I now know who my deadbeat buyer is.
A couple of months ago I thought I’d struck my first deal to sell a domain under a new top level domain name.
It wasn’t a big deal; it was just $500. But for a .xyz domain I paid $10 for, why not?
After a bit of back and forth with the buyer on Sedo, we settled on the price and entered escrow.
Then…crickets.
The buyer simply disappeared. He never paid.
It was interesting to see how Sedo handled this non-paying buyer. Overall, I think it is the right approach.
After sending several reminders to the buyer to pay, the company said it was handing the transaction to its “Accounts Receivable” department. A month later, after still not receiving the payment, Sedo canceled the transaction.
But it also did something else: it unmasked the identity of the buyer. Along with unveiling the owner’s name and address in the purchase contract, it noted:
“Since the buyer has failed to fulfill his part of the contract, you may take legal action against him. His contact data are now available in your Sedo contract.”
Obviously, I’m not going to do much over a $500 sale.
But after getting the buyers identity, I was able to see why he was interested in this specific domain.
I emailed him to ask him why he didn’t go through with the deal. Perhaps this will prod him to pay up.
Non-paying buyers are a problem at all venues, especially on negotiated (not buy-now) sales. I think the workflow at Sedo for handling these issues for small transactions is reasonable.
Would be great if NameJet would follow this very same approach…
The best part of the story is missing…name names, domain and buyer 😉
was the email of the non paying buyer visible? I think no ! For an unexplained reason they invoke “security reasons” and you have a name like John smith, Don jose, or Abdul in the other side of the earth. You can do nothing !!! Just FYI they also DO NOT ban his account (or they do so if he has failed to pay for several times….)
I just had such an experience for 4th time out of 7 “sales” in total. Last case was 10,000$ and the guy was from DUBAI. He stopped even replying to Sedo’s email as I was told (do you believe that?). Legally you can do a few things taking action in Germany (!!!!) and then what ????
I am going thru this very same thing right now on a $2700 .xyz sale at SEDO where they also sent my non-payer to Accounts Recieveables. I was just about to tell SEDO to cancel the whole thing, but now I’ll wait and see if they out my dead beat bidder to me too. Timely post Andrew, thx.
Good Luck ,,,but do not hope too much…
What about Afternic?
Sedo acts similarly in the case of a non-delivering seller, as I found out a few years ago.
I submitted payment for a domain I’d won in a Sedo auction. But the seller decided the 4-figure price wasn’t to his liking; so he refused to transfer his .NET domain. As I recall, he changed his mind after I had been refunded the money, indicating he’d go through with the sale after all. So I paid a second time. And he backed out a second time. My money was tied up for weeks, and I never did get the domain I’d purchased.
To their credit, Sedo banned that sorry clown. And they gave me his contact info, inviting me to take legal action against him.
The idea of even thinking to take legal action over a non buy is pathetic.
If the day ever comes that domainers are forced to buy a .xyz or any other domain under threat of legal action even after changing their mind then the domain industry is certainly finished. A great many number of legitimate things can happen that can cause a deal to fall thru and a buyer to not be able to pay even if he wants the domain truthfully. It is definately frustrating when a buyer backs out of paying— but if you have a domain that is actually worth selling and
at your asking price fairly then this is much less likely to happen.
There is just WAAAY to much BS in the domain industry these days. Including on this blog. Anyone who thinks any .xyz is worth $500 is mentally ill anyway.
Werent they just giving away .xyz domains for free not long ago? Hmmm…
But how do you really feel?
If you don’t want an .xyz domain, then don’t bid on it in the first place.
Otherwise, honor your bids, which, by the way, are legally binding.
If you cross the wrong person, you could find yourself on the wrong end of a lawsuit.
Remember, if the shoe is on the other foot and you’re the seller, I’m sure you’d be whining from here to hell about numpty buyers who don’t honor their obligation to pay.
People have taken others to suit after the other backed out of a transaction as both buyer and seller. And they win. A contract is a contract.
This is definitely a feature that should be incorporated at ALL sales venues.
I recently experienced the non-payer conundrum, and Sedo gave me full contact details.
But because it came with a disclaimer about fraudulent bidding, I just assumed that it was a stolen identity, so I did nothing about it.
If this happens again, I will email the person in question.
Thanks for this reminder.
Sedo should charge them pre payment when one commits to buy a domain else people would be making fake bids for fun because they have nothing to lose.
Sedo have adopted this approach for many years, ie happened to me years ago. On its face I don’t find this approach objectionable but what I do not like is that Sedo appear to take no action themselves, ie they do not kick the party from their platform (or have you changed your policy in that regard, Sedo?). On that basis, it makes Sedo seem disingenuous in suggesting that the seller take legal action.
I’ve got a stack of these saved from over the years. Won’t do anything with them but I save them in case I get bored and wanna leave burning bags of poo on their doors someday.
Sedo take actions if the sales price is high
Sedo also block this non paying buyers and their IP
still SEDO is the best and trusted marketplace
I fail to understand the distinction with a price that is “high”; you are either pregnant, or you are not.
go get a real job. Stop wasting ur time selling stupid domains.
Tell us how you REAllY feel.