Peoples names I want to sell. - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

**cbk** · 11-19-2008, 05:04 PM

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**theinvestor** · 11-19-2008, 06:03 PM

I would avoid buying people's names and then trying to sell it to them.

There are legal actions that can be taken against you.

**draggar** · 11-19-2008, 06:10 PM

I agree. Other than my own family's names.com I own one but it is with that person's permission (and I run their site for them, too).

There are a few WIPO cases out there where people got their names.com from other people.

**Admin** · 11-19-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theinvestor

I would avoid buying people's names and then trying to sell it to them.

There are legal actions that can be taken against you.

I would have to agree with the others, I don't think that's the way you want to go. It's just not worth it!

**acronym007** · 11-19-2008, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbk

buying their own name (CHEAP of course) or e-mail them with an offer.

Price doesn't matter, intent to sell does. You could lose all of those names and also get a bad reputation in the industry. Write it up as a lesson learned, take the lose and move on. Not worth it IMHO.

**cbk** · 11-19-2008, 07:27 PM

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**acronym007** · 11-19-2008, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbk

I agree some. But not to start a fight but these are not stars names. No body owns there own name, there could be plenty of people with that same name how could there be legal action for that? And what court cases?

If they are everyday average people you might get lucky but my guess is that overall this will not be worth it. It will not be a profitable venture. So what's the reason for this, if not profit? Also, still you should consider the risk attached to your reputation. Some people might consider you a cybersquatter/extortionist. Good luck!

This guys wins his WIPO and still the ignorant media calls him a cybersqatter.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,621160,00.html

**stewie** · 11-19-2008, 08:34 PM

I agree with the crowd...not worth it.

**sng** · 11-21-2008, 01:05 AM

I Agree its not worth buying other people names. Its just not worth the time and $$$ invested unless you have something like Bill Gates. =D

**Fatbat** · 11-24-2008, 12:51 PM

I don't think it's a waste of time and money. If you owned jason.com or michelle.com, for example, neither would you. juliaroberts.com and billgates.com are no gos unless you happen to be named the same, but for the more generic, I don't think they are a bad investment. I would, however, wait for someone to approach you I think.

**steveto** · 11-24-2008, 01:03 PM

I think if you go the "last name" route, you should be ok but if you do firstnamelastname.com, you might run into issues. not all the time, but you may attract the wrong person with a lot of money and you are SOL. I think you should invest in a website/domain that you have some knowledge about and build the site from that and build your own traffic, then flip it and start investing in traffic domains and make some money off of adsense. When you start making more money then you can invest on bigger money making sites. I think that's the best way to go.

**Doc Com** · 11-24-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbk

Just wondering how tackey this sounds but here it goes, I own a few people names, first and last, what would be the best approach, call and ask if they would be interested in buying their own name (CHEAP of course) or e-mail them with an offer. I could picture the first questions they may ask is how did you get my name and why would you have it?

You really should look up all the names of famous people won by WIPO decision...most notably Hillary Clinton.

In some cases you would be lucky just to receive a slap on the wrist and lose the domain name.

If we are talking athletes, case after case of notable soccer stars have won their domain AND DAMAGES in European courts of law.

In this case, forget WIPO. These are civil or perhaps criminal courts of law.

The judge has found that the domain owner has deprived that person of their rights to use their birthright and has awarded not only the domain name back to the athlete but damages as well.

I can not remember the Star's name, but the most notable one comes from some in the UK who regged a football players name while in his teens and that person became a huge star on the international football scene (soccer) while the registrant refused to release the name for 10 years.

He lost the domain name and had to pay damages which were no chump change.

Dead people are a safer bet but can still be risky if their rights are controlled by surviving family members (think Elvis and Houdini).

Have I done it? You betcha. Both living and dead.

But I am also aware of the consequences and risks involved.

Approaching the person may be a surefire bet to calling their attention to a matter that they are totally unaware of but are now...thanks to your generosity.

**dotNetKing** · 11-24-2008, 07:39 PM

I have dabbled in first name surname, but not (much) for famous people.

If I saw a name like johnsmith.com, I would go for it without hesitation.

I would normally avoid names like georgebush.com and billgates.com

**cbk** · 11-24-2008, 08:23 PM

I put a fork in it, its done. I get the point. First names are great, a last name maybe good, but both to much headache.

The reason I ask this question is that I noticed a lot of real estate agents using their own name as their website and I googled and found a lot of agents names still available and I thought I would buy them and then contact them and say that I thought it would be a great idea to own their own name for a very reasonable price they cant refuse, seems odd but a little lucarative. It seems that they were usually the ones who used their own names. Thanks for the feedback guys....