DNJ - Whitstable.co.uk - 12k

[AssetDomains]

Just seen Whitstable.co.uk was sold via sedo for 12,000 according to DNjournal nice sale

Other reported sales include

businessdirect.co.uk $1,538
webofthings.co.uk $1,500
utopiagroup.co.uk $1,469
z5.co.uk $1,157

 

[Admin]

Yes I saw that one reported, great price so they must have big plans for it. Will be interesting to see what they do with it.

I have Newhaven.co.uk but never got around to doing anything worthwhile with it.

Admin

 

[AssetDomains]

Yep nice sale I've always been tempted to try and get hold of my local geo and see if I could do something with it.

 

[foz]

Congrats on Whitstable.co.uk.

 

[Retired_member41]

It's a great example of a guy who advertises his own property to holiday makers on several sites, runs his own places to stay website in his town who must have done the numbers and bought this.

Maybe watching how this site develops could be a really good blue print or sales tool for geo sites as this.

 

[Brassneck]

Yes I saw that one reported, great price so they must have big plans for it. Will be interesting to see what they do with it.

I have Newhaven.co.uk but never got around to doing anything worthwhile with it.

Admin

Unfortunately Newhaven is a bit of a dump. I swapped the .org.uk of whitstable some years ago for my hometown www.haslemere.org.uk which I worked on a bit but it was hard work so have given up!

 

[BG]

Whitstable.co.uk (And owning Whitstable.uk)

I wonder if the buyer "Daniel Jones" was aware of the existence of ".uk" when purchasing the .co.uk? I can only assume he wasn't because most people would struggle to part with £12k for a .co.uk knowing that the .uk could come into play at any time...

The registration of the .uk (31st Jan 2015) was pretty close to the Sedo sale so I'm assuming a thought process of the seller (Websitebrokers Ltd) went something like this...

" Excellent, i have a serious offer on the table for "whitstable.co.uk"... best i secure the .uk before i agree to sell it as that will give me another bite at the cherry at a later date". (completely legal to do so if the sale was not agreed prior the transfer). And unless the buyer states he wants the .uk included in the sale whilst negotiating, then I'm sure most domain sellers would do the same as websitebrokers, or not?

I'm sure this scenario has popped up before... Upon entering into negotiations with the seller the buyer can see the .co.uk still has rights to the .uk, so assumes he will gain rights if he wins the auction, however, we all know that is not true until the buyer agrees to sell it... which effectively means the seller will always have time to register the .uk prior to clicking the "Accept" button (great for domain sellers but obviously sucky for the buyers).

In time this won't be an issue and people will see them as being totally separate, but over the coming years I'm sure we'll read a legal case whereby someone transferred the .uk after the .co.uk sale was agreed, it's only time!

-Barry

 

[Retired_member41]

If the buyer had checked the whois, it would say the right of registration was the .co.uk, not the owner of the .co.uk simply the .co.uk, so fair to think you would get the uk rights.

 

[BG]

If the buyer had checked the whois, it would say the right of registration was the .co.uk, not the owner of the .co.uk simply the .co.uk, so fair to think you would get the uk rights.

Yes that is correct, however... Up until the point of sale the person who owns the .co.uk which has the rights to the .uk can do whatever they please, which means they can register the .uk in another name and sell the .co.uk, leaving the buyer of the .co.uk with no rights to the .uk at all.

If the buyer did not mention the .uk when purchasing the .co.uk then they should not assume rights, its that simple really.

To me the whitstable.co.uk domain is simple back and white transaction... .e.g. imo the buyer was not aware of the .uk and its not for the seller to notify the buyer of the .uk if the domain was registered in another entity before the transaction was agreed.

 

[newguy]

Yes that is correct, however... Up until the point of sale the person who owns the .co.uk which has the rights to the .uk can do whatever they please, which means they can register the .uk in another name and sell the .co.uk, leaving the buyer of the .co.uk with no rights to the .uk at all.

If the buyer did not mention the .uk when purchasing the .co.uk then they should not assume rights, its that simple really.

To me the whitstable.co.uk domain is simple back and white transaction... .e.g. imo the buyer was not aware of the .uk and its not for the seller to notify the buyer of the .uk if the domain was registered in another entity before the transaction was agreed.

It was a great price for the seller, so if it was me I'd have informed the new owner of the .uk situation too. Of course people are free not to operate that way if they choose.

 

[Admin]

I think this was a SEDO sale, Sedo's T&Cs state that the .UK rights must be transferred with the .co.uk:

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/sedo/128364-sedo-uk-rights.html

 

[DaveP]

I think this was a SEDO sale, Sedo's T&Cs state that the .UK rights must be transferred with the .co.uk:

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/sedo/128364-sedo-uk-rights.html

So surely Sedo should check this before releasing funds and completing the sale!!

 

[BG]

I think this was a SEDO sale, Sedo's T&Cs state that the .UK rights must be transferred with the .co.uk:

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/sedo/128364-sedo-uk-rights.html

It's OK Sedo saying this but until the seller has accepted the buyers offer they can legally do what they please with the .uk (meaning they can register it seconds before hitting accept). At the end of the day all you are doing until a sale has been agreed is negotiating.

 

[ian]

When all is said and done, I think Websitebrokers Limited have taken a sh!tty position to manipulate an advantage out of a less knowledgeable buyer. Of course it may have been the case that the buyer said they didn't want it, and of course there is no legal stand point to suggest that the .uk should have been included, but to register it just before (or during) negotiation certainly suggests a deliberate move. Each to their own I guess.

 

[martin-s]

It's OK Sedo saying this but until the seller has accepted the buyers offer they can legally do what they please with the .uk (meaning they can register it seconds before hitting accept). At the end of the day all you are doing until a sale has been agreed is negotiating.

When you submit an offer on Sedo, it's binding. It would be more ethical to usethe position at the point that the offer is made to dictate whether or not the .uk should be included.

That's if you're not assuming they should always go together (as I would).

The way you suggest it, it's a bit like making a binding offer on a car, only for the seller to remove the stereo, alloys, warranty, etc. before handing you a worthless pup.

 

[namealot]

Simply lack of due diligence from buyer sellers within there rights to exploit it
Its not hard to ask if the uk rights or if registered name is included in sale and lack of knowledge on buyers behalf cannot be blamed on seller ?

 

[philiporchard]

Like others have said - when selling a .co.uk, it needs to be easy for the seller to clearly state what they are selling:

* Just.co.uk
* .co.uk + rights to .uk
* .co.uk + .uk

Assuming you have the rights to something after making an offer is going to get messy, whatever the small print says.

 

[BG]

In respect of Sedo they might (and could) decide that if the .uk Rights remain unregistered at the time any negotiations are entered into through their site then those Rights should transfer with the .co.uk unless otherwise explicitly stated. If they took, or are indeed taking, this line then should publicise it to both parties. If the registrant decides to subsequently register the .uk then that should be referenced together with a statement mentioning that it is no longer being included.

They most definitely need to implement some type of text which displays the .uk "is" or "is not" part of the sale when first viewing the domain listing.

1. .uk rights will be sold with this domain
2. .uk rights will not be sold with this domain

And if Sedo felt it was going to be a big task to implement such a change, then whilst putting the right mechanisms in place .e.g. force sellers to tick another box saying the .uk will or will not be part of the sale (then displaying this clearly on the buyers screen). In the meantime Sedo could very easily post a notice message on every single .co.uk listing without too much hassle saying "Please check with the buyer if .uk rights come with this domain"... at least this way its making people aware of a possible connection and allow them to strike up conversation in the bid thread.

There are a number of solutions to simplify the buyer process, however, I'm not sure if people are wanting to simplify them as yet due to the potential extra monies involved if buyers are not aware. In some ways i feel its purposely being left up in the air for this very reason.

 

[ian]

They most definitely need to implement some type of text which displays the .uk "is" or "is not" part of the sale when first viewing the domain listing.

1. .uk rights will be sold with this domain
2. .uk rights will not be sold with this domain

And if Sedo felt it was going to be a big task to implement such a change, then whilst putting the right mechanisms in place .e.g. force sellers to tick another box saying the .uk will or will not be part of the sale (then displaying this clearly on the buyers screen). In the meantime Sedo could very easily post a notice message on every single .co.uk listing without too much hassle saying "Please check with the buyer if .uk rights come with this domain"... at least this way its making people aware of a possible connection and allow them to strike up conversation in the bid thread.

There are a number of solutions to simplify the buyer process, however, I'm not sure if people are wanting to simplify them as yet due to the potential extra monies involved if buyers are not aware. In some ways i feel its purposely being left up in the air for this very reason.

You realise that you are suggesting Sedo do something logical though right?

 

[ian]

We all like to jump on Sedo and they're far from perfect but let's be honest, this is Nominet's brain child so should it not be their job to make sure business and the public know about Direct.uk rather than leaving it to the aftermarket?

Do they care? Just as long as .uk domains are registered, they've achieved their goal? (that goes hand in hand with marketing of course)