Sedo is a Scam!

I’ve been a customer of Sedo for quite some time, buying several domain names as well as parking some with a view to selling them or making a small amount of money from the type-in traffic that hits them.

I wanted to warn all potential Sedo customers about their dishonest business practices and terrible customer service!

Recently I bid $250 for a domain name which was listed on the site, and surprisingly my first bid was immediately accepted. Great news I thought, however little did I know that I had fallen into a fraudulent trap, happily facilitated by Sedo!

The domain name had actually expired on 07/09/2010 but for some reason remained listed on Sedo until 20th April this year (actually a breach of the sellers agreement, but ignored by Sedo). When I bid for the domain name, and it was accepted, the ‘seller’ immediately re-registered the domain name on the very same day … the 20th April 2011. The seller of course, not believing their luck, quickly transferred the domain to Sedo’s escrow account, took the money (for some reason released by Sedo) and ran.

Having brought this to the attention to Sedo, and told them in no uncertain terms that I am NOT paying a x25 premium for a domain I could have registered myself without them, they have attempted to insist that I go through with the transaction. Even when faced with a credit card charge-back they still insist that I have committed to buy this domain name and should complete the transaction.

NO CHANCE Sedo … you’re clearly running a scam if you want to broker expired domain names at 2500% of a normal registration’s cost!

Sedo apparently don’t agree that they should have checked the domain name was still registered at the time my bid was placed (or before). This is such a simple check, you have to wonder why they haven’t implemented it. Perhaps they know what is going on and don’t care as they can make a %’ge on domains they would otherwise be unable to sell?

So, to recap:

• Sedo know that they have domain names listed which are actually expired, but do nothing about it
• Should someone, trusting that Sedo check the domains they list, bid for a domain which is actually expired, Sedo will force the buyer to go through with the transaction rather than take matters up with the seller
• Sedo’s customer service believe it is better to try to keep the $250 taken from me than do the right thing for a regular customer
• No-one should trust that Sedo’s listings are genuine or vetted by Sedo in any way … do your own due diligence

Fortunately, I used a credit card for the transaction and so should be easily able to claim the money back as Sedo are trying to insist I pay for something not as described (i.e. an expired domain vs one with a track record and history). This is a hassle, but one I will do to put a stop to Sedo’s immoral business practices.

Use Sedo at your own risk … there are plenty of other domain name brokerages and auction sites out there which are probably more trustworthy. Sellers on Sedo can easily con the buyers into paying for a domain which isn’t registered!