Sign Contract When Selling Domain Name?

JB Lions · Aug 6, 2011

Anybody do that when selling a domain name? Had a domain at GoDaddy set at Buy Now, somebody did, an amount that would take it to Escrow. Buyer already paid, we're at this stage:

Both parties have accepted the offer, awaiting buyer payment.

then today:

Buyer paid by PayPal, awaiting Escrow.com approval.

Then get an email with contract attachment wanting me to sign, that I won't mention the sale anywhere, this and that.

My reply was basically I don't see a need to do that, have never done it before. That I won't mention the sale or anything like that.

Thoughts?

Theo · Aug 6, 2011

Was that brought up during the negotiation process? If not, it could be an issue. If it's not a real issue however for you - e.g. if you want the sale to go through painlessly - then sign it.

JB Lions · Aug 6, 2011

Basically, I had an inquiry about a domain found via my contact info in whois. We discussed an amount, I set it to Buy Now at GoDaddy for that amount. The amount kicked it over to Escrow and the process started. Looking back, I should have just went straight to Escrow but hindsight and doing things when I'm tired, not the best idea.

At escrow it says:
Both parties have accepted the offer, awaiting buyer payment. Buyer paid by PayPal, awaiting Escrow.com approval.

Now after that, I get an email with a Domain Name Purchase Agreement pdf that he wants me to sign suggested by Escrow. It's the same info I agreed to when I listed the domain at GoDaddy, so didn't see the need to do that again but I could be wrong.

This is the first time I've used Escrow. Is that how it's normally done?

Gerry · Aug 6, 2011

Sounds like a standard Non Disclosure Agreement.

eeedc · Aug 7, 2011

I would only balk, politely, if they want you to guarantee that there are no trademark problems.

You can state that nobody in the past threatened legal action because of alleged trademark conflict, but unless you want to be liable, donât guarantee the name will be problem-free forever. Suggest they do their own legal-trademark research.

Gerry · Aug 7, 2011

JB Lions said:
Then get an email with contract attachment wanting me to sign, that I won't mention the sale anywhere, this and that.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this section. Nothing.

I have a backlog of NDA's as well as signed contracts and invoices for domains sold.

When I sell a domain, I never bring up an NDA agreement. I think that should be the buyers call, not mine.

I would advise looking over the terms closely. One particular NDA had a clause cover the sale for a period of 5 years or until a go live date. The buyer wanted complete secrecy of the sale and the name. I hope it does go live. Then, I can perhaps disclose who the buyer is.

JB Lions · Aug 7, 2011

Doc Com said:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this section. Nothing.

I have a backlog of NDA's as well as signed contracts and invoices for domains sold.

When I sell a domain, I never bring up an NDA agreement. I think that should be the buyers call, not mine.

I would advise looking over the terms closely. One particular NDA had a clause cover the sale for a period of 5 years or until a go live date. The buyer wanted complete secrecy of the sale and the name. I hope it does go live. Then, I can perhaps disclose who the buyer is.

I don't have problem with that part either, mentioning the sale/price.

eeedc said:
I would only balk, politely, if they want you to guarantee that there are no trademark problems.

You can state that nobody in the past threatened legal action because of alleged trademark conflict, but unless you want to be liable, donât guarantee the name will be problem-free forever. Suggest they do their own legal-trademark research.

There are none that I can see. I always check TESS before getting a domain and just checked today, nothing. It's a brandable .com with the .net and .org taken. No threats of legal action or anything like that.

Also, want to mention the first pdf sent over was 25% less than the agreed upon amount, the amount shown at Escrow. And that pdf states that it supercedes the agreement at Escrow. Could have very well been an innocent mistake, who knows.

At this point I said the ball is in your court, if you want to follow thru with the sale, fine. If not, it's a domain that I've and inquiries on before, so I'll just put it back up for sale and will sell it down the road sometimes.

Thanks for the replies.

DomainsInc · Aug 7, 2011

JB Lions said:
Basically, I had an inquiry about a domain found via my contact info in whois. We discussed an amount, I set it to Buy Now at GoDaddy for that amount. The amount kicked it over to Escrow and the process started. Looking back, I should have just went straight to Escrow but hindsight and doing things when I'm tired, not the best idea.

At escrow it says:
Both parties have accepted the offer, awaiting buyer payment. Buyer paid by PayPal, awaiting Escrow.com approval.

Now after that, I get an email with a Domain Name Purchase Agreement pdf that he wants me to sign suggested by Escrow. It's the same info I agreed to when I listed the domain at GoDaddy, so didn't see the need to do that again but I could be wrong.

This is the first time I've used Escrow. Is that how it's normally done?

This is the buyers doing, not escrow.com. Who knows what they might of suggested when the buyer had questions but i've never signed anything when selling domains through escrow.com or selling domains through godaddy using escrow.com (when the amount is over 2k, they use escrow.com).

grcorp · Aug 7, 2011

I'd take no part in it. It is likely to lead to nothing but trouble.

eeedc · Aug 7, 2011

"Also, want to mention the first pdf sent over was 25% less than the agreed upon amount, the amount shown at Escrow. And that pdf states that it supercedes the agreement at Escrow. Could have very well been an innocent mistake, who knows."

The contract was likely boilerplate, and the domain name and amount just filled it - maybe incorrectly.
People back out of deals all the time or try to keep nickel and diming price down, but backing out after paying?

---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 AM ----------

But I wouldn't raise a fuss about it. Just sent it back with the correct amount assuming you have an offer and acceptance from your emails.

DC20 · Aug 8, 2011

If it really was limited to not talking about it, I would probably agree just to shut them up and get the deal done...and maybe have the door open for the future. However, if it involved anything I minded or they handled it the wrong way (like the wrong amount may have been, but you know the feel for this), I would balk on it and not give an inch on continuing the transaction as they are already legally locked in with escrow....if it ends up dropping, like you say you can sell it other places and you caused a headache for someone trying to cause you one.

...I would just go by if it's anything you mind in the first place.

eeedc · Aug 8, 2011

This is getting more off topic, but if Escrow.com is taking PayPal , who takes credit cards, and one can always dispute (back out of) a credit card or PayPal transaction, what good is using Escrow.com?

south · Aug 8, 2011

eeedc said:
This is getting more off topic, but if Escrow.com is taking PayPal , who takes credit cards, and one can always dispute (back out of) a credit card or PayPal transaction, what good is using Escrow.com?

In theory, escrow.com would then take the hit. That is the whole purpose of using an escrow service. They charge a fee for taking the risk. It's their entire business model.

JB Lions · Aug 8, 2011

"If it really was limited to not talking about it,"

That was just one point. If you type in Domain Name Purchase Agreement into Google, they have templates people can use and it looks like this was one of them, had 10 different points. Looks like he picked one of those.

"But I wouldn't raise a fuss about it. Just sent it back with the correct amount assuming you have an offer and acceptance from your emails."

Oh I did, and he sent be back another pdf with the correct amount. Again this was all after we came to an agreement, after he clicked Buy Now at GoDaddy, after the Escrow process started. Had the domain, the amount, escrow id, transaction id, buyer/seller name all the typical stuff you see at Escrow. Then he sends me the pdf to sign. Then we have like 20 emails each way about this. Just not worth hassle to me.