Frustrated domain name purchase on Ebay

[DavidH]

I have recently tried to purchase two domain names on Ebay, where the purchaser put at the bottom of the description:

"I reserve the right not to sell these domains to the winning bidder"

I had the winning bid but the seller has refused to sell the names, presumably because the bid was way too low for their liking.

I presume I have no remedy but it seems very unfair to me - the seller is putting a reserve on the auction without formally having a reserve.

Since I sent the money within a couple of hours by Paypal, presumably all I can do is to ask for it back?

Are there any steps I can take now or should take for future reference if I come across this type of offer again?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

DavidH

 

[DavidH]

The names were:
b-u-y.com
b-u-y-s.com

Winning bid was $9.99

DavidH

 

[airnike764]

You can report them to ebay and they will get a penalty and their auctions will be cancelled

 

[DomainPairs]

Give them a negative, and when they give you one back ask Ebay to remove it as a retaliatory negative.

Ebay are notoriously bad about doing anything unless it involves them losing money, so if you want to report them, do it as a fee avoidance case and say they were avoiding the reserve price fee. You could also look at the transfer fee if there was one, and if this was high this is also a fee avoidance issue.

 

[Mizzoula]

I don't believe you can do much of anything to make the guy turn the domain over to you. It might be a binding sale as far as Ebay is concerned, but the most you will probably be able to accomplish is leaving a black mark on his record at Ebay--I don't see the domain getting turned over to you. Bad seller, though--that's unfortunate you have to come across people like that, but that's life.

 

[Anthony Ng]

>BigFart: ... there might even be a remedy through ICANN if you can prove there was no reserve.

Are you sure?

 

[Mizzoula]

Originally posted by DavidH
"I reserve the right not to sell these domains to the winning bidder"

I had the winning bid but the seller has refused to sell the names, presumably because the bid was way too low for their liking.

I believe his untrustworthy statement in his auction details lends him impunity for any real or perceived suit on acquiring the domain if you were indeed an end-of-auction winner. Then again, I wonder why one would even bid on an auction with a seller with such unethical policies as such. Turn your attention to trustworthy sellers with good feedback and unambiguous auction details. You don't want to be left in the dark or totally miffed by the auction's end when it concerns your hard-earned money.

 

[DomainPairs]

I think the essence of this problem is using Ebay's end of auction payment system. Personally I refuse to do this either as a buyer or as a seller. The only safe way to trade on Ebay is to exchange Emails at the end of an auction. Do not make any payment or ship goods until you are happy with the other party and the contract.

 

[clemzonguy]

A lot of jack-ass-es are ruining a lot of markets by ebay. One guy sells a rip off product of something I sell that retails for $149 on most websites and they are selling then for between $60-$100 for a fast buck. He also uses false and misleading keywords that are trademarked.

As far as domains go half of the crap on ebay should be banned. Last name auction I was watching on ebay was Explored.com. The guy ended the auction before it was over and said that it was b/c:

The seller ended this listing early because of an error in the minimum bid or Reserve amount.

Yet his description had in large print NO RESERVE:

So I email him and ask him what's up and he says:

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Hi-

I am sorry about pulling down the auction. I definitely intend to sell the domain- The reason that item was pulled down was because some one outside of the auction had expressed interest in it on friday and was going to give me $850. This was not definite and I wasn't sure what to do, so I decided to take down the auction until I talked w/ him. I know it was probably not the right thing to do but I had placed the auction up before he contacted me. I got a little scared that the auction might not reach that amount after seeing it stall at 400ish for a while. I know that auctions tend to climb in the last moments but- I figured that I could always repost it if this transaction didn't pan out. If you would like to buy it at this price I would be willing to sell to you or anyone else that would meet this price. I am currently out 20 bux for the listing so I wasnt just posting it to tease the bidders. Again- my apologies.

-Ryan
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

So basically there is no way to give him a negative rating either. The only time I've had a person pull down an auction for me was when I was buying football tickets and noticed he had then on ebay for $50 more than I was going to pay so I told him I wouldn't buy them unless he took them off ebay. No one had bid on them yet though.

Anyways thought that would be a good read.

 

[DNFBuckTrader]

File a Paypal grievance ASAP.

I hope you used Paypal to pay and he is verified. If yes to both it is easy sailing 4 you my friend.

EDIT:\Perhaps I misunderstood, are you having a hard time reversing the charges? You can't do much about geting the domain I am fraid but the charges should be reverseed with no problem.

 

[DNS Kidd]

Send the details of the sale to [email protected].

They will review the transaction. There has to be a legitimate reason for pulling down an auction, such as item no longer available (destroyed in hurricane, whatever).

The boilerplate "I reserve the right not to sell these domains to the winning bidder" cannot circumvent the eBay rules that an auction is a contract to sell.

Good Luck

Dave

 

[DomainPairs]

Don't forget that Ebay is not an auction house, they merely provide the venue. This means that the seller may be breaking Ebay's rules, but he is not breaching his contract if he stated a variance to the normal terms before bidding started.

You can punish him through Ebay, and you should be able to get your momey back, but I think it unlikely that you can force him to sell.

Have you reported him for fee avoidance yet, this is probably your most serious punishment. You should also neg. him first if you are going to cause him problems.

 

[Jazz]

Can't you report him to ICANN for registering the domain names in bad faith since he was selling them on EBay? If you are interested in the names for development purposes and not for resale, maybe you can try that route.

 

[draqon]

from what i've read, it is NOT bad faith to register domains with the intent of selling them. Generic domains, as long as they arent a trademark violation, can be registered with intent to sell.

 

[Mizzoula]

Originally posted by Jazz
Can't you report him to ICANN for registering the domain names in bad faith since he was selling them on EBay? If you are interested in the names for development purposes and not for resale, maybe you can try that route.

ICANN is not affiliated whatsoever with eBay. There is no "route" available with the connection of these two parties.

 

[DavidH]

Originally posted by DNS Kidd
Send the details of the sale to [email protected].

They will review the transaction. There has to be a legitimate reason for pulling down an auction, such as item no longer available (destroyed in hurricane, whatever).

The boilerplate "I reserve the right not to sell these domains to the winning bidder" cannot circumvent the eBay rules that an auction is a contract to sell.

Good Luck

Dave

I sent an email to safeharbor but they are not using that address any more. They told me to use one of their standard webforms but unfortunately the link they sent me to has no form on it.

Getting rather frustrated since I could not find any way to actually contact Ebay, I posted a message on one of the Ebay chat boards and I was advised to use the new Live Help button on their home page.

This allowed me to chat with someone from Ebay who finally accepted that I could not use the webform indicated. When I explained the problem they sent me a form to use about my complaint - I have focussed on the seller apparently avoiding Ebay fees by indirectly putting a reserve on the auction.

I have also asked the seller for my money back - we shall see how long it takes!

DavidH

 

[DNS Kidd]

David - The rules seem pretty straight forward regarding this:

Non-Selling Seller

eBay rule:

"It is not permitted for a seller on eBay to refuse to accept payment or fail to deliver an item at the end of a successful sale.

To report a trading offense:

Contact Customer Support.

Include the appropriate information, including any relevant emails, with full descriptions in the subject line and complete email headers.

Only report a case once—multiple emails about the same case slow an investigation.

Notes:

eBay will consider the circumstances of an alleged offense and the user's trading record before taking action.

Disciplinary action may result in a formal warning, temporary suspension, or indefinite suspension.

If a complaint can't be proven with certainty, we may take no action. "

It sounds like the seller was testing the waters for price and interest, but wanted to avoid the reserve cost. Ebay might not like that

This name (b-u-y.com) is listed at TopBuyDomains.com with a sale price of $3,000.00. Seller most likely wasn't happy about the $9.99 winning eBay bid

http://www.topbuydomains.com/Discount_Sales.html

Isn't this forum member DryHeat?

Technical Contact:
RENTorBUYdomains.com
Roy Nightingale (See Price)
520-670-8870
FAX: none
2114 W. Grant Rd. #101
[email protected]
Tucson, AZ 85745
US

Maybe they could address the question, I don't see a big issue here. A "nothing ventured, nothing gained" situation, write it off to experience.

Dave

 

[NexSite]

Watch his auctions, bid as much as you want, dont pay him. I have a secret account I use for busting scammers there. I have had people with 500 + stars lose their membership because I cought them bidding on ther own stuff, and notified Ebay that they were probably getting non-paying bidder refund requests. There are ways to get back at scammers.

 

[WildCard]

How would making bad bids and not paying him help hurt this seller's shill bidding? I don't see the logic. Explain in better detail how you bust scammers and catch them with your secret account.

-WC-