Domain purchase reversed

[Toni]

Hi there,

I bought a domain in the $x.xxx range earlier today from a domain marketplace/registrar (sorry, but I don't want to share the domain name or name of marketplace) and after it got paid for, landed in my account, changed who.is to my details, gotten my receipt etc., I received a mail about 7 hours later that it was an error and that the domain was not for sale and that I have received my refund and domain was moved out of my account.

I am obviously really bummed and wondering if I just have to accept this and move on?

**I have stopped "serious" domaining a few years ago, so not sure if this is a common situation (but this never happened to me before)...

Thanks

 

[venturefile.com]

What was the reason for taking it back? Did you buy it from another member or the registrar?

 

[Toni]

Reason was: "The domain was not for sale, it's owned by some company". and it was bought directly from the registrar marketplace (and fwiw it was listed at a bunch of other marketplaces for the same buy it now price), I believe it showed the registrars who.is before, so by "some company" I think they refer to themselves...

 

[Keith]

Was the Whois private?

 

[equity78]

It could have been how sometimes you see this name is for sale when you check DomainTools. But the name was purchased that previous week and reported on DN Journal, I have seen those links still showing, so it may be not definitely but maybe a technical glitch with all these aftermarket systems.

 

[venturefile.com]

Find a lawyer and ask about your options. Then it all comes down to how bad you want it.

 

[The Group]

This surprisingly happens more often than it should. I've had it happen to me a few times as well. Really nothing that I know of that you can do other than just move on. Try not to let it occupy your mind in a negative way.

It could have happened for many reasons. I've bought a domain that somehow mistakenly was listed as the .com when it was really the .net (even been cursed at by the owner of the .com when I asked for the transfer auth code ). Other times the domain was already sold or the registrar mistakenly showed it as for sale because their system failed to recognize ownership via whois.

Loads of reason. Breath in, breath out, move on. That's the least stressful way.

 

[forge]

Highly suspect. Domain owner had to have been privy to the transfer. Or else, if this was transacted without the consent of "some company" personnel then the proverbial shit would hit the fan. Besides, "it's owned by some company" is not a reason, it's an on-the-fly meaningless "answer".

Isn't it very convenient that all the stars were magically aligned to enable this purchase and transfer to complete seamlessly within one afternoon, yet a few hours later it's all become some big mistake.

 

[DnEbook]

Plenty of old 'for sale' domains out there that should have had the listing taken down, not uncommon i would suggest

 

[Toni]

Thanks for all your replies guys , I don't think I want to pursue this issue any further, I will try the breathe in and breathe out approach lol, not much I can do about it anyhow...

 

[Toni]

I wish I didn't refresh the whois details just now, the domain owner is confirmed the owner of the registrar/marketplace so "a company" is them...

 

[onewiseguy]

well if it was in your account, for a few hours its yours in my eyes if the domain is worth it go purse it.

 

[verbster]

it's interesting that they simply raided your account. Have you read the TOS yet to see if and when that sort of crap is covered. Be it owned a short time or a long time, who's to stop them from taking any that were bought and hosted with them? The registrars know enforcement is way behind them, so they do what they want and tell you about it afterward.

 

[DnEbook]

Might be time to share the name and company involved .......name and shame

 

[TCK]

It is probably a smart move. There are too many out of date listings. I've seen domains I acquired some other way still for sale on one very popular marketplace by a previous owner. I often wonder what would happen is someone chooses to buy or make an offer. I think the problem lies with registrars that also operate an active aftermarket. So either a program or a broker who is not aware may place the domain in the buyer's account when the current owner does not wish to sell.

 

[carob]

Hi this reminds me of another thread - https://www.namepros.com/threads/upset-to-godaddy.834420/
where a domain was sold and pushed against the wishes of the owner.

We all know old for sale listings hang around - I complained about a domain of mine being for sale on Dynadot and it turned out they were pulling in an Afternic listing of a previous owner.

But the unusual part here is that the domain actually went into your account. Some places you can complete transfer out in under 15 minutes - would have been interesting if you had done that before they decided to take it back.

Possibly their pricing algorithm or person decided the sale price wasn't high enough.

 

[Toni]

Sorry I don't want to name and shame at this point and I just tried understanding the TOS but this legal stuff gives me a big headache especially since english isn't my first language and @carob I was actually thinking of moving the domain elsewhere since I keep my remaining domains mostly at the same registrar but didn't feel like there could be an issue like this so I wasn't in a rush...

 

[venturefile.com]

It just sounds like they are having sellers remorse and since they are the registrar, they can go and take the name back.. Which is just wrong!

 

[Krisss]

I picked a recent-dropped name and while listing the same in marketplace it was still listed (by previous owner) for a low BIN price for my wonder. Immediately mailed the related dept and hrs later got confirmation that the name has been removed from its previous listing.
Might be same case with you!!
U might have bid (not ur fault, system's) for an old listing (listed by ex-owner) that wasn't removed by the system from marketplace!!
For Offer - Counter offer the Seller approval/involvement required,but for a BIN price, i guess the system starts processing...IMHO

 

[forge]

I'm happy to see that this thread has gained some traction and this serious issue has not merely been swept under the rug, as has become all too common.

Granted, the reasons for this happening have not entirely come to light. And granted, it's caused a lot of distress for the OP (your English is pretty impressive BTW).