DNF Low-baller called out.

[Seraphim]

The more active I am on this forum, the more whois spam, low ball spam, and blatant fraud attempts that I receive. It's always from some random name @gmail.com. I have some evidence to support that it's being sent by either 1 of 2 members here , it's increasing in it's intensity as of recently, and it's really getting freakin annoying. I will not call out the person, as I have a 50% chance of being wrong, but I wish someone here more tech savvy than I am would finally net this guy, ban him from the forum, and then shame him out of business.

The email [x25 per day]:

Received: (qmail 7655 invoked from network); 8 Jan 2008 09:57:39 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO pre-smtp11-02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net) ([64.202.166.8])
(envelope-sender <[email protected]>)
by smtp11-01.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (qmail-1.03) with SMTP
for <exampleemail>; 8 Jan 2008 09:57:39 -0000
Received: (qmail 32589 invoked from network); 8 Jan 2008 09:57:39 -0000
Received: from virtual117.webair.com ([209.200.17.183])
(envelope-sender <[email protected]>)
by pre-smtp11-02.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP
for <exampleemail>; 8 Jan 2008 09:57:39 -0000
Received: (qmail 4238 invoked by uid 10388); 8 Jan 2008 04:57:38 -0500
Date: 8 Jan 2008 04:57:38 -0500
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
To: exampleemail
Subject: Is exampledomain.com for sale?
From: Robert Smith <[email protected]>
X-Nonspam: None



To whomever it may concern,

I am interested in your domain name exampledomain.com and was wondering if you would consider selling it to me.
I would be willing to go through Escrow.com for the transaction, so that you know you are in good hands.

If you are interested, please give me your asking price.

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to speaking with you.
Robert Smith

 

[GeorgeK]

And from the Dreamhost thread, precious quotes like:

Guys I know I was lowballing, and I know I am in the wrong. I have been punished for that.
Id like to retain/get back any proffessionaly respect I have left.

Seraphim: According to the headers, the email was sent through GoDaddy's servers, so contact their abuse department (I do that for persistent spammers). (actually, it might have been webair's servers, depending on whether GoDaddy hosts your email)

"Robert Smith" emailed me too, over ###.com (i.e. 3 digit) domains.

 

[GUA]

I appreciate your viewpoint Stuart, and it is completely fair enough.
After my previous 'spamming' encounters, I made sure to research and make sure I didnt break laws again.

During my research I found that first correspondence with someone who hasnt asked for it is spam. Technically I have spammed, however most people here also have by this definition.
What most of us define spam as is definately not what I am doing. I want to make that clear. I HAVE learned from my mistakes.

James I am also to an extent embarassed making this kind of offer, BUT If Salient had sold me wifi.com for $100 would I be happy or embarassed?

What I would say is I can be construed to have been unprofessional, and I accept that, but I have done nothing wrong as such.

I hope that people wont be put off from dealing with me based on my lowballing in an attempt to get a good deal (a very good deal).

My reputation here, and my past transactions with various people show I am a serious domainer, with finances. I am just trying to do the best for myself.

I appreciate everyones points and send out my apologies if my actions have offended anyone.

Thanks
Tom

 

[GeorgeK]

Bulk formulaic mail can certainly be against the TOS of the relevant webhosts. Sending 10,000 emails to people all with the same scripted query, even if it's a first contact, will certainly get one canned if enough folks complain, from most webhosts.

 

[Gerry]

I could not agree more with this statement:

Your domain name wifi.com stood out to me as being a great domain for branding based on its short, and simple nature.

I think perhaps someday wifi will catch on, perhaps as an abbreviated form or "why fight?", you know...all those mobi threads, like

Hey, man, wifi bout it?

 

[Devil Dog]

I could not agree more with this statement:

Your domain name wifi.com stood out to me as being a great domain for branding based on its short, and simple nature.

That right there makes the name worth, at least $250!

 

[domain newbie]

i don't think tom clowes does anything wrong- I'm lowballing at sedo all the time, you never know, you might get on to unaware of domain pricing owner and get your bargain- if you feel offended by low ball- click "spam"

 

[Gerry]

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to speaking with you.
Robert Smith

Bizarre.

And I thought I was the only one getting emails from Robert Smith.

Oddly enough, he never responded.

I guess he got spammed.

 

[GUA]

Guys can I reiterate I havnt sent automated spam in any way shape or form.
I simply used my host webmail system, and copied and pasted to exactly 180 4 letter.com domain owners whom I looked up.

Regarding Seraphims post, I appreciate good domains got a lot of offers, many automated. The emails you refer to are definately not me...

I used an automated spam system before, and got my dreamhost account banned. I havnt again...
It is a tad out of place to suggest that because you have recieved lots of spam before it is anything to do with me.

If you really are getting ridiculous amounts of spam from the same person do complain, George complained about me before and I learnt the hard way.

 

[Gerry]

That right there makes the name worth, at least $250!

Well, I wouldn't got that high.

 

[GeorgeK]

People at Sedo explicitly have the name for sale. Plus, I doubt you are doing it in the quantity, i.e. where potentially thousands or tens of thousands (i.e. the "bulk" part of "unsolicited BULK email") are being bothered.

 

[GUA]

People at Sedo explicitly have the name for sale. Plus, I doubt you are doing it in the quantity, i.e. where potentially thousands or tens of thousands (i.e. the "bulk" part of "unsolicited BULK email") are being bothered.

When you consider there are 456000 LLLL.com combinations, and I have sent 180 emails, that cant really be considered bulk OR malicious/bad in any way.

As I mentioned I have made 3 $x,xxx deals through my emails (non automated), and have not done anything wrong.

 

[GeorgeK]

If you didn't do it in bulk, that's a step in the right direction. But you need to think about the part you wrote:

I start at $100 because you never know. In a negotiation you dont start high..

It just makes one look silly. One can still make a good profit at a realistic opening offer, i.e. evaluating each name one-by-one, visiting the page to see what's on it, etc., rather than simply cutting/pasting blindly without personalizing it to the quality of the name at hand.

 

[Seraphim]

I'm sure people that bulk send offers do get nice deals from time to time, but they are also spamming people with full blown developed domains. In addition, I would imagine if this practice continues to grow which it is, it will drive a lot of people underground with their whois info, and in turn make it harder to buy a domain for everyone. I was always hoping whois spam wouldn't get out of control, but this last year has me thinking the dam is about to break. Time for Moniker's whois privacy blocker I guess.

 

[alexsimon]

Over at the other forum, there was a similar thread with the same member offering $100 for a CVCV.com.

HE DID NOT LEARN HIS LESSON, as he will do it again and again.

That email a fellow member got, was some days ago.

Don't get me wrong, I make some lowball offers too sometimes, but I research the buyer, and I spend hell of a lot of time with 1 email, so that the potential reader of the email will feel he is not talking to a spam machine, but to a human.

I hate spammers, especially in our industry, since they make all domainers loose credibility.

 

[GeorgeK]

Agreed, Stuart, it's behaviour like that which privacy advocates and registrars point to, when they push for elimination of the WHOIS obligations. Eliminating WHOIS would cause even more crime, though, e.g. you wouldn't know who is behind a store you're ordering from, etc.

 

[GUA]

I appreciate what you are saying, but essentially what happens usually (at least for me) is I email and offer an amount. The person is either wholly unrealistic like "I want $1,000,000" for yuwu.com or something OR they say I want a reasonable price.
I have never found anyone who will sell under value... Starting at $100 doesnt do me any harm (apart from this apparent hatred of lowballers ). It still distinguishes the realistic from the unrealistic, yet also gives the potential for a ridiculous bargain. Hence why I do it.

From the point of view of personalisation. It is a fair one, BUT personalising even 180 emails is very difficult, and time consuming. A point to note is that the names I really did want I did personalise.

I am not trying to defend myself, nor hide (or I would have used a fake name). Perhaps not the best business practice but I have got some good deals from it.
Thanks
Tom

 

[Seraphim]

I appreciate what you are saying, but essentially what happens usually (at least for me) is I email and offer an amount. The person is either wholly unrealistic like "I want $1,000,000" for yuwu.com or something OR they say I want a reasonable price.
I have never found anyone who will sell under value... Starting at $100 doesnt do me any harm (apart from this apparent hatred of lowballers ). It still distinguishes the realistic from the unrealistic, yet also gives the potential for a ridiculous bargain. Hence why I do it.

From the point of view of personalisation. It is a fair one, BUT personalising even 180 emails is very difficult, and time consuming. A point to note is that the names I really did want I did personalise.

I am not trying to defend myself, nor hide (or I would have used a fake name). Perhaps not the best business practice but I have got some good deals from it.
Thanks
Tom

Hey Tom, you should go bang on your neighbor's door at 7:00 am, and ask them if they'll sell you their house for $100?

 

[GUA]

Over at the other forum, there was a similar thread with the same member offering $100 for a CVCV.com.

HE DID NOT LEARN HIS LESSON, as he will do it again and again.

That email a fellow member got, was some days ago.

Don't get me wrong, I make some lowball offers too sometimes, but I research the buyer, and I spend hell of a lot of time with 1 email, so that the potential reader of the email will feel he is not talking to a spam machine, but to a human.

I hate spammers, especially in our industry, since they make all domainers loose credibility.

Just as well I did learn my lesson from when I was spamming, and just as well I no longer am a spammer.
Thanks

Hey Tom, you should go bang on your neighbor's door at 7:00 am, and ask them if they'll sell you their house for $100?

Not sure how that is in any way related, because that is actually an inconvenience to the person whereas me emailing someone a genuine, although low offer is not. In both scenarios the offer can simply be ignored, and both parties can go away happy.

 

[Seraphim]

Not sure how that is in any way related, because that is actually an inconvenience to the person whereas me emailing someone a genuine

Denial - a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is too painful to accept and rejects it instead.