How to respond to price quote for one of my domains

[jayhawk]

I just received an unsolicited email asking for a price quote on two of my domains. It was two seperate emails but the content was the exact same. I'm a little curious how they got my email though. Both are parked with Sedo but I havent changed over the nameserver yet so if you go to the site you get a 1&1 page saying the domain has recently been registered. I registered them both privately so whois doesnt list my email. And as far as I can tell Sedo just lets you enter an offer on their site and I assume they send me the email. Is there a way for you to contact a seller directly through Sedo? Does this sound fishy?

Out of curiousity though how do you handle selling a domain? What forms of payment should I ask for? Would you quote a higher than market price and see if the buyer bites? How does the actual transfer work? Any advice would be most appreciated. Sorry, I've never sold a domain before. Thanks.

 

[Devil_Dog]

They wouldn't happen to contain the words:

"Buying and selling domain names is not my main business."

and

"I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases in MS SQL and Delphi"

If so, just delete them.

 

[gingeman]

Hmm, sounds like a possible scam. Post the email or pm it to me and I'll tell you.

 

[FanCube]

Where you asked about getting an appraisal from a specific website and did the mail contain links to websites recommending a specific appraisal service? If it did, is it probably a scam

 

[jayhawk]

Devil Dog seems to be right on the money. The exact email was

Hello,

Please send me price for your domain.

IWe are very interested in this name.

Did you get offers from other people already?

Our company develops client-server systems (Delphi / Interbase), so investing in domain names is not my main business.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Anthony Wiborg
President
Back Office Engineering Norway

Thanks for the replies!

 

[sixspeed]

I got that exact same message .... oh well move on :D

 

[mbony]

Assuming it is a scam, what is the catch? Suppose he emails them? What happens next?

 

[B33R]

They ask for an appraisal which you have to pay for using their appraisal company (only you don't know that unless you Google for similar scams) and then suddenly they don't want to buy it after all...

Even more suspicious if the OP received two identical emails. I don't think any real buyer would do that without at least changing the wording or saying that he already contacted you about someotherdomain.com.

Here ya go - an active thread from the "warnings and alerts" section of NP.
http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/179789-domain-name-appraisal-scam.html

 

[gingeman]

I am 100% certain this is a scam. Please do not enter into any negotiations with this fraudster. It is exactly as B33R says. Be warned!

 

[greggish]

If you don't mind wasting a little time, I would suggest that you reply and string these a$$holes along a bit. I would play with them and make them waste their time with me before finally telling them to go shove it.

 

[B33R]

If you don't mind wasting a little time, I would suggest that you reply and string these a$$holes along a bit. I would play with them and make them waste their time with me before finally telling them to go shove it.

It might save a few other people from getting spammed/scammed while you're wasting their time.

I wonder if there's a way to reverse this little scam on them....

Be real careful though, it's probably better to stay clear.