This is a rather amusing thread!
Here we have 2 people all crying 'unfair' over a failing transaction to buy a typo of Google's trademarked name. One person openly admits he wanted to buy because the trademark would generate traffic AND the price was likely a mistake. The other person admits dealing in Google's trademark names, and admits to have entered a contract to sell with Afternic, but failed to cancel the listing AND failed to keep the contact email current, yet still blames Afternic for this problem. And Afternic took buyer's money in violation of their own step-by-step escrow procedure.
Bottom line: Everyone involved was 'dealing dirty', which enough bad karma to be shared by all.
I wanted to buy it so I can give it to Google.
On the more serious point, do Afternic ever comment in here. They seem to be losing customers.
They commented within the Escrow so here it is:
Greetings Buyer and Seller:
Thank you for using Afternic. We are sorry to see the way things have unfolded on the DNForum. Please allow me to clarify the details of this transaction.
When an Afternic member's membership expires, the domain listings will be removed. When an Afternic member's email address changes, that does not mean that previous domain listings become void, nor does it mean that their domain listing will be removed. It just means that, unless the member is active on Afternic, or if they don't update their Afternic email address, the member will become unaware of bids on their domains.
The reason why you received the email that the seller accepted your bid, was because you bid the Asking price of the domain. When buyers and sellers sign up as a member, they agree to the rules of the site. One rule is that if a buyers offer is accepted within 7 days of it being placed, or if the buyer meets the "Buy Now" asking price, then both parties have entered into a legally binding contract. (This particular contract was void, of course, because the seller doesn't own the domain any longer - as we cannot expect someone to sell something that isn't theirs).
The seller had an old email on the account, which is why they didn't login at Afternic to inform you that they no longer own the domain. After I spoke with the seller on Friday, they informed me that they don't own the domain and that they have a new email address, that isn't on the Afternic account.
The reason we ask Buyer's to submit payment, regardless of Step 1 being complete, is because some seller's don't complete Step 1 until the end of the Escrow Transaction. If we don't have the buyer's payment, then we can't instruct the seller to transfer the domain. Therefore, we send collection notices to the buyer to complete Steps 2 and/or 3 (unless the seller has informed us that they don't own the domain). We expect that sellers will have updated portfolios, which is why we require buyers to be submitting payment after winning the domain. In this Escrow transaction, had the seller still owned the domain, then it was in the buyer's interest that we have payment for the domain, as we could have sped up the transaction after contacting the seller and updating their Afternic portfolio.
Had the seller owned the domain and not transferred, or had the seller been a repeat offender of not keeping their portfolio updated, then we would have canceled their membership. However, as it was their first offense, we gave them a warning.
As far as the funds for this domain are concerned, the Escrow Manager has already issued you a refund to your PayPal account. The reason that I stated that we would hold the funds in your account was because you previously request us to do so, "If this escrow does fall through do NOT return the money keep it here I will sooner or later buy something."
Again, we are sorry for any inconvenience. We are trying to look out for the safety and protection of all our members. We will be canceling this Escrow transaction now. We do hope that both of you will stay with Afternic.
If you have any other questions, comments or concerns, please contact us. Have a great day!
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