accpeted norm regarding domain sales

[abe]

Hi,

I'm quite excited! My First sale!
I am interested in hearing from peoples experiences.
Do people use brokers?
Who pays for the transfer of the domain? The buyer or seller?
If it's from a godaddy to another godaddy account does it also cost money?
I have another year left on my registration does the buyer pay for that too?

Any thing else I should know?

Thanks!

Abe

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by abe

Hi,
I'm quite excited! My First sale!
I am interested in hearing from peoples experiences.
Do people use brokers?
Who pays for the transfer of the domain? The buyer or seller?
If it's from a godaddy to another godaddy account does it also cost money?
I have another year left on my registration does the buyer pay for that too?
Any thing else I should know?
Thanks!
Abe

Way to go Abe! Hope it was a big one.
In a nutshell, most sales are done direct by owner to domainer or end user. I have had a few occasions where I have asked native speakers to help out with the deal. There are not many established brokers for IDNs (yet), but down the line the best places will be the big sellers and auction houses like SEDO...but as of current they aren't much interested in IDNs for some odd reasons which don't really make logical sense.

Tranferring is generally free, usually best to just have them make a free account where the domain is and push it over. Internal transfers...ie. GoDaddy to GoDaddy is certainly free as is with most registrars. If they want to get it to another registrar, they will have to pay at least 1 year registrations fee to do that. You would get an authorization code for them and unlock the domain. The rest is pretty much automatic other than following up and making sure it is moving along. Any "time" left on a domains registration is considered part of the deal unless agreed in advance.

If you don't know the buyer, use an escrow service like escrowDNS.com (link above on forum header).

We would be interested to know the details of sale if you are willing to provide. For sales over $2,000 send the details to DNJournal so they can publish in their weekly sales guide.

[domainguru]

Why would you use a broker if the sale is already agreed. brokers are generally there to increase the sales price

just use an escrow service to complete the sale, e.g. escrow.com

[abe]

First thank u for your responses. I really appreciate it.
This is not a big one.
Quick question: The customer wrote to me that they have another account at the same registrar and that they use the proxy so as not to reveal the important credentials. It is actually an advise of their personal account manager there so as not to compromise the security.
Does this make sense? Should I also open a new account and have it transferred there? or there is nothing to worry about..

Secondly does paypal take a commission too or only when I want to take the cash out literally?

Thanks,

Abe

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by abe

Secondly does paypal take a commission too or only when I want to take the cash out literally? Thanks, Abe

Beware of paypal...they are stinkers when it is time to help people that have been defrauded. Unless you know the buyer, they can charge back the sale, use a stolen credit card etc etc. Once you push the domain it is GONE and the registrar will not help much in this case either.

Use an escrow service and be safe. It is not that expensive and you can split costs with buyer. Regarding paypal, they charge for just about everything...starting with a minimum amount, then about 3-4% if I remember correctly....with the percentage dropping based on a sliding scale.

A word of caution...any buyer that has fake accounts, proxies etc etc you should worry about- JMO. If they want to be anonymous they can pay a dollar year or less to have a private who.is. That is a 100% red flag IMO to insist on using an escrow service.

[domainguru]

Never heard any buyer announcing they were using a proxy. All that does is hide their IP address.

Just go through an escrow service, and certainly don't transfer the domain to them without payment, either directly to you or to a reputable escrow service.

Originally Posted by abe

First thank u for your responses. I really appreciate it.
This is not a big one.
Quick question: The customer wrote to me that they have another account at the same registrar and that they use the proxy so as not to reveal the important credentials. It is actually an advise of their personal account manager there so as not to compromise the security.
Does this make sense? Should I also open a new account and have it transferred there? or there is nothing to worry about..

Secondly does paypal take a commission too or only when I want to take the cash out literally?

Thanks,

Abe

[Drewbert]

If they insist on using Paypal "Masspay", be VERY wary.

[alpha]

Originally Posted by Drewbert

If they insist on using Paypal "Masspay", be VERY wary.

Yep what he said.

Masspay has it's benefits because it means the seller pays a flat token fee $1 usually, and the buyer nothing at all. So you quite often see it used between 2 parties where the buyer and seller trust each other 100% and because the lack of regular paypal fees, this gets factored into a lower buying price.

But Masspay is also a scammer dream. why?
Well, there are 2 ways for a buyer to get his $ back if he realises he has been scammed.

1) if paid via a credit card through paypal, you can request a chargeback through your cc company, and paypal has to adhere to it.

2) you can reverse the payment

A masspay payment can only be sent from paypal balance, so that voids #1 above, and "digital goods" are supposed to be exempt and therefore cannot be reversed, so that voids #2.

Bottom line:

only use Paypal Masspay if you trust the seller, because you can't reverse it

but then also remember..

to only use regular Paypal if you trust the buyer, because he might reverse it

in other words, paypal is a bad idea for selling/buying domains unless there is trust involved.

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by alpha

In other words, paypal is a bad idea for selling/buying domains unless there is trust involved.

Yup, that is absolutely the bottom line. We should put that on a BIG stickie!