Selling a .co.uk domain name via Sedo

[aqls]

If only we did have automatons running the transfer department

I have to agree with you, I think they would do a better job.

-aqls-

 

[axolotl]

... a third party had then used your "hire a broker" service to negotiate with me for the purchase of a particular generic .co.uk domain name.

So in effect, if a transaction was concluded, I would be paying Sedo for the privilege of having Sedo negotiate AGAINST me! (quite agressively I might add!). The negotiations by that point has reached £25,000 GBP which would have meant paying Sedo £2,500 to have you agressively negotiate against me! We did not reach a mutually agreeable price and this rediculous situation did not help.

Has policy now changed? If not, does this mean that anyone can use your hire a broker service for free to directly negotiate with domain holders that have desired domain listed on your site?

Regards
Martin

SEDO replied:
> ... it's good to know that this is a major concern for some others
> as well. I will take this upstairs and see if we can get the policy
> changed for the better.


It been quite a while, and there's been NO further RESPONSE from 'UPSTAIRS'
on mrreeve's critical point, so I'm resurrecting it.

As of today, on *EVERY* domain-sale page, SEDO *STILL HAS* the following:

> No time for direct negotiation?
> Then let our professional domain brokers handle it for you!
> Our brokers will work directly with you, take over the tedious back
> and forth negotiations with the seller, and use their expert knowledge
> to get the domain for you at the lowest price possible.
> Take advantage of our personal and competent service to finally
> get the domain that you really want.


Just imagine ... mrreeves battling against an agressive 'BROKER'
who has access to **ALL HIS PRIVATE INTERNAL RECORDS**, including his
personal details, sales history - including other buyer
offers, his previous negotiating strategies etc. etc. !!!!!!

This is PRIVILIGED INFORMATION that *MUST NOT* be used for advantage.
The situation that 'mrreeves' (and others) find themselves in is OUTRAGEOUS.

Level playing field ?? .... NOT BLOODY LIKELY !!
Criminal conflict of interest for SEDO ? You decide.

If SEDO's field was Securities or Real-Estate, various corporate
'watchdogs' would have hauled them in for a 'please explain' LONG AGO.

WHERE IS SEDO's COMMERCIAL TRANSPARENCY ???
Without transparency, MANY ugly (speculative) questions emerge.

Is there *REALLY* an external buyer, or is SEDO trying to use
its priviliged position to buy up prime domain real-estate
for their own portfolios ??

Or worse, a rogue employee at SEDO feathering his/her own nest ?

Conflicts-of-interest/scandals involving similar types of
transactions have blighted shares/equities and (property)
real-estate etc. throughout history.

SEDO should IMMEDIATELY disqualify itself from all further
'hired-gun' *BROKERING* activity.

At best it's an outrageous abuse of seller/client trust.

At worst, it MAY mask criminal activity that the SEDO
executive are not aware about.

 

[zee]

sedo moans

I thought when my five daughters left home,it would be nice and peacefull ,feet up wth laptop,,,but sometimes the fuss made on forums, is worse than 5 women ' yacking' and fussing over a minor point.I use sedo,I moan sometime,BUT, the service is first class,I have no worries over missing funds,I know what they charge -in advance, it is my choice to use them, it is such a waste of time to moan about cents/pounds, try going to dentist and then you would be justified moaning about costs. Life is to short to keep moaning like 'sweetie-wifes'...by zee

 

[sedo]

Axolotl,

We did respond to Martin's point in an earlier post, as his was centered more on who pays the Sedo comission rather than if we were unfairly treating him. To clear up some points though:

-A large percentage of those people who order our brokerage service do so precisely because an owner has listed their domain with Sedo and they are not comfortable with negotiating or are not very familiar with the industry.
- These customers tend to be quite important leads for the owners of domains, as they do convert into sales at a much higher rate than a random person who bids on a domain using our automated bidding system. This is primarily due to the fact that brokers are in a position to educate the buyer on the value of the domain in question.
- We brokers are not interested in getting a cutthroat deal for the person who purchased our service. What we say to all our customers is that we are interested in reaching a fair and mutually agreeable price that reflects the fair market value of a domain. And this is what we strive for. Sometimes that involves educating the buyer as to how much a domain really costs, and sometimes that involves bringing an owner down from him unreasonable price expectations. After all, we cannot force an owner to accept a price he is not comfortable with or a buyer to pay an amount he doesn't want to.
- I assure you, there really are buyers at the other end of our service. There are no rogue employees using our service. Employees are strictly prohibited from purchasing domain names. We could of course make up about 50 different aliases each day to mask any covert buying we do, but that would be quite a feat for anyone, Sedo or Sedo employee included.

We honestly are providing this service for, not against, our clients. I don't know who you negotiated with in the past, but in my personal experience most of my customers end up happy. All we try to do, ultimately, is get your domain sold, whether that be through our automated bid system or our brokerage service.

Ash

 

[retired_member6]

As you're about sedo, I'm currently getting 10 mini euros per click, could you change that to 10 pence sterling please, afterall it's only a number. It's the same amount really. And yeah I am being sarcastic.

 

[aqls]

I notice you are still advertising "no minimum commission" on this - a .co.uk only - forum.

-aqls-

 

[olebean]

I take issue two conflicting comments from sedo, fair market value and preventing inflation means in my humble opinion, is a price restrictions policy

fair market value of a domain

We require an appraisal from all clients that wish to list a domain for more than $10,000 as we want to do prevent price inflation for domains and to promote a smooth and efficient marketplace.

It also makes for quick turnover of domains and nice commission rates, which are especially diproportionate to some european domains

 

[sedo]

To LeeOwen,

We are currently looking into the issue of minimum commission in Euros vs. GBP. Hopefully, we'll have some progress on this in the near future. I can't promise anything, but I'm optimistic.

To Olebean,

Trust me, it's better for everyone involved that we do not allow people to list their domains for sale for more than $10k without first getting an appraisal. Otherwise, you'd have listing for 5 or 6 word .info for $35k. This is something in place for both buyers and sellers. We are not trying to restrict prices or price-fix, because once someone does order an appraisal, they are free to list the domain for as much as they want.
We do of course want to see domains change hands as smoothly as possible because we are, after all, a business. And yes, we are out to make money. So is everyone else in this industry. We are also trying to be as fair as we reasonably can. And you might not believe it, but we take all of your complaints and suggestions seriously. But since we are a large company, the things that might seem problematic to you (and also, trust me, to us) take time to change. Do you think that I personally want all of you to pay a 100 GBP minimum commission when you sell a domain name? But that is the current policy in place, and although it might change somewhere down the line, for now it is what it is. Please remember, I'm not trying to work against you guys. I am trying, within reason, to be as helpful as I can, and anyone who wants to email me about something that I might be able to help with can.

Ash

 

[olebean]

Ash

Thanks for the reply.

What is of concern, is that two differing representatives from sedo are offering different scenarios. I have to ask the question, who should we believe, should we believe either of you?


On the issue of fees, I think sedo should appraise domains FOC from within their commission fee. 10% is a large slice and disproportionate to other industries, considering sedo already earn commission through parking revenue the costs make that quite a bitter pill (for the record it's not just sedo that charge those fees).

Ash, you mention that sedo is a business, well, so are many of us. By bringing these issues to sedo's attention we hope they will be addressed however unlikely.

As you indicate in your previous post, you are optimistic things will be addressed.

We are currently looking into the issue of minimum commission in Euros vs. GBP

What steps have been taken to address the issue of fees?

Does Sedo consider the brokerage service, if requested by two parties a conflict of interests or a what stage does sedo policy suggest a conflict occurs?

 

[sedo]

Olebean,

The reason I mention that we are looking into adjusting the minimum commission fees (only regarding the question of the exchange rate of EUR vs. GBP) is that because it is a relatively new development. Things are in discussion, and hopefully we'll be able to address this in the near future. We are working on it, but I can't say much more than that for now.

Our brokerage service includes a free appraisal, but outside of that we do have to charge for appraisals because they do take time to complete. We don't exactly receive commission from parking revenue per say, and I don't really think you can link parking revenue that we earn to brokerage, as customers can also sell their domain via Sedo without parking it, or customers can be making close to nothing parking.

In my experience, there actually has never been a case where two people have ordered our brokerage service for the same domain during the same time period. If this did happen, I would imagine that we'd inform both parties that there are other parties interested in the same domain. When we actively market a domain, we have of course had many situations where several people are interested in the same domain. In this case, the buyers have not ordered our service, so there really isn't a conflict of interest. And the parties do know that others are interested, because with big-ticket domains that is the name of the game. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, you're more than welcome to email me at [email protected].

Ash

 

[olebean]

Ash

Once again thanks for the reply.

 

[retired_member6]

"Do not forget to allow for Sedo transaction fees and Nominet transfer fees during the negotiation stage.

We asked for the buyer to pay Sedo’s fees (10% of sale price) and the Nominet fees on top of the sale price, which they agreed to."

Sedo fees include nominet fee though don't they?

 

[sedo]

LeeOwen,

Actually, our fees are not inclusive of the Nominet fees. Those are up to the buyer and/or seller to cover.

Ash

 

[aqls]

no.

-aqls-

 

[retired_member6]

That part must be in the small print then, I'll have another look, it doesn't state that on the prices page.

Sedo's commission is all-inclusive; for a single reasonable charge we handle the selling, domain transfer, and secure escrow process.

Just looked. And I thought the £100 minimum included the fee and no one said otherwise in all the debate. Amazing... no wonder people moan.

You need to put a little red star next to '10% of the sales price', 'Domain Sales Contracts' and 'all inclusive'. Rather than just 'active marketing'.

Also can you add a comment to the drop down box on the offer page for sellers which states "buyer pays transfer fees of **.**." That way we don't have to bother your staff with them checking for that comment. Boy am I glad I didn't sell a domain for £120 or £125, I'd be out of pocket by a ten to fifteen quid.

You should also raise minimum bids from buyers for .co.uk to £200.00, that would cut all the rubbish out then, well most of it, at least it would be known the first £150 is lost money and the bidder doesn't waste anybody's time and your bandwidth.

If I need to email these comments to an ideas department, please let me know.

Cheers
Lee

 

[aqls]

you only get the salespeople on the forums.

-aqls-

 

[retired_member6]

Well it is a blagger's life.

 

[sedo]

LeeOwen,

Thanks for the feedback. I've actually spoken to some people, and we will include a notice on the frontpage clearly stating that .co.uk transfers are not inclusive of Nominet fees. This hopefully should be up soon. I hope this forestalls any more confusion on that issue, and sorry this wasn't addressed before.


Ash

 

[aqls]

Can you tell them on the front page that there is actually a minimum commission on .co.uk domains too please.

thanks,

-aqls-

 

[retired_member6]

That's alright, it's just I may have been inclined to take the £125 earlier this week for some reason or another and ended up losing money and not known about it until after. £19 might be deemed ok for a domain about to expire whereas the £35.25 invoice afterwards wouldn't be.

And if you do include a 'buyer pays fees' drop down box in the near future, it might be better if it was seperate and/or a tick box, that way at the start buyer and sellers knows where they stand and your colleagues don't get bothered over the silly things that can be automated.

Minimum bids may take a little more thought on sedo's behalf though, as it can look good that the system shows there's been previous interest even if it was 3 consecutive bids in one auction attempt of a fiver each time.

Thanks for that.

Cheers
Lee