Sedo.com’s Contract Protects Sedo, But Not Sellers Or Buyers

[Edwin]

Well worth a read if you buy or sell domains on Sedo. The article deserves a much wider audience...
http://www.thedomains.com/2010/06/20/sedo-com-contracts-protects-sedo-but-not-sellers-or-buyers/

 

[retired_member12]

Well worth a read if you buy or sell domains on Sedo. The article deserves a much wider audience...
http://www.thedomains.com/2010/06/20/sedo-com-contracts-protects-sedo-but-not-sellers-or-buyers/

Great spot there Edwin, very relevant to some recent discussions here.

 

[JMOT]

Thats pretty shocking.

However for transactions conducted in the EU and if you reside in the EU you fall under the terms of use for Sedo GmbH.

Most likely a similarly unfair situation....

 

[rob]

Me from 2008:

"Sedo's agreements are only worth the paper they are written on, which for an entirely digital agreement is high praise indeed."

I think its well known for 3, even 4 perhaps 5 years the failings of Sedo and what is extraordinary is the failure to correct things.

 

[tifosi]

Agreed. I've had enough of sedo after last weeks issues with them where they effectively took a 60% cut of a low-end sale.

They're utterly unsupportive - and unrepentant - when agreed sales fall through, and their minumum commission for small sales is abhorant.

I warned them in the past they were effectively 'on report'. They are now no more. They've lost one more of the UK domain industry. I've removed all of my domains (1250+) from sedo and will not be using or promoting any of their services again.

I may be a small fish in a big pond, but I'm taking a stand.

S

 

[sedo]

Hi Edwin

Thank you for your feedback. I have forwarded this onto management.

Tifosi - We cannot sell expired domains to customers. Our terms state that should the registration of a Domain that is the subject of a purchase and sale transaction be in risk of expiring with its relevant Domain registrar, or if the expiration date lies within the next sixty (60) days from the date when an agreement is made for the purchase and sale of the Domain, Seller agrees to renew the Domain registration and is solely responsible for any costs or fees associated with such renewal. Buyer and Seller are each respectively responsible for any related fees charged by his/her registrar and/or service provider.

 

[tifosi]

Hi Edwin

Thank you for your feedback. I have forwarded this onto management.

Tifosi - We cannot sell expired domains to customers. Our terms state that should the registration of a Domain that is the subject of a purchase and sale transaction be in risk of expiring with its relevant Domain registrar, or if the expiration date lies within the next sixty (60) days from the date when an agreement is made for the purchase and sale of the Domain, Seller agrees to renew the Domain registration and is solely responsible for any costs or fees associated with such renewal. Buyer and Seller are each respectively responsible for any related fees charged by his/her registrar and/or service provider.

But you were quite willing to threaten to pursue me for sellers fees if I decided that in the end this was not a sale to go through because of the status of the domain. The point I make about commission fees for small sales is paramount... one you frankly don't seem to give a sh*t about. It was your & has been your attitude more than anything else that has frustrated me.

Multiple domain sales in the last year where the buyer renaged on the agreed sale and the best you can do is to 'open up the buyers personal details'. Do you think that this is even close to being acceptable?

In the end I've decided that I can't & won't do business with a company that has proven untrustworthy and inept. All my domains have been removed and I will not promote you in any way... if anything the reverse, until you resolve 2 issues:
1. Commission for small sales is limited to 5-10% of the sale value as a maximum, and not £35.
2. Protection for the buyer and seller, re this thread and the article is significantly resolved.

 

[rob]

Multiple domain sales in the last year where the buyer renaged on the agreed sale and the best you can do is to 'open up the buyers personal details'. Do you think that this is even close to being acceptable?

Its not a case of just a 2010 problem, it goes back years.

 

[sedo]

Hi Tifosi

I was not personally involved in your transfer so I cannot comment on the service you received. I was merely stating that it was not possible to complete the sale due to the fact that the domain was expired.

I am sorry that you feel that our commission fees are too high. I have sent your recommendations to management.

Kind regards

Joanna

 

[Americar]

*Thank you for your feedback. I have forwarded this onto management.*

You seem like a nice person Joanna who is trying to liaise between 'UK only' domainers and Sedo corporate .. They all ready know about Thedomains.com article .. so your between a a rock and a hard place .. Sedo management should respond to Thedomains article from the top floor office ... unlikely to happen ..

Sedo should take some notice of the suggestion to ban defaulting sellers and bidders .. i have had several auction defaults this year and requested that the defaulting bidder be banned from Sedo forever in the strongest terms .. there has never been any feed back from Sedo that this banning has been followed up ... i am still looking for the last defaulter and i will out him on every domain board when i do come across him ..

At least you are communicating on Acorn but Sedo is sadly is lacking in communication on other boards except of course to promote itself ...

 

[Edwin]

Tifosi - We cannot sell expired domains to customers. Our terms state that should the registration of a Domain that is the subject of a purchase and sale transaction be in risk of expiring with its relevant Domain registrar, or if the expiration date lies within the next sixty (60) days from the date when an agreement is made for the purchase and sale of the Domain, Seller agrees to renew the Domain registration and is solely responsible for any costs or fees associated with such renewal. Buyer and Seller are each respectively responsible for any related fees charged by his/her registrar and/or service provider.

It would be much smarter for your system to auto-monitor expiry dates (check the expiry date when the domain's first listed for sale, that way you only have to check 1/365th of your inventory daily, the ones that this would apply to) and automatically pull off the market any domains that would fall foul of your T&C.

Automated, it should take literally no additional work (beyond implementation, I mean) and clean up the perception of the marketplace a little...

 

[jasman]

I have had buyers fail to pay up in the past and that is annoying, but I wouldn't sue over it, especially if some lawyer was going to get many times the value of the domain in legal fees.

If someone changes their mind it's a pain in the arse and in an ideal world an appropriate penalty would be something like them paying compensation of 20% of the sale price. But to ruin their life by saddling them with a 100k legal bill which for many people would force them into bankrupcy? Thats way out of proportion.

The article sounds to me like it may have been written by a lawyer hoping to pressurise Sedo into changing its contacts to open up a new suing culture which laywers can exploit to make disproportionately high profits.

 

[Edwin]

If someone changes their mind it's a pain in the arse and in an ideal world an appropriate penalty would be something like them paying compensation of 20% of the sale price. But to ruin their life by saddling them with a 100k legal bill which for many people would force them into bankrupcy? Thats way out of proportion.

People need to learn that legal contracts are binding. Period. Doesn't matter if they're the buyer or seller, or if they had second thoughts about the deal. If you say you're going to do something, DO IT. That's the bottom line.

 

[Paullas]

well after the hassle i got with chasing them for just over 2 weeks for money owed to me and they still took there fees ive removed all my domains also.

 

[rob]

People need to learn that legal contracts are binding. Period. Doesn't matter if they're the buyer or seller, or if they had second thoughts about the deal. If you say you're going to do something, DO IT. That's the bottom line.

A few on this board could do with taking that line as well. Its tedious.

 

[Edwin]

A few on this board could do with taking that line as well. Its tedious.

When will people realise that when dealing with something as "virtual" as domain names - and with 99.9% of transactions at arms length, without the 2 parties ever meeting or speaking - TRUST is the only thing that will keep you in business!

Fortunately, and gratifyingly, there's a professional core of domainers for whom that's not an issue, it's the "fringe element" where the trust breaks down.

Don't know about you, but I keep a list of everyone who's ever defaulted on a deal, and I never do business with that person or company again. Too many fish in the sea to worry about one rotten one...

 

[rob]

Don't know about you, but I keep a list of everyone who's ever defaulted on a deal, and I never do business with that person or company again. Too many fish in the sea to worry about one rotten one...

I have a mental list

Likewise, I dont deal with them ever again.

 

[GreyWing]

Don't know about you, but I keep a list of everyone who's ever defaulted on a deal, and I never do business with that person or company again. Too many fish in the sea to worry about one rotten one...

Is that just those who have defaulted on you, I suspect it's not because my list, is of people who have default on anyone on here.

So people need to know that others are watching.

 

[rob]

Feel free to email me over copies of both lists and can compare notes

 

[jasman]

People need to learn that legal contracts are binding. Period. Doesn't matter if they're the buyer or seller, or if they had second thoughts about the deal. If you say you're going to do something, DO IT. That's the bottom line.

I do agree. An agreement is an agreement and it should be honoured. But when someone breaks it, then what? Just because it might be possible to screw them through the legal system does not mean doing so is ethical. I think that the punishment should be of appropriate magnitude. You wouldn't shoot a person for insulting you. By doing so you would make yourself the villain.

In my opinion much of the legal system has been designed to benefit lawyers rather than efficiently resolve disputes. Just look at how common it is for both parties in a divorce to get totally screwed by lawyers happy to profit from people in a vulnerable state. Sometimes the lawyers end up with more than either party in the dispute. That would certainly be the case according to the article we are commenting on which states the lawyer fees would be $75k-$150k all over a $10k domain. And this guy is complaining that he can't sue and give the laywer that money because of Sedo's contract.

I think it's madness. It's obviously great for lawyers, the dispute is causing a transfer of wealth to them up 15 times the asset value. It's not great for you though because you'd probably not see any compensation if the dispute backrupted the guy who pulled out, and you'd have all the hassle of being involved in a legal dispute. Even if you did get some compensation it is unlikely to be more than the domain and probably much less, so still the lawyer, not you, is the undisputed winner. And potentially it could be an absolutely devastating outcome for the person who pulled out financially - if he has a family perhaps they would lose their home - just over something which admittedly was really annoying but in perspective only ruined your day.