Email Battles
Domain SquatterDomain Squatters are nice.
Recently a client of mine asked about a domain purchase, for a domain that was “for sale” from another vendor. This practice of buying domains solely for the purpose of reselling them at huge profits is called Domain Squatting. It’s an evil the Internet has had to put up with ever since somebody first came up with the idea. Here is an exchange of messages which I created, mainly for fun, but also for educational purposes. It’s fun to see how the minds of evil people work.
Please remember that my comments are chiefly intended to keep the message exchange going, and do not necessarily reflect my own views. I understand what he’s saying, but my replies are specifically to induce a further message from him. Most people would have dismissed my message after one or two replies. This guy seems to feel the need to continue. I even gave him specific fodder to insult me when I mentioned I was a retail sales clerk. He took that bait, but didn’t attack with immaturity at all. His replies are always very adult and well written (except he doesn’t always capitalize his words correctly).
This thread starts with the reply to my simple request for the domain. No content has been edited from the original messages.
At 10/04/2003, they replied:
We were planning to develop a site for this domain name but i am open to offers. Please let me know. Adam
I replied:Oh. This surprises me. I naturally assumed you were one of those slimey domain squatters, and you had a preset price to release these domains you have zero interest in. In any case, my customer had decided not to deal with you. The truth is, I don’t believe you have any plans for this domain. I suspect you are a slimey domain squatter owning thousands. I just thought I’d ask. Some squatters are more greedy than others.
At 11/04/2003, they wrote:Well, whatever it is you want to assume that is fine. Slimey domain squatter? hmmm.
Thanks, I guess I’ll take that with a grain of salt. I buy domain names for the same reason you (or your customer) would buy them, to make money from the traffic. I don’t have a preset price as I have just bought this domain recently and haven’t had a chance to monitor the traffic. I’m not quite sure why I offended you and why you are so angry, but buying domain names is a legitimate way to make money. If someone thinks they can make more from owning the domain name then me, or if someone wants the domain name more than it’s worth to me, that’s when I would sell . That’s how business works. Sorry you don’t understand and have to be rude to me about your ignorance.
Hehehe… Being rude to people that are slimey is actually how I make my living. I create arguments like this with people like you, and then post them on my web site… and people come to read them. It’s funny to me, and apparently to many others, how people like you – generally accepted as Internet slime, justify your actions. When I was young, working as a retail salesman for a computer store, I remember how important it was to REALLY BELIEVE that the crap we sold was best for the customer. It made it easier to smile and recommend things that may or may not have been good deals.So I kind of understand why you need to believe it’s not a slimey business to domain squat. Compared to the people I’ve dealt with previously, your answer is actually quite good. It is interesting to see how quickly you abandoned the “we’re developing a sewing machines web site” tactic, and decided to try the more truthful “we deceptively buy things we know other people need, and then profit from our margins” approach. I’m sorry the knitting machines domain wasn’t valuable enough to my client, to justify paying the extortion fee. I bet you really make a killing on SINGLE word domains. The two word variety probably are not worth as much.
What are we talking here anyway? $200? $2000?No discount for the publicity www.007names.com will receive from my posting?
jeff First, I doubt you have a website, second I doubt you have any clients and Highly doubt you have much of a following as you seem to think. Where is it ? let’s see your stats of all the people you are amusing besides yourself. Seems to me if this is true it must be a fun little party for you and your clueless following.
I’ve never stated that I was developing any type of knitting machine site. I said I was planning to develop the domain. . . never said what I will do with it and how I would do it. I also never changed my tune to say that I buy things to sell on margin. I buy things to make money off of them. Domains are a form of commodity as well as an easy way to “advertise” and get people through the door of a business. I can make money from either one of these ways. If someone wished to purchase the domain I’d sell it and if there wasn’t anyone willing I’d monetize the traffic and make money in that way. Again, your ignorance to how business online works is quite apparent.
Go try rattling someone elses cage and before you do maybe take an economics or perhaps a business course (if you have graduated from highschool yet that is) maybe that will provide you with a little more deeper knowledge than your job at bestbuy or circuit city gave you.
Hello again fine sir. Yesterday I was content to leave this thread as completed, but – believe it or not, I thought up a rebuttal as I was falling asleep last night. Your message was very well worded, and I was content to call you victorious in our battle of words.
But things still stuck in my head. You still claim that you bought the knittingmachines.com domain strictly to bring traffic to your site, and that you had to weigh whether the domain made you more money by keeping it, or selling it. The more hits your site gets from any specific domain, helps dictate the value of it’s worth for resale.
To me, this would mean that the web site itself is the priority. You buy these domains strictly as a means to build traffic. You said so yourself. You are not a domain squatter at all, but a businessman buying domains to help your web traffic. I can respect that.
To me, this would mean that the web site itself is your main income… not selling domains. You only sell domains when they’re not making enough traffic – right? When they’re good domains… like single word domains, you must keep them. Your company’s main business is that web site. The one that seems to be a link-list to others. You must make a fortune from the site itself, and a much smaller portion of your income comes from domain selling.
Naturally you won’t show me your books… I’m not expecting that. From day 1 we both know you really are a slimey domain squatter, but it’s been fun challenging myself to figure out how your mind works. It must be hard to work in a field that everybody hates, and then try to “nice it up” with your silly justifications.
I was trying to think of some other industry I could use to compare, or liken your idea to. Maybe buying the very last can of motor oil from a town, even though you don’t drive a car, and then selling it back to the store for $1000.. or buying every single apple in the world from the farmers and then selling them back to the orchards for $10,000 an apple.
Neither is really exactly the same… Maybe I’ll keep thinking, since we’re talking about “one only” products you’re scalping. Hmmm.. Scalping. I like that word. Scalpers are such sweet people. Not slimey at all.
once again you’ve got me all figured out. it only took you a few days too. congratulations! that job at bestbuy or circuit city really paid off in educating you on business. you’re parents must be proud. Why would you have even typed in knittingmachines.com in the first place….. hmmm maybe because that’s what you wanted…. hmmm maybe I can direct a visitor to the information with my search engne…. hmm i don’t know ANY other businesses that do that. . . . maybe google, yahoo, altavista, lycos , etc would ring a bell in your thick skull.
what I am guessing is your problem is that you are a geek who is stuck in a time warp. you didn’t profit from the tech boom and now you’re stuck wallowing in your pathetic world of “what ifs”… have fun, maybe someday you’ll figure out what capitalism and business is all about until then go back to playing with your cats and leave me alone to conduct my “slimey” business.
sincerely slimey domain owner.
btw if you want to figure out an analogy compare domains to real estate. . . just try and use your brain to figure out why BUT don’t bother emailing back because you’ve wasted enough of my time.
I have to admit. You are better tv this sparing than I. It’s taken you 6 or 7 messages before you started getting dirty. Maybe you’ll mention my mother next time. I gave you the “retail sales” gimmie, and you used it well.
I’m not sure I agree with REAL ESTATE as a good comparison, but I suppose in certain circumstances, speculation is a scummy field too. People who buy land cheap just to resell it at huge profits, when they have no intention of using the land for anything than making money.
Perhaps the comparison would be closer if you personally went around with the agents, and bought only the homes I was interested in, and then re-offered them to me for $1000,000 more. Oh wait, people do that with real estate. That’s the slimey part. Ok… you win that comparison, but I’m not sure it worked in your favour.
Ok. This is my last message. It completes the nice montage for my web site. Maybe I’ll see if “zebrapooh.com” is available. After all, it has nothing to do with my interests, but it may attract zebra fans to my web… just as you desire to attract sewing machine manufacturers to your link list. As you say – irritating people with false leads is all part of your business plan. The last time I typed in “luncheonmeat.com” I got Google… so I guess everybody is doing it.
Oh wait, that’s wrong. People seem to respect Google.
Anyway Adam. It’s been fun. For both of us I suspect. Too close to declare a winner. Perhaps both, although sadly my knittingmachines customer didn’t get a domain. I wonder if you’ll renew it, just to spite me. Then only the innocent lose.
I suspect replying to me was at least a little fun. Perhaps not enough of a distraction to care about punctuation or grammar or capitalization, but then, these are not really skills you need to soak people out of their domain money. In fact, it probably works in your favour if people think you’re ignorant, rather than the domain stealing mastermind you are (heheheh).
Bye
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