I saw a thread on NamePros from someone asking about a potential scam. Apparently, the person received an offer to buy a domain name but the person said a (paid) domain appraisal would be necessary before doing a deal. This doesn’t seem legitimate to me.

From the NamePros thread:

“I just received an offer to buy my domain from a supposedly domain broker and the email seems to come from a large internet company in Japan.

However, the agent says that due to regulations in Japan, the buyer needs to have a proper certification to do a bank transfer due to the price being more than 10k.

The broker then sent me a link to get my domain certified for USD199. “

I can not think of a real reason why an appraisal would be necessary to complete a deal. I can not imagine a legitimate domain buyer or domain broker would require one. From my perspective, it seems like the prospective buyer is trying to induce the domain owner to pay nearly $200 (yes, $200!!!!) for a domain appraisal and will then disappear once the payment is made. I can’t think of anyone who has paid for a domain appraisal in order to justify or “certify” a domain name sale.

Domain names are a dynamic market. The prices and values can

Yesterday afternoon, TechCrunch reported that Priscilla Chan and her husband Mark Zuckerberg had a baby girl named August Zuckerberg. I was curious to know if the couple purchased the matching AugustZuckerberg.com domain name in advance of their baby’s birthday. The domain name was registered in June of this year at GoDaddy.

Because AugustZuckerberg.com is registered using GoDaddy’s Whois privacy proxy service (Domains By Proxy, LLC), it is not known whether Mark Zuckerberg or his wife registered the domain name. Because of the unique name, I would imagine the domain name was registered by one of them (or a close associate of the family). If you visit AugustZuckerberg.com, you can see a default GoDaddy landing page that does not offer any information about who owns the domain name or how it will be used.

Mark and Priscilla have another daughter

I think most domain brokers predominantly represent domain name owners on the sale-side. There are quite a few brokers and brokerage firms who offer acquisition services though (buyer brokers). When a domain broker is working on behalf of a buyer to buy a domain name, they should be ready to make an offer, or at the very least, they should know their client’s budget.

I occasionally receive inquiries on my domain names from brokers representing a buyer. The first question I ask the broker is either “what is the offer?” or “what is the budget?” If someone is inquiring about one of my domain names on behalf of a client, it makes sense that they would know how much their client wants to spend or is willing to spend.

I don’t generally price my top tier domain names, so coming up with a price isn’t always a simple process, especially when I don’t have any information about the buyer (beyond the fact that a broker was hired). It usually makes more sense to contemplate an inbound offer rather than just give a price.

When I make inquiries to buy domain names and the domain owner responds asking for an offer, it wouldn’t make sense to say “I have no idea.” I think most domain owners expect people making inquiries to present an offer when asked, and that is what I do. If the domain seller doesn’t have a price and the domain buyer doesn’t have an offer, how can a deal get done?

After I shared my frustration at

When I am evaluating a domain name to purchase, one of the most important questions I ask myself is this: Can I imagine a business using this domain name? It seems like a pretty elementary question, but I think it is important to ask. When I deploy capital on a domain investment, I want to be sure the domain name will be desired by someone and that it will then become a matter of price for a prospective buyer.

From my perspective, if a domain name needs to be explained (in my head or to someone else), there is probably a lower chance of selling it. Industry specific (ie technical) domain names may be an exception. I don’t think I have ever sold a domain name that has a meaning that wouldn’t be understood by the majority of people who might see it.

Some might argue that there are plenty of terrible domain names that don’t make much sense being used by companies of all sizes. I would imagine that if