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..

 

[The New Guy]

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.

This was something I was going to mention - going by the Reagan quote in your sig.

If you can figure out what that group might be doing with your domain, you might want to find out what kind of conservative / libertarian group is out there that goes up against them and give them a call. Just play it very close to the vest and only speak to upper level people in the organization and only on condition of complete confidentiality. Tell them the other group was 'interested' at $8K and they're already sunk $4k into the .org, so they may be able to get a leg up on them with the .com.

 

[briguy]

How this for a crazy thought.. The potential buyer is reading this thread..thinking a background check might list "alias" (forums, forum names)..

 

[Horizonconcepts]

I'd be turning it around,they are "vetting" you? YOU own the domain in question,YOU should be vetting THEM,how dare they vet you when they are the ones who have to prove they have the funds to pay for it!

 

[DU]

Can we name drop George Soros just one more time, please. I'm seriously impressed already.

So a superpac funded by GS contacted you. He and his foundation fund many it doesn't mean anything for the .com valuation.

The domain name is not that important to them if the have the .Org as this is not unusual for a political group.

Plenty of .org without the .com - if the org is big enough the com doesn't matter.

Sell or don't sell... but don't think for one second they will be kicking themselves.

As for background check? Who knows - maybe just checking you're a nobody rather than a connected lobbyist.

 

[DU]

Contact the Cock, I mean koch, Brothers and offer it to them for 8k.

 

[Electric-Shadow]

As someone pointed out they may be under obligation to run a background check. My guess is because they might have to declare any funding that's spent, who was paid and what for, hence they want to run a check before initiating any transaction.

You can speculate and discuss the what ifs and other details until you go grey but in the end, there's not a thing you can do. As other's have suggested, set a firm deadline and price and stick to it. If they want it badly enough they'll cough up sooner or later. As you said, you've had other interest!

 

[seven]

Wanted to add this suggestion:

Set your price at a certain deadline but no need to add closure language to that. Just say if the deadline isn't met, my next price quote will be $250 more.

That's a good motivator for the buyer, shows you're serious, and gives them a deadline to work against with incentive to get the deal done.

If they're going to play games, that's their choice but you can make them pay for it. As the seller, you're always in control.

 

[Domainace]

I didn't see the background check as an intimidation tactic, the way it was mentioned. And if they were willing to pony up 4k for the .org, double that for the .com is a heck of a deal.

I would politely give them a deadline, no mention of a firm price rise. Just say that 8 is the price, take it or leave it, and the deadline is next week. And that if they come back after that, the price point may be higher.

If they don't buy, you can have some fun with the name

 

[verbster]

I can't imagine they perform in-depth background checks on everyone they purchase goods or services from, but they probably need accounting info to record expenditures.

What makes you think they haven't already done a basic public information check on you after you revealed your whois?

They don't need to ask permission to get basic public info, but they do need written permission to check credit and such (under the FCRA). Have they asked for written permission?

I can't imagine they would try any intimidation tactics for a few thousand bucks. Too much of a story. I don't think they are worried about your political leanings, either, as the information you released would enable them to find your trail wherever.

If selling the domain is no big deal, just maintain your take it or leave it strategy, with directions on how to proceed with escrow. Let them decide. My guess is they really don't want it that much.

 

[GoKaizen]

Bottom line, they are wasting your time. If a buyer makes you jump through hoops they better offer something for it. Especially when they are that well loaded.

Cancel the transaction, say it's not for sale to them anymore. Unpark it and make a site about how Soros PACs waste people's time.

 

[WritersWrite]

Bottom line, they are wasting your time. If a buyer makes you jump through hoops they better offer something for it.

So far, it sounds like the only hoop that they asked her to jump through was to consider their offer to buy her domain, and what they were offering her in return for that was $5,000.

 

[forge]

I'd be turning it around,they are "vetting" you? YOU own the domain in question,YOU should be vetting THEM,how dare they vet you when they are the ones who have to prove they have the funds to pay for it!

We can call this the "Taxi Driver" play.

"Are you talkin' to me?"

 

[Name Trader]

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.

I think it could be taken either way. "I'm interested" doesn't confirm the price. So I don't think they have given you a mind-f*ck YES. They haven't given you any price. I think, in fact, that you jumped the gun a little by setting up the escrow invoice, without an explicit agreement on the price. The credit check could quite easily have been a response to that invoice and they want to know who they are dealing with. Who is sending them an invoice when they haven't even agreed the price, yet? It could be part of their Standard Operating Proceedures.

 

[Horizonconcepts]

Why is it the taxi driver play FORGE?Why vet someone over a domain they own...the potential buyer should be vetted,they have to prove they can afford it right?"will the check be honored"? Springs to my mind.
If you go and buy a car do you check the owners family,friends,business connections etc.You just need to know that the title is clear.

 

[Ms Domainer]

I'm of two minds on this one.

On the one hand, if the cash clears, what difference does it make?

On the other hand, what if the domain has been stolen? I'm not saying that this is the case in this instance, just that the potential buyer might be skittish.

Perhaps the potential buyer has been burned before; perhaps he or she has bought a stolen domain in the past and then had it taken away and returned to the rightful owner. POOF! Money gone.

I don't think OP should take it personally. It's probably just a business decision/policy.

 

[DU]

So far, it sounds like the only hoop that they asked her to jump through was to consider their offer to buy her domain, and what they were offering her in return for that was $5,000.

You forgot to mention the compromising of personal principles or did you miss the bit about Soros?

But the only time wasting going on is some of the vicarious self ego stroking of people on threads like this.

It sells or it doesn't.

What's point of continuing to fret about something that's probably nothing? Eva probably misinterpreted much of the situation or at least lost it in translation.

I guess I should learn to unsubscribe from threads rather than just wait for them to die naturally

 

[kemjika11]

Asking for a background check in relation to a domain negotiation/sale situation baffles me. Its as crazy as its humorous. If someone asked me for a background check during a domain negotiation i would probably withdraw from the scene and wait to be approached on my own terms. If they want it then they cant pretend they are the leverager in the situation. Tell them to drop the background check stuff or the deal wont happen. Thats what i would do, but its up to you now.Just let us know how everything pans out.

 

[WritersWrite]

You forgot to mention the compromising of personal principles or did you miss the bit about Soros?

No, I did not forget to mention that because it did not happen.

And I did not miss the seller's reference to Soros.

What you're suggesting is simply made up and does not relate to the issue at hand at all.

Based on the information presented here, the interested buyer knows nothing about the seller's political affiliation, her 'personal principles', or her potential ideological objection to selling to them. That is all on the seller.

The only thing they had the gall to do was make a domainer a respectable counteroffer to buy a domain that was for sale.

 

[RaiderGirl]

To update you a little, I canceled escrow and reactivated whois privacy.

I also did a trademark search and no political or non profit exists.

Again, I accept the reasoning behind the background check, that its standard procedure to protect themselves politically and for non profit reasons. It just makes sense...Although they didn't have to tell me about it, and then remind me again during negotiations, completely out of line IMO, but I would expect no less from a left wing organization who's primary business is trashing people.

Based on the information presented here, the interested buyer knows nothing about the seller's political affiliation, her 'personal principles', or her potential ideological objection to selling to them. That is all on the seller.

Correct, I did not enter into any discussion about politics, my personal beliefs or anything else not having to do with the domain and the price, This is after all a business transaction and I treated it as such..

This was something I was going to mention - going by the Reagan quote in your sig.

If you can figure out what that group might be doing with your domain, you might want to find out what kind of conservative / libertarian group is out there that goes up against them and give them a call. Just play it very close to the vest and only speak to upper level people in the organization and only on condition of complete confidentiality. Tell them the other group was 'interested' at $8K and they're already sunk $4k into the .org, so they may be able to get a leg up on them with the .com.

I discussed this with friends who are business minded people and they suggested I do the same thing... I'd like nothing more than to sell it to them instead, I plan to look into it and make some inquiries.. I'll keep you posted.

.

 

[BlackMagic]

Sounds like a flake. A lot of nerve.