Problem with a Major auction house

[Premiere]

I'm looking for some help with a domain auction dispute.

Several months ago I submitted some domains to an auction platform. These were the same domains I have submitted many times and I have done it the same way every time with the same reserves. However the auction interface is sloppy and easy to mess up so who knows if what I thought I did translated into what I expected.

Last week one of these domains was accepted to the auction platform, but for some reason the auctioneer's system did not tally my minimum reserve and the item was sent to auction at $0. As soon as I received the acceptance email I told them to institute my reserve or remove the item from auction (my email was sent within minutes of getting the acceptance email). A few hours later they replied that it was too late, they couldn't change it, and the domain already received pre-bids. I am sure they have reasons for pushing domains to auction the same instant they send the notification letter but this seems ludicrous.

Ultimately this domain went for far less than its adsense income. If I sold I would earn $1200, and the domain earns that much in 6 months. I even thought about taking the offer but I went through the numbers a few times and accepting such a lowball price would be too painful.

I really need advice on how to handle this with the auction house, because I simply can't give up the domain for so little. What are typical resolutions in this case? Has anyone dealt with similar scenarios with auction providers? Are there situations where the auction house might consider putting a different one of my qualifying domains up for auction at reserve until sold (so that I recover my losses on this domain)? Is there a way to work with the buyer to improve the sale price?

Thanks for any advice my fellow domainers can offer %%-
Wire

 

[Domagon]

Just don't sell it. The so-called auction house likely isn't a licensed auctioneer anyways.

All the major domainer "auction" sites (Sedo, Afternic, eBay, etc) I'm aware of don't enforce sales.

In regards to the buyer coming after you - explain the auction was flawed by the so-called "auction house", and that were was "no meeting of the minds" in regards to the auction / sale.

The buyer may make threats, but likely won't get anywhere in court, since, again, there was "no meeting of the minds" - you wanted it listed with a particular reserve price, but the auction house failed to fulfill your request; didn't list it properly.

Ron

 

[canswift]

Would you be OK with letting us on Namepros know which auction platform you used? It would be appreciated, so others could avoid the same issue in future. Thanks.