Should I go in half on this domain a guy purchased from Ebay? Give me your opinion

[DnPresident]

Should I go in half on this domain a guy purchased from Ebay? Give me your opinion

Someone I know through the forum just called me wanting to know if I would go in half on a domain name he bought from Ebay.

I looked up what I knew to look up like the history, rank, Site Grade, age and everything seems to check out and be too good to be true since it ranks in the 400,000 range. I think it's a good price and if everything is true it can grow to a great ranking.

It was just purchased tonight, so it's still in the sellers name....Please don't contact the owner since it's already been purchased.

The end price was approx $800 and I would pay $400 approx....

Can someone experienced check it out for me and tell me if it's real?

Is this a fair deal for DiscussingDomains.com?

Dave C

 

[homebuyer]

Good Luck.

Should I go in half on this domain a guy purchased from Ebay? Give me your opinion

Someone I know through the forum just called me wanting to know if I would go in half on a domain name he bought from Ebay.

I looked up what I knew to look up like the history, rank, Site Grade, age and everything seems to check out and be too good to be true since it ranks in the 400,000 range. I think it's a good price and if everything is true it can grow to a great ranking.

It was just purchased tonight, so it's still in the sellers name....Please don't contact the owner since it's already been purchased.

The end price was approx $800 and I would pay $400 approx....

Can someone experienced check it out for me and tell me if it's real?

Is this a fair deal for DiscussingDomains.com?

Dave C

If I were going to buy half a domain from someone I would want the following:

1. I get to decide what's done with it.
2. If I decide to sell it for whatever reason, need quick cash, etc., I will be the one who decides when and for how much.
3. If the domain is developed, I want the other buyer to do all the work. If an expense arises, I won't need anyone's permission to incur costs.
4. I want the right to buy out the other guy whenever I want.
5.If I incur a debt and the domain gets seized, I want to walk away from the deal because you wouldn't be able to collect any money from me anyway.
6. If someone files a UDRP against us, I will hire the attorney and you will reminburse me. In short, I get to decide the matter, and if I feel like it, I want to have the power to surrender the domain to the so-called TM holder.
7. I want it in my account.
8. If a dispute arises between us, I want to use the courts where I live.
9. If I can't pay the renewal fees, then you cover the costs and I'll reimburse you if and when we sell it.

Oh, and I'd want to know if the seller has a name, address and phone number in the domain's whois record before I bought it.

Get the picture?

 

[Krossat]

maybe I got it all wrong but I dont think the domain is even $400 worth. Probably if it was developed...etc..etc you've heard the story before

 

[DnPresident]

If I were going to buy half a domain from someone I would want the following:

1. I get to decide what's done with it.
2. If I decide to sell it for whatever reason, need quick cash, etc., I will be the one who decides when and for how much.
3. If the domain is developed, I want the other buyer to do all the work. If an expense arises, I won't need anyone's permission to incur costs.
4. I want the right to buy out the other guy whenever I want.
5.If I incur a debt and the domain gets seized, I want to walk away from the deal because you wouldn't be able to collect any money from me anyway.
6. If someone files a UDRP against us, I will hire the attorney and you will reminburse me. In short, I get to decide the matter, and if I feel like it, I want to have the power to surrender the domain to the so-called TM holder.
7. I want it in my account.
8. If a dispute arises between us, I want to use the courts where I live.
9. If I can't pay the renewal fees, then you cover the costs and I'll reimburse you if and when we sell it.

Oh, and I'd want to know if the seller has a name, address and phone number in the domain's whois record before I bought it.

Get the picture?

Cake and eat it too?

So if I can get it in my name and him partner for this price is it worth it? I'd only feel safe if it were in my name.

I didn't know if this was a common thing for people to go in half on names and I wasn't for sure the ranking and other site info was real, so that's why I asked for some advice.

Be nice if there was a way to go half in on names and be safe for both, Kinda like a business partnership in domaining, legally, safely and easily.

Not sure if I can get everything you'd have to have.

Davd C

maybe I got it all wrong but I dont think the domain is even $400 worth. Probably if it was developed...etc..etc you've heard the story before

It's a developed forum ranked around 400,000

 

[Domainate.com]

Someone I know through the forum just called me wanting to know if I would go in half on a domain name he bought from Ebay.

Did he just present this to you out of the blue or have you both discussed doing this kind of thing before?

I personally wouldn't do it...just because the name has rank doesn't mean the traffic is what you think (and that counts for both quantity as well as quality). I've made that mistake multiple times and it's never pretty. The name itself is not very good, maybe low $xxx at most.

So weirdness of this approach from him aside, I would say no, but personally I would also say no if he just approached you out of the blue with this without prior discussion of anything like this, even if you both "know" each other. For one thing, if he absolutely needed the money, he wouldn't have done it after winning the name.

Edit: Just noticed in your last post you mentioned it was a forum. Forum traffic is not generally worth a whole lot unless you intend to continue running a forum on the domain. If so, then perhaps, but even still you have to get everyone that's coming back to it to rejoin and post on an empty forum, which might not happen so easily.

 

[DnPresident]

Did he just present this to you out of the blue or have you both discussed doing this kind of thing before?

I personally wouldn't do it...just because the name has rank doesn't mean the traffic is what you think (and that counts for both quantity as well as quality). I've made that mistake multiple times and it's never pretty. The name itself is not very good, maybe low $xxx at most.

So weirdness of this approach from him aside, I would say no, but personally I would also say no if he just approached you out of the blue with this without prior discussion of anything like this, even if you both "know" each other. For one thing, if he absolutely needed the money, he wouldn't have done it after winning the name.

We talk on the phone frequently but no warning of this......He called me, told me the scoop on the name and that there was 30 minutes left in the ebay auction.....I told him I'd have to check it out first and that I didn't have access to a computer... He bought it and told me to let him know within 7 days if I wanted to go in half.

As I said it is a developed forum and not just a name.

Dave C

 

[goodkarmaco]

Don't go for total decision making on the domain as how fair is that?.

You want a partnership that is fair, not one sided for you. How would you feel if he demanded total decision making for the domains future?. You have to decide if the guy is a stand up guy and will honor your partnership. If not move on.

Ask him what he thinks the both of you should do to maximise both your investments.

 

[homebuyer]

Call

Call the owner, or visit the forum and send him a PM to confirm the ebay sale. Did someone tell you not to contact the forum's owner?

 

[DnPresident]

Call the owner, or visit the forum and send him a PM to confirm the ebay sale. Did someone tell you not to contact the forum's owner?

No one told me to not contact the owner....I'm mainly wondering if the traffic is real, from what I can find it appears to be real.

I just thought it was a low price for that alexa rank compared to what I've seen.

Just asking for opinions on if the traffic looks real and if I should go forward with the offer. Contacting the owner wouldn't confirm the traffic is real.

 

[Compassion]

Well, the name itself isn't worth 800, but the forum seems to be doing alright -- If you think you can monetize the forum and manage it well, go for it....

 

[DnPresident]

Edit....Traffic is real but had a full page ad from an advertising site which I was not familiar with.

 

[Compassion]

If your intuition says to back off, then do so.


I didn't listen to my intuition many times - now MFs owe me over 50 grand

 

[Aggro]

Just what the world needs...another domain forum...

Such a great deal that he wanted to share it with you. :imho:

 

[Michael]

I don't think it is worth it at that price, although I've gone in on purchases with members of this forum several times and it has always worked out well.

<shameless> If you're interested in DiscussDesign(,)com shoot me a PM </shameless>

 

[JOHNDEER]

The value isnt in the domain itself. The value is in the traffic (alexa says 500 vists unique a day) and in the 2k members of the forum. My guess is that it gets 5-10k pageviews a day. As far as optimizing the ads look in disary etc. If someone goes in a sets up good ads and better af placement I think revenue would come very quickly. Just looks to me like it needs a little bit of love and TLC and some promotion.

 

[Compassion]

The value isnt in the domain itself. The value is in the traffic (alexa says 500 vists unique a day) and in the 2k members of the forum. My guess is that it gets 5-10k pageviews a day. As far as optimizing the ads look in disary etc. If someone goes in a sets up good ads and better af placement I think revenue would come very quickly. Just looks to me like it needs a little bit of love and TLC and some promotion.

Seems right,

But much will be lacking compared to wonderful established forums - NAMEPROS in particular..

 

[JOHNDEER]

Seems right,

But much will be lacking compared to wonderful established forums - NAMEPROS in particular..

Agreed

Anyone here who wishes they could have bought half of namepros for $400? when it had 2k members? That is not saying (and I doubt it will) ever get as big as namepros.

 

[Spade]

Was the price for the Forum as well? (VBulletin included?).... the vBulletin license alone is worth $100+

If the ebay seller provided traffic screen shots, aside from Alexa scores - I might be more inclined to consider.

 

[JOHNDEER]

My understanding from talking today to DNPresident (we live near each other) was traffic stats were provided to BUYER. Buyer also lives near us within 15-20 minutes of each other. Buyer confirmed uniques, traffic souce etc. VB lic was included. What I got from BUYER today was 3k+ uniques so far this month and 50K pageviews this month and traffic has been pretty steady for the last year of stat reviews. The forum was included in purchase price and I see it is already being worked on as I see a new ad banner appearing. Looks like they are going to have to work on the skin though. It is out of whack

 

[Name Trader]

It's notoriously difficult to monetise forums, in my experience.