Freediving.com - whom are they joking?

[Jozef]

Just wanted to say how pissed I am at these online companies, who will grab as many domain names as they can for $1-$10 each and then resell these domains to interested buyers for the cost, many times 100 times higher than the original price.

So, here is the long story short...
I am trying to register some nice domain name for my website about freediving, where I could post the new freediving software (btw. freeware) I am working on, and I see that an awesome domain name (freediving.com) is up for sale.

So, I visited http://www.freediving.com/ and there is nothing. Just one page listing another hundred or so domain names and saying that if you're interested in buying this particular domain name, you should send an email to shephercorp@yahoo.com. So I did wrote something around these lines:

"I am interested in buying out the domain: freediving.com. Please provide the cost."

Answer was, and here it comes: "Hello, Our price is $8,500 US." :head

Nothing else...

Wow... eh?

As I said, there is no content on this domain, so the price is only for the name itself.

I know, I know... you say, "it's a good name"... but come one, logically, if they bought this domain name in lets say "yahoo sale" for $1.99, then it means, that they're now asking for 4250 x more than the original cost of the domain name.

This type of scam artists are really playing on my nerves. :crutch

 

[Jozef]

I sent them an email:

"That is an awesome price You must be joking though. It cannot be this low.
Let me know the real price please. I am seriously interested in buying this domain."

I wonder how much will they ask for now. Greed has no limits I guess.

 

[Jozef]

Here is their answer:

If you are a serious buyer - please give us a serious offer.

That's it, I am not going to waste any more time on this

 

[matrixed82]

www.freediving.tv is still available, for only 50$/ year from the looks of it

http://www.tv/en-def-13a92ac760d1/cgi-bin/multilookup.cgi?domain=freediving&tld=tv

 

[Jozef]

TV extension is little weird, don't you think?
.com, or .net is easy to explain, but if I said to someone I have a freediving.tv, they would come home and probably type in .com, then they would try .net, eventually those better with internet would try even .org or .us and .ca and then forget about it...

 

[matrixed82]

I agree, it would be more suitable for a television show or something (a regular tv show on freediving...that'll be the day)

 

[island_sands]

Domain sales are a good business... i would say "chapeau" to the person selling it, as freediving.com is a domain that most freedivers would like to have!
He/she has good entrepreneurial skills, and someone will end up buying it off him.. wait and see rofl

 

[SEDATE]

Here is their answer:

If you are a serious buyer - please give us a serious offer.

That's it, I am not going to waste any more time on this

rofl
Remember that behind the window can be 8-10 years old...new generation playing with peoples ., Say him i will send you money..gimme a bank acount number..you will get no answer...i know a kid ., he says i have 200,000 domain., i do not know how they do it :head

 

[henjon]

For starters... He uses the term "We" and secondly is located at a yahoo adress (free mail). for the looks of it, it seems like a single person who has a hobby of sniffing up catchy domains and sell them with a huge advantage.

well.. long story short.. The guy is called Isaac. I got his info here.

Domain Name.......... freediving.com
Creation Date........ 2000-03-07
Registration Date.... 2001-03-14
Expiry Date.......... 2007-03-07
Organisation Name.... Isaac Shepher
Organisation Address. This domain name is FOR SALE
Organisation Address. 16027 Ventura Blvd Suite 400
Organisation Address. Encino
Organisation Address. 91436
Organisation Address. CA
Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

Admin Name........... Isaac Shepher
Admin Address........ This domain name is FOR SALE
Admin Address........ 16027 Ventura Blvd Suite 400
Admin Address........ Encino
Admin Address........ 91436
Admin Address........ CA
Admin Address........ UNITED STATES
Admin Email.......... olga@lifealert.com
Admin Phone.......... +818.7007000
Admin Fax............ +818.9223377

Tech Name............ Isaac Shepher
Tech Address......... 16027 Ventura Blvd.
Tech Address......... Suite 400
Tech Address......... Encino
Tech Address......... 91346
Tech Address......... CA
Tech Address......... UNITED STATES
Tech Email........... admin@biz.com
Tech Phone........... +1.8189223388
Tech Fax............. +1.8189223378
Name Server.......... DNS1.SHEPHER.NET
Name Server.......... DNS2.SHEPHER.NET

 

[Waterysmile]

So perhaps you need to hang on for six months until the expiry date in march next year? What happens when it expires? Can anyone have a crack at acquiring the name?

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Domain squatting is a very lucrative business. Bear in mind that for a very small investment they can get massive returns. There is no law against this as domain names are allocated as a first-come-first-served basis.

There is a dispute facility with ICANN, the governing body, however you need to be able to prove that you have a larger right to the domain than someone else. It is also a very lengthly process.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Once the name expires it goes into a "holding" state where no-one can renew the domain. At somepoint after that (this is set by the domain registrar) it will become available - although by that point a lot of companies know it is coming available again so are likely to try and snap it up.

That is of course, only if the person doesn't renew the domain themselves. For only a few dollars cost.

 

[Waterysmile]

Ah, thanks. I wondered if the original person had a sort of first refusal on the name.

I wonder what the owner considers to be a serious offer? Depends on how much interest partly, I suppose. Would he be registering how many hits the address gets?

 

[Stephan Whelan]

I suspect he wants something in the region of $8,500. To be honest - even if he held onto it for 10 years it would still be worth his while as the domain name was purchased for only a few dollars probably and somebody, somewhere will eventually pay what is asked for.

 

[Waterysmile]

Do you think you could be russling up that kind of cash sometime?! More and more people are interested in freediving, like me for a start! And I've got my partner interested too. And I talk about it to friends and family.

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Andrew - to be honest i'd love to say we'll have that sort of cash but it's difficult to generate that amount of cash from an online business.

It would be a great domain name to have but I think it's unlikely we'll be able to buy it at that price anytime soon.

 

[Waterysmile]

Oh well, one can dream!

 

[SanderP]

www.freediving.net should also be available

 

[Jozef]

freediving .com-Taken .net-Taken .org-Taken .biz-Avail. .info-Taken .us -Taken

 

[fcallagy]

jozef how about free-diving.com or another type free.diving.com etc get the creative hat on. do you want people to google search and find you or get the word around by word of mouth etc. Is it to be a business or for pleasure etc also maybe freediving.eu