selling a domain... how not to get ripped?
 

I had an offer on a domain of mine that I am seriously considering, I was just wondering what the norm is for selling it... should I just collect the $ via paypal or what can I do so I don't get caught with no $ and no name.

The offer was $1500 US so I don't want to take a really big chance on loosing out on collecting.

Thanks for any advice!

i would say lett them first pay, you move the money to your bankaccound and then you move the domain to new owner, i did that the same way, but i also told the guy who bought the domain, i am gonna first move the money from my paypal accound to my backaccound, reason why? they can pull money back from paypal within 5 days, i didnt wanna take the risk i move an domain and get the money pulled back, its just a matter of trust i think, the guy who bought my stuff was easy, but i was honest about how i thought.Its always a matter of trust i dont think you cant protect yourself to the limit.just my 2 cents|violin|

you can use a third party

https://www.escrow.com

This is their domain name FAQ

https://www.escrow.com/solutions/domain_name/index.asp

Both sides are protected.

You should be cautious. These $1500 offers are bulk offers by potential scammers.

There's been no proof that I've heard of that they are false offers, but they've been made in a suspect manner, by bulk mailing, and should be considered illegitimate until proven otherwise.

I mention this because you mention the $1500 figure and that figure is well known as part of a bulk mailing.

Bill, any other details on this? After going through all my email, I found a separate offer from the same person for a different domain (same $1500 offer). Perhaps I'm just getting targetted now. I have yet to provide a reply to the offer.

Any other details on this possible scam would be appreciated!

What Bill said...

I got 25+ of them


-------------------------------------
Hello,

Are you willing to sell xxxxxxxxxxx.com to me.
I am starting a new business and thought this would be a good name.
I'm making an offer of 1500 USD. please let me know.
Thanks for your time.

Best Regards,

Fanhouse Solutions, Inc
-------------------------------------


DD

That's exactly the message I received... I've got 50+ domains, but only rx'd 2 of these emails so I considered them some-what legit.

The last offer I received on a domain was in the same dollar range, but was on a domain I didn't want to part with for that amount of coin.

Any idea as to the purpose behind this spam/scam?

Since I received the same offer yesterday ($1,500) chances are high that it is a scam, specially since a look in the extented header revealed that the email was not sent from the address it stated in it's header!

edit: The wording of the one I received was exactly like Dangerdave's...

Mine went into the 'SPAM' folder |pcsucks|

Why not cautiously reply and see what answer you get?

I have not heard of anyone successfully selling a domain to these $1500 guys.

It's been suggested that it's some sort of identity info scam, but I haven't heard any proof.

My guess is that it's a way to attract webmasters into the domain speculation auction sites- the more bidders, the higher the prices. That when you reply they string you along for a while, then tell you they can't buy it, but you might be able to sell it at (insert name.com). But that's just a guess.

Bulk mailings are cheap, as are email lists of domain owners.

I got more than 50 of them before I started to filter them out (they came overnight). I own WAY too many domains, and this sort of scam always stands out.

Someone offering me $1500 for a domain that gets all of 3 hits a day, has 3 dashes in the name, and is a typo...

you can figure it out.

What the actual scam is, I am not sure... but don't be surprised to start getting spams for hosting, stats, or some other bullshit fast enough.

Unsolicited offers for domains are about 99% crap.

Alex

On Dec 06 I received several emails with exactly the same text as mentioned before for some of my domains as well.
They were all sent to the email address I use for my whois records, and not to the one I have on the sites...
Definitely sounds like a scam to me.

Got an offer for one of my domains today with the offer of $1500 lol I have no plans of selling, but is was good to read this thread so I can be on alert about it in the future

Thanks!