- Joined
- Oct 4, 2003
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A warning to folks buying/bidding on domains - VERIFY OWNERSHIP FIRST!
Attempt to ascertain, the best one can, whether a domain for sale truly is the property of the entity listed in the Whois, and further verify the person selling said domain is the owner, or an agent authorized to do so on their behalf.
Verifying ownership of a domain is much like doing a title search ... complicated and unexact ... but any verification, even if only rudamentary, is better than none at all.
I bring up this topic since I ran into a domain I was interested in on Afternic in their "Showcase Domains" section that appeared to have a questionable past, the seller never responded to my questions, and kept reducing the Buy Now price very rapidly even though the bidding had only begun and was quickly approaching their original Buy Now price.
Afternic itself is only a broker in transactions and thus one can't expect them to do an in-depth investigation into every domain name listed...though one would certainly hope they at least do some research for their "Showcase Domains"...maybe they do, but not so sure from what I've seen.
To be fair, Afternic responded promptly to my concerns and it appears the listing has been removed...not sure if that's due in part to my concerns I sent Afternic...but if so, I likely saved someone yesterday from buying an expensive "problem"...
One has little to no *realistic* legal recourse...difficult to recover damages from one who has little to no money and/or is located in a foreign jurisdiction; even if one does get a judgement...getting it enforced is another matter entirely.
Bottom line is one needs to be very careful about any domain name they are considering buying regardless of the seller, price, or venue. Research what you are buying BEFORE bidding/sending money. If it doesn't seem right, it likely isn't. Shop smart!
ValueNames
Ron Bennett
Attempt to ascertain, the best one can, whether a domain for sale truly is the property of the entity listed in the Whois, and further verify the person selling said domain is the owner, or an agent authorized to do so on their behalf.
Verifying ownership of a domain is much like doing a title search ... complicated and unexact ... but any verification, even if only rudamentary, is better than none at all.
I bring up this topic since I ran into a domain I was interested in on Afternic in their "Showcase Domains" section that appeared to have a questionable past, the seller never responded to my questions, and kept reducing the Buy Now price very rapidly even though the bidding had only begun and was quickly approaching their original Buy Now price.
Afternic itself is only a broker in transactions and thus one can't expect them to do an in-depth investigation into every domain name listed...though one would certainly hope they at least do some research for their "Showcase Domains"...maybe they do, but not so sure from what I've seen.
To be fair, Afternic responded promptly to my concerns and it appears the listing has been removed...not sure if that's due in part to my concerns I sent Afternic...but if so, I likely saved someone yesterday from buying an expensive "problem"...
One has little to no *realistic* legal recourse...difficult to recover damages from one who has little to no money and/or is located in a foreign jurisdiction; even if one does get a judgement...getting it enforced is another matter entirely.
Bottom line is one needs to be very careful about any domain name they are considering buying regardless of the seller, price, or venue. Research what you are buying BEFORE bidding/sending money. If it doesn't seem right, it likely isn't. Shop smart!
ValueNames
Ron Bennett
