Earlier today an attendee for my upcoming conference, DNCruise.com, paid for their pass through PayPal. When I received the payment I noticed no fees were taken out of my account. I asked the payee if they used mass pay and to my surprise they said no. Instead, they were given the option to pay the fee when sending the payment.

I’ve tried getting people to use mass pay with domain sales and for some reason they just don’t understand how to do it. I don’t know about you, but this could be a great way of avoiding PayPal fees without having to explain mass pay.

Here are the steps:

Step 1 – From the main menu select send money. Then select the Personal tab along with Payment Owed.

Step 2 – On the next screen have the payee select the box that says “I will pay the fee”.

The above is just an example to show the box. The fee to transfer using a credit card varies between accounts, in most cases 2.9% + $0.30.

Please note that there will only be a fee if the payee is using a credit card. If they are paying with PayPal funds there are no fees.

Has anyone used this method on PayPal? Is there anything wrong with this or restrictions? I’m also assuming that by using the personal money transfer option there is no way for a customer to dispute a charge?

*Use this technique at your own risk. I personally will not be using it.

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I have heard too many horror stories on the forums that domain thief’s have been able to log in to a customers account and transfer domain names out without permission. With the abundance of internet fraud I tend to look for companies that offer extra security features. For instance, I love my PayPal security key. Right before I log in to my account it randomly generates a unique security code. This code  must be used in conjunction with my username and password. This generated code gives me an extra layer of security so I know my money cannot be transferred out without my knowledge.  No one can log into my account without it.

This brings me to Name.com. Last month I noticed they have an extra security feature just like the one I have for PayPal. They call it NameSafe. Like the PayPal security key it generates a completely unique six digit security code that must be used along side my username and password, you have to use the security code as well. As long as the device is in your possession you are the only one who has access to your account.

What I love most about this is how you can use it with other sites that use the same VIP security feature. For instance, I can use the device I’m using for my PayPal account already for my Name.com account as well. Ebay, AOL and VeriSign are just a few of the other companies using the VIP credentials security feature.

The price is very reasonable. You can get a key FOB (pictured above) for $5 or you can get a credit card size FOB for $30. That’s a small price to pay for the extra security!

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Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting), according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. Definition by Wikipedia.org.

Please, don’t be a cyber squatter. This is what makes our industry look bad. I know many domainers, myself included, who accidently wind up purchasing domains that are trademarked, because there are some that are not as obvious as others. I’m merely saying that as a whole, we should not make it a normal practice to knowingly register names with trademarks in them.

The following is a guest post by Sam Silverman of DNUnderground.com.

With an increasing number of trademark infringement cases coming up in the domain industry, it’s important to know when a domain name could potentially cause you trouble (due to trademark infringement). This poses the question: where exactly should a person look to find registered trademarks before buying a domain or starting any type of business?

There are two websites that I am familiar with using for searching for trademarks.

Valuate.com
I am very impressed with this tool. It’s very easy to use whether you’re searching for one or many domain names, which is one of the best features. I have yet to see a site offer a search service that allows you to perform a trademark search on multiple domains all at once. This is a great service to use, especially for those of you who own and invest in a lot of domain names. Perform a search by clicking on this link.

USPTO.gov
This one has a very user-friendly platform, but you need to enter one domain at a time, which can get tedious if you have a lot of domain names you are looking up. I highly recommend this site though, because it is a government website. Basically you’re pretty much guaranteed a high level of accuracy. Perform a search by clicking on this link.

I hope that by using these tools, many of us can avoid getting ourselves into trademark infringement disputes. It’ll not only save you time, but it’ll save you money and in this economy we need every last penny we can get. So why not use these free tools before making a domain investment or renewing that domain name you haven’t developed and aren’t sure whether it’s worth renewing? It can only help.

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A lot of domain name investors have a difficult time explaining who we are and what we do. To help those in trouble I’ve listed a few questions and how I answer them. Remember, we are a small industry. Because we are so small, you make a big impact on how the world perceives what we do.

First let me give you this example for your arsenal. A domain name is a piece of land. Owning a domain name is no different than someone purchasing a piece of land because they believe they can sell it for more money at a later date.

What do you do?
I am a virtual real estate investor. I buy domain names, then turn around and sell them for a profit.

Speak with confidence! People can pick up right away if you have any negative feelings about what you do. The average person understands real estate more than the internet. Why? Because they either own a home, have a friend/relative that does or have watched one of the dozens of TV shows about real estate.

So you buy people’s domain names and sit on them until they pay you a ridiculous amount of money for them?
No, not at all. I have no interest in purchasing anything that would either be trademarked or confused with one. Trademark laws prevent me from purchasing these types of domain names.

What do you mean by trademark?
Let’s use the company Walmart. They have filed the appropriate paperwork with the government preventing anyone else from using the term or name Walmart in any way. Examples would be Wallmart.com (misspelled), WalmartStores.com or Wal-mart.com. I would never purchase a domain name that can mislead site visitors into thinking I am associated with that company.

How do you go about purchasing these domain names?
There are several avenues to purchase domain names. First would be domain names that are available (hand register) for purchase using a registrar like Name.com. Now, just like property taxes, if someone doesn’t pay their annual renewal fees that domain name is taken away and made available to the public. These are called deleting or drop domain names. I can get a list of names coming available again soon and purchase them when they do. Another way of getting great domain names is helping people in need. When people need money, they come to me and offer to sell their domain names. This is a great win-win situation that allows them to put much needed cash in the bank and I walk away with a domain name usually at a reduced rate because of the quick sale. There are actually more ways to acquire domain names but you get the idea.

How do you sell domain names?
Just like buying, there are several avenues. The simple answer is either someone will contact me with interest in buying, I can list with an auction service like Sedo.com or BuyDomains.com or I can proactively seek out buyers that would benefit from owning my domain name.

What’s the most you have sold a domain name for?
I’ve sold a few hundred domain names ranging from $25-$1500 and honestly can’t remember them all. I do remember selling PrayerForum.com last week for $1200. As an industry though, we’ve sold millions upon millions of dollars in domain names this year. If you are really interested visit DNJournal.com and click the YTD sales chart on the top left. So far this years top sale is Toys.com for $5.1 million!

On a side note, I’ve had a domain sale of mid $x,xxx and low $xx,xxx that I NEVER bring up because of an NDA. If you have an NDA, don’t bring it up. When someone I don’t know says I’ve sold a domain name for $xxx,xxx but can’t discuss it because of an NDA, the first thing that comes to mind is they are lying. The sad reality is that most people believe you are full of shit. This is the #1 reason why the reporter of the New Times called us conniving. Instead of making something up, divert the attention to what we have done as an industry.

Practice these answers. The easier the information comes to you, the more confident you come across.

What do you guys think? Is this similar to how you would explain what you do as a domain investor?

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In 1981 AT&T came up with the slogan ‘reach out and touch someone’. The idea was to get customers to make more use of the telephone.

I want to mimic this saying again today, “reach out and touch someone”.

Earlier today a fellow domainer and friend reached out and asked for my opinion because he became emotionally attached to a domain name. What’s rule number one in domaining? Don’t get attached to a domain name. This is business. The point is, in my opinion, he almost made the mistake of purchasing a domain name for more than it was worth and meanwhile he already had the perfect domain name.

We all need a support system, myself included. If you ever have a question, reach out to a fellow domainer. I’ve found the domaining community to be extremely helpful.

I have written about this before, because it’s something I strongly beleive in. Use the resources that are given to you, our community is one of them. To read my article on this topic from three months ago click here.

If I can be of help, reach out to me. Just be able to handle my opinion.

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