Comments on: Domainers Back To The Basics: You Can Only Sell A Domain Once & Yes E-Mails Count

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:03:23 +0000

I’m not sure what Stephen means by the verbal agreement/handshake comment. The whole flow towards the sale has been documented by email. Email is arguably more watertight than a paper document, nowadays. Poor lad, though, we’ve all been young and stupid, but it doesn’t normally cause us this much grief!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 01 May 2011 05:11:11 +0000

I don’t know that a verbal agreement (or handshake) will stand up in court nowadays. Everything should be in writing.

Stephen gives great negotiating advice, but until it is in writing it doesn’t exist.

By: Stephen Douglas_Successclick.com

Stephen Douglas_Successclick.com — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:47:02 +0000

There are no legal protections, all there is that you have the DOMAIN THEY WANT, and now you don’t negotiate for that lower price they might want. No game playing in this game… don’t be desperate for the sale unless you need the cash, but think hard, because that domain might be worth twice as much the next year…

By: jazon

jazon — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:15:15 +0000

too bad buyers constantly back out or want to reduce their offer after agreeing to purchase a domain at a certain price. where are the legal protections for sellers?

By: George Kirikos

George Kirikos — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:20:15 +0000

DNW.com is reporting that the CamRoulette.com case has been settled, see:

http://domainnamewire.com/2010/08/30/lawsuit-against-original-camroulette-com-settled/

By: hype

hype — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:59:08 +0000

so what is the plaintiff going to gain here? 150k minus fees and costs? vengeance on a kid? he’s not getting the domain. and that’s what he wanted.
if the kid/seller is reading this, take note:
relax. you are much smarter than the guy suing you in the areas that matter here: internet. (why did he want a silly domain? why would he be interested in the internet?) he’s not going to ruin your life. your life hasn’t even begun. the simple fact is you understand technology and he doesn’t. and you should see the vast potential in this- your life is just beginning. domain names are still, in all major respects, an issue of technology. good luck applying contract law, or property law, to the internet- we’ve been trying for decades. that’s not what *really* works and everyone in the business knows it. using lawyers or traditional business methods to secure domain names is not yet a viable strategy (that NBC case is a classic example). but intimidation will work on some people, e.g. kids. pretty sad if you asked me.
wild west. inconvenient but true.

By: Dana K

Dana K — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:43:37 +0000

According to the OP citing the original seller: ..”I began looking into Dynadot and I was confused on how to push the domain”…. “I told Person A I was a little unsure of things and instructed him not to pay me again unless the domain was first in his account. ***** I then decided and went through the transfer and sold the domain to Person B. He sent me $1200, I sent him camroulette.com.****”

So the self proclaimed ignorant seller figured out how the Dynadot or general domain transfers work in mear hours after receiving a larger sum of money. It says a lot about how fast you can learn things when the right motivation is there.

I followed this story since the original buyer’s remorse posting, and if you read all the early material and do a little research on the person, the original seller has some issues that aren’t being focused on anymore, since the story has now shifted to the greedy litigant and the dollars. Along the way some post information has disappeared.

This is not a naive 20 year old. He has past experience in domains and other things Internet. And how about the man in the middle? And what do these events say about pulling forum posts? Ahh, welcome to the world of domain investing.

Don’t people know, that once things hit the web, they never die, they just move into someone’s archive.

And there lies the real story in all of this: where does your social graph rest – for all to view at a later point in time?

By: john andrews

john andrews — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:15:00 +0000

Awesome discussion. It really underlines the value of a lawyer in business transactions. Nothing… almost, is “certain” when good lawyers are involved.

I doubt any actual lawyer wants to go on record with actual statements about a pending case (because they have so little to gain and the act does assume some risk), but if you read the above, two of them have demonstrated there WOULD HAVE BEEN more than one way to handle this case’s claim. Of course the forums were consulted instead…

+1 for highlighting the comments in the original thread. If they don’t represent the domainer community, then that says something about DNForum.

By: MHB

MHB — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:01:05 +0000

A seller could sue the prospective buyer.

Now the question is will they win and will the costs involved be worth it?

For a seller to have a good case it needs to get the buyer to identify themselves during the process as opposed as a bunch of e-mail’s from say a hotmail account.

Make sure you have an actual agreement.

I offer to sell you the domain xxxxx.com for $5,000 and the buyer says yes, or Ok or I agree, then you have the issue of how the transaction will be transacted.

Time frame, how will payment be made, how will the domain be transferred?

As long as there is agreement on these issue, you should have a decent shot at winning the case. Of course in absence of a written agreement between the parties, each party is responsible for their own attorney fees so if your suing someone for not buying a domain you agreed to sell for a few thousand dollars it most likely not going to be worth your costs.

In any case you need to consult with an attorney to get an opinion on your rights as each case if different and there is no general rule.

By: ms

ms — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:49:26 +0000

If a prospective buyer explicitly agrees to purchase a domain name for a specific price in an email and then several days later backs out of the deal (before money or domains have changed hands) – does the seller have any recourse?