Has anyone ever backed out on a deal?

[Mediamarket]

You have a binding contract - offer, acceptance and consideration.

You can always back out and they'd have to pursue legally and if they are changing names then it you'd have a reason to say you backed out. So, in reality the chances of them pursuing and being successfull are likely very small.

The question you posed for me is one of ethics - if you are doing because you now realize it is an enduser only then I think backing out is the wrong thing to do. But I empathize because I've been in the same situation a couple times.

The question I ask myself is - would I back out of a real estate or other agreement just because I found out the buyer who made me the offer that I accepted had more money than I thought they did when they first approached me? Of course not.....false pretenses aside

I sold a name today to a company (large one) but the email they approached me with was hotmail. I am a bit upset they werent upfront because now that Escrow is setup I know who they are are and know I probably could have gotten more but backing out for me personally at this stage is the wrong thing to do so I wont. I know why he used a false name - he knew I could research him well enough to know who he was and my price gets inflated so I don't fault him for that. I was elated yesterday for the price I was getting so I have to talk myself into realizing that I should be happy to get what I did.

My bloviating two cents....

 

[theinvestor]

Thanks Media. Helpful post!

 

[Johnn]

Well...the main issue is this.

Assuming you make an agreement with a person you believed to be named John.

Eventually when you enter a contract you find out his name is Bill.

Technically...do you really have to go on with deal? If a major company lies about who they are when making a deal, and you find out while writing a contract...or transferring the domain. I think it's within your right to choose to not go through with the deal if you choose.

No one agrees with me there?

I never changed my name to Bill?

 

[hugegrowth]

My first instinct is that you should go through with the deal.

It is kind of sneaky of the company but every buyer wants to get the domain for the least price possible. It's almost to the point where the seller should be asking the buyer who they are and what they are buying the domain for during negotiation - then you can base the sale on those conditions. If they cried poor or misrepresented themselves during the negotiation as not being able to afford much, you might have a case - but if they don't tell you they're a big comapany, and you never ask, then it's more of an ommission.

Otherwise, you should treat every sale like you are selling to an end user, unless you are able to find out their identity. If the buyer stays anonymous, when you agree on a price, ask yourself "if I were selling this to a big company would I be happy with this price?". A buyer who contacts you and wishes to remain anonymous should be a head up.

It is obviously important to you that the buyer turned out to be a company, so always ask up front next time you get an inquiry.

I have a person who contacted me about a .ca domain recently, I've searched them and found she is heavily involved in internet/domain administration in another country (at the registrar level), and is possibly (my guess) representing someone else. She never replied when I asked what the domain would be used for. I have an asking price set and so far they won't go that high, but I'm willing to wait or not sell.

 

[allanh]

my 2 cents is that a seller should not be altering their price based on who the buyer is. Why does a domain suddenly raises in value just because it's Bill Gates buying your domain?
While human greed is understandable, I do not condone that behaviour. Just like how would you feel, as a consumer, that when you walk into a supermarket, they want to charge you double comparing to the next customer?

You should have a fair idea of what your domain's market price is and it shouldn't change no matter who you are selling it to. Unethical, in my opinion. If a seller asks who I am when they try to sell me a domain, I would reply "None of your business".