.CO.UK auction at Sedo was a bust! Only 7 domains were sold for a total of $10k

[Edwin]

Edwin, I'm trying to show some balance but realise I risk sounding like I'm fighting Sedo's corner. That's not the case, they're lazy but that's often matched by sellers and buyers.

The issue is that sellers and buyers really SHOULDN'T need to do as much work as Sedo (or indeed any work at all) since they control the assets whereas Sedo brings nothing to the table other than their role as middle man and facilitator.

Of course, you're spot on if we move the discussion away from Sedo: if a domain owner is "lazy" and doesn't do anything to proactively look for a buyer, then it's likely it will take "longer" for their domain to sell (if indeed it ever does).

But once you bring the notion of Sedo (or any other domain broker) into the equation, everything changes. Suddenly instead of 2 parties to a deal (seller/buyer) you have 3 - one of whom only has "sweat equity" to contribute. So if they're expecting their rich reward, they jolly well better sweat for it!

 

[mojoco]

The only thing I can take from your answers is that you didn't care that much about the name, if you did would it not be unreasonable to expect you to contact Sedo and trying to buy it?

If I'm wrong, why would Sedo contacting you make so much of a difference? Would you feel it gave you the upper hand in negotiations, the "you called me" card perhaps?

Didn't care enough, too busy with other issues, it's irrelevant. Nothing whatsoever with "you called me" theories.

it is plain and simple, had they contacted me soon after the sale I WOULD have increased my offer.

Had they contacted the buyer, he may have lowered his expectations. Sedo would have been doing their job.

 

[Brassneck]

Why would the potential buyer do the leg work offering more than bid? Surely that is a quick way to paying more than ideally you'd like!

The responsibility lay firmly at the feet of Sedo as the agent and the seller as the owner.

I was willing to pay for a domain at the reserve value and all I wanted in return was for Sedo to confirm that the transaction would be swift to ensure I got the .uk too; they didn't even have the courtesy to reply, other than a single statement on the other thread avoiding the question. Shame on them.

Now you have a rough idea of the reserve why not go directly to the seller - you can probably get a bit of a discount on the reserve as no commission is now involved. Let us know who you get on.

 

[mojoco]

Sorry, I must work differently to you. I just see apathy and a result that reflects the effort shown by everyone, not just Sedo.

You are missing my point completely. If you walk into a shop to browse, you might buy something. If the salesperson engages with you and gets to work on you, there is a greater chance that you may buy something. Sedo are the salespeople, they did nothing to communicate with a potential customer.

 

[ian]

What happened when you telephoned them?

I didn't phone them, I emailed them, PM'd them on here, and addressed them on their own promotion thread on here.

 

[RobM]

I gave Sedo $30k commission in *one* transaction. I do not expect to have to do any 'work' buying or selling my domain if they want to take a chunk of it. As far as I am concerned it is up to Sedo to *earn* their commission as they bring nothing else to the table. They stopped doing that, in my opinion, years ago.

 

[Edwin]

Surely given how badly Sedo and other platforms are dropping the ball, there must be an opportunity for someone with first class sales skills but a sparse domain portfolio to step in and start driving some real end user deals and make a decent living from it. They would have to be at the top of their game though - nobody's going to trust their "diamonds in the rough" to somebody who blasts out unprofessional, semi-literate spam indiscriminately...

 

[RobM]

It did when I ended up speaking to the other party myself. From what I gather they made one phone call. Expensive call for me.

 

[ian]

I always phone if it's urgent, the last time I sent an e-mail, I got a reply three weeks later apologising for the late reply! I also prefer to deal with the Germans, they're more efficient.

Germans are usually very honest and straight whereas Brits are often bullshitters and I wonder if the Germans assume British candidates are telling the truth at job interviews. For whatever reason, something goes very wrong when they employ Brits because other than Joanna Birch their British staff have been next to useless.

Anyone remember Hugo? Nice bloke but hopeless at his job.

That is fair enough, but I'm of the opinion that if they offer email as a main form of communication, are a web based company, and even worse, specialise in web based products then they must surely offer efficient responses in a timely manner. Don't forget they responded on here (ignoring the question), but if they do eventually reply to my email, I will tell them what I think of their shoddy service.

Any online company that are incapable of replying to emails quickly are not a company I'd trust to do business with. As an online retailer, I respond to all emails within minutes, an hour at most, and that is a large contributor to the success; always have the view that if a potential customer has to wait for a reply, and a competitor responds before you, they are likely to gain the custom. Sedo obviously don't have much competition, so take this for granted; they'd do well to bare it in mind as they will have no one to blame if a rival appears and takes command of the market.

 

[scooter]

+1 to that.
email should be their priority. Always.




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