Precautions A New Buyer Can Take When Purchasing Domain Names

FrankD · Apr 25, 2009

Hi Everyone,

My name is Frank and I am new to the dnforum. As a newbie who is interested in purchasing domains, what are some precautions/questions that I can take/ask to ensure that I am dealing with an honest seller and to make sure the seller follows through with the transaction.

Thanks to all who take the time to respond.

Best,

Frank

VirtualT · Apr 25, 2009

FrankD said:
Hi Everyone,

My name is Frank and I am new to the dnforum. As a newbie who is interested in purchasing domains, what are some precautions/questions that I can take/ask to ensure that I am dealing with an honest seller and to make sure the seller follows through with the transaction.

Thanks to all who take the time to respond.

Best,

Frank

you can't, use your best judgment based on length of membership and iTrader, and use escrow for amount over 1k

imneazmh · May 4, 2009

Hi Frank. Since you are a newbie, I think you should also have some idea about trademark before you buy any domain. Here goes an article of mine.
http://www.dnforum.com/f34/newbies-how-stay-out-trouble-trademarked-domains-thread-354027.html
Hope this helps.

Jarrall · May 4, 2009

Always check the whois of the domain you are about to purchase.
you can do this at http://who.is
or http://whois.domaintools.com

For example, say that the person you are negotiating with says he lives in the UK, yet the whois information for the domain says the owner lives in China, or India, then I would definitely question the discrepancy.

dodo1 · May 4, 2009

You can never be 100% sure that you're dealing with an honest buyer or seller.

But when buying domains it is always important to do some research on the domain you're going to purchase. As has already been said, taking a look at the domain's whois is one of the first things to do. DomainTools.com is good for this, or you can go directly to VeriSign's website for the whois information.

Then we have a few precautions in place on this forum to make it easier to learn about the other party's past transactions. For example, look at the other person's iTrader rating, which, like on eBay, lists positive and negative ratings the person has received for past transactions on this forum.

On DNF it's also possible for members to get verified. This means the forum admins have confirmed the user's identity and postal address, and they can hand these information out to you if you get into any legal issues with the seller. However, lots of members prefer not to share their personal information, so there are also lots of trusted members here who have not been verified. So if a user hasn't been verified doesn't automatically mean he or she cannot be trusted. This is just an additional and optional security measure.

Making a quick Google search for the seller and the domain can also reveal useful information.

But again, you can't be 100% sure. Trust your instincts. For sales above a certain amount I always recommend making use of an escrow service.

Jessica320 · May 27, 2009

At least seller should have a verified Paypal account.

You should also ask if he (or she) is a member of another forum - he may be a reputable member there - and check out his/her posts to get an idea of his personality or character.