domain Someone wants one of my .com names, advice needed

[petrosc]

Hello,
I got an email yesterday from the president of a software company, telling me that he is very interested in one of my domains, adultpictorials.com. He is a reseller and that is what he wants the domain for, as he said.

I replied that I want $150 for it, since that is the price I am asking for it at SEDO. I dont know if he thought that its expensive, he replied that we will continue negotiations as soon as I present him with an appraisal certificate, of an independant service. If the value proves to be higher, he said that I can re-consider my price. He also noted that he does not want sedo to do this, these are his exact words:
"Sedo is a good broker. Unfortunately , Sedo is not acceptable as an appraiser because your names are listed with them and they are not independent. They are interested in earning 10% commission on every sale. I need appraisals from a company which is not interested in selling your domains."

I started an appraisal with Moniker.com because I had previous experience with them, I enjoyed excellent service and support when I once used their escrow.

I would like advice from an expert, to tell me if Moniker.com was the best choice for this matter, and i would appreciate a personal opinion on where this domain's value lies.

Thank you in advance,

King Regards,
Petros

 

[gazzip]

Sounds like a scam I'm afraid ? :td: I think it is best not to pay for an appraisal when other people ask you to - you are likely not to hear from them again.You loose money and they earn commission for drumming up an appraisal.

 

[Optinom]

haan.. possible scam.. dont go for appraisal, and waste your money! He'd have probably receommended some other appraisal service also.. did he?

 

[petrosc]

Sounds like a scam I feel ? :td:

Yes, Thats what I was told in DNF But I dont understand how this can be a scam since he did not suggest any appraisal service, I chose moniker.com by myself and haven't even told him yet.

Anyway, its the first time that i have came across such scam(if it is one). Can someone tell me how these scams look like and how to avoid them in the future?

Thanks

 

[gazzip]

Yes, Thats what I was told in DNF But I dont understand how this can be a scam since he did not suggest any appraisal service, I chose moniker.com by myself and haven't even told him yet.

Anyway, its the first time that i have came across such scam(if it is one). Can someone tell me how these scams look like and how to avoid them in the future?

Thanks

If he is not willing to pay for the appraisal himself - forget it IMO
Agreed it is more "normal" for them to tell you who they want you to get it appraised with.

please read my post above as I added more info

 

[petrosc]

haan.. possible scam.. dont go for appraisal, and waste your money! He'd have probably receommended some other appraisal service also.. did he?

He did not recommend a service, but he did forward me to a link to a forum where a discussion was held about appraisals, and there were a couple of services mentioned. That way, he may have indirectly suggested that services. One of them was afternic.
Anyway, I did not use any of those services since I dont trust them. I used moniker.com on my own decision

Thanks for the replies guys

I already filed a request for appraisal, nothing i can do about it now, but can someone give me an idea of what this scam looks like? Everybody is telling me its a scm but its not quite clear to me how it can be a scam. Can someone explain?

Also, can someone answer to my original questions on the thread?

Smooth, thanks for the extra info u added

 

[gazzip]

Take a look at how the scams usually work - http://www.namepros.com/warnings-an...-finally-got-it.html?highlight=appraisal+scam

Or type appraisal scam into the search box at the top right and you will find loads of similar emails/scams

please also note how many times the - "president of a software company" comes up in the emails.

 

[petrosc]

thx for that, ill take a look

Well one can fall for it once I suppose, i must admit that the email I have received is typical for this types of scams..

Hello,

I think you have not sold your domain name yet. I'm very interested in it. Can you send your price for the domain?

Did you get offers from other people already?

I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases in MS SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Edward Kramer Ph.D.
President
BN Engineering

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The sad part is that I have requested an appraisal, the happy part is that I did not use one of he's suggested services. He did not suggest any directly, but he did forward me to a link to a forum post where a discussion was being held by some members with "recommended appraisal sites". One of them was ALLDOMAINS.COM

I started an appraisal with moniker.com, which was my choice and not one of his "favourites".
The conclusion is that I lost my $20, but at least he DID NOT get them.

Thank you all for opening my eyes

 

[Optinom]

petrosc, fyi the link given to you is NOT a forum! its a simple HTML page designed to look like a forum. I have seen this link in a scam report already posted somewhere..

The root of the forum always says "http://domaintalk.ourplace.com/"

"Sorry, our free forum closed for maintenance. New site will be launched soon. "

Its an open fraud. That "thread" has been given to you to make you believe he's high-profile domainer!

 

[Bannen]

definitely aprazl scam

My domaining partner received the EXACT same letter a while back, only the name was different, something like Mark Caizano or something very similar. Identical letter, right down to the BN Engineering. We've since found others who have been approached by this scam. Their process is this:
1. Send you an email saying they're interested in your domain name.
2. They immediately agree that your price is fine, that they will buy. Have you had it appraised?
3. No? They will need you to get an appraisal first then, in order to see if your name has a viable investment potential They will refer to a site that seems to give good reviews/legitimacy to a couple domain appraisal sites.
4. One of those sites will somehow always take you to alldomains.com - which redirects you to allfordomains.com
5. Even if you use another appraiser, they're banking on the ODDS that most of you will use the ones specified. Whoever has approached you with this scam either works directly with, or even started, those companies - or is paid a commission for each person who actually goes through with an appraisal there due to his referral.
6. If you get the appraisal (and even if you don't), they'll say it's a valuable name, but they really can't afford to take the chance to buy it outright... would you consider letting them act as an agent, where they sell the name for you, and anything paid over your asking price they will keep.
7. I don't know if anyone has ever gotten that far into this scam to know what happens later, we certainly knew what it was with the first couple emails and gave the guy a good piece of our collective mind.
For what it's worth - assuming you got the letter from the same guy we did, but using a different name - he's totally off the cam when you call his game, or even hint that it's a scam. Picture a crazy foreigner screaming at you and yelling things that are totally over the fence and don't make sense... we actually thought the guy was insane. It was GREAT! Good entertainment. Then we just told him we'd delete further emails from him without opening them, and didn't get any more replies.
But: I expect that's exactly how it plays out with almost everyone this guy contacts. If there's a site where you can post scam letters for all to see, definitely put yours in there, it's a scam.

 

[bliss]

Ask for a IM name to talk with them. I have gotten a few of those letters in the past. If they haven't they will suggest a place. It's just them tring to make money. If they do present you with a IM then it might be real -or- they could be just hitting up sedo parked places with a default letter saying sedo is crap at appriasals use my service instead, but in a fraud type of way.

What is the revenue, traffic, age, and ideal customer base for the domain?

*8 revenue = value of domain
Unless you get above 5K uniques a day then *10
Unless it's an old site with that many uniques and revenue then *12+

Without any of it. I would say the domain two words, no traffic or revenue is worth reg fee to mid $xx amount.

Also, depends on SE backlinks, PR of the site, and SE placement of links from the site.

 

[petrosc]

I realise now that this is a scam thanks to all of you, i have started a new warning thread with all the details inside, together with his email contact

http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/165976-fallen-half-way-into-popular-appraisal.html

 

[gazzip]

To be honest I do not think I would ever pay for an appraisal - If I ever did it would be sedo I would go to as I trust them.

 

[kk_uk]

Hello,

I think you have not sold your domain name yet. I'm very interested in it. Can you send your price for the domain?

Did you get offers from other people already?

I run a software company. We develop client-server systems and databases in MS SQL and Delphi. Buying and selling domain names is not my main business. Just another way to invest money and make additional income.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Best regards,
Edward Kramer Ph.D.
President
BN Engineering

I had also received the similar email few months back for one of my domain ... EnterNet.org.

KK