My brother-in-law and I discuss the Internet all the time. He's a really big eBay fan and is always researching various things online. He bought a few domain names recently in hopes of selling them and making a profit. So pretty soon after he registered one of his new domains, he was contacted by a potential buyer. Of course he was so excited since it happened so quickly. The buyer said he needed to see an appraisal for the domain before he can make an offer and suggested a place where he could have it appraised. The website was www.easynamesale.com. He even pointed him to a forum where people were discussing having used this service so of course my brother in-law thought he was doing all of the proper research. He ended up paying for an appraisal and it came back with a great amount. The buyer was now eager to not buy it but HELP my brother-in-law sell it and he said he would just take a commission for it. I in turn, decided to get one of my domains appraised at the same place. When I was doing it something just didn't seem right. I don't know if it was the look of the website - not very consistent and not as professional as it could have looked. The fact that it was overseas threw me a bit. The fact that when he go his appraisal sent to him from a hotmail account with a different url in the message. This time they were referencing www.domainsecondhand.com. I didn't listen to my gut and went ahead with it anyway.
The next day I got the appraisal back and it was for an exorbitant amount. On one hand I was so excited but on the other, it just didn't sit right with me. I decided to do some research. UH!!! There were tons of references as to how this was a total scam!!
Here are a bunch that I found:
- http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/311/ripoff0311140.htm
- http://www.dnforum.com/f209/striking-down-easynamesale-com-thread-291335.html
- http://paulenderson.com/2007/10/12/toughguynet-domain-name-appraisal-scam/
- http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/401699-domainsecondhand-com-is-a-scam.html
My lesson learned here was to always go with my gut instinct. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. I hope by writing this I will at least have saved one other person from making this same mistake. Please pass this post on to anyone who may be considering a domain appraisal or sale of their domain. Would love to hear from anyone that had a similar experience.
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1 comment:
Hello Stacey.
I'm 18 years old, and live in Plainwell, Michigan.
I own WiiOwners.com and was planning on selling it.
I was contacted by a George Ogilvie offering me 7,800 but wanted it appraised. He sent me the url, you know the rest.
It was appraised for 29,500 usd...
He did the same thing to me as your brother, and I just found this out by reading your blog.
I had all these plans for the money, and told my family and everything. I was going to put the money in a CD and save up for college.
I come from a family where I can't go to college without a loan, and I didn't want to have to pay off a loan for my whole life. I thought this was my break.
I read your article, and was in shock. As I write this email, I'm trying my hardest to not cry my eyes out.
I have to tell my family, my friends, everybody that I was just scammed, and that the whole thing is off.
I thank you for your time, and I really hope you get this.
Thanks for the article, you shed some light on my stupidity.
-Nathanial Benton.
If you'd like to reply, my email is nathanialbenton @ gmail.com
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