Is this a real appraisal service?

[techgal128]

I was stupid and almost fell for a domain buying scam. I got an appraisal at Domain-Cost.com. Is this website part of the scam or is it just the buyer wanting 15% commission? I was hoping that I could use this appraisal and it was real.

forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2386925

That's a similar scam to what I got.

Thanks for the help!

 

[lothos]

It looks like a classic appraisal scam.

Buyer expresses interest, and asks you to get an appraisal at a place he controls. The appraisal is not trustworthy, and the scammer got the money you paid for the appraisal service. He was never interested in your domain, he wanted to earn your appraisal fee.

Looking at the whois for domain-cost.com shows it was registered last month using whois privacy. Doesn't look very legitimate to me.

 

[-EM-]

Just post your domain at the appraisal section and your domain will be appraised for free by some very experienced dudes

 

[techgal128]

Thanks for the replies. What is weird though is that he says that he is still interested in buying the domain. I'm just going to leave it be. I've already filed a claim with paypal so hopefully I can get my money back.

 

[SK1990]

Thanks for the replies. What is weird though is that he says that he is still interested in buying the domain. I'm just going to leave it be. I've already filed a claim with paypal so hopefully I can get my money back.

Unfortunately, Paypal protection does not cover non-tangible goods, as stated in their TOS.

Best of luck

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Actually, Paypal is likely to refund the OP's money because it's the BUYER who is protected, not the seller.

So OP should file for a refund.


*

Unfortunately, Paypal protection does not cover non-tangible goods, as stated in their TOS.

Best of luck

 

[SK1990]

*

Actually, Paypal is likely to refund the OP's money because it's the BUYER who is protected, not the seller.

So OP should file for a refund.


*

If I recall correctly, it says they cannot take sides in such matters.

 

[Name Trader]

What's to complain about? OP pays and gets an appraisal. He won't win that one. So I agree with SK1990.

 

[SK1990]

Excerpt from Paypal TOS

Buyer Complaint Policy

General. If you pay a seller who does not ship the promised goods, you should first contact the seller and attempt to resolve the dispute. If you are unable to resolve the dispute in this manner, you should then file a Buyer Complaint Form with PayPal as soon as possible. The Buyer Complaint Form may be found by going to the "Resolution Center" link in the header of the Account Overview page.

PayPal will investigate your claim, contact the seller and, if the seller does not present appropriate proof of shipment, a full refund or other evidence of a satisfactory resolution, PayPal will seek to collect the amount you paid from the seller. PayPal may also limit the seller's access to his or her PayPal account. You will be entitled to the return of any and all funds PayPal is able to collect from the seller for funds received by PayPal prior to the seller's account status having been changed to limited access. RECOVERY OF YOUR CLAIM IS NOT GUARANTEED.

Complaints must be filed no later than 30 days from the date of payment. Only one Complaint may be filed per PayPal transaction. PayPal will seek to resolve the complaint within 30 days of the date the complaint is filed, though such time frame may be extended, if appropriate, to accommodate the investigation. This policy applies only to the sale of tangible, physical goods and excludes all other sales and services, pursuant to section 1 above.

 

[techgal128]

Just as an update: I have contacted Paypal and they agreed to file a claim. What they said is that if they don't hear from the seller in 10 days, they will refund my money. If the seller writes back and says I received the goods, I will not get any money. I have also contacted the middleman SWREG, Inc. and hope to get a resolution from them as well.

 

[GHOUNEM]

domain-cost.com a scam?

I agree with the senior member here

Im in discussion with the email:

"Jacob Friedman" <[email protected]>

Insisting that I use domain-cost.com because "his lawyer" tells him that I should pay over $50 to appraise my domain before he buys CommercialReal.com that Im letting go for $6,999

I did the whois and found it was just built in March, less than a month ago and they make the claim on the site that they appraised and sold thousands of domains.

Sounds fishy, I sold many domains and was never told to or insisted that I appraise my own domain before someone buys it.

If someone wants to buy a house, the buyer pays for the appraisal, not the seller, this person emailed me again this morning insisting I pay for an appraisal "specifically" from http://domain-cost.com so I did some more research and found this forum talking about it.

Its a sad / cruel scam because Im in a must sell situation otherwise Id keep my domain commercialreal.com that I hung on to for years so these scammers try to use someone's excitement and urgency to practically steal their money.

Like telling a woman they're interested in her character when instead they're interested in something else, sad because I started hearing from this scammer on easter sunday...

Good luck, good thing for this forum shedding light, domain sellers are usually smart and usually do research, so maybe this scammer should quit trying to scam them.

 

[michaelf9]

[email protected]

I too received an email from Jacob Friedman (contents below). He expressed an interest then stated his "lawyer" wanted an appraisal. The domain that his email is from is a redirect to "http://www.webhostingclue.com/"

What a load of crap. Glad I found this forum. Thanks everyone!

>Hello!

[email protected]

We are interested in purchasing tickesmaster.com I noticed that you currently sell this domain. Please respond with a desired price in the subject.

Our company is investing in domains and web projects. If you have other names for sale please email me your domain list with prices.

Regards,

Jacob Friedman

CEO
Web Domain Hosting Inc.

 

[metallicelmo]

I hate to tell you that I also fell your this, what was i thinking..

I contacted SWREG for a refund but they forward your "complaint" to [email protected] You get a default message back that states their service is real and that they have many satisfied customers. I have to go ask my own creditcard company to take action.

Just for the record, they appraised my domain at $7950,- ... I did a check a few days later at another REAL appraisal website and it turned out my domain is worth just $66,-

Random appraisals can be found on their website, here an example (not my site) http://www.domain-cost.com/appraisal.asp?Domain=caritube.com just change the domainname at the end to a random domainname, if you find one you'll know they have been scammed. I think it's just a generated html page with complete nonsense on it. I think none of these persons behind this "company" are real..

 

[sumertech]

I am so glad I found this thread in google when i searched for domain-cost.com appraisals. This guy emailed me earlier this week about some domain names of mine and told me to get it appraised with a trademark verification. He then forwarded me to a forum where he was promoting his domain-cost.com site and told me that everyone loves this appraisal service..so it all sounded fishy to me and I am so glad I didn't pay fora fake appraisal and fall for this scam!