want a good laugh?

**Rocket2Uranus** · 11-10-2002, 08:41 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2066397654

I think this person is on some very potent drugs

**BGray** · 11-10-2002, 08:44 AM

I saw this guy on ebay one time before. I think his catch is that he starts the bidding at .10 and someone bids without reading the fact that there is a $2500 paperwork fee. I'm not sure if it is legally binding or not.

**DomainPairs** · 11-10-2002, 08:57 AM

It's called fee avoidance and is a breach of Ebays rules. If you report it the auction will be pulled.

**Rocket2Uranus** · 11-10-2002, 10:22 AM

wouldn't a $15 "transfer fee" breach the same rules?

**TrafficMonsterRRR** · 11-10-2002, 10:40 AM

REgarding fees on Ebay, one could argue that they do not benefit the seller because they are sale expenses usually paid to a third party (supposedly).

Say my domain registration company sells a doman name on Ebay for $1.00 and I choose to pay my employee $15 to do the "busy" work of transfering the sold domain incl. all correspondence etc Thus it "costs" me $15 in fees to transfer the domain. If I decide to do the busy work myself and absorb the $15 it is like putting a $15 tag to my 1/2hr services. No problem there, I Think.

Of course one could argue: "Is [the above fee] customary?" I ll let you decide this as domain professionals.

If the guy can show that the $2500 legal fee is paid by him to a legal entity, produce receipts etc, then he should be okay. If he is a lawyer, could he "make" the fee himself? I know it gets iffy.

The problem with this auction is that the legal fee is blantant in relation to the auction price. Also, I think somewhere he states "make offer" (meaning via email). I think this is more of a breach since he is soliciting unofficial bids outside ebay- using Ebay's listing for advertising. Yeah he should be busted.

**Rocket2Uranus** · 11-10-2002, 11:39 AM

My point is simply that if one is going to take a $15 hit on the sale of their domain, shouldn't the reserve price be $15 (or slightly more to compensate for any actual expenses, fees, etc.)

This guy's example is extreme (not the least because his names suck), but I think it seems a little dishonest to advertise a domain name for $1, then charge $15 to transfer when the market clearly does not bear that expense in this day and age.