Comments on: TOP DOMAIN BUYER OUTED BY “INSIDE EDITION”

By: Ed - Michigan

Ed - Michigan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:48:25 +0000

Stephen,
Nice story on Friedman. This guy has developed an empire. Legally, at the expense of you and me. It’s our tax dollars funding the loss on the real estate. REDC is the biggest in the RE
industry. The “Bank” has the right to refuse.
the highest bid. If they do, buyer is usually contacted to try and workout an additional 5-8 percent. They pump and promote the heck out of the upcoming auction. I am sure many get caught in the bidding frenzy. Why they are allowed to pump up the price is beyond me.

Thanks for exposing,
Ed – Michigan

XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:

Thanks for posting, Ed. I’m watching that MECUM auto auction show every time I see it on… and that seems to be the perfect model for an auction.

By: Andrew Hazen

Andrew Hazen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:32:05 +0000

I was at DomainFest in Jan ’09 and that was my first experience with the tuxedo auction guys on the floor….I did find their comments interesting and they encouraged me to bid more…”what’s another $1k amongst friends” they kept saying…

I didn’t notice them throwing back “ghost bids” to the guy on the stage; however they were smart to serve premium alcohol so you never know…lol

Great post – does make you think

Andrew Hazen
http://www.AndrewHazen.com
http://www.PrimeVisibility.com

XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:

Thanks Andrew.

I wanted to ask if anyone ever watched the MECUM Auto auctions on TV. Quiet, well managed floor men talk to each bidder, and respectfully move on their requests. It’s transparent, clean, and as reputable as they come. Compare a MECUM auction to the Auction.com auctions caught on hidden camera by INSIDE EDITION. Which auction would YOU rather be at?

I would hope the live domain auction teams would follow a more “MECUM” style, as to bringing some class to the industry.

By: Robert Fontaine

Robert Fontaine — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:18:40 +0000

Being a broker, i’m fairly certain that acting as a broker and an undisclosed principal at the same time is less than proper. Imagine viewing a house with your broker and placing an offer for $300,000, only to find out the broker placed an offer for $301,000 and grabbed the property from you? If they advertise a starting bid of $500, they should not be allowed to bid over that amount. That is not a fair auction, just a means to trick more people into attending. If they bid “$20,000″ and win, they BETTER purchase the property at that price. They can certainly mention a “reserve” price, by which the “seller” will not accept offers below that amount. I dont think most states allow a licensed “broker” to compete with other buyers on a property they have listed without providing full disclosure first. The term “honest broker” seems to have been ignored in this case.

XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:

Hi Robert,

You make an expert evaluation of this INSIDE EDITION article. I am looking for answers to the Inside Edition’s report on how Auction.com can claim to operate in this manner. I’m obviously leaving the discussion open so I can hear all sides. I just want see how an auction system that claims to be “perfected” can do what it does to allegedly create an atmosphere of bidders pushing up the price of domains, and then claim that they can “assist” in pushing up those prices. I want copies of their auction bid pamphlets, online disclaimers, comments and discussions regarding this. Why? Because domainers are looked at as “sleazy”. Dub-A’s Domainnamewire.com just featured some nogginhead’s review of the small domainer meeting last week in S. Florida, and panned the group as “amateurs” and “conniving”. Really? I think that this article by Inside Edition shows us all that Domainers, if not hyper-vigilant, are very aware on keeping their business on the straight and narrow. Tell me I’m wrong…

P.S. Try and leave a website in your post next time so I can check it out!

By: Tim Davids

Tim Davids — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:16:58 +0000

great article…if they didn’t do this at live domain auctions I guarantee 3x as many people would be bidding.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:10:57 +0000

Would you please add meto your blogroll?

XXXXXX Stephen Douglas Responds:

Umm… Bruce, you didn’t even leave a website URL when you posted. What the heck is “Meto”? and how can I add it to my blogroll if I don’t have the correct URL? Let me check out your site…

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:29:56 +0000

“ring men” (guys dressed in tuxedos “pointing” out the bidders) were yelling and pointing into the crowd to raise the price on a foreclosed home, when there seemed to be no person actually raising their paddle. ”

You sure this wasn’t a domain auction investigation ?

By: t

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:05:05 +0000

auction houses are all rigged, unfortunately for a lot of bidders its not common knowledge.