Someone Contacted Me to Buy My Domain Name. . . Help!

21 replies
I got an email from someone who claim to be a domain investor and is interested in buying my domain.

I have replied, but something troubles me. When I typed the url with which he sent the email(inquiry), I was redirected to a webhosting company.

What does this mean? Why would someone wanting to do business do a thing like that? I was expecting a direct link to the url, but I got a re-direct.
Any advice will be appreciated.
#buy #contacted #domain
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Could mean something and then again maybe not. Here's what to be aware of ... if they ask you for an appraisal and suggest one or two appraisal companies ....
    run
    don't respond back and don't get the appraisal
    It's the age old appraisal scam

    They own the phony appraisal companies and once you pay for the appraisal, you'll never hear from them again.

    Also remember that if you're using Paypal, they can file a dispute if they are dishonest, so for any domain sale involving a larger amount of money, I use escrow.com.
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert H Cwik
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      Could mean something and then again maybe not. Here's what to be aware of ... if they ask you for an appraisal and suggest one or two appraisal companies ....
      run
      don't respond back and don't get the appraisal
      It's the age old appraisal scam

      They own the phony appraisal companies and once you pay for the appraisal, you'll never hear from them again.

      Also remember that if you're using Paypal, they can file a dispute if they are dishonest, so for any domain sale involving a larger amount of money, I use escrow.com.
      There is another way to show them the "right way" if they require appraisal: tell them do pay for the appraisal, and if they want to buy the domain afterwards, you will deduct the price of the appraisal from the domain price. Otherwise the appraisal is on them, also if the appraisal is more expensive than the domain itself. If they are fake, you'll never hear from them again.
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      • Profile picture of the author ArielT
        Originally Posted by Robert H Cwik View Post

        There is another way to show them the "right way" if they require appraisal: tell them do pay for the appraisal, and if they want to buy the domain afterwards, you will deduct the price of the appraisal from the domain price. Otherwise the appraisal is on them, also if the appraisal is more expensive than the domain itself. If they are fake, you'll never hear from them again.
        yes, you are right, but after all the an appraisal doesn't matter, a domain owner asks what it wants, the appraisal would be a problem of that supposed interested buyer in this case, that I'm sure It was a scam, I've receive that email too, I suspect this people wants you buy the appraisal and surely redirect to that hosting site to cookie stuffing the visitor with its hosting affi id
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  • Profile picture of the author jideofor
    Thanks Suz. They ask how much I am selling the domain name for and the url was redirected to a webhosting site.

    What do you think? Its my first time with domaining.
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    • Profile picture of the author timwal
      Originally Posted by jideofor View Post

      Thanks Suz. They ask how much I am selling the domain name for and the url was redirected to a webhosting site.

      What do you think? Its my first time with domaining.
      Jideofor, how can i contact you? I'm Rotimi from Naija
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Give them a price and see how it goes from there and report back here to get input on whether it looks fishy. A webhosting company can buy domains like anyone else, so that isn't necessarily a bad sign.
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  • Profile picture of the author jideofor
    Yeah, thanks. He was referring me to an appraisal service. I guess you said that.

    He also asked me how I want to receive my pay ,even after I had indicated that in my previous email.

    And he said he was thinking within the price range of 6k-8k and that I could up my price if the appraisal service verifies its quality to range but I could also give a 6% discount.

    I just told him am no longer interested and ended it there.

    Thank you, Suz. I really appreciate the save.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by jideofor View Post

      Yeah, thanks. He was referring me to an appraisal service. I guess you said that.

      He also asked me how I want to receive my pay ,even after I had indicated that in my previous email.

      And he said he was thinking within the price range of 6k-8k and that I could up my price if the appraisal service verifies its quality to range but I could also give a 6% discount.

      I just told him am no longer interested and ended it there.

      Thank you, Suz. I really appreciate the save.
      Those appraisal scammers usually offer a really nice price to make it very tempting to get that appraisal. Glad you didn't get taken.
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  • Profile picture of the author jideofor
    Rotimi, just PM me but seriously, I got too many irons in the fire. I hope I could help you out.

    Regards.
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    • Profile picture of the author timwal
      Originally Posted by jideofor View Post

      Rotimi, just PM me but seriously, I got too many irons in the fire. I hope I could help you out.

      Regards.
      Cant pm, dont have up to 50posts yet
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      • Profile picture of the author timwal
        Originally Posted by timwal View Post

        Cant pm, dont have up to 50posts yet
        Jideofor, i already sent you a visitor message. Please check
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by timwal View Post

          Jideofor, i already sent you a visitor message. Please check
          The question you asked him is best just posted publicly on the forum so you get a variety of responses from people who sell domains.

          The best way to market domains is first, buy good domains with commercial value. Then actively seek buyers.

          Listing on Sedo is a slow way to sell domains if all you do is just list it and let it sit.

          Listing on Flippa is expensive so it better be a really good domain. Sites sell a lot better on Flippa than domains do.

          Gene Pimentel has an ebook that gives you very good information on marketing domains. He's a member here.

          View Profile: Gene Pimentel
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          • Profile picture of the author timwal
            Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

            The question you asked him is best just posted publicly on the forum so you get a variety of responses from people who sell domains.

            The best way to market domains is first, buy good domains with commercial value. Then actively seek buyers.

            Listing on Sedo is a slow way to sell domains if all you do is just list it and let it sit.

            Listing on Flippa is expensive so it better be a really good domain. Sites sell a lot better on Flippa than domains do.

            Gene Pimentel has an ebook that gives you very good information on marketing domains. He's a member here.

            View Profile: Gene Pimentel
            Suzanne, thanks for coming up. I actually need your help too. Didnt want to change the subject of discussion of this thread but you just answered some of my questions.

            I'm a fan of your site damainingdiva.com and I registered to the domainprofitsclub.com just a day ago. You mentioned on your site post that one can sell the domains at flippa. But i observed the domains that sell on flippa has very good global/local search in the adword keyword tool. while virtually all the domains at domainprofitsclub look like brand new domains without a very good monthly/local search.

            What other methods work well for selling domains? Will one just keep sending out mails to prospects? What if none responds?
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            • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
              Banned
              Originally Posted by timwal View Post

              Suzanne, thanks for coming up. I actually need your help too. Didnt want to change the subject of discussion of this thread but you just answered some of my questions.

              I'm a fan of your site damainingdiva.com and I registered to the domainprofitsclub.com just a day ago. You mentioned on your site post that one can sell the domains at flippa. But i observed the domains that sell on flippa has very good global/local search in the adword keyword tool. while virtually all the domains at domainprofitsclub look like brand new domains without a very good monthly/local search.

              What other methods work well for selling domains? Will one just keep sending out mails to prospects? What if none responds?
              The domains at domain profits club have high commercial value, particularly to companies. Many of them should be an easy sell to businesses, but you have to do the marketing and it takes some effort.

              I've sold some passively, but my best sells have been when I went after the buyer. Let's say for example the domain is, and I'll use one that is a domain profits domain, cheap envelope printing.

              Type cheap envelope printing into Google. Notice on the right the ads being served by Adwords. Right there you will find companies that are competing furiously for those keywords. Contact them with a sales email saying that you are selling the domain and currently taking offers. List the benefits of that domain to the prospect ...

              A few people may get annoyed at the email, but many will not and will be interested in the domain.

              If you want to go to even more trouble and add more value to the domain, launch a cheap envelope printing website and get it ranked on the first page of Google and then go back and make the offer to those advertisers.

              I've also contacted people in the listings who aren't Adwords advertisers with success. When I do that, I don't start on page one because they are already there. I start on like page five because they want to be on page one for that keyword and having a keyword domain can help them. If you've gone to the trouble of getting it ranked on page one, that's even better. You're already there and they want to be there. Should be an easy sell to one of them.
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              • Profile picture of the author timwal
                Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

                The domains at domain profits club have high commercial value, particularly to companies. Many of them should be an easy sell to businesses, but you have to do the marketing and it takes some effort.

                I've sold some passively, but my best sells have been when I went after the buyer. Let's say for example the domain is, and I'll use one that is a domain profits domain, cheap envelope printing.

                Type cheap envelope printing into Google. Notice on the right the ads being served by Adwords. Right there you will find companies that are competing furiously for those keywords. Contact them with a sales email saying that you are selling the domain and currently taking offers. List the benefits of that domain to the prospect ...

                A few people may get annoyed at the email, but many will not and will be interested in the domain.

                If you want to go to even more trouble and add more value to the domain, launch a cheap envelope printing website and get it ranked on the first page of Google and then go back and make the offer to those advertisers.

                I've also contacted people in the listings who aren't Adwords advertisers with success. When I do that, I don't start on page one because they are already there. I start on like page five because they want to be on page one for that keyword and having a keyword domain can help them. If you've gone to the trouble of getting it ranked on page one, that's even better. You're already there and they want to be there. Should be an easy sell to one of them.

                Thanks Suzanne.

                What does it involve to sell domain on sedo.com? It looks like there are good buyers there who value premium domain names
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I think Gene Pimentel has some tricks for selling faster on Sedo. I just list them and wait to be contacted if someone wants to buy them. I list them as make an offer rather than placing a price on them.

    I've also sold domains on afternic.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I think Gene Pimentel has some tricks for selling faster on Sedo. I just list them and wait to be contacted if someone wants to buy them. I list them as make an offer rather than placing a price on them.

    I've also sold domains on afternic.com.
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  • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
    Originally Posted by jideofor View Post

    I got an email from someone who claim to be a domain investor and is interested in buying my domain.

    I have replied, but something troubles me. When I typed the url with which he sent the email(inquiry), I was redirected to a webhosting company.

    What does this mean? Why would someone wanting to do business do a thing like that? I was expecting a direct link to the url, but I got a re-direct.
    Any advice will be appreciated.
    Another thing you can do when you get emails like this is Google part of the email. Often you will find discussions on these emails and be able to realize quickly if some of them are scams or not.
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    Pen Name + 8 eBooks + social media sites 4 SALE - PM me (evergreen beauty niche)

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  • Profile picture of the author Gene Pimentel
    When you list on Sedo, you will have 4 to 10 times the sales ratio if you use a "buy now" price. Potential buyers know what they want and just want to buy with the least amount of hassle. They gravitate toward listings where they can buy without the clumsy negotiation process.

    If you have a truly exceptional domain that would get a lot of attention from many potential buyers, then it would be worth using the "make offer" option.
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  • Profile picture of the author eniggma
    I know I am super late to the party but I really appreciate this thread. There were some true gems of info in here. Thanks!
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    "Successful people do the things unsuccessful people won't do" - (Somebody successful) :)

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  • Profile picture of the author therichb
    Domain case ebook is one great resource here which anyone can learn from ....

    Buying & selling domains can be a good business for someone but that requires concentrating upon the buying factor of value you are going to purchase !!!
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