Want a DN, but it's private / domainsbyproxy...$70 broker fee worth it? Seems shady

[domino66]

The DN I want has privacy protection with Godaddy's domainsbyproxy. So the WHOIS email address for it is simply [sitename][email protected]

But the site itself is just a link farm, so I figure the owner is likely to be open to offers...but i have no way of getting ahold of him.

I called up domainsbyproxy and the rep told me that they had a $70 brokerage service that would "appraise" the DN and try to acquire it for me.

But this whole situation seems irrational for a # of reasons:
- I don't care what their independent "appraisal" is...I just want to talk to the real owner and ask whether the DN is for sale!
- There doesn't seem to be any guarantee that my $70 will actually get my anything. It doesn't even guarantee that they'll even be able to get in touch the the real owner. So I'm basically taking a risk that I'll just be lighting $70 on fire if I get the service, and then domainsbyproxy is unable to contact the owner (or he doesn't want to sell.)

Can someone explain to me how best to proceed? I just want to have a good-faith discussion with the owner of the DN about whether it's for sale. (But the domainsbyproxy rep moreover told me that the [sitename][email protected] email address in WHOIS may not even get to the owner.)

 

[RazorNF]

Did you actually try sending an email?

 

[bulkdomainz]

If you send an email to the '[sitename][email protected]' email address, it would normally be forwarded to the owners 'hidden' email address.

 

[tech4]

Brokerage service, is a service in which they will ask the owner on your behalf.

You can do that yourself for free, if you want them to do it, it will cost you 70.

 

[domino66]

Did you actually try sending an email?

Yes I did, no reply.

If you send an email to the '[sitename][email protected]' email address, it would normally be forwarded to the owners 'hidden' email address.

I asked the domainsbyproxy rep just this and she told me that their privacy-protected clients have 2 settings options: either emails to [sitename][email protected] will get forwarded to the owners' real email address, OR they can set their options so emails sent there just disappear into a black hole and never get forwarded anywhere. This seemed a little strange to me, but that's what she said.

Brokerage service, is a service in which they will ask the owner on your behalf.
You can do that yourself for free, if you want them to do it, it will cost you 70.

If I was sure that $70 would at the very least put me in touch with the owner for a good-faith discussion, I'd have less of a problem with this. But domainsbyproxy couldn't even guarantee that. So I'm basically paying $70 with the risk that they send the owner an email, he never writes back, and then domainsbyproxy gives up and buys themselves an office pizza party with my money. Just how diligently are they going to try tracking this guy down for me?

 

[GiftedDomains]

from DBP FAQ:

How do Domains By Proxy's email preferences work?

The Whois directory requires an email address for every registered domain name. When you purchase Domains By Proxy (DBP), we create a private email address for that domain name. Thereafter, when messages are sent to your private email address, we handle them according to the email preference you select for that particular domain name.

You can set your DBP account to forward your email without filtering it, filter it for spam and then forward it to you, or not forward it at all. By default, DBP filters spam and forwards email messages to the email address you enter on the Customer Information page.

On the Default Email Preference page, you can update the default email forwarding preference for all domain names in your DBP account.

---

- It could be that your email is filtered as spam.
Try to send an email from another email account.

- Wait few days, sometimes people reply late.

My guess is that the owner didn't choose the "black hole" option. But for some reason didn't receive your email. Or maybe he is in vacation or something. Or owner checks emails once a week or something. Not all owners of domain names are 24/7 domainers

 

[Name Trader]

People who pay the DomainsByProxy option generally do it so that they don't get unsolicited emails. Did you try the DomainTools Whois History? It might have the Whois Record before Privacy was applied. This is a paid for service, but it might reveal the owner. Other than that, I'd look for another domain. It's very hard (as it should be) to get this info without taking legal proceedings. Then GoDaddy will reveal it in a heartbeat. You won't get anywhere with GoDaddy's Brokerage service. You will just waste your money.

 

[johname]

You would be spending $70 to be told the name is not for sale or the price is out of reach in my opinion. They also want to use your money to appraise the name to tell the owner he/she would be dumb to sell it to you that low lol

 

[RazorNF]

And you also have to consider another scenario - the owner got your email, and simply doesn't care to reply.

 

[domino66]

Just a quick follow-up; I called up DBP to get clarity on just WHAT the $70 is going to buy me, and I'm now convinced it's a complete waste of money: I thought that at the very least they'd be attempting to contact him at his REAL email address / phone #...they're the privacy-protection service he signed up with, after all, so surely they'd have his 'real' info, right? Well, nope: turns out that all they do is email the EXACT SAME @domainsbyproxy.com email address that anyone can view in WHOIS. I had to ask the phone rep to double-check that info with someone else, since it seemed so stupidly illogical. But nope: that's what they do > so for $70, they're just emailing the very same @domainsbyproxy.com email address that I already have...so if he has the email "black hole" setting enabled (with no forwarding), there's simply no way to contact him and my $70 is gone.

 

[shane mac]

Guess he does not want to be contacted then, or either is happy the way things are and does not want to reply to you. Either way, short of sending him 20 emails from different email accounts and hoping that he reads at lest one, its best to hunt elsewhere.

 

[dna]

You really don't want to do business with anybody who hides out
at domainsbyproxy.

 

[m-i-k-e]

You really don't want to do business with anybody who hides out
at domainsbyproxy.

Why do you come to that conclusion? That doesn't make any sense to me. People use privacy for all kinds of reasons. Some people don't even know why they use it, they just took the upsell.

There is no reason not to go after a domain you want just because privacy is enacted (unless you can provide some further insight into your statement).

 

[allan3139]

PM me the domain name ,I will try this for you.

 

[dombastic]

Well, nope: turns out that all they do is email the EXACT SAME @domainsbyproxy.com email address that anyone can view in WHOIS.

they cannot have any other email address

 

[dna]

Ive traced a couple of website owners back to domainsbyproxy.
The websites were spreading adware viruses or doing something
dishonest. Its been a while so I can't give examples.
I relize that my evidence is anecdotal. And its true that
people want privacy for all sorts of reasons. But obviously some
of those reasons are avoiding going to jail and having someone you
harmed show up at your front door.

 

[RazorNF]

It's foolish to assume everyone using domainsbyproxy are in some way dishonest. I use it to protect my home address and phone # on all my personal domains.

Nearly every registrar offers private whois services. You just come across domainsbyproxy more than any other, simply because GoDaddy is the largest registrar.

 

[Name Trader]

@domino66 - So you actually paid the $70?

 

[accent]

I expect you are referring to DomainBuy - a rather new Godaddy service. I just sold a domain through them, talked to three guys there and each was knowledgeable. Note that they also take a percentage of the sale price.

I believe this is where domain sales are going - Godaddy will find there is much money in selling aftermarket domains. Soon there will be hundreds of brokers leading buyers around and giving them advice. A buyer who is not familiar with domains is confronted with a blank search line or a list of "make offer" domains. Many feel out of their depth, and usually will end up with a terrible reg fee domain. Selling them premium priced domains is the ultimate upsell.

As for the OP - perhaps you could try sending a generous offer by email to the proxy address. Domain owners get a lot of low-ball buyers and get used to ignoring them. Another possibility is to send your message to [email protected] in case he has email set up, this could work even if the domain does not resolve to a actual website. If you don't hear from him he probably just does not want to sell.