In a way, that’s almost like insider bidding to simply raise the price.

I guess the whole deal seems a bit odd to me. I’m sure they are doing everything legit but it just seems a bit odd with the back and forth.

After all this back and forth, I dont see anyone touching this forum with a barge pole.

I wish Snoopy the best of luck with his new forum….

If he is 1/3 owner of the site and pays $20k, he’s going to get $6,666 back when they split the money, meaning he’s only really paying $13.3k even though for someone to beat him they’ll have to drop more than $20k. Not many people will be able to compete with him because he gets an instant 33% discount. Not really fair to other interested parties, but I guess they can do what they want since it is their site… although they wasted the time of everyone who took the time to review the stats and make an offer.

Yah, Im not liking this bit of news at all. I dont think you can use the inside offer as leverage to get a larger bid. Either accept the offer or take it to the auction.

“If he is 1/3 owner of the site and pays $20k, he’s going to get $6,666 back when they split the money, meaning he’s only really paying $13.3k even though for someone to beat him they’ll have to drop more than $20k. Not many people will be able to compete with him because he gets an instant 33% discount.”

Well I own one third of the site already, so when you say I’m “only really paying $13.3k” I’m also only acquiring 66% of it so it is no discount.

Obviously, I’m just saying to be 100% owner you have to pay $13.3k but to beat you someone has to drop more than $20k. I wasn’t trying to say you are paying less per “share”, just that you have an unfair advantage because you already own 1/3 of it.

I see absolutely NOTHING WRONG with selling to an insider.
Snoopy explained his logic pretty well. I rather like Snoopy own it than someone else. DomainState.com is the best forum out there.

If someone wants to own it, then he/she must shell out more money and beat Snoopy to it.

Period.

I think all three moderators should have an auction among themselves!

“Obviously, I’m just saying to be 100% owner you have to pay $13.3k but to beat you someone has to drop more than $20k. I wasn’t trying to say you are paying less per “share”, just that you have an unfair advantage because you already own 1/3 of it.”

I think this is the situation in lots of business transactions when someone already owns a share in something they are going to physically pay less than a competing bidder because they are buying a smaller stake than the other guy.

At the end of the day (assume I end out being the buyer), I’ll have 20k less in my pocket as compared to someone else buying it.

I guess the question is what would you say is a “fair” situation, don’t make an offer at all if you already have a stake?

I think he should own it too, he’s a great guy. But think about it like this, if the forum is worth $15k based on traffic and rev potential, then he’s the only person that it makes sense for, everyone else is priced out of it because they don’t already own a percentage. I would be willing to bet that the plan was for Snoopy to buy it all along, but to determine what price he should pay they made it open to offers with him being required to beat the best offer. That’s the only logical explanation for all this silly back-and-forth. I’m glad to see it ending up in good hands, if Mike Cohen got a hold of it the site would go to shit. Just not happy with how it was handled.

Snoopy, you’re right, that’s how it works in many situations. However, one of the owners is usually given the right of first refusal BEFORE it is offered for sale publicly. Once you open it up for bidding and even plan an auction, you shouldn’t be participating because you already passed.

“$15k based on traffic and rev potential, then he’s the only person that it makes sense for”

If it was worth 15k it wouldn’t make sense for me to spend 13.3k buying 66% of it.

“That’s the only logical explanation for all this silly back-and-forth.”

I don’t think you can ever expect something like this to be straight forward, there is three owners involved a site that has been “home” for over 7 years with lots of different considerations with regards to the members.

“If he is 1/3 owner of the site and pays $20k, he’s going to get $6,666 back when they split the money, meaning he’s only really paying $13.3k even though for someone to beat him they’ll have to drop more than $20k. Not many people will be able to compete with him because he gets an instant 33% discount.”

It sounds like someone did not have this well thought out. In my opinion, Snoopy should be fighting in a bid war with others in auction after hyping people up with interest because it’s true: $20k can be claimed but part of that 20k goes to him. This definitely leaves a bad feeling in my stomach as I am sure it does for others. This bullshit doesn’t make sense yet I am the only one with the “balls” to say it.

But good luck with the sale.

Actually, I think it would make sense because you didn’t have to pay anything for the share you already have, just your time. So to be 100% owner you have to pay $13.3k for something that might be worth $15k.

Let’s imagine a scenario that is a little more extreme… let’s say you owned 90% of the forum. Then you decide you don’t want to spend more than $10k to own the site outright… so you offer yourself $100k and ask people to beat that. Doesn’t it seem silly to you, even though it is technically the same price per “share”?

Like I said before, the way it normally works is you have the right of first refusal as the owner, but once you pass that up and it becomes a public sale, you shouldn’t be participating.

“n my opinion, Snoopy should be fighting in a bid war with others in auction after hyping people up with interest because it’s true:”

Personally I’m not sure there is any solution that everyone would be happy with where a part owner is competing with other buyers. We thought an auction with me bidding on site against others would be quite problematic.

“Personally I’m not sure there is any solution that everyone would be happy with where a part owner is competing with other buyers.”

You are already “competing”.

“Let’s imagine a scenario that is a little more extreme…”

Actually that scenario is alot more extreme.

You are already “competing”.

Right, what I am saying is I don’t think there is any system where that everyone would agree is ideal where a a current owner is competing with others. Michael suggest not making an offer at all, I’m sure many would disagree with that.

Snoopy, for the sake of conversing this out in public – let me say that I don’t see any logic behind either the collective or the individual move. If you want the domain for yourself, why won’t you discuss it with the other two and be done with it. If you simply want to sell it and take a 1/3 cut, why don’t you stay away from the auction? To combine those two things is a huge loss of any traces of ethos left in your administrative triad. As Michael said, business protocol dictates that private offers precede public auctions. I’m sorry, but it seems to me that you guys have lost your minds from boredom at DS.

“Why didn’t you just purchase the forum in the first place?”

My viewpoint has changed over the last week after alot of thinking, things aren’t always 20/20.

“Personally I’m not sure there is any solution that everyone would be happy with where a part owner is competing with other buyers.”

Yea… because it isn’t right. You should have been given the option to purchase it before it became a public sale, and if you didn’t exercise your option, you should bow out gracefully. You shouldn’t be competing with other buyers under any circumstances as one of the owners.

As for how to handle it now… it’s a little late for it to be done properly. You’ve already got a lot of other people involved. Maybe it was inexperience, maybe the idea was for you to buy it but to let the “market” decide the price, maybe it was something else all together. Whatever the case may be, I don’t think this was handled correctly.

Not much you can do now that it is a public sale though, other than not participate. I understand that isn’t fair to you though, so I guess you’ll just have to deal with a little bad PR that will blow over in a few days.

“I’m sorry, but it seems to me that you guys have lost your minds from boredom at DS.”

You owe me a new keyboard, it has been soaked with coffee.

Also, keep in mind Snoopy that I have not re-registered at DS under any alias whatsoever, let alone “HairyHand”. Matt’s reference to me by name in the currently last post of the DS sales thread is an indication that you guys have gone totally loco and can’t tell apart impostors from the real deal. I would advise you to let Matt know that he’s being used, once again, by the trolls he failed to ban in the first place. Before this escalates, I strongly advise you – in public – to refrain from any assumptions with regards to me. I was never afraid to speak my mind but also never resorted to low methods.

“My viewpoint has changed over the last week after alot of thinking, things aren’t always 20/20.”

You gotta be joking right ?

You guys have turned everybody over by getting us to register our details including name and address,your traffic has gone through the roof with all the FREE publicity…..and after all the above you decide to buy it LOL of course you would i’m surprised the other owners don’t see the potential it has now,they must be mugs to let you turn them over like that…..

You turn the bidders and your friends over,one word fot it…..

SCUM !

“Before this escalates, I strongly advise you – in public – to refrain from any assumptions with regards to me. I was never afraid to speak my mind but also never resorted to low methods.”

Theo, I think you probably escalated things a week ago with all your domaingang blog posts about the site. After all these years it is time to let go….I really have no interest in all this stuff.

“My viewpoint has changed over the last week after alot of thinking, things aren’t always 20/20.”

That’s the kind of scenario where you have a story to tell your friends about how you didn’t act quickly and missed an opportunity. Not a situation where you neglected to exercise your option and decided to join in the bidding as an owner. You won’t have any friends left to tell that story to.

I find it hard to believe that someone with your prowess would not have made an offer to your other partners before this became a public sale. I really feel like one of you guys came up with the bright idea to offer it publicly to determine what price would be fair for you to pay… and that’s a pretty shitty thing to do. Of course that’s just an assumption, but that’s the feeling I get.

Let me tell you something, Snoopy or Paul or whatever the heck your name is. I did not register at DS since you banned me 4 years ago. Right now, this minute, unless Matt removes the reference to my name for a post by “HairyHand” that I NEVER made, you will have a war so big from me against all 3 of you and DS that you won’t have a place to go hide. I can’t stand bullshit and people that resort to low methods, false accusations and people with short memory.

So some person registers under “HairyHand” and InnovationHQ – aka Cameron – makes a reference to the post as if it were me. And “experienced” moderator Matt believes it was me, without examining the god damn IP. That’s the stuff that made DS the absolute hellhole for anyone that dared look for JUSTICE in that cesspool of egomania.

Theo, like I said I have no interest in arguing with you and I have no interest in your “war”.

It’s simple, Paul. I am not arguing, I am telling you that your false accusations implicate you as a co-owner. If Matt’s on a gallon of beer down under right now and spews stuff without first confirming WHO is the poster, that’s your problem and not mine. If you really want to buy DS at $20k or sell it at whatever price, you need to correct the injustice. I am very serious when it comes down to honor, integrity and truth.

Either way, the simple fact of the matter is that Domainstate is a bleep forum with no community. If he wants to waste $20k on it, he is letting himself and the UK down. Mug.

snoopy i think you are the best man for the job regardless of how its settled. no harm no foul let the complainers complain.

Domainer Fight !! …Darn got here too late, well guess I will head to the church blogs, always catch a fight there.

Serious Note:
Domain state has good value, initially valued around 10,000 ? Wonder who came up with that number hmmm, oh and I like the “oh we never monetized the forum because it was special,..but you want to sell it ..whatever I knew it was too good to be true at 10 grand and you guys probably realize it now, at least one of you three.

note to domaingang guy – hairyhand thats fuked up, but you gotta admit kinda funny, what did you post ? just kidding,..I would assume if you asked nicely they’d remove it.

Now that I’ve cooled off, I will apologize to Snoopy/Paul about going off on a rant. I stand by my opinions, he stands by his. It’s a shame that there is no consensus. The good will is mine, however each side needs to take a step forward. Best of luck with the DomainState acquisition or sale.

General rule, owners get first dibbs. Going from offers to auction back to offers is a kidspiracy.

This entire affair is odd. Why put it up for public sale, entertain all the drama and then suddenly cancel the auction. Why not proceed with the auction anyway? Makes no sense, imo.

This is comical.

LMFAO over here.

DomainState is the best forum ? That’s funny.

Snoop has always talked about auction being the only true determiner of value. They should have let the auction go, everyone loved the story on DirectNavigation.com about the big generic portfolio. Larry was bidding against an insider there. So what ? This seems like it was just a ruse and other bidders were just pawns in the DS owners game of chess.

It’s such a shame that as they announced they were leaving the site, the three admins were regarded as great guys, sorry to see you leave & all that.
As soon as one decides to keep what they created why does this change?
Maybe they all know the people with the highest interest are other forum owners who would either delete the site, or someone who doesn’t know how to run a forum who would just piss off members.

Come on folks. These guys ran that forum for 7 years and never monetized it. Selling the forum was not a business move, just a way to exit and hope that their baby continued.

Don’t any of you have online endeavors that you are emotionally attached to? Maybe you don’t like how this whole thing came down but it is their decision. They put heart and soul into a non monetized forum Only a fool would believe that after all these years of morally and ethically correct behavior, they would pull a circus act over money.A pittance of cash in the grand scheme of things.

You all need to grow up and stop trolling forums and blogs to see who you can gang up on next. It’s always the usual suspects growling and grumbling like a pack of junkyard dogs. You do have hearts don’t you. Walk a mile in their shoes on this issue!

Ethical catastrophe.
If anyone thinks this is sort of thing is remotely OK, you need to get out of “domaining” and into real world business a bit more.

First, you have this circus of an unstructured anti-competitive bidding process, where sealed bids were submitted, only to be transfered over to an auction process… only to have the auction canceled and have bids thrown into a bizarre sort of silent Round Robin where you’re bidding against the very guy who can see what everyone else is doing.

Secondly, you’re forced to make a 100% bid against a 33% owner, which is grotesquely unfair. If the individual interests were up for sale- where one could acquire a controlling percentage via an open auction or bid process for the partners share, that would ensure an equitable and fair procedure to achieve fair value, however, forcing everyone to make 100% bids against a 33% owner presents a profoundly unfair and unethical disadvantage, the reasons for which has been elaborated upon above.

Our valuation of the entire site is less than what Snoopy is paying for 66% of it, so no real loss on our end, but be rest assured that if you placed this very situation in front of 100 professors of business ethics, 100 of them would say it was conducted in a shady, back-room sort of way from start to finish, no part of which meets the ethical standards expected in good faith fair dealings.

I can’t delieve some of you people that have been around in this game for years and you know who i mean! Domainstate members .. real ones .. dont want DS to fall into the hands of the unsavory characters who might have got their clutchers on DS and destroyed it … to say that DS is not worth $20K is just plain stupid there is nothing stopping anybody from topping that $20K bid .. if you do that as well might happen and you manage to out bid Snoopy then be prepared for a mass evacuation of the existing membership if the members dont like you … Just take a look through the tributes to the mods that have flowed through the announcement thread is it any wonder that Snoopy had a change of heart … i have said enough without getting myself into a flame war with the DS haters that are getting their 2 cents in while they can .. just remember this not over till it’s over $20K is very likely to be well over bid .. you people have no idea who else is making attempts to gain control of DS ..

I understand some of the concern but don’t see a major problem. Seems like Paul should have the right to offer $20K for the site. If anyone else wants to bid/offer more, they will be inclinded to take the larger offer. In fact I don’t see why they don’t run the auction and put Paul’s $20K bid as one of the bids.

DomainState is a nice forum with a good community of domainers. Tons of great posts and lots of humor. I think Paul is intitled to a little bit of sellers remorse. Lets all just calm down a little and relax. In the end it is not that huge of a deal. In the end the community is still small and we all need outlets like DS to keep the message on point and expand our enterprises. Cheers!

it is really comical and very odd man.. what kind of joke is it…
y they suddenly cancel that auction??? it is ridiculous man…. y they did all this drama????

“Come on folks. These guys ran that forum for 7 years and never monetized it. Selling the forum was not a business move, just a way to exit and hope that their baby continued…… You do have hearts don’t you. Walk a mile in their shoes on this issue!”

You can’t write a check with “feelings”. Whenever there is money involved, it is ALWAYS business.

Please be reasonable, though. The flip flopping is unprofessional and the whole thing wasn’t well planned out. But that is beside the point as…yes, they are the owners and can do whatever they want with it. Saying that….I am sure Snoopy is the best owner of DS and DS is a great community. But that isn’t the point.

What doesn’t make sense to me: if Snoopy had a “change of heart” (which is the reason given for canceling the auction) then why are they still open for other bids on top of his bid? Why not just take the forum off the market and sell it to Snoopy for the $20k?

The site didnt go to auction so they didnt receive bids and pull it.

The site was and still is in ‘taking offers” mode.

Anyone can make an offer and the owners have the right to accept any of those offers they wish…whether its the highest offer or just an offer from someone they like best.

What part of this is hard to understand?

Do you feel that they owe you something? Do you feel you have some rights to their site?

“Why not just take the forum off the market and sell it to Snoopy for the $20k?”

Greed? Oh wait, I keep forgetting, this farce isn’t about money at all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an owner’s offer being used as leverage to submit public offers. We should ignore that though because the owners are cool (and let’s face it, they’re on the verge of sainthood for running a forum and not monetizing it).

It’s like a profesional sports player saying that he’s going to another team for $xx,xxx,xxx amount of dollars “but it’s not about the money”. It’s always about the money!

Here’s a challenge if it’s not about the money then give it a good home like Chef for the $5K.

LOL

This isn’t a case of a partner buying out other partners.
It’s a half assed, semi-public (but with private elements left intact) “we-might-sell-we-might-not-depending-on-how-much-we’re-offered” abortion of unethical, closed-door, smarmy dealings.

If you want to sell the site, sell the site. If you want to sell it to Snoop for a fixed, pragmatic price, do so. That’s certainly their right.

What they’re basically doing right now is along the lines of “Eh, we might be interested in selling, but lets see what sort of prices drift in…” which is OK too, but make clear that’s what you’re doing. Stop promoting it as a sale, when it isn’t a sale. Stop promoting it as an auction when there is no auction. It’s an inside-transfer with an unethical bidding process. A lot of potentially higher offers are going to be completely turned off by the process that has been displayed thus far. It isn’t like you’re dealing with an income site- you’re dealing with a vanity purchase that now looks a lot less appealing to otherwise vein people who could’ve afforded to crush Snoop in any fair and open bidding process for the right to buy the forum.

Seems to be a lot of unnecessary hate/animosity in these posts.
The process has been strange and poorly thought out, but not like that doesn’t happen to the best of us. Partnerships can make for messy exits.

It may not be proper but People have the right to change their mind, unless there’s a contract involved. People are understandably upset as they saw an opportunity just vanish after putting in effort,time, and some even money, like cohen if he’s paying for the sponsored listing on domaining.com. I say at the end of the day its better that one of your peers owns the forum rather than the Man.

One word………….Transparency.

p.s. They should have just taken in another partner they trust that would have managed and moderated the forums in exchange for a stake.

I’m with Adam on this…

However, Chef, you did the domain industry a big favor by revealing the character and ethical behavior of certain parties in this blog article. You even captured “not so subtle threats” coming from one writer, who lately seems to be “warning” those who he imagines are “after him”, which is oddly humorous, since some certain parties commenting here base their businesses predicated on making fun/attacking other domainers.

In a minute I thought I am in DS forum. Tsk.

this thread is a hoot, you must be loving the traffic chef?
i have read all comments and am still unclear who is buying ds? is it snoop doggy dogg or someone else??