warning Unfair Afternic commission

[Igor Gabrielan]

I was contacted by an Afternic broker to buy a domain for his client. I wasn't even registered on the website afternic.com. Naturally, this domain was not in their listings or marketplace. The domain was sold for $25,000. Afternic wants to keep a 30% commission from me. Their rules are that the buyer pays the broker $99 + 20% of the sale price.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1953750227581546632

 

[Future Sensors]

Yes, I'm guilty. I'm sorry. Kind of like GoDa… wait, scratch that.

 

[Gabriel360]

Hello Igor,

Thank you for your patience and for sharing your experience with us regarding the sale of your domain, wix.ai. We appreciate your candid feedback and the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings that may have occurred during the process.

We understand there was some confusion regarding the commission structure, specifically the meaning of “gross” in relation to your sale price of $25,000. Our intention was never to mislead you, and we sincerely apologize for any lack of clarity in our communications.

After reviewing your case and taking your concerns seriously, our leadership team has agreed to reduce the commission on your sale to 15%. This means that from the $25,000 sale price, your net proceeds will be $21,250. As the initial payment has already been made based on the previous commission rate, we will be issuing a second payment to you to reflect the commission adjustment. You will receive a separate notification once this payment has been processed.

We value your business and want to ensure your experience with us is positive and fair. If you have further questions or would like to discuss this matter in more detail, please feel free to reply to this email.

Best Regards,
Rebecca

A very good one from GoDaddy.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

 

[Timkh]

I still don't understand, why are they taking a comission (15% or 25%, doesn't matter), if the offer came through GoDaddy Brokerage service???

 

[GoDaddy]

Hello Igor,

Thank you for your patience and for sharing your experience with us regarding the sale of your domain, wix.ai. We appreciate your candid feedback and the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings that may have occurred during the process.

We understand there was some confusion regarding the commission structure, specifically the meaning of “gross” in relation to your sale price of $25,000. Our intention was never to mislead you, and we sincerely apologize for any lack of clarity in our communications.

After reviewing your case and taking your concerns seriously, our leadership team has agreed to reduce the commission on your sale to 15%. This means that from the $25,000 sale price, your net proceeds will be $21,250. As the initial payment has already been made based on the previous commission rate, we will be issuing a second payment to you to reflect the commission adjustment. You will receive a separate notification once this payment has been processed.

We value your business and want to ensure your experience with us is positive and fair. If you have further questions or would like to discuss this matter in more detail, please feel free to reply to this email.

Best Regards,
Rebecca

We’re glad our team closed this out successfully with you, Igor. We’ll follow up with you via DM, too.

 

[DrJacoby]

We’re glad our team closed this out successfully with you, Igor.

Successfully??!! Are you being sarcastic?

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Successfully??!! Are you being sarcastic?

If they got $99 + 20% from the buyer and 15% from the seller, then for them it is a certain success.
But maybe they have an undocumented way to hire a broker, where he works part-time in his spare time on terms that are more convenient for the buyer?

 

[likemike]

Good luck with this! That's Godaddy, the people who ripped me off years ago, similar to yours but I never got paid!

 

[AEProgram]

I think it ended up fair. congrats on the sale

 

[DrJacoby]

I think it ended up fair. congrats on the sale

Please explain how it's fair paying 15% commission when the domain wasn't even listed for sale at Afternic and when he doesn't even have an account with them.

 

[BaileyUK]

As in a recent sale by me via an Afternic broker. you really have to clarify the exact terms of the sale and who's paying the commission. I appreciate English is not your first language but that word 'Gross' is a real red flag in any english worded transaction. It is such a shame that you didn't pick-up on it.

I no longer trust any reference by a broker to their terms and conditions. I require at least two clearly worded emails clarifying who is paying the brokers commission.

My recent sale was for a domain solely listed and resolving at Sedo but the buyer was prepared to pay far more to purchase through Afternic. The Afternic agent tried to reference a very old deleted listing for the domain on Dan, but I would have none of it.

I would hate to imagine trying to conduct a financial transaction in anything but my first language

 

[tradenameNet]

Yeah your sale is not through afternic, and you did not advertise with them, they should not charge you.

They found you through other ways , and you did not ask them to advertise for you at all.

 

[tradenameNet]

Also Wix.com is 8 billion dollar popular company in USA. Why sell wix.ai for only 25k?

 

[tradenameNet]

My kids and their teachers all use wix. I believe you are ripped off not just by commission, but the very valuable domain itself …

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

The company Lovable Labs is currently on the rise. Many people make websites with its AI help. But they can't afford to buy a domain lovable.ai yet.

 

[alcy]

The company Lovable Labs is currently on the rise. Many people make websites with its AI help. But they can't afford to buy a domain lovable.ai yet.

hahah u mean they cant afford your price or what???

 

[carob]

I would hate to imagine trying to conduct a financial transaction in anything but my first language

I'd recommend - before accepting the offer - explicitly specifying not just the commission rate and who is paying, but to state the actual numerical amounts, eg sale price 25k, commission 10%, seller to receive 22.5k.

And of course be explicit about fees or methods for transfer of funds, or else you can lose another 2-3%.

 

[carob]

Please explain how it's fair paying 15% commission when the domain wasn't even listed for sale at Afternic and when he doesn't even have an account with them.

And the buyer originally approached a Godaddy broker on the understanding that the buyer was to pay the commission.

Presumably at some point either buyer or broker said ok, the top offer is 25k inclusive of commission, let's agree on that. But in going to the seller and offering the 25k gross figure, Godaddy needed to spell out to the seller what would be subtracted from the gross figure to give the seller their net amount.

How can either party agree when their is no figure given for what will be deducted from the gross sale price?

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

That is, during the trading process, GoDaddy+Afternic can deviate from its rule of taking 20% from the buyer in brokerage deals?

 

[carob]

Please explain how it's fair paying 15% commission when the domain wasn't even listed for sale at Afternic and when he doesn't even have an account with them.

Godaddy offering 15% instead of 30% might sound like a sort of compromise, but really the offer should be 5% ie the amount seller would have paid using Afternic checkout link.

They could have told him to use the checkout link. They did not.