I’ve just clocked 13 years since the first end-user sale of a domain name, in early 2000. The buyer, a company in Singapore, did not flinch at my asking price of four figures.
Since then, I’ve planted numerous “domain flags” around the world; my recent sales included a buyer in the Philippines and one in Thailand.
There’s an interesting twist in that last one, however; once Sedo released the funds, the contract agreement became available.
It turns out, that my buyer was from the US mid-west instead, although my negotiation occurred with someone in southeast Asia.
While I am not really concerned, as my sale represented a 43x ROI on acquisition costs, I’m skeptical about why one would involve a third party, outsourcing negotiation to a far-away land.
Perhaps, in order to divert any potential research by the seller, who would then tweak their pricing according to the buyer’s locale. Or for some other, esoteric reason that escapes my current thought process.
The bottom line is, that you need to examine all your options before committing to a sale, as your buyer might be a “proxy” one.
Interesting. Please keep us posted on where the domain ends up.
Although it makes no difference where the buyer is from, if you ever suspect there is some funny business going on, you need to be very careful. The sale isn’t complete until the cash is in your account AND the funds have cleared. Be careful!
Mike – No worries, funds have been released. The buyer simply acted on behalf of someone else. I hope that you get lots of business in 2013. Happy new year!