G*d damn it! I think i got taken on ebay

**tonlilah** · #1 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 06:44 AM

sh!t, sh!t, sh!t

so, i decided it would be a great idea to buy an 'established website' on ebay

yeah, yeah, i know they are crap sites....but they are sites that are already up that i can send traffic to and make money with....

well, this one site i bought just now, the verbage was really confusing. it said that the auction included the website + domain name.

Quote:

Established XXXXXXXXXXX Website Business For Sale

What's included in The Sale?
Your purchase includes the following:

*

ENTIRE WEBSITE! : Includes entire site, html web development, domain registration, DNS Server setup, and search engine optimization.
*

VALUABLE DOMAIN NAME: US$15 per year.See the appraisal certificate above
*

WEB HOSTING , SERVERS AND MORE:
*

CONTROL PANEL : to Manage your E-mails, Check Traffic Statistics, Account Details and much more.
*

HOSTING: We offer hosting packages as low as US$10 per month or US$80 for a year. We do not require you to stay with our hosting service and you are welcome to move your site at any time. The transfer of your site to your hosting will cost you US$40 and you need to supply us the access codes of your site.
*

CUSTOMER SERVICE: We support every site sold and hosted by us. Just send us an email and we will reply within 24 hours.
*

Emails: We will set up emails based on your choice etc info@yourdomainname.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com
*

ok, so i've been in the website/domain industry now for over a decade. the auction clearly stated that the auction included the domain name..

Quote:

ENTIRE WEBSITE! : Includes entire site, html web development, domain registration, DNS Server setup, and search engine optimization.

now don't get me wrong, i know that 'web development, html' was bullshit....i mean it's a cheap blog site + affiliate banners....but hell, it was a semi established blog...i could spruce up the template and make it look really nice...

anyway, so when i saw this

Quote:

VALUABLE DOMAIN NAME: US$15 per year.See the appraisal certificate above

i naturally assumed that that was the transfer fee...i'm thinking, hell...i could get the name transfered to my fabulous account for 1/2 that..as for the hosting, i didn't mind paying for 1 month of hosting so i could transfer the site myself to my own registrar...

so, i purchased the site.

damn, damn, damn, damn.......stupid me.

so, after i pay for the auction, i get a separate invoice for the domain name for 15 dollars. i email the guy saying that i'd like the name transfered to my fabulous account. he responded:

Quote:

Hi, I'm not too sure whether it's possible. I need to check with Godaddy.
But if I'm not wrong, there will be an fee for transferring to a different registrar.
Thanks.

i'm thinking...i've got a godaddy account, he can just push the name....

me

Quote:

hi,
i have a godaddy account as well, i'm sure you can do a simple push from your godaddy account to mine. just go to the domain name, click on 'change account' then push the domain name to my account number #XXXXXXXX

let me know if you have any questions

then he replies...

Quote:

Hi, thanks.
Please make the payment for the domain so that i can push the domain to your Godaddy account.
Thanks.

i'm thinking that pushing a domain is free, there is no extra cost involved....

so then i email him saying i'll just have the name transfered to my fabulous account, to just unlock the name so i can innitiate the transfer on my end....

me

Quote:

hi, there is no cost transfering a godaddy domain name from one godaddy account to another.

but maybe it will be easier if i just transfered the domain to my own registrar instead, but i need you to unlock the domain first so i can initiate the transfer....

so, here's what i need you to do.

go to your godaddy account
click on domain management
click on the domain you sold me (domaindomaindomain.com)
cllick on 'Locking' icon in the control panel tool bar
you'll see a box that says 'Set Domain Locking'
uncheck 'Lock Domain'

once you do this email me, i will go ahead and initiate the transfer from my registrar Fabulous.com

then he emailed me back

Quote:

Hi, there is a charge for the domain name of US$15 as stated in my auctions.
Thanks.

so now i'm getting it....he wants an extra fucking 15 dollars for the name...i've never heard of this before.

me

Quote:

wait a minute...

i have to pay you 15 dollars every year for the domain name?
do i pay you 15 dollars or the registrar? if it's a matter of the registrar i will just transfer it to my account

if i'm just paying you 15 dollars extra for the domain name as an extra fee, then i'd like a refund for the auction as that is not how i understood the auction to be. i thought the domain was included in the whole auction.

thank you

no response...
crap crap crap crap

i start to realize that this guy's going to ignore me now....so i emailed him back with a generous resolution

Quote:

i appologize for any confusion. I would like to request a refund minus any listing/final value fees you may have incurred. I'm sure we can come with a business solution that is fair on both ends. ebay shows that i paid the auction in full, and i don't want to have to report you as item not received. But i will if i have to.

my final bid was about 27.90, I would be happy with a 20 dollar refund. I will leave you positive feedback after i recieve my refund. thank you

i would also like to add that your auction CLEARLY states that the domain registration is included in the auction

ENTIRE WEBSITE! : Includes entire site, html web development, domain registration, DNS Server setup, and search engine optimization.

please, let's come to a amicable business solution to this. as stated earlier, i'm willing to accept a $20 dollar refund so that you can be compensated for your listing + final value fees. I think that is more than fair.

thank you

still no response.

is there anything i can do? or did i just throw away 20 something dollars?

i figure i can wait a week and then report the guy to ebay as item undelivered...but if somebody has any suggestions i'd be more than happy to listen.

Realsan · #2 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 06:49 AM

Leave him negative feedback, and if necessary, report him to ebay for giving you false information.

**tonlilah** · #3 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Realsan

Leave him negative feedback, and if necessary, report him to ebay for giving you false information.

see, neg feedbacking him isnt enough.....it's just a matter of he said/she said....

**bhnoobz** · #4 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 06:55 AM

lol

experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

eat the 27$ or whatever it was, don't buy bullshit from ebay.

Or you could pull a bitch move and report him to ebay for selling shit outside of ebay.. the additional 15$ on top of the bid would mean he's selling items outside of ebay, violating their policies... Be sure to forward all those emails to egay.

mrsix · #5 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhnoobz

Or you could pull a bitch move and report him to ebay for selling shit outside of ebay.. the additional 15$ on top of the bid would mean he's selling items outside of ebay, violating their policies... Be sure to forward all those emails to egay.

Exactly. If he wants to play hardball... nail his ass to the wall. He's obviously trying to circumvent ebays fees and I don't think they take to kindly to that.

**valwardon** · #6 (**permalink**) 09-19-2008, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonlilah

see, neg feedbacking him isnt enough.....it's just a matter of he said/she said....

True because what will happen is they will respond with cleary stated in auction terms . He will make you look very bad . So my advise is just report him to ebay .

OHHHH wait a minute that is my site hey where is my 15.00 you owe me !!*breaks knee caps*

SpiderMike · #7 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:16 PM

Report him to ebay. He is just trying to rip you for 15.00 No need to let anyone take advantage of you.

megabump · #8 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:29 PM

If I read that auction I would assume it was even worse and he was attempting to lease me the domain name at $15 per year.

That being said, you might be able to convince ebay he is trying to avoid paying ebay final value fees on that $15. Either way, your choices are pretty much limited to reporting him and leaving feedback.

Unless he is selling so many sites that the negative is quickly pushed off the first page,
I disagree that negative feedback won't hurt him. There are so many crappy sites for sale on ebay, there's no reason to buy one from someone with bad feedback. I'm not saying you'll shut down his business, but his average sale will definitely decline for as long as that negative is on the first page of his feedback profile.

**xplicit** · #9 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhnoobz

Or you could pull a bitch move and report him to ebay for selling shit outside of ebay.. the additional 15$ on top of the bid would mean he's selling items outside of ebay, violating their policies... Be sure to forward all those emails to egay.

This is exactly what I would do. Ebay is cracking down hard on this matter. He clearly stated in the auction about the domain name being included, you could get him for trying to sell you extras out side of ebay and they dont like losing money. No matter if it is a little $15.

eGay is really a bad bad place to buy websites. I would never buy any kind of "business" from there.

**bkdubs** · #10 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:34 PM

This is common selling practice, the goal is to get the monthly hosting to get paid for their work.

The problem is when you dont want their hosting. They just lost their paycheck. [people are making 1000's a month just on hosting doing this]

You are going to find almost all your turnkey websites set up like this. And when you want out of the hosting they want to charge you. I did a turnkey at 1 time for 7.95 a month but if I wanted to move it they wanted $200. [I was buyer]

**niche1** · #11 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:39 PM

I say play HARDBALL!

You did NOT misunderstand what was to be included!

Negative feedback is NOT good and he or she deserves it...

They are clearly getting you on an upsell of 15 per year (I assume) and that is NOT part of what you paid for!

Keep this guy/gal honest and report them!

Better yet what is the ebay sellers "handle"?

We all need to avoid them for any auction they may run....

**justthinking** · #12 (**permalink**) 09-21-2008, 03:57 PM

Unfortunately, I think you were just scammed. If your like most people (me included), you didn't read the entire auction until after you started feeling scammed. But I agree with you. He claimed the domain was included and it wasn't. You could possibly get your money back for this reason.

Report him to egay. It might help?