With the help of Josh (legendaryJP) we confirmed that Diana Pitcher did sell DWN.com for 2,999 Euros, this was the suggested price she received when adding her name to Sedo.
Domain investors know to skip these suggestions, some use them for comic fodder. But there are real consequences for the rest of the public who have no idea what domain names are worth.
I took a look at some other names and the pricing is just ridiculous. Anyone who wants to sell me a NN.com for $1,999 please email right away.
The tools need to be calibrated and adjusted accordingly, and that is in Sedo’s benefit too. Diana Pitcher would have clicked 10,000 Euros if the tool suggested that, bigger commission for Sedo.
That makes SEDO look very very very amateurish. I wonder WHO actually DID buy the domain and whether it may be someone at SEDO ?. Just wondering thats all.
I doubt it, the registrant before going under privacy is a Chinese registrant who owns a portfolio of .in domains.
Just goes to show to my account according to new godaddy metrics analytics algorithmic woobi dubi abracadabra horse shitologhy is worth 2 million dollars . if i place them at their suggested range the so called model says i should sell 5.8 domains a month at 2150 average price each .so who want to give me 200k for this money machine. Oh i forgot you have to redirect them to afternic page to make the model work
I think its not just sedo, its the dream of companies that they can have automated hands off systems that will put a domain exchange on autopilot, but still hint at the customiszed we are your advisor and experts.. just not when it counts.
Its people that make domaining work.
Page
Page here’s a better one. We happen to own many Chinese pinyin names. So I put into SEDO CAIFU.COM ( We don’t own this) and it returned a price of $2,999. This word means ” wealth” and is exceptionally valuable re seven USD figures.
Hmm, wonder if she has anymore for sale………………….LOL
At this time it would be of best interest to disable said tool until issue can be addressed. jmo
Mind you I did use one, I think on Afternic not sure, anyway it said was worth like $150 or so, and sold for £27,900 so those tools are USELESS
Instead of their estimate tool perhaps a tool that brings them to a namebio type site which allows you to see comparable sales? Or a development of software that scans recent similar sales and gives a more accurate price range?
Josh,
Excellent ideas!
They have their own internal database of sales that they can reference and fine tune their recommendation engine. If this is the same math/algo they use on their appraisals (which you would think it would be) , it would seem to me that the whole thing needs rethought . Just sayin’
disgraceful..get rid of it!!!
So Sedo cost them around 97k?? That su**s
same goes for esti. Had a one word, six character, plural dot com. Esti said $800. I sold it for 330k. I have another that esti rates at 120k, cant get 25k for it. It seems they rely to heavily on ad campaign data . So the best thing is , be aware and the best measure is to use historical sales data /like kind sales, and know your buyer. I would have taken 100k for said six character, but I found out the buyer was very successful. I will not sell to anybody who does not give me verifiable information.
I paid a $1 more that that, $2K, for 83.com in 2002 or 2003.
Yeah keep dreaming.
I checked archive.org. It was definitely 2002. https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20030130115734/83.com
I bought it on Ebay.
In about ’98 I bought ts.com for my then employer for $10k.
I think it is very disturbing that a supposedly “renowned” broker company, SEDO, should have a tool that has allowed a client (and who knows how many more before) to MASSIVELY undersell a domain. If I was her I would be straight into the lawyers office…….
Well, they gave her a price that would get it sold. Haha!
I worked for an affiliate network in 2001-2002, I gave away a 3 CHAR .com because I didn’t know what to use it for, now I think maybe paying off the mortgage if I had kept it. Live and learn, that is what makes each one of use more powerful the next day.
In a way this is actually very bad for Sedo, the sale makes them look bad as they should of alerted the seller on something like this. I mean with all the comparable sales they had in the system they let this go for that amount. Horrible IMO
I love a “steal” like any other domainer, but this sale is beyond shameful.
Shame on SEDO!
I feel bad for the seller.
I’ve seen people trot out crap like this during settlement discussions. In that context, it is less than amusing that Sedo offers junk like this.
Whatever negative opinions people clearly had about Sedo before this sale, I don’t see why Sedo is being blamed for a clueless woman who listed a domain name for a buy-it-now price a fraction of its value.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
As for somebody’s suggestion above that the lawyers could be contacted because Sedo’s automated tool led the woman to sell at such a low price, you should be a comedian!
If you put your 2009 Cadillac on the roadside with a sign in the window saying “FOR SALE, OPEN TO OFFERS” and somebody offered you $750, you would a) say no, it’s worth loads more than that or b) accept the price and be clueless as to its real value.
The lady who sold this domain had no idea what it was worth, and if the bloke who bought it approached her and said “I’ll offer you $1750 for it” she would probably still have accepted.
Which brings me back to personal responsibility. If you don’t know what your assets are worth, then that is your fault, nobody else’s.
If, based on that same ignorance you then willingly sell those assets far under-value, rather than conducting further research, that’s also entirely your own fault. You can’t sue for being stupid/ignorant – that doesn’t mean one can’t feel sorry for the lady, but she has nobody to blame.
A correct analogy in this case would be something along these lines:
Person A inherits a Beverly Hills house from a distant relative, with a fair market value of $3,061,300 (median home value in Beverly Hills according to Zillow).
Person A has been renting an apartment for 30 years in Ohio and have not followed the real estate market closely, so do not know the true value of the inherited property.
Person A in good faith contacts one of the leading real estate brokerages specializing in Beverly Hills properties, a real estate brokerage that is a respected member of trade associations and a major sponsor of real estate conferences.
The leading real estate brokerage suggests to Person A to list the inherited property for sale on their website with a “Buy it now” price of $149,000.
Person A follows the advice of the leading real estate brokerage, and list the property for sale on their website for $150,000, where it sells within minutes.
The leading real estate brokerage completes the transaction, $2,912,300 below fair market value.
“The lady who sold this domain had no idea what it was worth…”
And so she consulted a putative expert in the field, Sedo, to find out.
John, Christian, neither of your comments addresses the personal responsibility which I claim the seller must accept.
In any case, the suggestion that this two-bit estimator tool is anywhere akin to a realtor assessing the house value (Christian’s analogy) or an “expert” on domain names giving an appraisal is way off.
John, in particular, you are somebody I respect highly and whose legal record is legendary, so your view is all the more surprising to me.
You will note in my comment that I said the domain name seller FAILED to conduct research. That would include exactly what you both suggest – i.e. seeking an independent opinion from an expert.
A domain value estimator is not that – and I’m surprised, John, you deem it to be an expert in valuing domain names. The company’s employees might be experts who would have steered her towards the correct sale value, but we aren’t talking about a decision she made upon their opinion – as she didn’t seek it.
In your Cadillac on the roadside example we are talking about two private citizens negotiating a sale from one person to the other. Sedo, a specialized intellectual property brokerage firm, is an intermediary providing professional services to consumers.
In most jurisdictions professional sales and services to consumers are regulated by consumer protection laws. The purpose of these laws are to avoid stories such as that of Diana Pitcher.
The high level of regulation of consumer sales/services establishes trust between the participants in the marketplace, which results in a a smooth and efficient market economy. For example, if you walk into a real estate brokerage to sell your house, you generally don’t need to spend time doing extensive research or seek legal advice to determine whether that particular brokerage can be trusted, or whether the price estimate they give you for your house could be completely false. True, you might not get the best deal in town, but you are very unlikely to experience what Diana Pitcher did, because as a consumer you are not required to do much due diligence and you have strong legal protections. Sedo will therefore have a hard time in court convincing a judge that Diana Pitcher and the thousands of other regular consumers who have used their services, should somehow have realized that the price suggestion tool they provide should not be trusted.
This price suggestion tool would not have been acceptable if Sedo was a real estate brokerage or an auction house for antiques, so why should it be acceptable for domain names?
As I understand it the price suggestion tool is not an optional service buried somewhere on the Sedo website, but a default step in the listing process (that many understandably opt out of).
As illustrated by the unfortunate story of Diana Pitcher, the main function of the tool appears to be to entice Sedo clients to list their domain assets for sale with a low, “Buy it now” price.
This means many Sedo users end up selling their domain names below fair market value.
If a user choose “Make offer” Sedo witholds the identity of the buying entity, thus making it difficult for the seller to appreciate the true value of their intellectual property asset. So the price suggestion tool seems to fit an overall strategy by Sedo to facilitate transactions below fair market value.
Considering that domains can be very valuable assets the current implementation of the price suggestion tool seems irresponsible at best, and possibly in violation of consumer protection laws.
SO, is there a possible legal case against SEDO, such as “Negligence” in allowing an UNDER valuation to occur ??.
Pricing is an art, not a science. That’s part of what makes domaininvesting fun, and provides roles for industry experts. Of course bots are wrong much of the time. That’s why we like them.
So pray tell me, is anyone/has anyone from this thread advising Ms Pitcher of her possible legal claim so that she is aware ?.
tisk tisk tisk
makes me sick to the stomach this
suggested retail price my ass!
predatory, hell criminal theft…
domain appraisals scam revealed