How to check out a buyer

[Danto]

I am a domain name newbie, but someone emailed me about a domain I registered last week. Sale price could be mid $ x,xxx - high value name to a niche market.

How can I check them out?

Can I ask for a business reference before agreeing to sale.

Can I nuse Paypal for this kind of transaction?

I would be greatful for any help/advise.

 

[Peter]

Firstly ensure that it is not the usual appraisal scam. If they ask you to provide an appraisal do not do it. As they are the ones interested in the domain they should be the 1 to get the appraisal (although you could offer to refund the cost from the final price).

The obvious choice to check someone out is by doing a google search for their email address. Also is it a free email address they use? If not have a look at the domain the email address is for. See if they seem to be the people who own/run that site. If they are then you could look for things such as contact names (you can also use whois to try and find such information).

Regarding a business reference. Why would you want a business reference before selling them the domain name?

Regarding paypal. It is way too risky to use paypal for such a size of transaction. There are many cases of someone receiving the domain name then disputing the transaction (or doing a chargeback). If at all possible either accept a cheque (the funds cannot be taken back once cleared and do wait for it to clear) or use an escrow service. If you use escrow then make sure you check out the escrow service and ensure you use a reputable service (fees will be involved but that can generally be split with the buyer, they should be willing to use escrow as it ensures they are going to get what they paid for).

 

[Kate]

By analyzing the headers of the E-mail you may be able to find the IP address of the sender. This will give you an idea of their location. Sometimes the IP can be traced to a particular company. Some e-mail systems like gmail don't seem to relay that info though.
As said above it could be the appraisal scam, if the message is signed with PhD be cautious :p
Appraisal scam e-mails seem to originate from a dial-up ISP in Russia: mtu.ru

 

[elmister]

I recommend you to use a escrow service like escrow.com or sedo.com, i've used sedo.com in the past and they are a bit slow but safe, and would cost only about 3%, that 3% could be paid by the buyer, you can offer him also to pay with Wire Transfer and save that 3%

About the appraisal scam, as said before, buyer should pay the appraisal, not seller. The appraisal scam consist in telling you to buy an appraisal at the scammer's site, even he shows you a link to a (fake) forum where people recommends him the appraisal site.

About PayPal, i wouldn't sell a domain through PayPal unless is a very small amount (like sales done in forums)