Accusations of shill bidding are getting a lot of people riled up on Namepros. David Walker who was a moderator at one time has done some detective work and believes he has uncovered shill bidding by a member and their friends.
The flipside of the coin is that the friends were just bidding on names and on a couple occasions did not pay for the auctions.
This is one of the problems with friends bidding on multiple auctions. One would assume that a friend could just email or call and do a deal with a buy it now price that was fair for both sides. Now that is just my opinion, friends can bid daily and it be on the up and up, but when a deal does not close, the optics don’t look great.
You can read all the details on Namepros about the members involved and all the accusations and defenses.
Disclosure: I am a moderator (uninvolved in this dispute) of Namepros.
Update: Eric has concluded his investigation on Namepros.
Snowdom says
Forget the shill bidding. Let’s talk about how this guy was using donation money that was supposedly for his wife’s “medical issues”, to buy more domains.
Charles Horsky says
Snowdom: I’m late to hear about the explaining of Rami’s auctions yet the admin said:
“Rami sent me the login to the Diagnostic Laboratories’ website that ran the tests and provided me with video proof that his wife’s tests results for Hepatitis C were positive (confirmed as true). This proof is indisputable.”
“Although the auctions were a success in their own right (selling about $20,000 USD in domains), they generated a small fraction of the money that Rami needed to be able to afford his wife’s treatments, which can cost upwards of six figures for the medicine, doctors, and associated bills. That left Rami with one option: continue working and doing what he knows best to try to make more money for his wife’s treatment. Rami is a veteran domainer and the best way he knows to make money is buying and selling domains. He’s not buying domains to hold them, he’s buying them to flip for a profit so he can use the profits to pay for the medical expenses associated with his wife’s condition. He regularly buys and sells domains on NamePros for a profit, and he is still working to this day to earn enough money so that he can afford his wife’s treatment. If you’d like to learn more about the treatment she needs, the name of it is HARVONI.”
Read the full post: https://www.namepros.com/posts/5811462/
Opened Eyes says
Funny how Name Pros allows the thread that accuses an “innocent” person, Adam Dicker, to continue (mind you, Adam Dicker has never been formally charged on any allegations brought forward); but when allegations of shill bidding arise, even external to Name Pros mind you, it gets censored. Who are they trying to protect? And why?
Not to mention what Snowdom previously mentioned: Him spending money right after receiving it from auctions when it should have gone to his wife’s treatment.
T says
What a disgrace the Dicker thread stays open. Screw namepros I will never go back.
Anonymous says
I’ll never give NamePros any money for their Business or Supporter accounts.
Heath B. says
“Forget the shill bidding. Let’s talk about how this guy was using donation money that was supposedly for his wife’s “medical issues”, to buy more domains.”
Raymond, why is no one talking about this? In addition to the donation campaign which raised thousands of dollars, namepros had that special chatroom auction which I believed raised over another $10,000. Then steitieh was actively buying domain names on namepros right after all this money was raised. At best, this is an abuse of everyone’s goodwill, and at worst it’s theft.
Charles Horsky says
It obviously closed because it was B.S. and Adam Dicker admitted to his indiscretions. Lack of a legal conviction is needless. Open your eyes guys……….
Kinda funny how a commenter is scared to use his name in fear of being banned yet claims he will never go back. Anyone with eyes can see through you guy.
Namepros made the right call.
Frank says
Wrong, typical Namepros nonsense. But it’s being talked about all over the place now not just in that thread.
Namepros made the wrong call as usual. Thanks to David Walker a true here for the new domainer.