Information on Latonas.com

[ulterios]

Hi all, I received an email today from someone claiming to be a website broker for latonas.com saying they were interested in one of my domains. I haven't heard anything about them before and a search on both here and Google didn't really show enough info to help.

Here are some questions I was hoping I could find an answer for:

Is this some kind of scam?

Are they legit?

Have any of you dealt with them before?


They seem legit but I haven't been able to find good information on them to make a judgement.

They threw me off by putting this in the email: "I just wanted drop you an email to see if you would be interested in either selling xxxxx.com or any others you may have?"


Any other thoughts or information you might have about them will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Domainace]

You'll have to dig, but there is enough on the net to clue you in. Search Rick Latona, watches, pawnshop, broker, etc.

 

[elevator]

Do more of due diligent; try putting your mouse on one of the links to see if the email correspond with the website mentioned. If the email address does not correspond with the website, it means they are up to something. that may not palatable. IMV.
Cheers.

 

[ulterios]

Do more of due diligent; try putting your mouse on one of the links to see if the email correspond with the website mentioned. If the email address does not correspond with the website, it means they are up to something. that may not palatable. IMV.
Cheers.

That was the first thing I did. I always take several measures to ensure and email is legit. As stated in a previous reply, I know the email is from them but I just don't understand why they would be interested in a website with 3 pages and little content.

It seems like just a ploy to get me to come check out their inventory.

 

[carob]

You'll have to dig, but there is enough on the net to clue you in. Search Rick Latona, watches, pawnshop, broker, etc.

http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/watches-dealers/webuywatchescom-in-atlanta-ga-27291341

 

[ulterios]

http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/watches-dealers/webuywatchescom-in-atlanta-ga-27291341

Wow, so he moved up from watches to websites huh? Thanks for the info.

 

[carob]

Wow, so he moved up from watches to websites huh? Thanks for the info.

The comments on this one are interesting
http://domainnamewire.com/2011/06/07/rick-latona-disses-domains-and-focuses-on-cash-flow-assets/

Yet in 2011 he dumped a lot of names http://domainnamewire.com/2011/03/29/no-reserve-rick-latona-auction-on-sedo-has-many-winners/


When googling this Adsense ad came up just now

Latona's Website Brokers
www.latonas.com/‎
Latona's brokers websites with
profits and revenue from $20k - $2m

 

[ulterios]

The comments on this one are interesting
http://domainnamewire.com/2011/06/07/rick-latona-disses-domains-and-focuses-on-cash-flow-assets/

Yet in 2011 he dumped http://domainnamewire.com/2011/03/29/no-reserve-rick-latona-auction-on-sedo-has-many-winners/a lot of names


When googling this Adsense ad came up just now

Going by some of the comments, shouldn't he be making hundreds of millions on these developed sites? LOL

I have been getting his adsense ads all day saying "Latona's, Dedicated brokers to help you buy the right business". LOL

 

[Chetan]

Latonas advertise a lot, and every domainer can see them on facebook and google ads section, atleast that confirms that fb and google recognizes you as domain investors, if you are able to see that add every now and then

 

[jdab]

I thought I read a while back that Rick was stopping domaining?

 

[ulterios]

I thought I read a while back that Rick was stopping domaining?

I haven't found any info on that yet. His website says they are a broker for selling websites and mentions nothing about domains. That's why I am curious about why I got the message.

I know it's a good brandable name for a WordPress related website so maybe that by itself is why I got the message.

I think though they are just spamming to see if maybe I might be interested in one of their websites for sale since I own several developed sites myself.

 

[jdab]

I haven't found any info on that yet. His website says they are a broker for selling websites and mentions nothing about domains. That's why I am curious about why I got the message.

I know it's a good brandable name for a WordPress related website so maybe that by itself is why I got the message.

I think though they are just spamming to see if maybe I might be interested in one of their websites for sale since I own several developed sites myself.

Fair enough. Was speaking with him a while back - he tried to sell me a Twitter name for 5 figures.

 

[ulterios]

Fair enough. Was speaking with him a while back - he tried to sell me a Twitter name for 5 figures.

Wow, he's pretty optimistic isn't he. Have to be careful with Twitter names, I met one domainer and developer who got into legal trouble with a couple of Twitter related names.

I guess Twitter can be vicious about their trademark.

 

[discobull]

Fair enough. Was speaking with him a while back - he tried to sell me a Twitter name for 5 figures.

Did you mean a domain with "twitter" in it, or a twitter username?

 

[jdab]

Did you mean a domain with "twitter" in it, or a twitter username?

Twitter username.

 

[ulterios]

Wow, are Twitter usernames fetching that kind of money?

 

[jdab]

Wow, are Twitter usernames fetching that kind of money?

Not from me!

 

[ulterios]

Not from me!

It does make me wonder how many people register Twitter names and try to sell them.

 

[carob]

It does make me wonder how many people register Twitter names and try to sell them.

Offering them for sale is a violation of the Twitter TOS - they updated that several years ago. So sales are probably discreet but do happen. Passively selling might be OK, but Twitter can and do cancel unused accounts.

Here's a six figure one from 2010
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/sep/14/twitter-user-sells-israel-username

In 2007 Israel Meléndez set up a Twitter account under his first name. This year he was approached by the state of Israel, which wanted to buy @Israel from him for a quantity of dollars that, he told Spain's Público newspaper, included "five zeroes".
The sale went through despite Twitter's stated policy of preventing username squatting and Meléndez, who runs adult websites for a living, said Twitter itself had advised the Israeli government on how this could be done.

 

[jdab]

Yup, I think there are even websites that sell the accounts. I have tried to buy a couple in the past but didn't go through with them as the prices were high.

 

[ulterios]

Yup, I think there are even websites that sell the accounts. I have tried to buy a couple in the past but didn't go through with them as the prices were high.

Wow, maybe I am in the wrong industry. I do imagine it you had a really good ID, something like a name maybe like Joe, Mike, Julie or something like that it would probably fetch a nice chunk of change.