There is a very interesting story about FF.com on Jalopnik.com. The article deals with the broker of FF.com not getting paid their 15% commission. Hat tip to George Kirikos. Looking at Domain Tools the seller was Bank of America.
In November, a 10-page complaint was filed against Faraday in San Francisco County Superior Court by a company that essentially acts as a broker for acquiring domain names. The filing describes what seems to be the genesis of how FF wound up with its name, as well as the company’s website, and pins a $210,000 claim on the start-up for allegedly failing to pay the broker, Domains Cable, a commission for the deal to purchase FF.com.
The complaint asks for economic damages in an “amount to be proven at trial but not less than $210,000, representing a 15 percent commission on the $1,400,000 transaction,” along with miscellaneous costs and expenses of the suit.
A spokesperson for Faraday told Jalopnik “we do not comment on litigation matters.” The company, in a brief response filed last month in court, denied the allegations and asked a judge to dismiss the complaint and enter a judgment in favor of FF.
Read the full story here
$210,000 to broker a deal like this i think personally it’s more like a partner not a broker.
Seems pretty standard to me. B of A was asking $2.5MM and he got them to come down $1.0MM. He was well worth his commission. In the words of Teddy K.G.B., “Pay that man his money.”
Pathetic. Tbe company behind FF has tens of millions in funding. What is it with these guys?
FF is perhaps a shame, the world is still waiting to see. Their validity changes like the wind, not sure if real or not 😉
How comes they didn’t get paid their fees? Didn’t they use an escrow service to finalize the transaction? 🙂
Just noticed the full article … 🙂
Broker circumvention is totally unacceptable, that’s why we always suggest to ask the client to sign a written brokerage agreement.
There may be a (very) few exceptions when there is strong reciprocal trust between longtime friends or business partners, but putting things in writing is always the best option to protect your work and to avoid costly and time-consuming lawsuits.
Rajwani got screwed, no doubt.
On a side note I tried buying this for several hundred thousand years ago with not even a reply. Timing is everything.
Not sure that is about timing, it is about contacting the right people in an organisation.
Ballers get paid up-front
I hope this broker gets the money he is due however I’m surprised he didn’t have a formal, written brokerage contract with his client, especially given the huge dollars at stake. As a full-time domain buyer broker, I won’t pursue a domain on behalf of a client without the client signing our standard buyer brokerage contract, which of course includes a non-circumvention clause and other clauses to protect us.
I don;t know who at BOA pulled the trigger at $1.4M remember this domain was sold during the height of China Market surge in 2015.
Even the asking price of just $2.1 million seemed quite low especially back in that day.