Hi all, Recently I have agreed a price for a domain with the webmaster of the domain. I emailed him and asked what way he would like to receive payment and he said cheque or bank transfer. I emailed back saying bank transfer would be my preferred option and please could he email me his bank details for the transfer of the money. However since agreeing this price I notice that on the website it is still up for sale and £400 more than what we have agreed. He is now ignoring my emails. Could anyone advise how I should handle it from here. As far as I am concerned he now has a legally binding contract with me to sell me the domain. Is this true? Any advice from more experienced domain name purchases/sellers would be extremely appreciated as this is my first purchase of a domain.
Well firstly you have to ask yourself, Is the domain name worth it? If Yes - Then if you have copies of the emails still on your pc with full header/footers so that the lawyers can see domains & i.p's that they came from and he acknowledges selling the domain name to you. You should then take these to a lawyer and get some advice to see whether they think you have a case. But it could be expensive so you really need to work out if you want the domain name that bad! If No - Well leave it at that. Maybe mention the person around some forums so people know that he may be less then reputable but do not blaintently abuse him just mention that he agreed to sell domain and then pulled out without telling you and will not answer emails. Drew.
It has an emotional value aswell as a possible future financial value so I do really want to acquire the name but not to the extent of getting Lawyers involved. I still hope to acquire it and I am hoping he will come back when he hasn't sold it for the higher price. Can you or anyone advise what my next step should be in trying to acquire the domain. Thanks for the reply. Andy
I'm afraid that from what it looks like, you'll have to get them involved if you want it for the price agreed. There's only one thing that you could do, send him a formal letter, better an email also announcing that a paper copy of it will reach him soon with proof of delivery threatening him/her and say that your next step would be to take legal action, so the next letter will be from your lawyer. Unless you're in California, I think I read only yesterday that over there it's illegal to threaten legal action unless you really mean it!?! If he ignores you, well if you still want it you can either see a lawyer or increase your offer, but the latter would be rather dodgy.
I had another idea but not sure if it is available in the US, I assume it would be... What about getting a independent arbetrator (negiotator) involved. They pass messages between you and the other party like a lawyer except alot cheaper... If the person is running a business you should contact your business bereau and see if they can reccommend a third party to sort of this problem. Or like mentioned above write a formal letting and maybe get a lawyer involved. Drew.
Think about escrow service (escrow.com/sedo.com) . There still no guarantee that the seller will do transfer , but this is more safe. I dont think that e-mails and other e-stuff can lead to real legal actions (with expected effect) , but not shure for this 100% . Are you shure that this is the owner of domain ? Look at whois for this domain and give a phone call to listed number.