Selling a domain name? Need some advice

[Mia]

Hello, we were approached to sell a domain name recently. The company that wants the domain wants it because it has a spelling that is close to their domain name that they currently use. It would appear that everyone seems to mis-spell their domain name and the mis-spelling happens to be the domain we have. Now we do not use this domain. It is a domain that a customer of ours had who stiffed us on a bill. We are in control of and own the domain and the previous owner is no where to be found. He owes us money as I mentioned. So in the talks with this company I mentioned that I would like to get at least what is owed to us.

So is this fair? The customer's outstanding bill is around 200 bucks, and the person who wants the domain offered around 200 bucks. It is a good way to get my money back that this customer stiffed me on, but I always wonder if it is worth more?

Anyone? Thanx..

[Crazy_Rob]

It's hard to say without actually knowing what the domain is.

Sounds fair to me though.

[Mia]

Understood, though I would rather not really say. It is not like it is something that is really popular. I mean it is not like there are going to be a bunch of people on the DP forums going, "I'd give you a grand for it".

Anyway, not trying to take advantage of this guy. I figure it works best for both of us. I mean we get our money back that was lost to this bad account, and this guy gets his domain. I'd sure love to sell a domain for a cool mil, but that is not something that happens every day.

If it helps the domain has no PR, no Back links, it is relatively useless outside of the fact that it is spelled the way everyone that goes to this guys web site are spelling. I am thinking the value is in what it is worth to this guy.


Thanx!

[gchaney]

I say get your cash owned and give the guy the domain. Its the "Good" thing to do.

Cheers

[Mia]

Originally Posted by gchaney

I say get your cash owned and give the guy the domain. Its the "Good" thing to do.

Cheers

That's what I'm thinking.. It's pretty much win/win.

Thanx!

[fryman]

If you want an appraisal PM me the domain and I will take a look at it.

[daboss]

what i would do:
1. try to contact your customer and keep all the proof that you tried to contact him/her
2. if you fail, sell the domain to recover the money your customer owes you

you don't want to get into trouble (if the domain becomes very successful in the future) and your customer tries to sue you...

[Mia]

Originally Posted by daboss

what i would do:
1. try to contact your customer and keep all the proof that you tried to contact him/her
2. if you fail, sell the domain to recover the money your customer owes you

you don't want to get into trouble (if the domain becomes very successful in the future) and your customer tries to sue you...

1. Did that
2. I guess the past dues notices, collections notices and phone calls were not enough...

Anyway, I'm not too worried about getting sued. We own the domain. I paid for it, I bought it. My customer did not pay me. It's mine.

Anyway. Thankyou to everyone who answered. I have reached an agreement with the current buyer and will be selling today!

[obenix]

Good luck in your transaction...The value of $200 was totally up to you..

Thinking aloud (example only)
You were approached by mcdonalds[dot]com to buy your domain macdonalds[dot]com.. man, that's gonna be worth more than $200...

[Mia]

Nah... I was aproached by something a bit less common, but the example you provided above was pretty close to the situation, ie., the spelling.

I closed the deal today at $200. It was win/win all around. They get the domain they want, I get my deliquent account closed.

Thank you to all who had suggestions/comments.

[fryman]

Didn't have time to get back to you in time. Glad things whent well, you might of been able to get a bit more for it, but at least you got your money back

[Mia]

Originally Posted by fryman

Didn't have time to get back to you in time. Glad things whent well, you might of been able to get a bit more for it, but at least you got your money back

Not a problem.. Like I said initially, I just wanted to know what others thought was fair. Not so much on price, but what to do. I have other domains I would like to find out values on however... Basically domains that I actually would like to sell just to sell them. I'm not in the business of selling/squatting on domains, I just have a few others that if I could make some money off them, I would let them go.

[steveatvillas]

Hi Mia:

If you are the Administrative Contact of record for this domain, and you can prove that, then you are 100% good to go and you can sell the domain nmae for whatever the market will bear.

There is something to be aware of, and that is: did you contact the potential buyer or visa versa?

The reason I ask is that you may be being set up for a WIPO (World Intellectual PRoperty Organisation) challenge.

So let me aks you a coupla questions, and these will determine where you stand.

Did you, or your client, purposely register this domain to cause confusion in the marketplace with the other domain in question?

Did you reg the domain specifically because it is a mispelling of the other domain?

Did you reg the domain specifically to resell it to the holder of the other domain, at a high price?

Did you reg the domain after the date of registration of the other domain?

The WIPO rules are quite clear on what constitutes "Bad Faith" registration, and cyber-squatting is really, really frowned on.

If your registration is completely in good faith, with the intent to use the name in a way that is not to confuse the public into thinking your domain is the same as the other, you're in the clear. You can sell it for whatever you want.

If on the other hand, it was a bad faith reg, then you can only ask what you have actually invested, proved by invoices, in the domain...assuming the other guy wants to take it to a WIPO challenge.

If you don't really care about any of this, and you are the Admin Contact, then do a quickie excrow (there are plenty of online services for this, but ask the other party to pay all expenses, since you've already been stiffed once) and make the transfer.

Hope this helps.

Steve at Villas.

[fryman]

This thread is one year old

[steveatvillas]

Doing!

The information is still relevant, for those faced with a WIPO challenge. I've successfully defended my domain twice.

But thanks for the ¡ojo!

Steve