I have an email from an interested buyer

[Riddles]

Hoping someone could provide me with some advice here.

I have never sold a domain name, however I am fully aware of scam emails that go around having read posts on the forums here.

A broker has contacted me saying his client from Canada has a six figure budget to spend on 20 or so domains and wishes to buy mine. He also asked the preferred method of payment >> How can we pay you (escrow, paypal or wire)?

If this does turn out to be legit, please can somebody tell me the best payment option to go with?

Many thanks

 

[vivaldi]

Sounds like scam. He contacted you from a .info domain?

 

[Riddles]

Yep he sure did!

 

[vivaldi]

He gonna ask you to pay appraisal, don't do that

 

[Riddles]

Haha I wont, thanks for your help.

 

[johname]

A broker has contacted me saying his client from Canada has a six figure budget to spend on 20 or so domains and wishes to buy mine.

I stopped on this part and didnt read the rest.

Telling you their budget and wanting multiple domains= scam. Goodluck

 

[Kate]

^ Yep. Sounds like the old appraisal scam.

 

[matrigaldo]

Tell them you would give this domain to them for free, let's see what they'll answer. I did, it was hilarious.

Oh, and yes, unfortunately for you it's a famous scam.

 

[urljunky]

Hoping someone could provide me with some advice here.

I have never sold a domain name, however I am fully aware of scam emails that go around having read posts on the forums here.

A broker has contacted me saying his client from Canada has a six figure budget to spend on 20 or so domains and wishes to buy mine. He also asked the preferred method of payment >> How can we pay you (escrow, paypal or wire)?

If this does turn out to be legit, please can somebody tell me the best payment option to go with?

Many thanks

I got the exact email just today.
Hello!

My client from Canada is going to buy xxxxxxxxxxxx.com.

My company is in hosting business. My client has six-figure budget for 28-30 domains.

What is your asking price?

How can we pay you (escrow, paypal or wire)?

If you are new to the selling process I can help you.

I have relations with many investors in the industry. If you or your friends are interested in selling a name I'm always ready to help.

I work on a commission basis but my services are free for sellers. They are paid by buyers.

Regards,

Roger Bolton

MCSE

Vice President | Investor Relations | Host Europe Group

11 Sixth Ave

Portsmouth

UK
His email web-hosting-solution.info forwards to 123-reg.co.uk. If he wants to buy he can make an offer on one of the sites i have it listed on. I dont think i'm going to answer this email.

 

[matrigaldo]

Come on, tell them you're gonna sell it for just 5 dollars. :D

 

[vivaldi]

Come on, tell them you're gonna sell it for just 5 dollars. :D

Tell us what's so funny

 

[urljunky]

Come on, tell them you're gonna sell it for just 5 dollars. :D

I actually replied to email and told him make offer through proper channels and that any further emails from him would be deleted. then i went ahead and sent an email to 123-reg.co.uk to let them know someone was forwarding their site to theirs under questionable reasons.

 

[urljunky]

I guess he didn't read my email. he answered back with this:

My client offers $15000-OK?

Before we go further we need only one thing from you:

To be sure in legitimacy of this sale and to avoid possible trademark problems my client buys certified domains only.

The certificate includes three things:

1. Independent appraisal of the market price. The appraisal will help determine the true value of your domain's worth so you can maximize profits during the sale. On the other hand, it will minimize his risks too.

2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems.

3. Verification of the owner. It proves you are a legitimate owner and your domain has no any obligations and restrictions. I’m sure that you are a legitimate owner so it will be only a formality.

If your domain has been certified please email me the certificate and we will proceed with the sale. If you don’t have the certificate it’s not a problem. I may send you a link where you can obtain it. Please don’t worry. It won’t take much time and money. It takes 1-2 minutes to order it. The results will be sent to you within 24 hours. Then you send me the certificate via email and we’ll proceed with the sale.

As a broker I’m very interested in a good valuation part of this certificate because my client pays me a commission (10-15% of the sale price) on every domain purchase. So I’m not interested in a low price too. You can read about the certificate agency at: http://answers.google-answers.net/archive/threadview170582.htm (“Domain Broker” is my nickname).

The process is very easy:

1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. Just submit your domains and let them know you have a buyer with $X,XXX offer and need a valuation near this value. After several hours you will get the results. If the price in your certificate comes higher we will increase our offer accordingly.

2. Then send these results via email and we’ll proceed with the deal. If you are new to the certification process I can help you with step by step instructions.

 

[matrigaldo]

Talking about the appraisal scam, it works in this way:
A broker email stating a huge budget client offer you thousands of dollars for your modest domain names.
If you don't know that, you'll accept with your eyes full of tears of joy, and jumping there and there along your room.
BUT then they ask you, before to complete the transaction on Escrow, to go to one specific website and pay for a professional appraisal (prices varies, from $39 to $69, depends on what is their mood): in this way the broker can validate the real value of the domain to the client, and then proceed with the purchase.

One day i received this wonderful email on a VERY poor and expiring domain (you know, one of those you register when you're drunk, or newbie, or both) and told him "you can get it for free but you can say to your client you'd have paid it for whatever you want". (I knew about this scam).
They replied they can't just buy a domain, they need this appraisal etc etc. Then i told him, just clear "take the domain, and do whatever you want, you can pay for the appraisal by yourself, and then tell to your client i asked $20,000 for the domain. You get all the $20,000 , i'm ok with that. Give me your GoDaddy infos for the push".

Then they try to convince me i can have few money for this, the domain is valuable, he works on commission so more he spends, more he earns. But, wait, i've told him to get the domain for free, and tell to the client he spent $20,000 for the domain.

Who knows, maybe he was just a very honest broker, he never replied to my last message.

 

[ImageAuthors]

Yep. Every domainer sooner or later sees that appraisal scam in the inbox. I've seen it many times in mine.

Real inquiries don't sound like that at all -- mentioning a big budget right away, volunteering to buy multiple domains sight unseen, etc. No buyer asks for an appraisal.

 

[Sukhvir Singh]

In a nutshell- its purely scam mail that arrives to you !!

 

[4better]

It's been years now... and still this old scam lingers. I've received such more than a dozen times. Stay away from them!

 

[Edward Smeu]

So it translates like this:

Hi, I have a stupid client loaded with money and he wants to overpay for a domain you own. And to get a little more credibility I mention Escrow or PayPal, maybe this will keep your suspicions within limits when the adrenaline rush is over and you start to think 'is this for real?'

So..everything that translates similar to above is surely a scam.

 

[Tia Wood]

Tell them you would give this domain to them for free, let's see what they'll answer. I did, it was hilarious.

What was the reply?