Potential buyer wants to do a background check on me? This is a first.

[RaiderGirl]

I cant make any sense of this other than intimidation...

Potential buyer contacts me about a domain, oddly the buyer is a left wing Super Pac funded by George Sorros, I priced it higher than I normally would and replied with a price of $8K, (I now regret not going higher)

Buyer replies their interested but wants to vet me, she asks for my full name, phone etc, so I remove the Whois privacy which shows all that and informed her of that in my reply. I also initiated a Escrow invoice at escrow.com. This was on Friday.

Didn't hear anything in nearly 3 days, so I decided to call this morning and spoke to the person in charge and she tells me they just purchased the dot org for $4000 and their looking to spend about the same for the dot com, she tells me they only want to use it for a redirect, I replied that it really makes no difference what they use it for, it wont effect the price.. I explained that dot com values are usually much higher than dot orgs, and since I've been receiving recent interest for the domain, the price is not negotiable..

Later in the day she emails me back and asks me to consider an offer of $5K, she goes on to say that the person who does background checks was not in the office today and will be in tomorrow, and I should think on it while were waiting on that, I replied back stating pretty much the same thing, that I felt it was already priced low and I've received other offers higher than hers and I'm firm on the price, declined the offer, thanked her for it and didn't address the background check issue, Currently waiting on her reply.

Since were using Escrow where they offer protection, whats with the background check? Not that I have anything to hide or fear, I just don't get it, If its for purposes of intimidation, the price will DOUBLE after escrow cancels the transaction for non activity....

I also thought, this is a Super Pac where they make a living digging up a dirt on people and exposing it to the world, so perhaps this is the norm for them, I don't know.

Your take on it..

 

[hawkeye]

Depends on the name - and my finances.

But I will say from my 20 years in business that you don't get rich by being a doormat. In fact, it's a good way to get poor.

And you also don't get rich turning down every offer 'hoping' for a maybe better offer.

'Bears get full, pigs get stuck'!

 

[4pm]

So, because a two word generic .com is currently parked, it will never be developed by anyone, eh?

no one wanted it for 12 years... with well developed and highly ranked .org add another 24 years of waiting until some cheap type in traffic hunter offer you $50 hoping for several 0.05 clicks to capture.. hope the $8K deal will get thru as otherwise that would be a dead asset for years to come..

 

[The New Guy]

And you also don't get rich turning down every offer 'hoping' for a maybe better offer.

'Bears get full, pigs get stuck'!

Without knowing the name, some basic facts:
- Left wing group is funded by a billionaire.
- Left wing group already paid $4K for the .org
- Left wing group agreed to $8K for the .com already and is only now trying to get it down

- The right wing also has billionaires.
- In politics, one upmanship and embarrassing the other side is a national pastime.
- The development of the .org only opens up the potential market for the .com

I don't know what domain raidergirl has. I don't know her portfolio or her finances. I do know that she apparently possesses at least one name that a well funded organization originally agreed to pay $8K for. I also know that they are now trying to alter the original agreement for their benefit.

If she is willing to take the chance and stand up for herself and her original agreement, she should be able to at least get the original $8k from the potential buyer. If not, she can always wait for the .org to be developed and take advantage of the new opportunities that would arise from that.

Yes, it involves risk. But if you're allergic to risk you shouldn't be in the domain business.

 

[johname]

Feels to me they never agreed to buy it for 8k and didn't agreed to escrow terms yet. No concrete proof they bought the org but makes sense they did. There wasn't any terms broken in my option. RG can clarify

There time to unload a domain and times to stick to your price. This feels like a time to stick to your price.

 

[4pm]

And in what world does a generic .com become LESS valuable because a lesser extension has been developed and promoted?

meet the world of end users, not domainers.... would you as a business entity base your online presence on w3.com? i know your answer would be yes-of-course-so-much-free-typein-traffic-i-can-sell-my-handmade-whatevers-to ...so it's kinda rhetoric

 

[cdboard]

Feels to me they never agreed to buy it for 8k .....

I went back to the OP, and I think you're right.

Buyer replies their interested but wants to vet me, she asks for my full name, phone etc, so I remove the Whois privacy which shows all that and informed her of that in my reply. I also initiated a Escrow invoice at escrow.com.

someone said they were "interested", so you started an escrow.com transaction?

 

[pjb1978]

You might want to consider that they might just want to find out who you are, and not whether or not you are a scammer. Companies who are bringing on new suppliers or vendors will often run checks to ensure that the funds will not be supporting any sort of terrorist, illegal or violent group.

As an ex employee of a bank here in Canada, I can tell you first hand that I had to take KYC (Know Your Customer) training, and had to pass a test in order to be employed with them. Perhaps the company just wants to know where their money is going. Let's say that you are up to no good... media gets word that this billionaire is your customer and they will have a field day with it.

Not saying that this is the case, but it's possible.

 

[RaiderGirl]

Feels to me they never agreed to buy it for 8k and didn't agreed to escrow terms yet. No concrete proof they bought the org but makes sense they did. There wasn't any terms broken in my option. RG can clarify.

There time to unload a domain and times to stick to your price. This feels like a time to stick to your price.

The reason I'm sticking to my price is #1, I don't like to be bullied and #2, I could not in good conscious give a George Soros backed organization any kind of break at all, even for a $1.. And your correct, they didn't actually agree to the price in words, I quoted the price and the terms of the sale and the reply I received back was "Were interested" "send me your information and well proceed" it was the phone call where they tried to get me down on price, followed by an email about the background check,.. It's been one obstacle after another and I'd rather blow the sale than deal with it, I know the name will eventually sell, hopefully to someone who will actually develop it.

I'm trying to be professional about it, I indicated in my last email that I would honor the original price up until Escrow cancels it.. I'm done communicating, the ball is in their court.. Any changes, I'll post them here..

no one wanted it for 12 years... with well developed and highly ranked .org add another 24 years of waiting until some cheap type in traffic hunter offer you $50 hoping for several 0.05 clicks to capture.. hope the $8K deal will get thru as otherwise that would be a dead asset for years to come..

With a well developed and highly ranked .com, they'd be kicking themselves in the ass for not spending 3K more... You don't know what the domain is, if you knew you wouldn't be posting this... As for not receiving offers in the last 12 years, I don't know where you got that from.
.

 

[RaiderGirl]

You might want to consider that they might just want to find out who you are, and not whether or not you are a scammer. Companies who are bringing on new suppliers or vendors will often run checks to ensure that the funds will not be supporting any sort of terrorist, illegal or violent group.

As an ex employee of a bank here in Canada, I can tell you first hand that I had to take KYC (Know Your Customer) training, and had to pass a test in order to be employed with them. Perhaps the company just wants to know where their money is going. Let's say that you are up to no good... media gets word that this billionaire is your customer and they will have a field day with it.

Not saying that this is the case, but it's possible.

This sounds like the most logical explanationt, more than just possible I'd say,Your right, they have a lot to protect, especially being a non profit with links to Soros... This makes the most sense.. Thank you.

someone said they were "interested", so you started an escrow.com transaction?

In the original email she expressed interest in the name and asked whether I'd be willing to sell it and for what price, I replied to that email with a price and the escrow terms only, her follow up email to that was "Were interested" so naturally I interpreted that as an acceptance of the quoted price... I hope this clears it up.

 

[Ms Domainer]

Naturally?

The last time I looked, "interested" means "I want to consider it," not "Yes!"

The potential buyer is under no obligation to follow through with your escrow.

 

[The New Guy]

Naturally?

The last time I looked, "interested" means "I want to consider it," not "Yes!"

After re-reading that and thinking about it, I think it's less of an offer to buy @ $8K and more of a "we want to buy it and we want to offer you less, but I'm going to do it as passively as possible".

There are people like this who are frustrating to deal with if you're used to being up front and decisive. While most people will offer and counter offer, there are some out there who either through a timid nature or calculated acts draw things out in order to put off possible confrontation as long as possible.

To people who like to move quickly and say what they mean, "we're interested" after quoting a price is taken to mean they're interested at that price. To the passive negotiators, "we're interested" means "we'd like to buy at some price at some date, but we're not making a commitment to buy at your price at this time." It's ridiculous to many people since they're already indicating interest in just by inquiring about the domain. If they weren't interested, why would they be making the inquiry?

I've dealt with clients like this before. People like this will wear you down until they get their way, and you will be at a disadvantage if you let them continue.

The only solution in these cases is to take charge and set deadlines and prices yourself and be firm about it. Let them know by your actions that you're willing to walk away and when you set up a deal it is at that price in a certain time frame. The only way they're going to do the right thing is if you make them understand the consequences of their (in)action.

You don't have to over explain it to them. Just say something like "I'm sorry, when you said you were interested after give you my price I thought you were ready to buy at that price. Since this is not the case, I do not want to tie the domain up from other potential buyers until there is a firm commitment on the sale price so I am withdrawing the domain from escrow."

 

[Ms Domainer]

In written communications, we have to take language at its face value because we don't have the advantage of body language.

New Guy, your advice seems spot on.

 

[WritersWrite]

- Left wing group agreed to $8K for the .com already and is only now trying to get it down

No they didn't.

At least not according to RaiderGirl's description. She quoted a price and the potential buyer replied that they were "interested" but they needed to vet her.

This does not sound like they agreed to the quoted price, that it was a done deal, and that they are not standing up to their agreement as you have repeatedly characterized it.

They got a quote from someone on the internet in the blind and rightfully wanted to do some due diligence. So, yes, they advised that they are interested in pursuing it further and then they make a counteroffer.

Regarding the background check -

I presume that the person that is making this contact has a job and works in an office. She does not have piles of cash and blank checks from her billionaire boss lying around that she can spend at will.

What she is probably doing is making sure that she does not lose her job because she wired $8,000 to someone that she exchanged two emails without making sure that everything was legit.

Put yourself in the position of someone who is not a domainer and then imagine the hesitation that you would have about cutting a check based on a few emails.

 

[Paul]

Would you tell someone you are doing a background check on them? Its not like your applying for a job with them. Feels tactics to me. There could be they want to know if you ever fraud or stole a domain name before.

But I am thinking she already feels she paid way too much for the org and feels org better than com in use. And feels a little more than she paid for the org is plenty 4k+1k=5k (I am in her mind, not domainer reality). So she goes for the background check card.

This was my first thought. Why would you tell someone you're running a background check on them? Unless, of course, you're obligated to do so by law. I don't tell people that I'm about to starting digging up info on them. That'd be silly.

Whether or not a background check is actually taking place doesn't really matter. What matters is that they went out of their way to make sure you knew they were checking up on you. There are plenty of reasons they could have done this, and none represent good intentions.

 

[The New Guy]

No they didn't.

I mentioned that in my last follow up. Not having the whole conversation I took the "interested" reply after being quoted a price as being interested at the quoted price, not some opener for extended negotiations.

 

[SimpleDomaining]

if they changed terms after agreeing to pay... this deal stinks.
if they never agreed to pay 8k from the beginning, they just trying to drop the price, which is normal for the negotiation process... but the scarer tactic they use also stinks... so the dilemma is to continue with stinky deal in general, or to keep the domain where it was for past 12 years. Reality check: 1 will this domain worth anything more later on, than what they are currently offering? 2. will this domain worth anything to anyone else if they go for a TM (if that is possible at all on generic keywords). I would suggest you to come down to 7,5 k and to stay there. Tho i honestly dont think they will go for it now. I think they will back up for couple months, then will try again with 4k offer.

 

[jideofor]

Naturally?

The last time I looked, "interested" means "I want to consider it," not "Yes!"

The potential buyer is under no obligation to follow through with your escrow.

Even a yes does not mean that the name will still be sold.

 

[RaiderGirl]

I took the "interested" reply after being quoted a price as being interested at the quoted price, not some opener for extended negotiations.

As did I... If your a sales clerk in a art gallery and a customer comes up asks you "how much for this painting?" and you reply $8000, and the next words out of their mouth is "I'm interested" isn't that the same as saying "That would a price I'm willing to pay?" Granted, it's not a YES.

At any rate, the sale of the domain is not that important, the main point of this thread was to get some input as to the motivation behind a background check and I think pjb1978 offered the most logical reasoning, which I'm confident will help me in further negotiations.. I'd like nothing better than to sell the domain and get some of George Soros's money, but I don't lose sleep over it, I think most of us who've been in the business have become accustomed to long drawn out negotiations and missed sales, its a major part of domaining... I greatly appreciate your input, as well as everyone else, Thank you

 

[RaiderGirl]

The potential buyer is under no obligation to follow through with your escrow.

Who said they were? Since there was never an explicit "YES" but rather a "mind f*ck YES", I never pushed the issue, And I have no problem canceling the escrow transaction if thats what the potential buyer wants, monetarily it wont bother me in the least because this a domain name I'd be perfectly willing to give to a conservative or group for FREE if they asked.

 

[RogueWriter]

I love namepros. We domainers can argue about anything, no matter how small the detail, lol.