Lost sale at Sedo

[The Domainiac]

About two weeks ago I had received an offer on a domain I had parked at Sedo. $500 to be exact. Rather than accept, I started an auction.

About halfway into the auction Sedo ended it and changed my domain to "Not Available For Sale".

The domain in question is a celebrity name in the new .CO extension. According to emails received from Sedo, they were notified of possible trademark violations and therefore ended the auction.

So now I am out any money at all. I thought maybe the buyer would contact me afterwards with the email in the Whois record but he/she didn't. I haven't received any emails at all from anyone claiming I can't have the domain.

I thought it was kind of funny though that Sedo continued to let the domain be parked with them. I just couldn't sell I suppose.

Anyone else had this experience?

 

[Domagon]

Your experience isn't unique - Sedo itself sometimes pulls auctions; further reaffirms that Sedo is a venue only for advertising domains for sale.

Sedo auctions aren't true auctions, bids there aren't binding bids. Sedo and/or buyer and/or seller can back-out of a sale with little to no repercussions.

IMHO, don't rely on whois for getting contacted. Many end-users don't know whois exists / how to use it while some who do know how won't bother; the perspective buyer may think you canceled the auction seeing it's still parked at Sedo.

I'd suggest changing the nameservers away from Sedo asap and replace the parking page with a simple webpage displaying the domain name and related info followed by your email address.

Ron

 

[Domainate.com]

Lesson learned: Don't buy celebrity names. That's not something limited to just Sedo.

 

[RevolutionaryDomains]

Sorry to read of your unfortunate experience. Not sure how SEDO works or how the person made contact with you, so this may be a rookie question. Was there any contact information provided or exchanged from the initial offer to enable you the possibility of making contact with this individual? Can SEDO assist with putting you in contact with this person?

On a side note; I agree with Ron's post with regard to moving it from SEDO immediately and creating a simple webpage that contains your full contact details to inform prospective buyers the name is still available for sale. This may be to your advantage, especially if the person who made the initial offer is still tracking the name, which is quite possible.

Since it has only been a couple of weeks there may still be active interest. You may also want to hit it hard with trying to find an end user, if you haven't already. Strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. Chances are, those who saw the name at auction may be wondering why it is no longer listed and how to reach you.

If nothing else, you can always leave things as they are and wait for another offer from someone, ensuring next time you accept it. However, knowing now the name may have copyright/trademark issues it may be in your best interest to do what you can to get rid of it, and recoup your reg fees or some/any amount of money.

In closing, I also agree with nametrader and recommend staying away from celebrity names -and/or- any potentially infringing names. Keep us all posted on further developments. Best of luck. -Regards

 

[The Domainiac]

Not sure how SEDO works or how the person made contact with you, so this may be a rookie question. Was there any contact information provided or exchanged from the initial offer to enable you the possibility of making contact with this individual? Can SEDO assist with putting you in contact with this person?

No contact information was given to me from the interested party. Only thing I have is that he/she is from Canada. I found that by clicking on their "About Seller" profile. That only shows you their country, how long the they've been a Sedo member, and a scale rating of their buying/selling activity.

I sent Sedo an email this morning explaining what happened and if they could give me any additional details on the buyer's whereabouts.

 

[sids70]

I had little bit different experience. I got an offer but never replied because I was away on vacation. Because I did not replied for 3 weeks in that period buyer increased the bid to significant amount during the first week and then after 2 wks cancelled the negotiations due to lack of response on my part. I came back from vacation and logged in and realized that I lost the opportunity. It could have been my 1st sedo sales but nada...

Sedo does not provide any way to contact the same buyer, if yes let me know. thanks

 

[d3wlin]

I would suggest creating a simple webpage and placing an email on it.

 

[hambling]

Sedo auctions aren't true auctions, bids there aren't binding bids. Sedo and/or buyer and/or seller can back-out of a sale with little to no repercussions.

Ron

Though not celbrity names, I have had about 8 names that went to Sedo Auction so far this year where the winning bidder did not paor complete the sale. In one instanceone paid but did not send the transfer information. In all cases, I was just out of luck, including the one that was paid. Sedo, it seems does nothing to insure that the bidder really intends to complete the sale.

A Sedo sale is never complete until the $$$ is in your own account.

 

[exsedo]

You say that Sedo pulled it from auction because of a complaint that it possibly infringed on intellectual property ?

You don't hear any warning bells ringing ?

As for people advising you to begin heavily promoting the domain, and other helpful ? suggestions to help you sell the domain, what if the complainant was the legal representative of the celebrity ?

The best advice given here was to stay away from potential infringeing domains.

With luck, you may not face an ACPA action which will cost you between $1000 and $100000.