closed Offer thru Afternic.

[DryHeat]

It says:

"Dear Sir/Madam,
A certified buyer has made an offer of $500 for INFRASTRUCTURE.INFO.

Amount: $500

Offer Expires: Dec 12 2002 9:49AM EST"


I've NEVER had any positive experience with Afternic and I'm not aware what a "certified buyer" is. I'd welcome any relevant feedback including the offer ($500); on the mark, too little for a name like Infrastructure.info?

 

[domaindirk]

DO NOT USE AFTERNIC! I AM STILL WAITING TO GET PAID ON A SALE TWO MONTHS AGO, AND HAVE A COUPLE OTHER SALES IN LIMBO. SELL THIS DOMAIN YOURSELF.

 

[alaneads]

Take $500 for it immediately though, the name sucks.

 

[DryHeat]

SELL THIS DOMAIN YOURSELF

How. I don't know who the potential buyer is!

the name sucks.

No comments

 

[DomainPairs]

Tell them you'd be delighted to sell it, but will have to use an escrow service as you haven't heard of their company.

 

[bidawinner]

Originally posted by DryHeat

How. I don't know who the potential buyer is!




No comments

Put a fast page up on INFRASTRUCTURE.INFO with your email..

The afternic Buyer will find YOU.


Bid

 

[domaindirk]

Bids sharp.

 

[GiantDomains]

Don't sell thru afternic, you may never get your money.

Take all your names off of afternic, so you have peace of mind.

 

[William9]

There are three issues raised in this thread: 1. Is $500 adequate for Infratructure.info, 2. Is there an unreasonable risk using Afternic, and 3. Should Heat ignore the offer and simply post a for-sale web page be used?

1.) Is the $500 anonymous Afternic offer adequate for INFRASTRUCTURE.INFO?

Certainly everyone has their own gut on this. My gut is that if I had a variety of domains, I could not hope to hit a homerun on everyone. The $500 isn’t a home-run but it is at least a double. As it is only the top of the first inning, I would accept it.

2.) Should Afternic be used as some have had bad experience and others say it is going out off business? [The $500 was deemed adequate.]

The issue of bad experiences with escrow type sales most frequently is an incomplete transaction. Any escrow provider can be bad mouthed when the buyer simply does not transfer the funds or allow the charge for one reason or other. Frequently, the seller is upset at the escrow provider, however, 99% of the time, my interpretation of what others have posted is it that the funds factually were not escrowed. Afternic did some things correct and some things really terrible. But, they know how to escrow fund for domains. In addition, you may not have to do anything until they say the funds arrived. So if it was my domain, I would not consider this issue a material risk this week and would use Afternic.

While Register.com is discontinuing Afternic (NOT going out of business to my knowledge), I do not think that should mean too much. If everything is legitimate, this transaction could be still completed to Heat’s benefit next week.

3.) Is the best way to proceed - set up a web page and wait for the buyer to find you.

I consider the recommendation to ignore the buyer and set-up a more informative web page to have a less than 25% chance of success. The reason is because that it is based on the assumption the buyer does not know how to spell Whois – I doubt it.

I have used the ANONYMOUS offer function of GreatDomains ($125 minimum charge) for the same reason Heat’s offerer is probably using the Afternic system. The reason is you get a yes, no, or no response. There is no negotiation or profiling. You simply make a very reasonable offer that would make the buyer think and wait 7 days. There is no additional contact unless the offer is accepted.

So if I was Heat, I would accept the offer thru Afternic today.

Good luck.

 

[abrams1117]

Hey domaindirk, its a big club.

I sold a domain months ago through AN, and I'm still holding my breath for the money.

Not worth it.

 

[DryHeat]

William, I truly appreciate your thoughtful, methodical and rational input. I fully agree with you that an offer of $500 for Infrastructure.info although not a homerun does provide a very decent return in just over a year after registration. Probably due to the fact that I have lots of proper keyword domains in new tlds I routinely get inquiries/offers. However, I tend to seek input only when the situation is somewhat in the "grey area" (or at least seems that way to me due to my lack of knowledge/experience in domain re-selling). On this particular one, I didn't know what a "certified buyer" meant in Afternic terminology. I plan to ponder on this one for a couple of days and then decide; I almost never rush to accept an offer/respond to inquiry. Also, and for obvious reasons, I don't believe that new tlds "suck"; after all would any one have felt this way if it was Infrastructure.com?

 

[debath]

DON'T USE AFTERNIC. THEY ARE HOPELESS!

I lost a sale for $1,750 through them! They didn't get the paperwork etc done and f**ked the whole thing up. ARGGGGGGGGGGG

I HATE THEM!

 

[William9]

Heat had a question about what an Afternic “certified buyer” is?

I speculate that when Afternic uses “certified”, it means that a minimum test of availability of funds has been performed. Typically, a credit card # had been provided that passed a minimum test. That test is that $1 (one dollar) can be reserved on the card for a day. That shows that the card is thought to be legitimate and can be used to approve a purchase. If a card was not provided, it is remotely possible that a credit (funds from a prior sale?) of the bid amount is held on account with Afternic.

It is still possible that the credit card was stolen and the $500 in funds will not ultimately be transferred. Also, the transaction of $500 could be charged before a charge-back occurs related to the stolen card. However, in those two cases, there is no risk to the seller as that risk is assumed by the escrow agent.


Would the Duke would say “Anyone who buys a .ws domain is certified” or maybe “You are certified if you did not pickup a nice .US before the rush”.