Watch out for Domain Appraisal Scams

Earlier this year I listed one of my domain names for sale on Flippa.com, I didn’t get the price I was looking for so I didn’t renew my listing.

However, over the last few months I’ve been approached by a variety of people who were interested in the domain.

So when I received an email from “Joseph Sullivan” (sullivan@domainsecondhand.com) that read..

Hello,

Our company is in online business for several years. We are investing in
domains and web sites. What is your price for the domain name?

We have a solid budget but we offer reasonable offers only. We will not
overpay. If you have other domains for sale feel free to send your list.

Looking forward to do business with you.

Regards,

Joseph Sullivan
President
Domain & Web Site Brokerage

I didn’t think much of it and sent him my old Flippa listing and told him my minimum price.

He comes back a few days later and says he’s interested but wants it appraised

Do you sell domain with a web site or just the name?

Domain without content is ok with me. Web site is not necessary.

Have you had your domain names evaluated in the past? I mean domain appraisals. Without valuation we cannot be sure in the sale price. It’s very important for me in terms of reselling too. But we must engage a valuation company with REAL manual service. So I will only accept valuations from independent sources I and my partners trust.

To avoid mistakes I asked domain experts about reputable appraisal companies.

Please check this blog with suggestions from other sellers and buyers:
“link removed”

If, for example, the valuation comes higher you can adjust your asking price accordingly.  It will be fair. I also hope you can give me 12% – 15% discount.

After you send me the valuation via email (usually it takes 1-2 days to obtain it) we’ll continue our negotiations.

What is your preferred payment method:  Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else?

Hope we can come to an agreement fast.

Looking forward to your reply.

At this point I’m a bit suspicious, because for an Irish name like Joseph Sullivan, it doesn’t read like English is his first language.

But I was considering getting an appraisal done anyway, so figure what the heck, I’ll get an appraisal.  However the links he gives me are crap.  So I locate my own professional appraisal service and get one done.

But when I send him the appraisal I get this bonehead reply.

It’s a big risk to proceed without professional valuation. I already spoke to industry experts and they prohibited me to do business without valuation..

Without manual valuation nobody will buy. You’ll sit on your domain for years in this case, paying renewal fees to your registrar. Just think about it. So sooner or later, you’ll have to obtain an appraisal. Why waste time now?

As a seller, you can use a valuation certificate to sell names to other buyers. I cannot do the same because I don’t keep control over your domain.

I’m still interested in your domain. Hope you’ll change your position. I simply don’t want to take additional risks.

So now I pretty much know he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and I finally do some googling and discover it’s a scam..

He’s an agent for some crappy domain appraisal companies phishing for business.

What’s really funny is they are iframing their domain name to another site DndBoard.com to make themselves look legit.  And just today, the owner of that site made a post about them being a scam.

Anyhow, long story short and lesson to be learned.  Always Google anyone you’re considering doing business with, and if their email looks canned…  Google a line or two of it.

You might just save yourself some time, money and aggravation.