Negotiation help please

[groundctrl]

Ok, so I'm going through my first negotiation right now, for a domain I randomly picked up which I thought had no value. The first email went like this:

1. Guy contacts me, claims to be mom and pop
2. Says they're starting a website and would like my name
3. Give a price (low $XXX) to buy it

I responded like this (after some Googling of the name and not finding much)-- a lot of what I wrote was based on Spade's old negotiation thread :

4. Sounds like a nice project
5. Was planning on doing something with the name, but might be into selling
6. Counter with mid $XXX offer

I just got a response which was exactly halfway between the first and second offers, and he'd willing to pay. I'm pleased with the price-- I really didn't think I'd ever sell this name.

Does any of this set off any alarms in your heads? Am I doing this wrong or could this be a scam somehow? This is my first end-user sale, so I don't really know how I'm supposed to do this.

He suggested Paypal as a method of payment-- can I trust this payment won't somehow be taken back after the name gets transferred? I've never had a transaction outside of with domainers, so I'm a total n00b.

I really appreciate any help you guys can give me.

 

[buckshotdots]

Sounds like you both got what you wanted out of it. I am so scared now to use paypal for domains with people I don't know. I would only use escrow or make a sedo account and tell him after dns is resolved and its added to your account to offer there (worth the 10% for security- but can be a bit slow at times). Tell him its to protect BOTH of you and he should understand. If he doesnt consider it a scam.

good luck, Gary.

 

[groundctrl]

why should i be afraid of paypal, exactly?

 

[buckshotdots]

Chargebacks. Read the thread about bo.com here at NP's. I think they talk about ebay and paypal a bit. It was stolen (among others) and was being sold on ebay.

 

[groundctrl]

thanks! i requested Escrow.com, which has been great to me. i really appreciate the advice!

 

[Ja$on]

You could also post it up on Sedo and let them handle the transaction.

 

[RazorNF]

buckshot is right. I've had a chargeback happen to me once - Paypal notified me a couple months after a transaction and took back the money. Use escrow for this transaction...

 

[PowerUp]

buckshot is right. I've had a chargeback happen to me once - Paypal notified me a couple months after a transaction and took back the money. Use escrow for this transaction...

Does anyone know after how many months after the transaction then the buyer cannot do anymore chargebacks? 2 months? 4 months? 1 year?