Why a Winning Bidder May Become a Non Paying Bidder

Elliot Silver
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Just about every domain sales venue and platform has to deal with non-paying bidders on domain listings, sales, and auctions. It’s happened to me before and I am sure it will continue to happen to others as well. Frankly, it’s frustrating as hell when you reach a deal to sell a domain name and the buyer fails to follow through.

One slimy tactic I’ve witnessed and heard about are people who agree to buy a domain name (whether it’s at an auction, aftermarket venue, or private  acquisition), and before paying, they try to sell the domain name to other companies.  If they can’t find a buyer for the domain name at a profitable level, they don’t pay for their purchase.

I’ll share an example of this with you. Recently, I was involved in an auction at NameJet, and someone offered to sell me the domain name before the auction was over. The person ended up winning the auction but was a non-paying bidder, presumably when he couldn’t find a buyer. NameJet lost out, and someone who bought it to re-sell it likely lost out since this person probably reached out to many prospects already.

Recourse for the domain owner is generally limited to litigation and/or having that user banned from the platform in the future. Litigation can be expensive, so most people generally let it go without doing much of anything. It’s very frustrating to have a deal fall through, and it’s especially annoying to find out that the buyer has gone out to contact leads for your domain name, potentially hurting your chances of selling the name in the future.

In my opinion, trying to sell a domain name you don’t have the intention of buying unless you can flip it is wrong. If you are new to the domain industry, I caution you to not do this.

January Great Domains Auction Results

Elliot Silver
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Sedo’s  Great Domains auction ended last week, and the auction netted over $115,000 in domain sales. I was a bit surprised that Zimbabwe.com didn’t sell at its reduced price. I guess it might be tough to monetize. Don’t forget to check out the Sedo 2011 Market Study when you have a chance.

The full list of sales is below.

goldchains.com 32000 USD
economize.com 10099 USD
sucre.com 10000 USD
mayan.com 9000 USD
balletshoes.com 8500 USD
gentler.com 5100 USD
interviews.net 5000 USD

Read More

Report: “Hackers Infiltrate Domain Name Auction House”

Elliot Silver
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I am not a user of this particular domain auction house so I didn’t receive any official notice from the company, but according to an article on Australia’s The Age, “computer hackers have penetrated the database of Australia’s biggest internet domain name auction house, possibly accessing client home addresses and encrypted credit card numbers.”

The hacking reportedly happened on Netfleet, a website that specializes in .AU domain names. Netfleet was the venue where the $129,000 USD sale of InvestmentProperty.com.au took place last year, the largest .AU domain sale at the time.

According to the article, Netfleet sent out emails to users informing them of the news. If you received the email from Netfleet, it may be a good idea to contact your credit card company to see if any unauthorized activity has occurred. You may want to see if you can change card numbers just in case.

In addition, if you happen to use the same log in information and password on other websites, you should change your passwords ASAP. It’s never a good idea to use the same password for your auction, registrar, email…etc. accounts for this reason among others.

I wish Netfleet a smooth recovery and hope this serves as a warning for other auction houses and domain platforms to ensure their websites are protected and secure.

20% of DomainFest Auctions Have Bids

Elliot Silver
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7

With a couple of days to go until the DomainFest live auction, a little under 20% of the auctions already have bids. The live auction, also found online via Snapnames, will take place on Thursday,  February  2nd at noon EST. I have highlighted the domain names I like in the auction and welcome your feedback.

Domain Name Reserve Current Price Bids

  • stripmall.com $201 – $500 $425 5
  • civilunion.com $1,001 – $2,500 $1,650 3
  •  avengers.com $501 – $1,000 $691 3
  • qe.com $25,001 – $50,000 $65,000 2
  •  californiarolls.com $201 – $500 $325 2
  •  rentaltrucks.com $5,001 – $10,000 $5,251 1
  • guitarclasses.com $5,001 – $10,000 $5,200 1
  •  margo.com $2,501 – $5,000 $2,500 1
  •  liberalartscolleges.com $1,001 – $2,500 $1,234 1
  •  weddingcards.net $501 – $1,000 $590 1
  •  antiqueguide.com $501 – $1,000 $500 1
  •  plasmatv.com $25,001 – $50,000 – 0
  •  12.com $750,001 – $1MM – 0
  •  1800business.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  activitycenter.com $1,001 – $2,500 – 0
  •  autosupply.net $201 – $500 – 0
  •  banquethall.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  bargain.com $750,001 – $1MM – 0
  •  cardswiper.com $1,001 – $2,500 – 0
  •  catfood.com $50,001 – $100,000 – 0
  •  cheyenne.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  cloudmusicstorage.com $501 – $1,000 – 0
  •  democracy.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  • drill.com $25,001 – $50,000 – 0
  •  eco.org $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  emails.com $500,001 – $750,000 – 0
  • empire.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  eo.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  eve.com $500,001 – $750,000 – 0
  •  feuds.com $5,001 – $10,000 – 0
  •  guavas.com $501 – $1,000 – 0
  •  homeowner.com $250,001 – $500,000 – 0
  •  host.com $1MM – $5MM – 0
  •  hotcoupons.net $201 – $500 – 0
  •  icard.com $5,001 – $10,000 – 0
  •  internetradio.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  jackpot.com $750,001 – $1MM – 0
  •  juice.com $750,001 – $1MM – 0
  •  liverdonor.com $201 – $500 – 0
  •  loveline.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  nurseries.com $25,001 – $50,000 – 0
  •  planners.com $50,001 – $100,000 – 0
  •  platinum.com $750,001 – $1MM – 0
  •  prescriptionrefill.net $201 – $500 – 0
  •  promo.com $1MM – $5MM – 0
  • qr.com $250,001 – $500,000 – 0
  •  reconnect.com $50,001 – $100,000 – 0
  • security.com $1MM – $5MM – 0
  •  servers.com $250,001 – $500,000 – 0
  •  sox.com $50,001 – $100,000 – 0
  • sportstherapist.com $1,001 – $2,500 – 0
  •  surveillancecamera.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  trinkets.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  unplugged.com $100,001 – $250,000 – 0
  •  videodownloads.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  vintagemirrors.com $501 – $1,000 – 0
  •  work.com $1MM – $5MM – 0
  •  workscited.com $10,001 – $25,000 – 0
  •  xeam.com $501 – $1,000 – 0
  •  xegg.com $1,001 – $2,500 – 0

As always, this is going to be an exciting auction to watch, as there are several domain names I could see selling for 6 figures. For instance, Empire.com would seem like the perfect name for insurance giant Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

What are your favorite domain names in the live auction?

Sedo to Hold Exclusive .ME Auction

Elliot Silver
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4

Sedo will be holding another .ME auction from February 2, 2012 through February 9, 2012. Like the last auction, this auction will include a wide selection of .ME Registry-owned domain names at a variety of price points.

There are a ton of solid keyword domain names included, although I don’t know how helpful the .ME extension will be for many of them. As you’ve probably read, Meet.ME sold for $450,000, but that keyword makes sense for a .ME domain name. While many of the keywords in this auction are exceptional, there are few that really stand out as “ME call to action” domain names.

Some of the names that will be auctioned (that I think are solid) include:

  • Forex.ME
  • Attorney.ME
  • College.ME
  • Friends.ME
  • Lawyer.ME
  • Pet.ME
  • Tickets.ME
  • Tours.ME
  • 999.ME

The entire list of domain names up for auction  can be found at http://www.sedo.com/ME.

5 Picks for the Great Domains Auction

Elliot Silver
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7

Sedo’s Great Domains is hosting an auction that begins today and runs for a week (ends January 26). There aren’t a whole lot of domain names in this auction, but there are a number of very good names.

Here are my favorite names, taking the reserve price range into consideration:

  • Moroccan.com – $500-999
  • Soulmates.com – $50,000 – $99,999
  • GoldChains.com – $5,000 – $9,999
  • Zimbabwe.com – $25,000 – $49,999
  • DrugDiscounts.com – $1,000 – $4,999

I don’t have any names in the auction, and nobody asked me to select any names (the link is a tracking link not an affiliate link). You can visit Sedo to see the full auction inventory. What are your favorite names in the auction with the prices in mind?

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