Pump and Dump Fallout

[Raider]

I've always wanted to buy some good traffic domains here, but I fear buying one, only to find out the Traffic and revenue died off, Nobody wants to be stuck with a domain that was pumped and dumped.

The question I have is a ethical one, Let's say I bought a domain, I did my homework and verified stats to the best of my ability, The domain receives 1000 hits a day, revenue is roughly $5 a day, I paid $2000 for it using Paypal, After the first month, Traffic and Revenue drop to almost zero... I ask the seller to compensate or refund and he/she flat out refuses.

Would I be justified in filing a chargeback against the seller? And what will that do to my rep?

 

[ordersomething]

Did your seller agree to provide traffic before the transaction occurred?

 

[theinvestor]

Depending on the situation...but if it gets 1000 hits a day / $5 a month ...

and after ONE month...it goes down to zero...if he is not co-operating then you are dealing with a thief...so yes...do a chargeback...and if the person is on the forum...take it to the legal section.

You are not the one who commited something wrong...it is the seller.

 

[Onward]

Tough call...but I do not blame you for being pissed for 2k...I never trust the stats on traffic...even when my research shows good numbers.....what did the seller say?

How long did they claim the traffic was steady?

Did they arbitrage?

The fact that they are totally against trying to work something out is telling. I would most likely just out them here...that will ruin their cred...I would not do a charge back.

What is the name and who is the seller?

 

[Raider]

Did your seller agree to provide traffic before the transaction occurred?

Let me be clear, this never happened.... I'm asking a hypothetical.

 

[ordersomething]

Ahh, I see.

 

[Raider]

Thanks for the input. Can you guys provide a checklist of what to ask when buying Traffic domains?

 

[DNP]

First of all for this amount I would ask for a 3-4 days of testing the name on your own DNS and analyze it. If seller refuses - STAY AWAY!

2. I would bother to compile a bill of sale (with seller's address and phone # of course) and sign it of course and attached addendum with traffic screenshots, revenue screenshots and etc.

3. Check for seller's itrader, paypal rating and age, coutry of residense and etc. If all those close to 0 and too far East - I would withdraw my offer.

4. Good luck!

 

[Onward]

Right...testing it for at least a week...but making sure they are not paying for traffic...

 

[Raider]

First of all for this amount I would ask for a 3-4 days of testing the name on your own DNS and analyze it. If seller refuses - STAY AWAY!

2. I would bother to compile a bill of sale (with seller's address and phone # of course) and sign it of course and attached addendum with traffic screenshots, revenue screenshots and etc.

3. Check for seller's itrader, paypal rating and age, coutry of residense and etc. If all those close to 0 and too far East - I would withdraw my offer.

4. Good luck!

OK, So insist on a DNS change so I can analyze stats of my server..... If this was a member with a good rep, would you do the same? Thanks DNP!.

Onward, You said you would not file a Chargeback on the 2K, Why? If the domain alone has no resale value, why should I eat it when I dont have to?

 

[Onward]

based on your initial post...I would not...my opinion.

 

[copper]

Some domain DO get tons of traffic for some unknown period of time and then
traffic disappear. Problem is that you don't know when traffic will die off.

 

[Raider]

Some domain DO get tons of traffic for some unknown period of time and then traffic disappear. Problem is that you don't know when traffic will die off.

Right, you dont know... Let's assume the seller is not responsible for the loss in traffic, is he off the hook or does he have any obligation to compensate the buyer?

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

First a name that made $5 a day would not be for sale for $2k. HUGE red flag assuming it wasn't a risky or decreasing tm name.

Secondly you have to not just ask the hard questions but have the experience yourself to research where the traffic is coming from and why and thus for how long it could keep coming. Is it a new product, tv shows name, latest fad or is it a very generic term/word. Many factors YOU need to be held respondsible for and not the seller.

Also there are ways to see if traffic is or should be type in/unique or if it is heavily link in etc.

As for complaing and getting funds back or some compensation. If it is clear the seller was involved with fraud than sure ( remember to return the name as well ) but if the seller did nothing but sell a name that performed as stated and 1-3-15 months later it dioes off because that " phrase " was over its YOUR fault, not his and if you did your research you should have known that was coming and used it to negotiate.

 

[David G]

...testing it for at least a week...

A good idea assuming the buyer is really capable of figuring it out by looking at his stats, which is much easier said than done.

Even if you have a website with more than 1 good stats program running which is said to filter out the bots and non-natural traffic, it's still sometimes quite difficult to know how valid all the traffic really is what with the surprising number of bots visiting so often. Other than the better known automated traffic vistors the bots are at times extremely hard to identify by both the stats program or manually, even by those well versed and experienced in analyzing stats and looking at referrer log files and ip addresses, etc.

 

[DNP]

Some domain DO get tons of traffic for some unknown period of time and then
traffic disappear. Problem is that you don't know when traffic will die off.

That's why you need those up to 1 week period to analyze the traffic and decide for yourself when it may die and how stable it is.

 

[Sonny Banks]

That's why you need those up to 1 week period to analyze the traffic and decide for yourself when it may die and how stable it is.

Agree.
All depends on what type of traffic is it.
With the fear no big business to do.
Just study the type of traffic, watch min. 3 months of stats and like DNP said after this you can decide if buy it or not.

 

[ilovedomains]

but if the seller did nothing but sell a name that performed as stated and 1-3-15 months later it dioes off because that " phrase " was over its YOUR fault, not his and if you did your research you should have known that was coming and used it to negotiate.

I disagree. Holding back information about traffic is the same as lying about it. If you sold me a name like that and refused to refund any loss, I would consider you to be a thief.

 

[David G]

The problem is you don't know for sure if the seller did in fact know his traffic was suspect (assuming there was no paid traffic or free traffic exchange).

I am sure in the majority of cases (assuming the seller is a typical domainer) he would not know with much certainly about the traffic validity no matter how much he tried to evalutate it because studying traffic stats is quite difficult for even the most experienced as a result of all the bots and non-natural traffic sources which visit so often.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

I disagree. Holding back information about traffic is the same as lying about it. If you sold me a name like that and refused to refund any loss, I would consider you to be a thief.

So I would be a thief because I wasn't psychic ? I never said I would hold back info I said the buyer should be respondsible for researching why the domain does X and imo should not expect the owner to know all. Take respondsibility. Buy blind and pay the price.