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Category: Domain Names

Domain name information and advice

Flippa Announces Major Change – Addition Of Escrow Service

Posted on January 28, 2010 by ibuysites

I don’t believe anyone has blogged about this yet.

Details are patchy at the moment, but Flippa’s General Manager Dave Slutzkin has announced that Flippa is adding an escrow service to their site. It’s in partnership with escrow.com (well known, but seriously flawed) and is likely to be an optional service buyers and sellers can use at Flippa.

In the past there’ve been instances where Flippa wasn’t paid the “success fee” for a site selling in their marketplace. The advantage with having an in-house escrow is that Flippa will now know when a site sold in the marketplace has changed hands (whether on not the WHOIS is modified). Honest buyers and sellers who aren’t looking to cheat Flippa out of their success fee should have no issues with Flippa knowing the sale completion date.

It’s not yet known whether the pricing will be fair i.e. users being charged for only the service provided: escrow on the domain. It may well follow escrow.com’s current pricing: price based on the entire value of the site even though it’s only the domain that’s getting escrow protection.

Posted in Buying Websites Domain Names Flippa Selling Websites Sitepoint | Leave a comment

All You Wanted To Know About Website Buying & Selling

Posted on January 12, 2010 by ibuysites

Here’s a headsup: People wanting to discuss matters relating to the buying and selling of websites now have a new forum where they can chat with like minded individuals.

The quality of the chat is extremely high and though the forum is only a week old today, it boasts some of the most respected members from places like Sitepoint and elsewhere who advise on the subject. Already signed up are brokers, accountants and lawyers who deal with matters like Accountancy Due Diligence and Contracts of Sale, buyers and sellers. Flippa is there asking questions and getting feedback on how they can improve their service.

It’s a place where you can find out about the best places to buy a site, what scams to watch out for, what’s a fair price, how to perform due diligence, the best places to list a site for sale, how the pros make money from site holding and site flipping …and much more. Head on over and pose them your most difficult question.

If you interested in any aspect of website buying or selling – you need to be there. Go to the Experienced People forum right now. If yours is not an internet business, the related site for selling a business is this one.

Posted in Buying Websites DigitalPoint Domain Names Featured Articles Off Topic Selling Websites Sitepoint Websites For Sale | Leave a comment

Five Scary Things You Didn’t Know About Escrow.com

Posted on December 15, 2009 by ibuysites

When buying or selling a domain you are often dealing with a party you don’t know. Do you remit a large sum of money to them and trust them to transfer the domain to you? Probably not. But then again, they don’t know you either, so they can’t transfer the domain to you first in the hope that you will indeed keep your promise to pay them in full.

That’s where escrow companies come in.

An escrow company will take the full payment from the buyer and hold it till the seller transfers the goods. Once the buyer confirms that he’s received the goods the escrow company releases the funds to the seller. Should the buyer reject the goods, the escrow waits for the seller to confirm receipt back before they refund the payment to the buyer. So everyone’s safe.

But it’s important to choose a good, trusted escrow company to handle what is often a large sum of money. Who do you go to for that? The most well known name is escrow.com. Most experts in website buying and selling swear by escrow.com and they do so with the experience of many transactions behind them. But today I’m going to tell you five secrets that you really should know before you deal with them.

Five Things That You Did Not Know About Escrow.com and Which Should Scare You

1. There is no company called escrow.com. The company you are dealing with is IES that rents/leases or has some other arrangement involving the escrow.com domain (I don’t know what it is and you likely don’t either). That’s not a reason to distrust them but you need to know who you are dealing with. Should IES go bust sometime – no company is immune from the laws of finance – the escrow.com name will likely continue and many buyers and sellers will likely be unaware that anything has changed even though they may be dealing with a brand new company with no history! They’ll assume it’s the good, old escrow company they’ve always dealt with. On the escrow.com website, you’ll find bold claims about “services provided by escrow.com“. They flash “escrow.com” all over the site. Even their postal address is “escrow.com” (no mention of IES). You need to go to the small print to realise that it’s IES you’re dealing with and, in their own words, they are only “one of the operating subsidiaries of Escrow.com”.

Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting anything about IES’s current financial position. They may be rock solid for all I know. And do bear in mind that they are heavily regulated (more about that later) so they don’t do a runner with your money.

But “they” are not escrow.com.

2. Escrow.com/IES doesn’t provide an escrow service for websites: Seriously! It never ceases to amaze me how few people know this. Or realise the huge risk involved in putting website transactions through this company. IES has four categories: Motor Vehicle | Domain Name | General Merchandise | Services.

The closest you have to websites is “Domain Name” and people happily choose that as the closest match and think all is hunky dory. It’s not!

Risks for Buyer: You can end up getting just the domain name and none of the files, templates, designs, databases or anything else that is contained in the website you’re buying and, as far as IES is concerned, they’ll release the funds to the seller on the sole grounds that he has transferred the domain control to you.
Risks for Seller: You can transfer all the copyright, other rights, programs, files etc., to the ownership of the buyer and the buyer can then demand IES give him a refund because he’s changed his mind about taking control of the domain.

3. IES/escrow.com don’t give a fig leaf about your contract. In the purchase of a website the buyer and seller often negotiate terms and draw up a Sales Contract. It may say that certain conditions need to be met and that the buyer/seller can pull out of the transaction if there is a material change. Example: You agree with the seller that if his PR9 site suddenly drops to a PR4 then the deal is off. You send your funds to IES for them to hold during the 10 day “inspection period”. The seller changes the WHOIS for the site and sends you the password to take control of the domain. But on the very first day you find that the PR has dropped (or there is something else drastically wrong with the site and it doesn’t match what the seller described). Tough! As far as escrow.com/IES’s terms are concerned your agreement has no value. The seller gave you control of the site and if he wants to complete the transaction then IES is just going to release the funds to him. The contract entered into by the Buyer and Seller is a carefully constructed document designed to protect each party’s interest. IES won’t even look at that contract. They go by their own terms and conditions and it may or may not be in your favour.

To be fair, you can try raising a dispute or arguing the terms with IES, but there’s no guarantee you’ll succeed, it’s entirely up to them.

4. Many of the “experts” who recommend escrow.com are doing so because they get a commission. Escrow.com is one of the few (if not the only) escrow companies that has an affiliate program. That they are paying people to recommend them is not reason enough to shun their services. But be aware that any recommendation of their service may be driven by expectations of commission rather than a desire to help you.

5. Escow.com is regulated by an authority on another planet. Most experts agree that while the banks took a lot of liberties it was ultimately the regulators who failed in controlling the financial institutions and were responsible for the credit crunch of 2008.

But there is no regulator on this planet quite like the Commissioner in California. He sounds like a cross between Saddam Hussein, Michael Jackson and Imelda Marcos.

He’s power mad and a bit crazy. Nobody – anywhere in the world – can do this business with anyone based in California unless they pay the Californian Commissioner huge amounts of money, bow to his authority, promise to jump when he says jump and sign up to lots of nonsense. But the madness doesn’t end there. If an escrow company in Syndey or Singapore or Sierra Leone decides they can’t be bothered with some jobsworth in California, they need to be aware that he has banned anyone, anywhere in the world, from saying anything critical about him. I promise, I’m not making this up!

That’s just the start. If you read the California Financial Code (div 6, 17000-17305) there’s some pretty serious stuff in there that should dissuade anybody from buying or selling a site if the party they are dealing with is California based. But if the escrow company is registered there it’s even more serious. You will almost certainly lose should a dispute arise. In fact, if they file a court case against you in California, they don’t even need to inform you of the action. In can be all decided in your absence.

Read the full story of the California Risk here.

So even if IES is a very trustworthy company, has a strong balance sheet and great customer service, the fact that they are based in California and signed up to the California Financial Code is reason enough to go look elsewhere for your escrow needs.

Reliable escrow companies that proudly declare they are not registered in California:

Moniker:

Moniker is an ICANN Accredited Registrar and the only company with a special domain escrow account at its registrar to safely hold domains and protect both buyer and seller of domain related transactions. (not registered in California… for the moment)

iEscrow:

I-Escrow, Inc. is Licensed by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions (No. 540-EA-42257) and adheres to its strict regulations, as well as the ordinances put forth by the Revised Code of Washington.

SEDO, escroweurope, Escrow Europa (recommended by eBay) etc., are other alternatives.

Posted in Buying Websites Domain Names Featured Articles Selling Websites Websites For Sale | 1 Comment

Shill Bidding. Rigged Bidding. Coming to an auction near you

Posted on November 7, 2009 by ibuysites

Have you ever bid for a website or domain and had the uneasy feeling that the seller himself was bidding against you to artificially push your bidding up? You’d be surprised at how often that happens. Rigged bidding (also called shill bidding) is common in any bidding marketplace and there’s just no way you or the auction platform owners can do much about it.

Shill bidders are a clever lot. They setup new accounts on different IPs. They buy accounts. They ask friends to bid (and they reciprocate the favour when the friend has a domain or site he’s selling).

The net effect of the shill bidder’s activity is that you end up paying a higher price than if the auction was a fair competition among competing bidders. Places like Digital Point, Sitepoint and Flippa seem to make no attempt at shill control. True, they’ll ban you if you try to open another account from the same IP you currently use to sign into their services. But that’s pretty much their own defence. And, let’s face it, pretty useless. We’re talking a webmaster crowd here – people who know their way around using a proxy, people who know how to monitor their IP and are aware when the ISP changes it. If there’s extra profit to be made you can be sure people will try to make it even if the method is dishonest. Bear that in mind the next time you’re bidding – there’s a good chance there’s a shill bidder competing against you.

The latest news is that one of the biggest domain name resellers, Snapnames, has been caught with their pants down. For the last four years or so they’ve had an employee who’s been pushing prices up, causing people like you and me to overpay for our domains … and making Snapnames a huge chunk of extra profit in the bargain.

Unfortunately, many auction sites are designed so that the owner stands to gain if the auction item sells for a higher price. I point no finger at Flippa, I believe they are perfectly honest in their business and above what happened at SnapNames. But, a percentage link between sale price and earnings at the holding company – whether it’s eBay or SEDO – is always going to cause some level of suspicion.

It’s a rough world out there. Take care.

Posted in Buying Websites DigitalPoint Domain Names Sitepoint Websites For Sale | Leave a comment

FaeBook vs FaceBook

Posted on December 6, 2007 by midascode

This is one weird scam. Someone registered the domain Faebook.com (Facebook without a C) and redirected it, using an iframe, to Amazon – of course, with his/her own Amazon referrals. It’s the good old tactics of using misspelled domain names for profit, but it’s uncommon to see such an obvious misspelling of a site as big as Faebook used like this.

Some have suggested this may be Amazon’s doing, but you can clearly see the difference in registration details here:

Domain Name: FAEBOOK.COM
Registrant [1003228]:
Moniker Privacy Services
20 SW 27th Ave.
Suite 201
Pompano Beach
FL
33069
US

Amazon’s own records look different:

Registrant:
Amazon.com, Inc
Legal Dept, P.O. Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
US
Domain Name: AMAZON.COM

It will be interesting to see how this one pans out over the coming months.

PS: I wonder if anyone has registered Midacode.co.uk yet? 😉

Posted in Domain Names | 2 Comments

I am Going to Change My Name to Mr Google

Posted on December 5, 2007 by midascode

Lego vs Louise Lego

Lego, the iconic Danish maker of plastic toy bricks, lost a brand infringement case today when Denmark’s Supreme Court ruled an art gallery owner could use the Lego name since it was her surname.

The high court decided that Louise Lego could continue using the name for her Copenhagen gallery, Gallery Lego, where she displays her own paintings, and her website, http://www.galleri-lego.dk.

The toymaker, founded in 1932, had argued it had the exclusive rights to the Lego name.

Its use of Lego stems from the contraction of the Danish phrase “Leg godt” which means “play well,” and has nothing to do with the Lego family.

The company also wanted Louise Lego to stop promoting her gallery online under the Lego name.

But the court found that there was little risk that people would confuse Louise Lego’s paintings and artworks with Lego toys.

The toymaker was ordered to pay Louise Lego 150,000 kroner ($A31,500) to cover her court costs.

I have to say that I agree with this decision, you can’t really tell people to not use their own names. So I am off to change my name to Mr Google 😉

Posted in Domain Names | 2 Comments

Cheapest Domain Name Registration

Posted on December 5, 2007 by midascode

What are the cheapest domain name registrars? This is a common question… but bear in mind that cheapest initially doesn’t always mean the cheapest long term.

That said, domain name registrations can be done via any of the following for a low price:



NameCheap.com
– Namecheap have domains for $2.95

Netfirms.com – We have been told that Netfirms is very cheap, but we have had no references of quality yet.

Ipower.com – $2.95 for a year. Lovely!

Enom.com – Enom may cost a little more than most on this list, but we have had many positive reviews of this domain registrar

1and1.com – $5.99 per year, but that includes free whois protection. A great deal!

If you know of any other sites that offer cheaper domain name registration, please let us know.

Posted in Domain Names | Leave a comment

The Internet’s Shortest Domain Name is Bought by Google

Posted on November 12, 2007 by midascode

Google has purchased the shortest possible domain name to make it easier for Chinese users to find Google: g.cn.

This is the first time I have seen a single-letter domain sold. So let’s have a quick look at some other one letter domains:

Z.com is owned by Nissan.

Q.com is owned by Qwest.

X.com is owned by Paypal

Posted in Domain Names | 2 Comments

ZUHO – Swop Domains at Zuho.com

Posted on November 11, 2007 by I Buy Websites

ZUHO – Swop Domains at Zuho.com

Or as our American Cousins would say: Swap Domains at Zuho.com

Rudy Hernandez of Logistik Labs reviews the brand new Zuho.com website. Zuho is the world’s 1st domain name trading marketplace

Swap Your Domain Names, Fast & Easy!

Step 1: Create Your FREE Zuho Account.

Step 2: Add Domain Names to Your Portfolio.

Step 3: Start Searching, Offering & Swapping Instantly!

http://zuho.com

SWOP – Chiefly British. Variant of swap.

Zuho.com — World’s 1st Domain Swapping Marketplace

Posted in Domain Names | Leave a comment

Has SpikedHumor.com Expired?

Posted on November 5, 2007 by midascode

Spikedhumor.com is one of the largest video based entertainment sites. It can be a great way of wasting time, has hundreds of thousands of users, and is no doubt worth tens of millions of dollars.

However, as of this morning, the site shows an expired domain error message.

spikedhumor

Could it be possible that a company clearly worth millions of dollars, would forget to renew their domain name? Could the Spikedhumor.com domain be on auction soon? What happens if they lose the domain?, as clearly there is millions of dollars in branding that will be lost.

Personally I expect it to be a technical error of some sort, but there is no doubt that this is a bad day for Spiked Humor, and a great day for PacNames, who are getting buckets of publicity from this.

Posted in Domain Names | 3 Comments

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