Someone trying to broker my name without permission?

[Maxwell]

So, I was having lunch today, and I got an email alert, which turned out to be the following email exchange;

Are you associated with Bill who sent the email below?
Thanks


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: xxxx.com
To: [email protected]


Hello,

I have a web name, xxxx.com you may be interested in.

Since you already own xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com I thought you may be interested in owning this one as well.

This is over 10-years old and is comprised of premium seo keywords, which makes it very valuable.

My asking price is $1,430 only.

I intend to sell this soon, and have mailed several parties. If you are interested, please reply back at your earliest convenience.

Thanks,

Bill

I had assigned someone to broker the name in question for me, at a lesser price than what was specified here in this email.

Amazingly, this email from the prospective purchaser seems to suggest that he is interested in the domain name at this price.

There is no definitive "purpose" for this thread, so to speak, besides just saying "wtf?".

Has this ever happened to anyone before? Should I try and deal with the prospective purchaser directly, cutting this guy out of the deal? Does this appear to be a scam of some sort on the part of "Bill"?

I've already emailed Bill asking him if I'd given him permission to broker the name.

Input, thoughts, and the like would be greatly appreciated on this matter.

 

[Johnn]

Bill is another domainer. End user would not be smart enough to check who is to verify ownership.

Your best response would be saying you are the partner of the sender to see his response.

Now Bill knows you but you don't know him. You need to find out who is is (hopefully his last name is not Clinton)

 

[Maxwell]

Bill is another domainer. End user would not be smart enough to check who is to verify ownership.

The prospective buyer (named Chris) runs a farmer's market in Texas. I highly doubt he's another domainer. Bill is the guy who sent the email.

To suggest legitimacy, I am figuring that I should confirm a relationship between Bill and I. I'm thinking I'll just phone Chris and see what he has to say.

It just baffles me as to what Bill might have stood to gain by trying to broker this without my permission, though.

 

[Johnn]

I would suggest to reply by email instead of call him. Take it easy if he is a real end user.
Calling him is not a good idea. Your call.

 

[stewie]

are you sure the person you gave permission to is not using the name Bill or having Bill working for him... you can't go by the price cause he could be marking it up. Talk to your guy if its not him then you have to take control.

Good Luck Maxwell

 

[Theo]

I called Bill.

He was nervous on the phone. I could hear him light up one cigarette after the other.

After twenty minutes, he confessed.

Lidia, his ex wife, was seeking alimony during the divorce and the court granted it. More than twenty five grand a year.

Bill could not make that much money with his hay rolling business. So he invented 'Chris', who'd pose as a buyer for your domain at a decent sum.

The trick was, he'd sell it first for more money, using funds from the sale. This is called frontrunning.

I said, Bill, why are you doing this, aren't you scared God might strike you down?

You don't know my ex, he said. She's worse than satan on a two headed horse. I had to do it.

THE END.

 

[cbk]

I too called Bill.

But this time his wife answered the phone.

She exclaimed in quite detail that the divorce is not final and that "Bill" spent all their overhead from the hay business on porn and hookers and needed an ingenius way to feed the horses.

I said Lidia, why are you doing this, you need a real man, so I gave her my phone number.

Sorry Maxwell, never got around to asking about your domain.

THE END.

 

[Maxwell]

Another tale? Let's go for the trilogy!

 

[Theo]

cbk wrapped it up nicely. You're wasting your time with Bill and Lidia is now 'busy'

 

[Maxwell]

Just an update... I spoke with Chris on the phone just now. Straight-up guy he is, certainly not a domainer. Said he just wanted to make sure I was the legitimate owner before "running it up the flagpole".

Whether this is likely to translate to a sale or not, beats the hell out of me.

If it does, the question is, do I offer Bill a commission or not?

 

[Theo]

If it does, the question is, do I offer Bill a commission or not?

Only if you get some action with Lidia

 

[Maxwell]

Only if you get some action with Lidia

His commission will then be the .xxx version of the .com he helped me sell - pre-populated with HD footage of Lidia and I :smilewinkgrin:

 

[untitled]

If you haven't hired him in the first place, it should be a no-no for Bill.

But personally, I'd still break him off 5-10% from the deal, depending on how good Bill's reasoning for marketing your domain.

And then I'd probably give him a few more domains to broker, this time legitimately, because he seems to be finding me clients.

The End.

 

[Tia Wood]

Maybe it's a scam??

Maybe Bill was scamming Chris and using your domain to do it?

The whole thing is weird.

Either that or Maxwell has Alzheimer's.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

This whole thing is wack jacko flacko quacko smacko if you as me.

 

[Maxwell]

If you haven't hired him in the first place, it should be a no-no for Bill.

But personally, I'd still break him off 5-10% from the deal, depending on how good Bill's reasoning for marketing your domain.

And then I'd probably give him a few more domains to broker, this time legitimately, because he seems to be finding me clients.

The End.

He still hasn't replied to the email. I've instructed the buyer to deal with me directly.

If he decides to get back to me, I might offer him a buck or two. But only once he explains himself.

 

[Maxwell]

Maybe it's a scam??

Maybe Bill was scamming Chris and using your domain to do it?

The whole thing is weird.

Either that or Maxwell has Alzheimer's.

It's not even that premium of a domain. I can't imagine what scammer in his right mind might pick this domain in particular.

And I'd probably be the world's first 19 year old to have Alzheimer's :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Maxwell]

This whole thing is wack jacko flacko quacko smacko if you as me.

Indeed.

 

[urlurl]

Bill may be brokering evryone's domain, you never know. Lets say; he gathers a few domains he's seen around forums etc. and sends out email blasts to related parties. if he gets a hit (lets say someone willing to spend $500 for a name) then he goes to the owner and tries to buy the name for $200. he buys the name and then sells it for $500. nice profit and no inventory.

I'm assuming he has not replied to you as he thinks he got caught.

just a theory

 

[Jeroen]

Bill may be brokering evryone's domain,...

I suspect people doing this already. The other day when i sent a one time email to a potential enduser, got a comment back about multiple emails.

It's more than a nuisance when people spam sales letters for domains they do not own or are not authorized to broker.