Interesting thread.
Here's my summary:
Some sellers like to protect their privacy in the whois by-
(a) Using privacy systems / proxy
[This is their right. Shouldn't have to change to make a sale]
(b) Using other people's details / maybe partners
[I don't really like seeing other people's details in there. But that's
why there is escrow. Plus I can try to contact the person in the whois,
using the registered email in there. Plus I can look at other details
like itrader number, postcount, other forum activity - I think we
would all trust Rockefeller! But if it really bothered me, I could ask the
seller to change this in the whois before I buy]
(c) Using their company's details
[This seems to be another fair thing for people to do. Again there
are certain checks that a buyer can do- trader rating, postcount,
check company details - website, directors, company records, and
then also use escrow]
(d) Using fake / incomplete details
[I really hate seeing fake details in there. Sometimes it's so
obvious that they are fake. Maybe the name is a bunch of numbers,
or the last name is missing. Or maybe each line of the address is
"this domain is for sale". I don't like this practice but it would just
put me on higher alert in this transaction and make me
question how much I want this domain. Again, escrow, itrader
rating, postcount, plus the buyer could ask that the seller make
the whois changes and the sale could happen after these changes
are reflected.]
DN Forum and moderators shouldn't really get directly involved in these transactions otherwise the forum will be heading in the direction of taking a commission and then before you know it DNF will be the new SEDO...
Why something should be done:
(a) There are many new people in the domain game. It would be
nice to protect the few of them who are a bit naive or may be
susceptible to bad luck :undecided:
[We've all done something stupid in life. We learnt a great lesson!
but what if someone had warned us before? Maybe we would have
saved some money, spotting the danger in advance.]
(b) If the community doesn't acknowledge that there is a problem,
this might only get worse.
One answer:
As others in this thread have mentioned, guidance / an article on buyer beware and safety might be a nice idea. This could cover all the main pitfalls plus what you can do if things go wrong, protection you can use, what judgement can be used with itrader, postcount, whois info, methods on searching to confirm (as much as possible) the whois information, escrow.
[Articles etc. will lead to a more useful community, better SEO content, and fewer defrauded members :veryangry: :upset: :undecided: :greenconfused: )
This guidance could be in the form of a forum announcement, sticky, initial PM for those who register or even in the initial email we all receive for registering.
I think that those members who are newly registered are most at risk (of course this isn't true for all new registrations). In general, I'd say new members are more likely to be in the game for less than a year so maybe at higher risk. I think the email is a very nice idea.
In fact taking this a little further. I know that when I first joined I knew nothing :yes: . Not just about domaining, but about how vBulletin forums worked (even though I have one on a site I manage :lol: ), plus then there are the rules of the forum.
So what would be nice is to have a period of say 3 days after registration, where new members receive an email a day (clearly stating that they aren't getting spammed, and that this is part 1 of 3 / 2 of 3 etc. - so they know after the 3rd day it'll stop). Each of these 3 daily emails could be a tutorial or advice email.
For example...
DAY 1: How to get the most from DNF (features/membership plans)
DAY 2: Introductions to moderators. Site stories. (how mods can help, stories about big deals done on DNF - to inspire the newbies!
)
DAY 3: Poster / buyer-seller beware. (site advice, posting rules, tips for buying and selling domains domains)
You might say people won't like receiving emails from adminstrators about stuff like this. But I really disagree. As a newbie I wanted to jump into the community and get involved. 3 emails with advice and news would have just helped me 'jump in' and feel comfortable. I'm not saying fill these emails with adverts as well - but these emails may have a time-money cost, so if an advert is needed in them, fine. Just make the email useful.
Ok, I've spent about an hour typing this
but just my thoughts.
I definitely think that these solutions aren't intrusive and can really help some of the vulnerable out there. Any direct involvement with sales / whois checking by the forum would be a big mistake in my honest opinion.
Mg
