Suggestion to new and old domainers. Mentioning Fees in a thread when selling a name.

[WhoDatDog]

Below is correspondence I had with someone I did a deal with. I think that this is an important topic. Through the years I have seen this a lot, where fees are mentioned when a seller is quoting a price. In the business world fees are part of the deal, and there is no need to complicate the transaction by mentioning that the buyer pays fees. This will cost you sales, confuse potential buyers, and the end result will be that you will make less money. If you want to clear $500 on a name, then you need to make your asking price $525 or whatever it is that allows you to clear that amount. That is how business gets done. If it is a bigger deal for thousands of dollars then you can mention in negotiations something like: "I need to clear $2,800 here", and then the buyer can choose to send extra by PayPal, or pay the fees in Escrow". But as a general rule, and I think that this is very important, especially when selling low value names, you should just list your price and not cloud up the transaction. Below is a PM from a deal I made a while ago. It explains my thought process on this topic.


From a PM I sent a while ago after a nice easy transaction. The seller had a general statement listed by the prices that said: PayPal or Escrow Buyer pays fees. My assumption was that if it went to Escrow the buyer pays fees, as there was some high dollar names there. Of course, it can also be reasonably interpreted to mean that buyer pays fees for PayPal. But that is the problem. There should be no room for a miscommunication on simple small dollar sales. People should just list the price of $80, or $40, or $350. Forcing the buyer to take the time to figure out fees, or even think about asking about whether you mean fees for PayPal or Escrow, is time wasted, and not efficient.


Below is what I wrote from a past deal.



Domain received. Thanks. What is funny is that I was going to ask you about that. I assumed it was Escrow Fees, but I wasn't quite sure. My suggestion is drop the fees part, because in business, those fees are part of the deal, like when you spend $200 at a store, the store will pay Master Card or American Express between 3 and 5 percent. All you have to do is make your asking price 3-5 percent higher, and then not even mention it. This will make for easier deals for you. I don't even think you need to mention fees at all. If you are working a deal with Escrow, then you can mention at the point of Escrow that the buyer will pay fees, or just make the price a little higher.

I think this is important enough to mention it. Sometimes sellers will mention that they want to receive Mass Payment or gift, and that is fine if it can be done easily, but I think you will be better off stating a price only. Occasionally, someone will send a little extra PayPal and cover the fees anyways.

Thanks for the deal. It was a smooth transaction, but I almost made a general post in a thread about mentioning fees. Anything that can possible complicate the transaction or confuse the buyer will cost you sales. We had a great deal, so this is just a general observation and suggestion, and you can take my advice or not. Just raise the price so that you clear what you need to clear. If I get a bill at a restaurant for $200 they don't mention the fee that they pay to Mastercard. A number of people do this, so this is not a personal attack. You are a good domainer and the transaction was smooth. In fact, I think that I may make a general post about this topic.


Regards,

WhoDatDog

 

[manyagem]

Useful advice, WDD. I agree, we all want to keep things simple.

One thing I've been pondering and don't know where to get advice, is whether taxes are due on domain transfers. The position could vary according to where the domain is located (how do you figure that one out in cyberspace?). One thing that is clear, at least in the UK, is that VAT is payable on services. If you run a business that's VAT registered (as I do), HMRC are not likely to look favourably on a high turnover business that never raises any tax. My approach would be to add a shipping/handling charge which is subject to VAT, even if the goods (ie domain name) are exempt. That way, you're showing willing even if the amounts are paltry.

Are there any tax experts here who can advise? I'd be reluctant to ask HMRC because, if they don't tax domain transfers now, you can bet your life they'll look into taxing them when someone tips them off.

 

[Biggie]

Through the years I have seen this a lot, where fees are mentioned when a seller is quoting a price.

In the business world fees are part of the deal, and there is no need to complicate the transaction by mentioning that the buyer pays fees.

the first part of the last sentence, is contrary to the end of it.

as:
If, it's accepted that fee's are part of the deal in the business world.... then, it should be acceptable to ask the buyer to cover them.

therefore, if expressed with clarity, there should be no issue.

when selling domains I've always asked buyer to pay the fee and if they don't want to, then they can:

1.walk
2.try to get a lower price

those are your options.

This will cost you sales, confuse potential buyers, and the end result will be that you will make less money. If you want to clear $500 on a name, then you need to make your asking price $525 or whatever it is that allows you to clear that amount. That is how business gets done. If it is a bigger deal for thousands of dollars then you can mention in negotiations something like: "I need to clear $2,800 here", and then the buyer can choose to send extra by PayPal, or pay the fees in Escrow". But as a general rule, and I think that this is very important, especially when selling low value names, you should just list your price and not cloud up the transaction.

losing sales is part of the business, not matter what the price, but the end result is you will make more money, when the buyer pays the fee.

as is, majority of domains offered for sale on forums are "Already discounted", so again asking buyer to pay the fee is not an outrageous request.

there is nothing cloudy about adding 5% to $500.


imo....

 

[WhoDatDog]

Well you will lose deals that way, and I won't get involved with having to figure out the exact percentage that PayPal charges and then punching it into a calculator before I send payment. Do what you want to do. That means more business for me, and for people who want to do smooth deals only.

I often put up threads in the Names Wanted section. I say Go-Daddy preferred. Over 90 percent of the time I get involved with looking at a name from another registrar, it creates 4 or 5 more transactions, whether it be PM's, emails, whatever. If I wanted to do business like that I would just answer surveys online. Or, I may as well wash my neighbors car and have him throw me $20 if I feel like wasting my life away. Every extra moment you spend on a low value name is a moment wasted. It can turn into 30 minutes of effort, easily, for a name that might not be selling for much more than 10 or 20 dollars. Sorry, I'll pass.

Another thing I won't deal with is when someone sends me names in CAPS. People shouldn't profit when they make the world a worse place, or they waste people's time, or they make things hard to understand. PEOPLE SHOULDN'T PROFIT WHEN THEY MAKE THE WORLD A WORSE PLACE, OR THEY WASTE PEOPLE'S TIME, OR THEY MAKE THINGS HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

You either are with the program to make the world better and more efficient, or you are with the program to make things less enjoyable. If people can't figure it out, then they should spend more time figuring out how things effect buyers when they are trying to sell them names that are generally overpriced. That is why when you see a complaint about a deal that fell through, it is always from someone who is mad that the sucker got away. If the name was priced so that the buyer got a reasonable deal, the seller would not be whining like a baby in these threads I see.

Yes, I know what I am doing. I've been right about every subject concerning domains since 2005. Never wrong once in outing a scammer. Never wrong once in telling people about crap extensions that scammers were pumping. The truth is where it's at, trust me.

 

[Biggie]

you speak a lot about what you want and how others should meet your expectations, etc. like having names specifically at godaddy

yet, when I expressed same desire to have it the way I want and have my expectations met...there is conflict

on top of that, you are right and never wrong, since 2005.


I mean, you can start a thread and whine about "conditionals" of the biz, but others can't whine cuz they lost a sale.

from my perspective, looks like equal opportunity to express or share



imo....