two bidders for one domain

[websaway]

What would happen if a bid was received for a domain on sedo and the owner put in a counter offer higher than the original bid, which is binding for 7 days. Then within that 7 day period another bid comes in from a different buyer and after the owner makes a counter bid, which is again binding for 7 days, both buyers accept the counter bids that the owner has submitted ?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[redbird]

I don't know for certain but I'm sure Sedo will answer....

My feeling would be that you were committed to the first counter offer for 7 days and were not in a position to make a second counter offer to another party until after that 7 days had elapsed. In the same way that you couldn't enter negotiations with someone else outside of Sedo during that 7 day period.

Should the situation arise though sounds a perfect choice for an auction and let the two bidders battle it out there.

 

[websaway]

I don't know for certain but I'm sure Sedo will answer....

My feeling would be that you were committed to the first counter offer for 7 days and were not in a position to make a second counter offer to another party until after that 7 days had elapsed.

Should the situation arise though sounds a perfect choice for an auction and let the two bidders battle it out there.

Trouble is you would be legally bound to sell to both.
I nearly responded to a second bid this morning ( a current counter bid is within the 7 day period ) and thought hang on a minute, if they both came back tonight and accepted the bound by counter bids I might have a major legal problem.

 

[accelerator]

I'm surprised that this is technically possible. I would have thought the Sedo system would prevent further new offers if there is a live counterbid from the owner.

Rgds

 

[redbird]

Not sure whether you could make the second counter now with personal message (needs to be approved by Sedo before being forwarded even though the offer is). Saying bound to offer for 7 days but subject to expiry of that term I'd sell for xxxx.

Acieves two things, prompt communication and shows other interest. Be better if could just send message but don't think that's possible without a counter offer

 

[websaway]

I'm surprised that this is technically possible. I would have thought the Sedo system would prevent further new offers if there is a live counterbid from the owner.

Rgds

yes I would have thought so.
Would be nice if sedo could give a definitive answer.

 

[wb]

One of the things I dislike about Sedo is the current inability to terminate offers manually before seven days are up (or before that if they are accepted by either party) for reasons like this. :?

The odds are that this doesn't happen very often, although unless I'm missing something I can't see it doing any harm to sales. It's been commented many times on here that no legal action or similar appears to be taken against buyers/sellers when transactions don't go through anyway.

As far as I know, offers can revoked at any time before acceptance in contract law, so why isn't it the same on Sedo? It could also speed up the sales process if buyers/sellers see a message stating that the offer could be revoked at any time and therefore to act fast.

 

[sdsinc]

I've had this happen once.
I can't remember the exact details but I think I sold the domain for more than expected.
For some reason it seems you can make a (binding) counter-offer to bidder #1 then negotiate with bidder #2 and whomever accepts your offer would get the name
but I'm not really sure about that.

That doesn't sound illogical after all.
In real life, if you're negotiating with two people the first who pulls the trigger is awarded the item.

 

[bensd]

I've had this happen once.
I can't remember the exact details but I think I sold the domain for more than expected.
For some reason it seems you can make a (binding) counter-offer to bidder #1 then negotiate with bidder #2 and whomever accepts your offer would get the name
but I'm not really sure about that.

That doesn't sound illogical after all.
In real life, if you're negotiating with two people the first who pulls the trigger is awarded the item.

Absolutely right. I think sedo like to make it as automated as possible though so they can earn their comission without doing anything...

 

[websaway]

I've had this happen once.
I can't remember the exact details but I think I sold the domain for more than expected.
For some reason it seems you can make a (binding) counter-offer to bidder #1 then negotiate with bidder #2 and whomever accepts your offer would get the name
but I'm not really sure about that.

That doesn't sound illogical after all.
In real life, if you're negotiating with two people the first who pulls the trigger is awarded the item.

It's the sellers "counter offer is binding for 7 days " bit that bothers me, you have a binding offer to sell to two parties if they both accept you are bound to sell to both of them, a possible legal nightmare.

 

[sdsinc]

The way I understand this, your counter-offer is binding for 7 days unless another bidder steps in and agrees to be bound before bidder #1 makes a decision

Now I wonder what happens to bidder #1, do they receive a notification that the domain name sold early and they lost because they procrastinated etc.

 

[sedo]

The seller is able to reply to both offers. Whichever buyer accepts first will get the domain. The bid thread of the other interested buyer will be closed and that buyer will see a notice that the bid thread has been closed.

 

[bensd]

The seller is able to reply to both offers. Whichever buyer accepts first will get the domain. The bid thread of the other interested buyer will be closed and that buyer will see a notice that the bid thread has been closed.

Thanks for clearing it up

 

[domainseller200]

Coincidentally I am in this exact situation now !

I had an offer on a name on December 5th to which I countered
I then received an offer on the same name on December 6th

So using Joanna's advice I have just countered the second offer.

I now sit back and wait