Do the brokers inflate prices?

[Chappy]

I wonder if the brokers put in large bids to essentially buy the domains they already own (ie. one guy sells, the other guy buys but they essentially work for the same company) to inflate prices in the market?

Anyone heard of this? It seems that some of the prices are strangely high.

 

[dgridley]

There might be some inflation going on in some way, but I'd find this scenario a bit hard to believe.. if you get caught, not only are you out of business for good but could face fraud charges as well.

 

[Jeff]

I wonder if the brokers put in large bids to essentially buy the domains they already own (ie. one guy sells, the other guy buys but they essentially work for the same company) to inflate prices in the market?

Anyone heard of this? It seems that some of the prices are strangely high.

I would agree that some prices do seem strangely high, and that it's quite possible that this may be occurring ... and one of the reasons I've been posting lately that there should exist an truly independent, third-party accounting or legal entity/firm that could verify all "sold" amounts, exchange processes, and completed transactions - including with the ability to thoroughly reasearch whether any previous relationship(s) existed between the respective parties, IMHO. :gl:

IF it is happening, I hope fraud charges are levied and those that commit the acts go to prison for a long, long time!
My two sense.
-Jeff

 

[Chappy]

I agree 100% Jeff.

 

[MichaelV.]

something to think about i guess. with all the other fraud happening, why couldnt this be?

 

[antonis12]

unfortunately, we will never get a full picture of the marketplace as there will always be buyer or sellers that for some strategic or personal reason would prefer not to disclose and I can't imagine how we could compel them to disclose...(this is similar to real estate, company acquisitions, etc)

What we should hope for is enough transactions to be publicly disclosed in the market so that we can be reasonably statistically certain that the public transactions are representative of the overall set.

speaking off the cuff, .com is probably pretty accurate enough by now through to high xx,xxx transactions, .net/.org/.de/.co.uk are probably accurate through to high x,xxx or low xx,xxx. The other extensions do not have enough trading volume to be statistically meaningful much above xxx.

as for fraud, it seems like stupid risk to take, but then again, there is always someone... (!)

 

[eyedomainous]

I would agree that some prices do seem strangely high, and that it's quite possible that this may be occurring ... and one of the reasons I've been posting lately that there should exist an truly independent, third-party accounting or legal entity/firm that could verify all "sold" amounts, exchange processes, and completed transactions - including with the ability to thoroughly reasearch whether any previous relationship(s) existed between the respective parties, IMHO. :gl:

IF it is happening, I hope fraud charges are levied and those that commit the acts go to prison for a long, long time!
My two sense.
-Jeff

Right On The Money!

Perhaps ICANN can be petioned to move into the "independent, third-party" arena. Offering transaction protections to both buyer and seller and housing a domain provenance database for domains sales over $100.00. A .3% domain transaction database fee, split between (registered) buyer and seller, could underwrite this Domain Traders Authentification service -which would have its own ICANN Seal. The system would be voluntary / opt-in. Domain transactions that opt-out simply would not have a Seal number... which, of course, could affect a domain's value over time -providing a fair market incentive to opt-in.

Just my 2cents

 

[AdoptableDomains]

I wonder if the brokers put in large bids to essentially buy the domains they already own (ie. one guy sells, the other guy buys but they essentially work for the same company) to inflate prices in the market?

Anyone heard of this? It seems that some of the prices are strangely high.

I doubt the major sites would have any of this, since even if two people purchased each others names at the same price, they would still owe the sales commission/escrow fees to afternic, sedo, pool, or otherwise.

However, I wouldn't doubt an occassional shill bidder trying to create the illusion of competition for a domain to drive their selling price up. I just hope they get caught in their own trap and end up outbidding the real buyer and have to pay commission AND lose the real sale. I stil think it would be the exception though.

 

[dongan]

I wonder if the brokers put in large bids to essentially buy the domains they already own (ie. one guy sells, the other guy buys but they essentially work for the same company) to inflate prices in the market?

Anyone heard of this? It seems that some of the prices are strangely high.

sometimes few freshers in the industry can do. But, penalized.

 

[wow!]

I wonder if the brokers put in large bids to essentially buy the domains they already own .

I said it before here in some threads...
I bet in Snapnames lot of the big sales are faked.

And the same action going with the selling / buying of the 3letter domains.
Thats why the prices of 3letter .net / .com are so high.

Wonder who could put an end to this speculations.