debate Flippa new verification process?

[James Rodman]

a friend of mine just told me flippa has a new verification process for bids over $5,000. I havent seen it yet as i havent bid that much on a domain and i think this is a new thing. I was also told you have to pay $500 by credit card and they hold the money for 1 week. What are your guys' opinion on this?I know its for security purposes but to me $500 is maybe a little too much. thats $500 i can't reinvest during the week.

Do you think this will turn off some people?

Hope to hear what other people have to say. thank you.

 

[alexlunnon]

May i know what if someone doesn't have a Credit Card ?

We are working on a process where we will verify users identity and funds manually - its best to contact our support team if you are looking to place a bid over $5,000 and don't have a credit card

 

[Enfant]

Archangel, you can't say to anyone he is Wrong in handling HIS OWN MONEY.

Whether it's nicely or politely, I do not like Flippa to capture my funds ($500), whether they will remain with my financial institution or not. I find it.... (I will avoid the words you like to say) not suitable for me for reasons stated above.

My money = Only ME who decides.
Period.

 

[Archangel]

You have a good point. But the same works the other way, too: their business = only they decide on who to conduct it with. If you refuse to allow them to do this, they can refuse to do business with you. And unless you have a monster domain portfolio (or if you biid thousands daily), then I'm pretty sure your business isn't needed.

Period.

Archangel, you can't say to anyone he is Wrong in handling HIS OWN MONEY.

Whether it's nicely or politely, I do not like Flippa to capture my funds ($500), whether they will remain with my financial institution or not. I find it.... (I will avoid the words you like to say) not suitable for me for reasons stated above.

My money = Only ME who decides.
Period.

 

[The New Guy]

I wonder how much Flippa will make in interest on these $500 they have in their bank account for weeks at a time...

They'll make less than their credit card transaction fees.

Interest rates are at or near their record lows - how much money do you make by having $500 in a savings account for a week?

 

[D Haynes]

They'll make less than their credit card transaction fees.

Interest rates are at or near their record lows - how much money do you make by having $500 in a savings account for a week?

Fair point mate, fair point.

 

[Nick]

If you have $5000 to bid on a domain, you have $500 to temporarily part with for 1 week.

 

[JyotiG]

I think Alex has made the process clear. Moreover IMO anyone who is bidding over $5000 shouldn't be deterred by this if they are genuinely interested in buying the domain.

 

[Shams]

Also I don't really understand why they need the money for a week. Surely just having it for 5 mins is enough to make sure they have some money in their account ( although it doesn't prove they have over $5000 to spend). I think this is just a deterrent, but I worry it will act as such to genuine buyers too.

Its Credit Card Verification Process. To make sure bidder using authenticated Card. Because if there's any problem credit card companies can claim the money or put hold on that from 24-72 hours. That's why 1 Week is fair enough to make sure everything is Good and this step made the Flippa Safer place to Buy and Sell Domains,

 

[Shams]

I've had winners get suspended the day they win. In fact, I'm dealing with such a bidder now. I've contacted Flippa and told them I won't honor the sale, as the buyer did something bad before my auction ended. Flippa does cancel out auctions at times.

I also had the same problem. But i completed the sale. As far Free Flippa Escrow is involved you have no need to worry and the later on. I asked the bidder why your account showing Suspended. he said, His account is new and bidding on many listings. that's y Flippa has suspended his account and they required verification. He also send me the screenshot which i'm sharing after removal of his name...!

.

 

[james haw]

Whenever security is required there are usually inconveniences and/or hoops to jump through, whether online or physical (door locks, key-less entry, web passwords, captchas, etc). It's very annoying, but we need these things.
You could (in some sense) argue that it's a choice of having either decent security or maximum simplicity, and while the latter is nice it can have drawbacks which make things unpleasant.


I would say that "most" end users who are deterred by this are not much loss. People who are serious about bidding should welcome a system which aids in their bidding being only with other serious bidders and not foul play or time wasters.

It's only for over $5k bids, which seems prudent to me, and the fact the money isn't actually "taken" and the fact if you are going to bid $5k+ you must have $500 (or you wouldn't be able to bid $5k) makes it acceptable IMO.

It's a necessity and small inconvenience which returns some security and protection from time wasters.

If they didn't have such security, and some problems happened, people wouldn't hesitate to pounce and claim something should be done - so pre-emptive protection should be welcomed (trouble is some people need to see a problem to be able to justify a fix and cannot see the value of a pre-emptive move).

 

[FlippaDomains]

Whenever security is required there are usually inconveniences and/or hoops to jump through, whether online or physical (door locks, key-less entry, web passwords, captchas, etc). It's very annoying, but we need these things.

I would say that "most" end users who are deterred by this are not much loss. People who are serious about bidding should welcome a system which aids in their bidding being only with other serious bidders and not foul play or time wasters.

It's only for over $5k bids, which seems prudent to me, and the fact the money isn't actually "taken" and the fact if you are going to bid $5k+ you must have $500 (or you wouldn't be able to bid $5k) makes it acceptable IMO.

Thanks very much for these thoughts; I couldn't have said it better, and this is what we hope everyone understands when being asked to hold money to verify legitimacy and/or provide identification, which I know is a touchier subject...

More down the line from me on this.

 

[m-i-k-e]

Do you still need photos of sellers holding their ID's before paying them for names they've already transferred to buyer's or can I finally get paid for my last sale that completed this past Summer?

 

[FlippaDomains]

@m-i-k-e Hey Mike, long time no talk.

To be real for a moment, this isn't Flippa's policy, but by accepting our ToS, and by accepting Flippa Escrow as a payment method, you accepted the potential or actual request for identification at any time. From either company, I should add; our Marketplace Integrity requests ID from suspicious customers all the time, and that is in our ToS.

On the Escrow side, I am working to place these stipulations in front of our customers *before* transactions take place, as the ID-selfie thing is not something Flippa has any control over, nor does PromisePay (Flippa Escrow): apparently it is a bank-required security maneuver.

Everyone's information is safe and secure, but unfortunately neither I nor our acquaintances at PromisePay have any ability to waive this requirement. I wish I could tell you otherwise, because I think it's ridiculous for your money to be tied up, but the only thing I can offer you is my personal apology that we (Flippa) didn't brief you on this requirement ahead of time, seeing as you would have likely used another method of payment so as to avoid this.

I'll continue working with you to ensure we exhaust all additional opportunities to get you your payout. If anyone has ANY questions regarding Flippa Escrow, I urge you to direct them to [email protected].