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closed WARNING: Be careful who you sell .XXX domains to

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ImageAuthors

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WARNING: Before you sell any .XXX domain, INSIST on confirming which domains and websites the buyer is affiliated with. Due diligence here should be much more thorough than with ordinary domain sales.

Like most domainers who have purchased .XXX domains, I'm not actually involved in the adult entertainment industry directly. We're primarily in the business of connecting businesses and brand names, and most of us have sold domains to anonymous buyers through Sedo and other marketplaces without blinking an eye. Here's why you should often NOT do that with adult domains.

A few months ago, a buyer approached me via email and offered a significant amount of money for Tortured.xxx -- which is a domain with relevance to the bondage fetish S&M community. It's not my cup of tea personally, but I know people (perfectly normal folks) who get together for that sort of thing for fun. Diversity's great ... up to a point.

The buyer and I both agreed to the sale of Tortured.xxx in Escrow.com. Why not? It was a profitable transaction for me, and the buyer was courteous and professional through email. However, before the transfer, I took a moment to look up the domain buyer's other holdings. And what I found was alarming -- hideously so. About half the domains were related to child exploitation. Immediately, I contacted Escrow.com and requested that the transaction be canceled. Although I gave no details about the justification, Escrow.com honored my request. And in the nick of time, I avoided selling one of my domains to a pedophile.

Would he have used Tortured.xxx to showcase physical violence and sex abuse of children? I don't know. The individual also was involved in more conventional areas of adult entertainment; so perhaps not. Regardless, I refuse to help such a person make money that would finance illegal and immoral activities. And, even though plenty of domainers are laser-focused on profit, I'd like to believe that most people even in this less-than-perfect industry would also refuse to knowingly sell a domain to someone involved in child pornography.

The danger, of course, is that domainers typically don't investigate the potential use of their domains prior to a sale. So it's quite possible that one of your adult-themed domains might promote something you object to -- either directly or indirectly.

Lesson: Change your habits. Scrutinize all sales of adult-related domains closely. Most adult webmasters are actually ethical people, working professionals who often have families. But there are bad apples. There's a huge difference between legally produced content between consenting adults and the opposite. So I urge domainers who own adult-related domains to be vigilant. Even if the money is good, turn down sales to people who are involved with child pornography or human trafficking. Don't get complacent and sell anonymously without checking.

You might want to consider avoiding adult domain sales at anonymous marketplaces like GoDaddy, Sedo, and others when there is ANY CONCEIVABLE overlap between your keyword and one of these objectionable areas.
 
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draggar

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This is true with many domain niches - trying to be ethical can hurt. I have a lot of dog breed domains and was offered a good amount for a breed.org domain - the breed is new and still building itself here in the USA.

I did some research on the buyer and turns out they're, for the lack of a better term, a puppy mill. Imagine a puppy mill with a breed.org domain - how many people would go to that domain thinking they are the real deal and even an expert in the breed. It could have destroyed the breed.

The really sad part is that the breed club (run by a friend who is ethical) can't afford less than 5% of their offer - and I'd sell it to them at that price.

So yes, research on buyers can be very important.
 

amplify

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There's a fine line between unethical and ethical. You cannot assume someones usage of a domain because of their portfolio. Quite possibly, they are a domainer in that niche and feel it would better suite them. Albeit a sick one or one that pumps out puppies as many times a day as they can, it's still a sale. Once the deal is done you cannot revert it, so are you going to sit on it until someone else comes along and repeat the cycle?

As far as tortured.xxx... What's sicker? Adults doing it to children or adults doing even worse stuff to adults that consent for money to feed their families (IMO they're equally wrong, except one's illegal)? You have a name that you really can't tell what an end user will do with.
 
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