Makemoney.com auction closed and member banned

[Keith]

This thread was closed

https://www.namepros.com/threads/makemoney-com.1300134/page-3#posts

@Bravo Mod Team what was the reason for closing and banning the member? If it was because it changed from a charity auction to a personal auction, cool.

But then my question is, how would you know if proceeds were donated, assuming the initial auction carried out?

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

what was the reason for closing and banning the member?

We did not close the auction; you can clearly see the seller closed it without awarding a winner:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/makemoney-com.1300134/post-8908360

As for why they’re banned, that’s because they have a long history of being unprofessional and disrupting the community, with this auction being the most recent example.

We hope that helps.

 

[Keith]

If it were me making the rules @Paul

You cannot modify an auction, period. That includes changing a BIN or adding one. If you start with offers only then offers are all you can expect.

 

[Kingslayer]

"I can't channel the proceeds to the original purpose" just 2 hours after bumping the thread, who is he trying to kid? Why wasn't it arranged with the charity before starting the auction? But just for arguments sake, why can't he do that? You can donate to anyone and anything.

That guy was a scumbag, plain and simple, you could spot it from a mile off.

Never had any intention in honouring the auction from the get go, hence why he selected NamePros for doing it (as he thought there would be no consequence).

What this was about was 'attention' he wanted people to bid on his name, see it was valueable and that is all in my opinion and doing this in the name of 'charity' shows what a scumbag he is.

But It's backfired, that thread (along with this) is forever on Google and the domain is no doubt devalued as result.

 

[Paul]

That’s a fair request, @Keith, and I personally have some concerns with late-game BINs related to security.

However, my more immediate concern is the abuse of charity auctions. Like you said, if they hadn’t explicitly stated their intentions, we never would have known, and a blanket ban against any changes wouldn’t protect us against that.

Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that charity auctions aren’t abused?

 

[WillW]

Could be wrong but I got the feeling that the current auction price wasn't anywhere near what he was hoping to get and it wasn't going to get near that BIN, so he cancelled it.

Those new member bids were a little sus too

 

[Keith]

Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that charity auctions aren’t abused?

Yup, don’t entertain them.

If you can’t monitor where the proceeds go then it’s a dead issue.

 

[Future Sensors]

Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that charity auctions aren’t abused?

I would suggest that combining charity & domain auctions should no longer be allowed on this forum, because it is indeed impossible to determine what will happen to the proceeds. If they want to start a fundraising campaign to help others, they can do so elsewhere on the forum.

 

[Paul]

I was thinking we could require that the payment be made directly to the charity. That seems like it would be easier to enforce and offer more transparency. We’d also have to set some criteria about what can be called a charity auction.

 

[Keith]

I was thinking we could require that the payment be made directly to the charity. That seems like it would be easier to enforce and offer more transparency. We’d also have to set some criteria about what can be called a charity auction.

That makes perfect sense!

 

[Paul]

That makes perfect sense!

It does, and it's the solution I proposed internally, but sometimes solutions that seem sound on paper don't work in practice. If anyone can think of a reason we shouldn't add rules along these lines, I'd like to take their concerns into consideration.

 

[Keith]

It does, and it's the solution I proposed internally, but sometimes solutions that seem sound on paper don't work in practice. If anyone can think of a reason we shouldn't add rules along these lines, I'd like to take their concerns into consideration.

It’s probably best to eliminate the charity aspect. It’s too hard to follow the trail.

As far as auctions go, you expect the result with how you start. A buyer shouldn’t be able to add a BIN mid stream. That’s a point for mods to ponder.

 

[Daniel Owens]

I think admin made the right choice we don't need jokers like him messing up the marketplace. It's too bad it didn't work out I think the 95K bidder if a real bidder is probably sad he didn't get the domain. And, closing thread before winner was sketchy and probably the main reason he got in deep trouble. He should honor the 95K bid closing the thread early like he did makes me think he wants a mid-xxx,xxx figure and felt like domain price was going to low. He really messed up.

 

[Paul]

It’s probably best to eliminate the charity aspect. It’s too hard to follow the trail.

That would certainly be easier, although I feel bad doing that. If that's what the community wants, though, I don't personally have any objections.

 

[Echo Mod Team]

Yup, don’t entertain them.

If you can’t monitor where the proceeds go then it’s a dead issue.

I was thinking we could require that the payment be made directly to the charity. That seems like it would be easier to enforce and offer more transparency. We’d also have to set some criteria about what can be called a charity auction.

It's really an unfortunate situation, when the name of charity is used in an unacceptable manor to try and increase sympathy bids from members that may not have bid as much as they did (Or at all) otherwise, if it had not been announced to be a Charity in the first place.

Prior to the funds transfer to a Charity, their is rarely any documentation to review, unless a seller has organized with a Charity and are Co-Auctioning the domain name.

That means that a representative from the actual Charity (With a verifiable 501c3) may need to join NamePros and verify their account, just like members with verified representative badges do from well known industry related companies on NamePros.

Other than the above, this moderator team does not see a way to authenticate a charity auction with much accuracy, other than after it ends and upon verification of donation receipts/documents.

The best way to prevent manipulation of charity auction claims would be to verify a charity representative that publicly vouches for the charity auction in question. The later, verifying by receipt after the auction, is a bit too late and the money is already gone, deceptively.

 

[Paul]

We are definitely going to take a lot of heat if we ban charity auctions: people are going to be quite mad at us for refusing to allow fundraisers, and they will almost certainly ascribe it to political motive.

Then again, we take a lot of heat for, well, everything.

 

[Future Sensors]

Does it happen so often that a charity domain auction is started on NamePros?

 

[Daniel Owens]

We are definitely going to take a lot of heat if we ban charity auctions: people are going to be quite mad at us for refusing to allow fundraisers, and they will almost certainly ascribe it to political motive.

Then again, we take a lot of heat for, well, everything.

Maybe, only charities should be able to offer charity auctions that would solve it. If we allowed them to open accounts provide their 501c and other status then they could offer domains. But, to let joe the plumber auction off a domain with an unverified claim that it's going to charity seems sketchy to say the least.

 

[branding]

Interesting debate regarding charity auctions...

However... The seller cancelled the auction, like I mentioned earlier on, which is a huge no-no and against NP auction rules.

This one is not on NP (they actually gave free additional exposure to the auction), but on the seller. Given his history, he was definitely aware.

Charity auction or not, shouldn't make a difference.

You fail to honour your offering (if not beyond your control), you must be held accountable.

 

[Paul]

Does it happen so often that a charity domain auction is started on NamePros?

No, but it's not unheard of, either.

 

[maya-zir]

I don't understand why this auction caused such a wave of outrage and resulted in a user being banned.

Let's take it step by step.

Firstly, let's forget the fact that this was a charity auction, and also let's ignore the fact that it was an expensive domain. This is irrelevant because rules should apply to any action, regardless of its value and reason.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the user did not act dishonestly since he proved that the domain was his, and he also stopped the auction and explained the reason why.

Okay, the explanation wasn't very clear, but he still stopped everything before receiving any money. He didn't steal from anyone, nor did he deceive anyone. Maybe he had some reasons to stop it.

If, as has already been said, this user has made mistakes before, it only shows that he is impulsive or disorganized. I don't know who he is, but as far as I'm concerned, it would have been enough to reduce his seller rating.

The person wanted to help, for some reason couldn't, and stopped the auction. Did you lose something from this? Just move on and forget about it. You're making a problem out of nothing.

Years ago, a seller here offered an 8-number domain, but he sent me a 9-number one when I bought it. I only noticed two weeks later. I opened a thread and showed screenshots and proof, but I don't remember anyone getting so upset about it, even though it was a real scam.

 

[Keith]

Interesting debate regarding charity auctions...

However... The seller cancelled the auction, like I mentioned earlier on, which is a huge no-no and against NP auction rules.

And, sellers don’t get to do that. Normally, the mods just use their superpowers to keep the momentum going.

Glad you pointed out another inconsistency.

 

[Kingslayer]

I've just done a search on NamePros and found this from 6 months ago:-

https://www.namepros.com/threads/makemoney-com-charity-auction-one-and-only-bid-with-heart.1285975/

Fair enough he did nothing wrong here (closed the auction with no bids), but said it was a charity auction but this time for "personal computers for children in Kharkiv/Kharkov".

Something obviously doesn't seem right with it all, if he was serious and wants to help Ukrainians affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, why not just donate proceeds to aid the people of Ukraine in general and a charity such as IRC/Unicef or Red Cross:-

https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal
https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/donate-now-to-protect-children-in-ukraine/
https://help.rescue.org/donate/ukraine-crisis

Rather than just 1 specific thing (computers or bread) with no info on how this is going to be done/which charity its being donated to?

 

[rh2000]

I've just done a search on NamePros and found this from 6 months ago:-

https://www.namepros.com/threads/makemoney-com-charity-auction-one-and-only-bid-with-heart.1285975/

Fair enough he did nothing wrong here (closed the auction with no bids), but said it was a charity auction but this time for "personal computers for children in Kharkiv/Kharkov".

Something obviously doesn't seem right with it all, if he was serious and wants to help Ukrainians affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, why not just donate proceeds to aid the people of Ukraine in general and a charity such as IRC/Unicef or Red Cross:-

https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal
https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/donate-now-to-protect-children-in-ukraine/
https://help.rescue.org/donate/ukraine-crisis

Rather than just 1 specific thing (computers or bread) with no info on how this is going to be done/which charity its being donated to?

Nice find. Now I see why he or she canceled the auction. The last bid was much less than what they paid for the domain.

 

[maya-zir]

I've just done a search on NamePros and found this from 6 months ago:-

https://www.namepros.com/threads/makemoney-com-charity-auction-one-and-only-bid-with-heart.1285975/

Fair enough he did nothing wrong here (closed the auction with no bids), but said it was a charity auction but this time for "personal computers for children in Kharkiv/Kharkov".

Something obviously doesn't seem right with it all, if he was serious and wants to help Ukrainians affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, why not just donate proceeds to aid the people of Ukraine in general and a charity such as IRC/Unicef or Red Cross:-

https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal
https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/donate-now-to-protect-children-in-ukraine/
https://help.rescue.org/donate/ukraine-crisis

Rather than just 1 specific thing (computers or bread) with no info on how this is going to be done/which charity its being donated to?

It is quite possible that the domain does not belong to him alone, or there were some problems or reasons why he decided not to sell the domain.
Everyone attacked him like that, but he did not take money from anyone. It was enough to simply lower the rating of the seller, and not expose him as a scammer.
Maybe he wanted to sell the domain, get money and donate his money and not ask people here to donate.

 

[Kingslayer]

Nice find. Now I see why he or she canceled the auction. The last bid was much less than what they paid for the domain.

Where does it say what they paid for the domain? It just said $250k start and I'm fairly sure they wouldn’t have paid anywhere near $250k for it either.

But even so, they started their last auction with no reserve (no one forced them to) and it was getting a bid every day and on the verge of hitting 6 figures, so i don’t buy that.

I’ve been involved in valuable domain names (I know Keith as too in this thread), sometimes things can get a bit quiet on these names and ‘some’ people need reassuring its valuable and I honestly think thats all this was with this ‘so called’ auction (attention) and when I look previous threads of this domain on NamePros and outside NamePros, I do feel they seek attention with it.

FTR it’s a great domain, but it’s domain that I don’t think is special, it’s a domain what I (as an investor) would have liked to have paid around $50k or under for, I saw its potential as a $250k domain (max) to the perfect buyer, but I think it’s a tough sell.