Sellers disputes auction, saying it didn’t authorize sale of domain.
Last month the domain name MobilePhones.co.uk sold on Sedo for 91,500 GPB. At the time, that was about $137,000 USD. Since then, the buyer received some unfortunate news: apparently the seller is saying it didn’t authorize the domain name to be sold.
In a lengthy (currently 12 page) thread at Acorn Domains, buyer Angie Barrow explains:
…I have just been informed by Sedo that the seller is disputing the auction and claims the name had not been authorised to be sold. I don’t know the precise circumstances yet but will find out.
Naturally I am distraught and will dispute this. I am not the only one thinking that I got the name at a bargain price – even the seller thinks so too!
Today I talked to Hugo Dalrymple-Smith, Director of UK Operations for Sedo, to get the latest. He said he can’t say much because its possible legal proceedings will be following.
“From our side, we have evidence that the seller put the domain into auction itself,” said Dalrymple-Smith.
Disputes from domain name owners who’s domains are sold in auction used to be common, but recent safeguards put in place by auction sites have limited such claims.
Hopefully this auction won’t end in a dropped call.
The seller’s making a mistake here; as that’s full value (if not top dollar) for that product in that little-used (on an international/ global basis) extension.
‘ought to take the money and buy 1-3 top-tier .coms.
I think she should walk away from the deal. That is and end-user price, and the seller probably won’t see an offer like it again.
Sounds like the seller is being very greedy ;(
Lots of other decent quality names out there for high 5 figs.
Good luck to buyer.
I agree the buyer has paid top dollar and will need a really good business plan to get a ROI on this.
However to say .co.uk is a little-used extension is nonsense! 🙂
The UK has a higher internet penetration than the USA and 77% of Brits would click a .uk before clicking a .com in the SERPS.
I suppose in the US we do have our own extension as well (.us), but it hasn’t really taken off as well as .co.uk has. I can’t imagine cellphones.us selling for this kind of money.
Having said that, these days I would probably rather own mobilephones.co.uk than mobilephones.com or cellphones.com, as identifying the territory is likely to save a significant chunk of cash when it comes to directing and converting traffic. It would also save some big headaches with regard to website infrastructure and planning.
This is one reason why I believe geo domains are actually destined to eventually overtake .com domains in value, at least in certain verticals.
In my view, probably a fair price all things considered. Although I have to say I am not familiar with the health of the mobile phones market in the UK specifically. The domination of the iphone in the US has practically rendered all other handsets obsolete!
The buyer price is top dollar for this domain. I hope this close in a good ending.
If they want I can sell my prepaidmobile.co.uk for $100K 🙂
Cheers and have a nice weekend.
EM @ KING.NET
let the seller dream for another 10-12 years and drop the domain.
Er, um, Chris…
Obviously wrong to take only part of someone’s statement (“However to say .co.uk is a little-used extension is nonsense!”) in an attempt to make a point; you conveniently left off “on an international/ global basis.”
.co.uk big in the U.K.?
But of course.
Among the other 95+% of the people on Earth?
Not so much. 😉
Yes, I was being a little tongue in cheek hence the smiley! 🙂
However I agree with Rob G that this is one of those cases where the .co.uk is more valuable than the .com – here in the UK .com is seen by many as an American extension and mobilephones isn’t an American (or for that matter global) term. Similarly cellphones.co.uk would be practically worthless.
FWIW I also agree with Chandan that this is a domain that’s becoming less valuable as each day goes by. Anecdotally these days people are searching more and more for iPhones or Smartphones and less and less for generic “mobile phones”. The Google Trends chart confirms the search term is in freefall.
Far from a dropped call, this case has started a long conversation.
The price seems to be a good one; with the right business plan it is a long way off an end user price; as a domain trade a good investment. Transactions for .CO.UKs are largely unreported and prices exceeding £100K
are not uncommon for strong names.
Important precedence in this case: what value in domain auctions if non-binding –
http://www.cressive.com/mobilephones-co-uk-to-decide-future-of-domain-auctions/ .
Will be interesting to hear the result. Stay close to your phones…
@ chris since when people think .com is an american extentsion,what planet you on ?
.com is more well known than .co.uk,give me .com any day of the week,any generics for sale i will happily buy them cheaper than the .co.uk version.
Stu, there is a good reason why Brits think this…
When you surf to many .com websites from a UK IP address you often get presented with a site that has prices in dollars rather than Pounds Sterling. (e.g. ebay.com v ebay.co.uk and dealtime.com v dealtime.co.uk etc.)
You may prefer .com but 77% of Brits prefer .uk, see Nominet’s recent report for the details.
http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/releases/2009/?contentId=6789
Nice domain but the buyer shoulda let it go for that money. (unless of course he received a bigger offer elsewhere;))
i’d let my mobilephones.cc go for over 4000 anytime! i just believe that if as a domainer you have no plan to develop a domain and are getting a fair price for one, there shouldnt be any reason to hold it…