Afternic don't care about their own rules

[hola987]

As some of you has already read in the afternic area, I have an issue with a domain bought through Afternic/NameMedia http://www.dnforum.com/f218/bought-d...ad-314697.html

To be short, I bought a domain for $2500, and paid immediately.
The owner contacted me saying that it was priced wrong (?) and that the domain revenue was $3000/year so he didn't want to sell.
A week passed, and i had been contacted by Adam from NameMedia who wrote that this domain had a yearly revenue of $100000 (!!! yes you read right! about 34 times more the revenue the owner told me) and so the owner didn't want to sell.

I think this data are ridicolous. Membership agreement says that I bought this domain, and that they have to help me with this transaction.
Seller's rules too, say that seller is obliged to sell

Please note that you are bound by the Asking, Reserve and Floor Prices that you set.
If your domain sells at any of these prices, you are in a binding agreement to sell your name


This is the last mail I received, some minutes ago:

There was a pricing mistake and they will not be selling the domain for the 2500.00, we will be refunding your payment today. I apologize for the inconvenience and I understand our terms and conditions but sometimes there are circumstances that call for special attention.

In few words, they are saying that Afternic rules are worth nothing? The membership agreement is worth nothing?

They will simply cancel the transaction!

What do you think about this?

[domaingenius]

I must say I often wonder whether the owners of such forums could go
against human nature and resist what they may well know from inside info
is a "bargain". Not particularly the deal you mention but generally, it must
be tempting if you see a prime domain being under sold .

DG

[Domainate.com]

As much as Afternic's rules say the seller must sell, etc., I doubt they enforce it any more than they enforce non-paying buyer rules. You SHOULD be entitled to the name, but given how much it makes per year, good luck getting it!

[hola987]

but given how much it makes per year

And who I have to believe, the owner who says 3k or Adam from NameMedia who says 100k ?
Not so good to be kidden in this way I think...

Well.. I got another mail coming from Adam, that says:

It was a mistake in the pricing, they are from a different country and sometimes people misunderstand decimal points and commas

"They" had at least 10000 (10 thousands) of domains priced $2500, have you ever heard domainers with such portfolios doing such errors? So they did 10000 errors? Well, if I believe this I can believe everything!

...and after my email they cancelled all the bin prices

[Domainate.com]

It was a mistake in the pricing, they are from a different country and sometimes people misunderstand decimal points and commas

Heh, sounds like an excuse they could use pretty much any time on any transaction as long as the whois permits and/or is private. Still doesn't hold water in my opinion since one setting their prices on Afternic doesn't need to add a period in there at all (i.e. Adam is trying to make you believe the buyer wanted to price the domain at $2.5 million and for whatever reason put in 2500.000 which priced it at $2500).

The problem is if they truly are in a different country, you won't have much luck going after them anyways. Good luck though - maybe Berryhill will weigh in on this one.

[NetworkMsia]

Reminds me of a similar IREIT problem just a while ago. They priced their domains wrongly, the buyer posted sold, and they honor the agreement.

[Acro]

Sue them.

[Irish31]

I'd pursue legal action if I were you. This sounds shady, but registrars don't do that kind of thing.

Honestly, only going after them, winning and it getting in the news will stop them for doing this action, otherwise they will push us all around because they know there is no repercussions.

Berryhill can weigh in though.

[hola987]

In the confirmation email I got when I bought the domain:

Please note: The acceptance of this offer forms a binding agreement between you and the seller. See our user agreement and privacy policy for more information.

What credibility can have Afternic/NameMedia if they are the first ones to ignore their own rules?? I wrote to the support team of NameMedia too.. have to write about this issue to the Buydomains team too? The mails I got are actually coming from Adam C., who write from a @Buydomains address..

[katherine]

This is the last mail I received, some minutes ago:

There was a pricing mistake and they will not be selling the domain for the 2500.00, we will be refunding your payment today. I apologize for the inconvenience and I understand our terms and conditions but sometimes there are circumstances that call for special attention.

So that E-mail originates from Afternic ? That's truly shameful.
I would stand firm.

[hola987]

So that E-mail originates from Afternic ? That's truly shameful.
I would stand firm.

Actually I bought the domain through Afternic, but than I received mails from Buydomains signed as NameMedia staff, I think all the three are the same group..

[Domainate.com]

Actually I bought the domain through Afternic, but than I received mails from Buydomains signed as NameMedia staff, I think all the three are the same group..

BuyDomains owns Afternic, NameMedia owns BuyDomains. That might clear that up for you.

[MAllie]

I think there is no doubt that you have a case. A deal is a deal, in any language. The only time I've ever heard of a mistake breaking one is when the person trying to make the deal was mentally ill or drunk, or possibly mistaken about the ownership of what he was trying to buy or sell. This is clearly not the case here. And how on earth can people from other countries not understand decimals? They're not language-related, are they? I'm beginning to find much of what happens in domaining rather depressing - moral standards seem a little low to me, I'm afraid. The very first sale I ever made was defaulted on at sedo, while I felt myself to be completely bound by the deal I'd come to. :(

[Domainate.com]

And how on earth can people from other countries not understand decimals? They're not language-related, are they?

In a lot of countries, two hundred thousand dollars would be 200.000,00 instead of 200,000.00. That's where the confusion would come in. Still though, I find that to be a lame excuse...if someone was doing business with someone else in person in English and said "thousand" when they meant "million", they'd be held to the thousand because that's what they said. Then again, marketplaces will even use typos as excuses...like on a name I owned listed on sedo, someone bidded $20k on it which I accepted and after a week, sedo turned around and said that they MEANT to bid $2k...which is of course why when they had to confirm their bid of $20k on a page saying it's a binding bid, they went ahead with it anyways.

It's almost like we're approaching an age of no accountability where word, contract, etc. means absolutely nothing because there's always some way to get out of something.

[hugegrowth]

It sounds like you should have got the domain, when people list domains at an auction site like Afternic it's up to them to understand all the rules, otherwise don't play the game. It's also up to sellers to maintain their listings and keep their prices up to date.

But there is little Afternic or sedo can do if a seller backs out, aside from closing their account.

What is the domain?

[adamatnamemedia]

Hi,

Adam Gross from Afternic here. Hola987 is absolutely correct that he should have been able to take ownership of the domain. Hugegrowth is also correct - at the end of the day, this seller is not going to transfer it.

Afternic, as owners of the marketplace, are responsible when the marketplace doesn't function as it should. And in most cases - it does. We complete thousands and thousands of transactions. In this case, it did not.

We take responsibility, and will always be as transparent as possible in the rare cases like this.

Please feel free to ping me with any questions or ideas.

Thanks,
Adam
agross (a) namemedia.com

[hola987]

Hello Adam.
Nice to hear that I should have been able to take ownership of the domain. at least.
Not so nice the lack of support I experienced.
The membership agreement is a contract, and the seller is obliged to sell, when there's a BIN price and my offer meets the reserve. Am I right? Or do you mean that rules at Afternic are not the same for all, and if you care more about someone, he's free to ignore the same rules?

The owner doesn't want to sell? well, first thing you had to suspend his account and help me with my rights. The same owner had 10000 domains priced $2500, 10000 errors?
Im sorry, but I can't believe.

[Acro]

Some companies have grown too fast. After a couple of mergers and acquisitions, corporate behavior seems to favor the big guy.

[katherine]

like on a name I owned listed on sedo, someone bidded $20k on it which I accepted and after a week, sedo turned around and said that they MEANT to bid $2k...which is of course why when they had to confirm their bid of $20k on a page saying it's a binding bid, they went ahead with it anyways.

The Dallas Cowboys should have their bidding privileges revoked at Sedo

[Acro]

The Dallas Cowboys should have their bidding privileges revoked at sedo

They probably thought sedo is part of do-see-do, "ya reckon"?