluded that was is own way of getting back at me for declining his £150 opening offer. I tracked him down and his company actually have an app that matches the domain. He ignored all invitations to get negotiation re-started!

I only ever had 5 offers via DAN:

1. This unserious £10,000,500 bloke
2. 2 x successful deals
3. 1 x rejected Counter-Offer (I rejected)
3. 1 opening offer I missed cos I was offline for a few days. Tracked him down but he ignored all messages via DAN and off-DAN.