Is This A Domain Scam?
 

I just posted some domains up for sale with Sedo and sure enough i get this e-mail the very next morning. It seems pretty fishy to me.... I think he's basically trying to sell me to use his valuation service.

What do you guys think?

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Hello,

How much do you ask for this domain for sale?

Our company buy and sell domains and developed sites. If you have other
domains for sale feel free to send your list.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,

XXXXXX

Vice President

XXX whatever hosting solutions

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my response

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Hi XXXXXX, Thanks for your email, we just recently put this domain up for
sale thru sedo. I believe the price we offered was $2,000 but I would be
willing to sell it to u a little cheaper since I would not have to pay sedo
commission fees.

We have plenty of domains was there anything in particular u were looking
for so I can drill down the list?


Thank you,

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his response

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2000. Ok

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?

Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I mean domain
appraisals. Without valuation we cannot be sure in the sale price. It's very
important for me in terms of reselling too. But we must engage a valuation
company with REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from
independent sources I and my partners trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal
companies.

Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:
http://www.domainexplorer.org/Archive/87469105.htm

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price
accordingly. It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% - 15%
discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to
obtain it) we'll continue our negotiations.

What is your preferred payment method: Escrow.com, International wire
transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

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my response

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XXXXX the price is $2k... If you?re still interested let me know, I?m not interested in doing any domain valuation stuff.

I?ll knock 10% off since that?s the cost for sedo commissions I have to pay them.

Regards


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his last response

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It's a standard practice to show independent valuation to buyers/resellers.
Nobody will do business without it. I'm a businessman and have no intention
of changing rules which help both parties to avoid additional risks.

Of course, investors never take into account auto-generated valuations. So
manual valuation is a "must" too.

I read the following information about appraisals at:
http://www.domainexplorer.org/Archive/87469105.htm

Without the independent valuation from a trusted source we don't spend a
penny. This is our financial policy. So our offer is just a rought estimate.
If the appraisal comes higher we are ready to offer a bit more. If it comes
lower we will discuss the price with you again.

yes, 100% domain appreisal scam

Agreed.

I get similar shit out of the blue. I am not even actively selling any domains.

Domain appraisal scam. Lots of it on google, i get about 10 each week.

Yep its a scam I have posted it on here many times ......they also target gfy domain sellers after they see the sales threads posted .....

If they were interested really, they woudl have it appraised themselves and if it came out much more then $2k, they'd buy it and not tell you. No one is in business to be 'fair', everyone is out to make money.

Total scam....

If they were experienced domain buyers they would know what's it's worth or how much they were willing to pay / offer....

We have been buying and selling since 1995 and I pretty much know what a domain is worth and what we are willing to pay for it....

That is what i thought, thanks for confirmation guys :)

I get it a lot, one week after I got somehow attractive domain name fuckers immediately emailed me with such offer

Then there was another smart ass trying to sell me the plural within two weeks (yes I was dumb I didn't register that as well)

seems legit.

Tell him you have a brother in lagos, Nigeria and he will send him "demourage in full thru Western Union"

meanwhile they triple bill you for appraisals