We just got a new variation of the SPAM marketing of domain names. There are a number of people that are either offering to sell a domain they own which is the .com version of one that you own, or they offer to get a domain that is expiring for you for a fee. I don't have a big problem with these kinds of services except for a few things:
1) I don't like SPAM in any shape or form. Often these message are not personalized in any real way and if you have many domains as we do, these jerks will send you tons of messages, often one to each contact email on your domains. For us that means we get 2-3 emails each time.
2) The fees they ask are EXCESSIVE. One guy that I talked to at itime marketing said that many people thank that and are happy to pay their fees. I don't doubt this, but will those people still be happy when they learn that the cost should only be about $10 and if they waited 5-6 days they generally can get the domain and only pay that much?
3) Some of these jokers are lying, which I really dislike. They may say they own the domain, but they are willing to sell it to you, for $300 or whatever. Most people don't know about using WHOIS to check the information about a domain's ownership. If they did, they may find that the domain is not owned by anyone, and all they have to do is register it themselves. Using WHOIS can also avoid any problems when someone is trying to sell a domain that is currently owned by someone else. This is rare except for domain brokers, but it could happen. You can't TRUST anyone on the Internet.
So we just got the following message about one of our domains:
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We are selling the domain name avandiadiabetes.com. Since you own the .net, if you would also like the more desirable .com we are making it available. The cost is $49.95. That includes a year of registration and transfer of ownership to you. To purchase or to learn more go to:
http://www.dcinchq.com/index.php?domain=avandiadiabetes.com
If you pass on this opportunity someone else could purchase this domain and it may not be available again.
For questions contact us or go to:
http://www.dcinchq.com/faq.html
All the best,
Warren Davis
Digital Caucus, Inc.
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This spammer gets points for not charging a huge fee. I think $50 is a reasonable amount to pay for a domain you want, given that the owner has gone to some bother to contact you and rather than putting the domain on the open market where you might never hear about it they are doing you a (possible) service. I consider this to be SPAM for the most part, but it's really kind of borderline. They are not sending this message to millions, but I'll bet they are also sending the email to the owners of the other main domain TLDs, in this case just use with .net and someone else with the .org.
But this spammer is also a liar. When I used DomainTools.com and checked the WHOIS record, I find that the domain is not even registered. It appears that it was last registered to itime marketing, and now they either have a follow-up service or some smart cookie is picking over their leftovers that they could not sell and have dropped and trying to offer them at a lower price.
Summary: If you are contacted about a domain your interested in, I recommend you do the following:
1 - Check the WHOIS record and see if it is available. If it is register it instantly.
2 - If it is registered and was registered within the past 5 days, and you can live without it, wait 5-6 days and see if you can then register it. Domaintools.com offers a free Domain Monitor you can use to get emails when the status of the domain changes. I have used this free service to register several domains.
3 - If the domain does not drop after 5 days, you can talk to the seller and see if you can get the price down to a more reasonable level. Adopt the attitude that the domain would be nice to have, but after all you already have an established site on the current domain you own. Hold out and you should get the domain for $20-$100 unless it has wide appeal. These guys only leverage is your interest in the domain, and they only pay less than $10 for them. If you can double their money, that should be incentive for them over not getting anything at all.
If the domain is really valuable the seller will market it elsewhere or put it up at auction, and you may be out of luck unless you are willing to pay what they ask. The bottom line is get some expert advice before you shell out big bucks for a domain unless you know all the facts.
Links related to this post:
A Tale of an Internet Scam Artist
Warren Davis used to scam people, now he is into spamming as well
Warren Davis, banned from dnforum.com
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