Namepros just closed a thread that had one of the more heated debates we have seen in a long time. The debate sparked over ethics, whether or not cutting a broker out of the deal, is unethical or smart business.
The thread starter (talhahassan) decided to call out Shane Bellone and use his name in the title of the thread. Shane responded and there were many on both sides.
The thread started with this:
Hi
I sent two LLL.com domains which I was brokering to Shane Bellone in response to his thread in Domains Wanted.
He replied to me first about dropping the price.
I asked how much is his client’s highest offer . To which he said how many months finance would be agreeable.
I told him owners won’t agree to financing options.
He then asked me why I messaged him in the first place as his requirement was related to financing the domain and he will contact the owners now to see if they will agree.
I apologized to him for missing the financing part and asked when did it become a good business practice to bypass brokers and contact the owners directly.
His reply was ” My business is to get the best price for myself and my clients. Bypassing a broker who may or may not have an exclusive contract makes sense. Saves them a commission which therefore saves me or my client money.”
I am attaching the link to the screenshot as well.
imgur. com/a/l4VDz
I think it’s totally unethical to bypass a broker . What are your thoughts on this?
Shane Bellone replied with:
Your lackadaisical approach to business is not my problem. You should have a exclusivity agreement with your client. We have no contractual obligations so I fail to understand how I am “being unethical.” My responsibility is to my client, not to you.
After that is was on with David Walker siding with Shane Bellone and Abdul Basit siding with the op.
Many more chimed in and some added some other wrinkles into the discussion. One member Imadoer said the following:
You contact me on a LLL you want to sell to me I tell you I’ll only try and sell it if your the EXCLUSIVE BROKER. you tell me you are. So I contact a connection of mine to pitch the domain. Turns out they where the exclusive broker and had no idea who you where. I felt like a idiot!!!!!!! But makes me wonder did you try to go around the exclusive broker.
So the back and forth went on for 6 pages and now the thread is closed.
No surprise the most liked post was the following:
One of the major points in the debate was whether or not exclusivity matters ? If someone does not have the exclusive should one work with that broker or go around them to save 20% ? Now there are other nuances such as Shane needed a seller that would finance, the broker admitted he missed that point.
It’s clear the community at Namepros is split on the issue. I don’t know why the thread got closed but it’s still there to read.
***Update*** Eric Lyon pmmed me that the thread was closed by mistake and is now reopened.
Frank says
Ohhhh that was good. I think bellone is right. Contact the seller and ask if they will take financing.
Xyz says
I like what cyberian said, these threads show you who not to business with. Most domainers are whores so this was a great exercise.
Domainers Are Leeches says
What I found amusing was a bunch of low life hucksters calling affiliate marketers leeches. Fuck you low life mother fuckers, you park domains with no usage and hope so asshole clicks a link to give you a nickel.
Aaron Strong says
Why would NamePros close the thread?..It amazes me that NamePros allows threads like “Is the Bible Fake?” and “Do You Believe In God?”, but closes a thread directly related to the domain community…C’MON MAN!
U to the K says
they were both wrong…
MrVg says
Ethics? He stated he was leaving the industry
Eric Borgos says
Very interesting NamePros thread, thanks for pointing it out. I have listed many of my domains through brokers using non-exclusive contracts. And some of those times my broker co-brokered with another broker and that resulted in a sale. Also, my agreement with the broker covered anybody they contacted about the domain, meaning if their buyer contacted me directly to do the sale I would still owe the broker a commission. I would be interested to hear what some of the more well known domain brokers think about this issue.
Mark Thorpe says
No one “officially” leaves the domain name Industry, just “unofficially”.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!
Disclaimer: Exclusive rights owned by The Eagles.
MrVg says
Ha ha , he’s just got a need, a need for greed