Use Escrow for a Deal Closing in the Future

Elliot Silver
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8

It is important to use an escrow service when transacting on a domain name acquisition or sale. I think almost everyone in the domain investment space knows this or should know this by now.

If you reach an agreement to sell a domain name that won’t close until a date in the future, it may be a good idea to set up escrow when the agreement is signed, even though the deal won’t close right away.

Let’s say you are selling a domain name that you are using for a website. Once you reach a deal to sell the domain name and the purchase agreement is signed, the buyer should remit the payment to an escrow service and the seller should push the domain name to the control of the escrow service. The seller can notify advertisers and visitors about the sale of the domain name, and the domain name can be used to inform visitors of the pending sale. Once the transaction time comes, the buyer will receive the domain name and the seller will receive the funds.

This is important for two reasons. First, it is

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Domain Brokers Should Come With an Offer

Elliot Silver
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27

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

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Can I Imagine a Business Using The Domain Name?

Elliot Silver
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10

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

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Email is the Domain Name X Factor

Elliot Silver
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18

When it comes to domain names, I think email is the x factor that is not always considered. For companies that don’t have their exact match .com domain names, I think email can be a big problem. For those who are fortunate, the email issue will be understood, although it can go undetected.

On one of my domain deals, the buyer may have been a bit too honest with me. His company was using a non-.com domain name, and he told me they were having email deliverability issues. Apparently, some of the emails that his employees were sending to partners, contractors, and others were not being received. This was a big reason he reignited a conversation that died on the vine. We were able to work out a deal, but if it weren’t for the email troubles, I think their team was content using their non .com domain name until a later date.

Last week, Alan Dunn shared this tweet:

People regularly assume a company uses the exact match .com domain name. When it comes to searching for the company, Google and Bing make it

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NamePros: Back In 15 Minutes (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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3

I was checking in on the important NameJet thread on NamePros this afternoon when I saw a maintenance message on the website. I visited from a couple of browsers, and I saw that the site was down and it wasn’t a browser error on my end.

I reached out to NamePros CTO Paul Buonopane, and he let me know the site will be back in about 15 minutes – potentially sooner.

I am not a regular contributor on NamePros, but I am a regular reader. I shared some advice for NameJet a couple of days ago on my blog, and I strongly urge the company to have a third party audit that is shared with the public. In a press release last night, the company “confirmed that there was suspicious activity relating to certain names being sold on NameJet,” and I think bidders and sellers deserve to know the extent of this with an audit conducted by a non-stakeholder.

Update: NamePros is back up. Here’s what I am told happened: “Logs for our new backup system took up more storage than expected, and the database system shut down to prevent data loss. We’re adding more storage space, at which point the site will be back online.”

Some Advice for NameJet

Elliot Silver
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26

I have been following along the NamePros thread and article on TheDomains.com about alleged bidding irregularities at NameJet. I have also been in communication with NameJet General Manager Jonathan Tenenbaum, asking to receive updates as the company addresses the allegations and investigates the situation.

A few minutes ago, Jonathan emailed me a statement with a status update from the auction platform:

“In an effort to keep everyone current as to where we stand on this matter, I wanted to share the following update. There have been some inaccuracies and misconceptions that have been brought forth by such a spirited discussion. And it would be a challenge to respond to all of them – therefore, I want to bring the discussion back to the heart of the matter.

As stated earlier, we take the issue of shill bidding on NameJet very seriously and we are conducting a thorough investigation, keeping in mind that the integrity of our platform is of utmost importance to us. As I have said repeatedly, we do not condone shill bidding of any kind. We would never encourage, promote or otherwise be involved in any such thing and our position is clear – it is never allowed on NameJet!

In our current investigation certain auction activity has come to light that we deem questionable and a possible violation of our terms. This kind of activity is not acceptable to us and we are taking steps to deal with it. We have suspended several accounts while working through the information we have available.

I thank everyone for their patience as we work through these issues. Our goal is to best serve our customers and we are working hard to that effect.”

When it comes to auction venues and domain name marketplaces, trust is the most important component. As a NameJet customer and someone who writes about the domain investment business, I want to share some advice for NameJet:

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