Paypal Needs to Update Complaint Response Forms for Intangible Goods

Elliot Silver
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17

One of the downsides to how I set up my Paypal billing is that most of my sites are under one corporate umbrella, Top Notch Domains, LLC. Since my sites aren’t all pet-related, I can’t just have one billing name like “DogWalker” or something else that would ring a bell. I know there are ways around this, but that’s been discussed in another post.

As a result, on very rare occasions, someone will see the Top Notch Domains billing notice and file a complaint with Paypal saying that they had an unauthorized charge. I’ve had 3 total complaints so far, and two of them were resolved right away when I reminded the people why they were billed. However, I am dealing with a third complaint right now and the person couldn’t figure out how to cancel it, so I am defending the case.

Unfortunately, it does not seem like Paypal has a great way for merchants of intangible goods to respond to complaints. When I tried to resolve the complaint, I was given three options:

1) Provide the shipping information, which includes the shipper, tracking code, address, and other physical shipping information.

2) I already gave a refund

3) I plan to give a refund

There isn’t an option to tell Paypal that the payment was for a directory listing on one of my websites, was authorized by the person to re-bill last June, and the person still has an active listing. There is a field under the first option to provide more information, but it seems more geared towards the shipping details.

I can see this being a problem for service providers who aren’t necessarily web operators. People who do things like painting, babysitting, dog walking, or other intangible services could be put at risk if they can’t adequately respond. Even if Paypal looks at the field under the shipping information, it’s not very clear that this is where to respond.

When I called Paypal, they gave me an email address I could use to respond to the complaint: complaint-response@paypal.com. I did this, and I received a confirmation of receipt. However, a couple of days later, I received another notice from Paypal that told me I still needed to respond to the complaint online, so there’s something funky about Paypal’s complaint response system that needs to be reconciled.

I hope Paypal addresses this issue.

Get Targeted Traffic From Wikipedia

Elliot Silver
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23

Here’s another tip to get traffic to your developed websites, and the cost is virtually free, aside from the time it takes you to actually do it.

We all know that Wikipedia is one of the most highly trafficked websites online. One reason is that it has a ton of content about millions of topics that cover just about everything. Another reason is that it has great search engine rankings, which is likely due to the amount and breadth of the content on the site. I often find Wikipedia outranking some of my own sites for certain topics.

If you review Wikipedia pages associated with the topic of your website, you can add external links to the bottom of Wikipedia pages. For instance, if you own a site that covers Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you should add a link to the bottom of the main Philadelphia page. You can either call it your domain name .com or embed your link with anchor text. It’s no follow, so you won’t get search engine benefits, but you’ll likely receive traffic.

I would also recommend adding a link to relevant internal pages of your site on “deeper” Wikipedia pages since there will be generally less outbound links on those page than on the main page. For instance, you might want to add a link to your Independence Hall page on the associated Wikipedia page, again with the Philadelphia theme.

In addition to adding links to the external links section, your website can also be used as a reference if you can add information to articles. If you have information on your site that would enhance an article and you happen to be considered an  authoritative  website, you can post the info and link back to your website as the reference. This is great for traffic, too.

You don’t have to be a registered Wikipedia editor to post links, although they will give you more ability to have links stay on the site if you do register. You can’t add too many links all at once, or you’ll be banned for spamming the site.

It’s a good way to get free traffic to your sites.

Good Advice from Kevin Calder of Mills & Reeve, LLP

Elliot Silver
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1

There was a good article today in the UK edition of Business Weekly, and although it wasn’t targeted to domain investors, it’s advice that should certainly be considered by domain investors when purchasing domain names. The article was written by a lawyer named Kevin Calder, a partner at the Mills & Reeve, LLP law firm.

Essentially the advice that Mr. Calder gives is that business owners who want to use a particular domain name would be well served to research the trademark database in their country and perhaps others to ensure that the domain name will not infringe on the trademarks of others. While some people purposely purchase infringing domain names to generate PPC revenue, others may unwittingly purchase a domain name that infringes on a trademark.

Not only could a domain owner face a UDRP dispute for a domain name, but there’s the potential for severe financial penalties. If the name is bought in the aftermarket and legal action is taken, the domain name can’t be sold during the proceedings, which will tie up the investor’s funds, add costs to his acquisition with a defense, and could put the investor at risk to lose up to $100,000 in the US on a ACPA case.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Doing some research before buying a domain name can save you the hassle and expense of legal action, especially if the domain name is of the “brandable” nature and not descriptive/generic. Some resources you can use to research a trademark are the USPTO in the US and Intellectual Property Office in the UK.

Pros & Cons of Using a Domain Broker

Elliot Silver
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20

There are many advantages of engaging a domain broker to sell one or more of your domain names. Companies like Sedo, Afternic, MediaOptions, and others sell millions of dollars worth of domain names a year, many of which are sold privately with non-disclosure agreements preventing the sales prices from being released.

Like everything, there are also downsides to working with a domain broker. I want to give you some pros and cons to using a domain broker to sell your domain names. Feel free to add any I missed.

Pros of Using a Domain Broker

  • They have experience selling expensive domain names.
  • They know who the biggest buyers in the domain space are and most brokers have an extensive mailing list.
  • Brokers should know the market well, and they can give you an idea of what you can expect for your domain name.
  • Domain brokers will know how to get your domain name in front of the right person/people at a company when selling to end users.
  • You won’t have to worry about negotiations because they will work out a deal on your behalf.

Cons of Using a Domain Broker

  • Commission rate may be high simply for sending an email to client list.
  • No “real” market regulations, so you may never know if they’re 100% working on your behalf when they sell to another domain investor.
  • You may have to give them exclusivity for a period of time, which will prevent you from selling the name elsewhere.
  • If you have a name that’s listed exclusively with a broker and you receive an offer elsewhere, you may have to pay a commission anyway.
  • Broker may not do more than email his client list, and may not reach out to end users on your behalf.
  • If your domain name isn’t as valuable as others under contract, it may not receive as much attention as it should.

Get Traffic to Your Facebook Fan Page

Elliot Silver
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9

Yesterday, I wrote an article advising readers that they should be cautious when posting comments on websites that use the Facebook comments plugin because it revealed information about the person’s employer or college, and it links back to the commenter’s Facebook page. This could be problematic to someone who wants privacy.

The opposite may be true for someone who wants publicity for themselves or their Facebook fan page. If you want to post a comment on a site with the FB comment plugin and you have multiple pages, one of the nice things is that you can choose which page to comment as. For instance, I can comment as my personal page, my blog page, my DogWalker.com page, or a few others I have set up for various websites.

If you are commenting on a topic that would be of interest to people who would also be interested in learning about your website, you can post as your Facebook fan page for that website. Assuming your comment is interesting, people will likely click on the link to see who you are and end up on your fan page. This may drive a bit of traffic to your site, and it’s a good way to get people to learn about your website.

Of course, you can also post comments on websites and use your website as your name, but many bloggers will block those comments because they look ultra spammy. With Facebook comments, it’s much less spammy and more practical, especially if your page isn’t exactly called the domain name. For instance, my Lowell.com Facebook Fan Page is called “Lowell, Massachusetts” instead of Lowell.com.

Bud Light Cruise Domain Problem

Elliot Silver
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6

I was watching the NBA Finals this evening, and I saw a commercial for the Bud Light Cruise. The call to action url wasn’t on the company’s branded BudLight.com website. Instead, they sent people to a special Facebook url: Facebook.com/BudLight.

In my opinion, they should have sent people to a call to action domain name like BudLightCruise.com. Unfortunately for Budweiser, that sensible domain name was created in 2009, and it is owned by someone using Moniker’s privacy service. The domain name is currently parked, and it’s also for sale at Sedo. Since this is the 4th edition of the cruise, they likely started it a few years back and should have bought the domain name at that time. It was first registered in April of 2008.

Perhaps a downside to Facebook page marketing is that they may not rank all that well in search engines. People that search Google will easily find Bud Light’s cruise page, but it’s not the Facebook page the company set up. The top result is BudLightPortParadise.com, which the company does own and operate.

The domain name isn’t everything as this demonstrates, but it would make sense for Bud Light to try and get the name in case people type BudLightCruise.com into their browser. As the PPC industry indicates, people do click on those links and that costs the company money.

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