I would like to share this experience with other DP members in hopes that I can get some feedback, and perhaps someone can tell me if I'm right or wrong. Not so long ago, I was about to purchase a website, for the considerable amount of $4,000. It was an image sharing site with huge traffic. Anyway, everything was set to go, except that when the seller intended to transfer the domain he sent me to some "security domain" website under which the domain was registered. So the deal was, this "security" company registers the domain, then you register an account with them, and they pass the domain on to you. Whats the deal with that? There is no way I am going to dish out 4k and let someone else handle the domain for me. Does anyone do that? Am I getting old ahead of time? Today, I had a similar experience with an auction, where the domain is under some website called 'domainsbyproxy.com'. Same issue, the transfer takes place there, not at Godaddy where the domain is actually hosted. I am not 100% sure this is a scam, but I don't think I want to find out either. Has anyone had a similar experience?
When you purchase a domain, the fastest (normal) way to transfer it to another person is to have the buyer create an account with the same company/registrar of the domain (not the hosting) of the site you are buying. This way the domain can be "pushed" into your account immediately rather than doing a transfer to another registrar - which can take a week. The registrar and the place when the site is hosted are two different things. They can be the same, but usually are not. Nothing you have posted seems unusual for a domain sale (which doesn't mean you couldn't be scammed). You can always use an escrow service to protect yourself - although you will generally be responsible for the additional fees.
In both instances I offered my Godaddy account (where the domain was registered) for fast and easy transfer. But this was not possible because the seller was not the actual owner of the domain. When you ask Godaddy for a domain push they will send out an email to the registered owner of the domain with a link to confirm the push. But if the domain is not registered in your name, that is not possible. I think you misunderstood me somewhat. There is no 'Push', of 'Transfer' of domains from one registrar to another. It is simply asking the real owner of the domain to please route the dns to my server for a fee. The domain is never pushed or transfered to my name, it remains under the ownership of this "security company", who acts as a wholesale registrar in your behalf, and whose intentions may or may not be fraudulent in nature. I'm talking about a third guy: (1) Host of Domain; (2) Registrar; (3) 3rd guy - Unknown website "registrar" who allegedly registers the domain for you for "security" reasons
Domainsbyproxy is owned by godaddy - either that or a very close association. They are a whois privacy protection site. Domains show as being registered to them via public whois, but you actually own the domain. All whois protection services work this way. Is this the confusion? I know you have to remove the whois protection before you can transfer a domain out.