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Moniker auction terms Outrageous

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We really need to start and keep a thread on each of the big domain auction sites since some are good and some are bad.

Take a peak at the Moniker Auction contract they want you to sign. I own importationdotcom and wanted to list it with them but after reading the contract I was blown away.

EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL AGREEMENT

THIS EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is entered into this ____ day of _____****____, 2008, by and between __________________ (hereinafter referred to as “Seller”), and DomainSystems, Inc, a Florida corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Buyer/Seller Agent”) (Seller and Buyer/Seller Agent each a “Party” and may be collectively referred to as the “Parties”).

WHEREAS, it is the desire of Seller to grant to Buyer/Seller Agent the exclusive right and authority to sell the Internet domain names, assets or web sites listed on one or more of the ADDENDA hereto (the “Name or Names”), in accordance with the terms and conditions contained herein; and,

WHEREAS, it is the desire of Buyer/Seller Agent to use its commercially reasonable efforts to secure purchasers to purchase the Names in accordance with the terms and conditions contained herein; and,

NOW THEREFORE, the Parties do hereby agree as follows:

TERM OF THE AGREEMENT: Seller grants Buyer/Seller Agent the exclusive right and authority to sell the Name(s) for one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days from the date of submitting/declaring one of the Name(s) on the ADDENDA to this Agreement or sixty (60) days from the conclusion of any auction or private sale taking place after the submission/declaring of the Name(s) on the ADDENDA, whichever occurs later (the “Exclusive Sale Period”). The ADDENDA to this Agreement shall consist of, but are not limited to, those items submitted by Seller for selection and acceptance by Buyer/Seller Agent to secure purchasers. This exclusive right and authority to sell period will automatically renew at the end of each term unless Buyer/Seller Agent is notified by Seller in writing within 15 days of expiration that Seller is terminating the Agreement.

Once a Name is submitted by Seller, whether by ADDENDA or otherwise, the Name becomes subject to this Agreement, whether or not Seller is notified that the Name has been selected for the auction or private sale. If, however, Buyer/Seller Agent notifies Seller that a Name has not been selected for auction or private sale, Seller will be permitted to withdraw the Name from submission.

EXCLUSIVITY: During the Exclusive Sale Period, Seller agrees not to use, appoint or engage any person or entity other than Buyer/Seller Agent to act as its agent, sales representative or in a similar capacity with respect to the Names during the term of this Agreement. In the event that Seller sells or markets the Names directly to a buyer or through any person or entity other than Buyer/Seller Agent during the term of this Agreement, Buyer/Seller Agent shall be entitled to receive the Fee (as hereinafter defined).

NON CIRCUMVENTION: In addition to any other rights Buyer/Seller Agent may have, during the term of this Agreement and for a period of two (2) years following the termination of this Agreement, Seller shall not, directly or indirectly:

a.Make contact or attempt to make contact, solicit or attempt to solicit, negotiate
or attempt to negotiate, enter into or attempt to enter into any agreement, and/or transact or attempt to transact any business with any potential purchaser (or such purchaser’s attorneys, agents (other than Moniker), representatives, employees, officers, directors, principals, owners, shareholders, members, managers or any person or entity that is connected, directly or indirectly, with such purchaser) procured by or introduced to Seller by Moniker, except to the extent such contact is through, or with the prior written consent of, Moniker; and

b.Commit any other acts, directly or indirectly, which would affect in any way
whatsoever, circumvent the restrictive covenant stated in subparagraph 3(a) immediately above.

c.In the event that Seller violates the provisions of Section 3(a) or (b), Buyer/Seller
Agent shall be entitled to receive the Fee (as hereinafter defined).

BUYER/SELLER AGENT COMPENSATION:

a. Seller agrees to pay Buyer/Seller Agent a fee for each or any Name sold (the “Fee”) equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the Total Sales Price of such Name that meets or exceeds the agreed upon reserve. Buyer/Seller Agent shall not be authorized to consummate the sale of a Name on Seller’s behalf unless and until Seller has given its written consent to the proposed Total Sales Price for such Name if the reserve price has not been met. Seller understands that Buyer/Seller Agent actually purchases the domain from Seller and then resells the domain/s to the buyer through the sales and auction process.

b. Seller agrees that Buyer/Seller Agent may purchase a Name from Seller during the Exclusive Sale Period in an effort to consummate a sale with another party (For creative financing, special term sales, etc). DomainSystems, Inc./ Moniker.com does become the owner of each domain name in the sales and change of ownership process and through escrow. The Buyer/Seller Agent will not be a bidder at an auction.

c. For purposes hereof, “Total Sales Price” means the sum of the cash and value of any other consideration that a buyer has agreed to pay for the Name, excluding any escrow or finders fee paid by Buyer (as hereinafter defined).

d. The Fee with respect to each sale of a Name consummated during the Exclusive Sale Period shall be paid by Seller to Buyer/Seller Agent (by wire transfer from funds in escrow account).

e. The Buyer/Seller Agent shall have no obligation to deliver any transfer documents until Buyer/Seller Agent has received payment of the required Fee.

5. ERRONEOUS SUBMISSIONS BY SELLER: If Seller erroneously submits a domain to Buyer/Seller hereunder which Seller does not, in fact, own or otherwise have the right to sell, and such error is not discovered prior to the sale of the name by Buyer/Seller Agent, Seller shall nonetheless be responsible to Buyer/Seller Agent for payment of the commission hereunder.

6.REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS: Buyer/Seller Agent shall bear all costs and expenses incurred by it in connection with the performance of its duties hereunder; provided, however, that Seller shall reimburse Buyer/Seller Agent for any reasonable travel expenses that are expressly pre-approved by Seller in writing and thereafter incurred by Buyer/Seller Agent to attend meetings at Seller’s request.
BUYER/SELLER AGENT RESPONSIBILITIES: Buyer/Seller Agent agrees to use commercially reasonable efforts to secure buyers for the Names during the Exclusive Sale Period. During the Exclusive Sale Period, Buyer/Seller Agent may conduct an auction or private/public sale of the Name via the Internet or other reasonable means. Buyer/Seller Agent agrees that its responsibilities shall be performed in a diligent, competent and professional manner. Seller acknowledges and agrees that this Agreement does not require Buyer/Seller Agent to render services solely to Seller or to devote Buyer/Seller Agent’s entire business time and effort to the performance of its duties hereunder. During the Exclusive Sale Period, Buyer/Seller Agent shall have the right to act as a sales representative, distributor and/or marketing agent for persons and entities other than Seller, including, without limitation, persons and entities who are or who may be in competition with Seller.

SELLER RESPONSIBILITIES: Seller agrees to do the following during the Exclusive Sales Period:

a. Refer all previous, pending and future inquires from brokers, Buyer/Seller Agents, purchasers or others interested in the Names to Buyer/Seller Agent;

b. Provide Buyer/Seller Agent with complete and accurate information regarding Seller and the Names promptly upon request by Buyer/Seller Agent;

c. Assist Buyer/Seller Agent in the marketing and sale of the Name as may reasonably be requested (such assistance shall be at Buyer/Seller Agent’s sole expense unless Seller provides express written authorization in advance); and

d. Provide to Buyer/Seller Agent such other information and data as Buyer/Seller Agent may reasonably request from time to time in order to permit Buyer/Seller Agent to perform its duties hereunder.

REPRESENTATIONS OF SELLER: Seller represents and warrants to Buyer/Seller Agent that it (i) has the authority to enter into this Agreement and (ii) possesses, and has the authority to transfer, good, valid and marketable title to the Name(s). Seller further warrants and represents to Buyer/Seller Agent that: 1) Seller is the sole owner of all right, title and interest in the Name(s); 2) the Name(s) are/is being transferred to Buyer/Seller Agent free of any liens, encumbrances, restrictions, licenses, or security interests; 3) Seller properly purchased and registered the Name(s) without committing fraud or misrepresentation; 4) the Name(s) do/does not infringe the rights of any third party; and 5) the Name(s) have/has not been, and are/is not currently the subject of any litigation, claims, arbitration or other legal proceeding, either pending, contemplated or threatened, nor has Seller received any notice of any such pending items.

ESCROW: Except as otherwise agreed to in a writing signed by both parties, the contemplated purchase and sale of any Name(s) hereunder shall take place pursuant to Buyer/Seller Agent’s escrow procedures set forth in the terms and conditions contained on Buyer/Seller Agent’s website (which are incorporated herein), as amended from time to time.

INDEMNIFICATION: Seller hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Buyer/Seller Agent, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees and agents, from and against any and all loss, damage, liability or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs), to which they may be put or which they may incur by reason of, or in connection with, any misrepresentation made by Seller, any breach of any of warranties by Seller, Seller’s failure to fulfill any of its covenants or obligations under this Agreement, or any trademark, copyright or patent infringement arising out of or relating to the Name(s), or in any way arising out of Buyer/Seller Agent’s being a party to, or Buyer/Seller Agent’s performance of, this Agreement, other than through Buyer/Seller Agent’s gross negligence or willful misconduct. The foregoing obligation shall exist only if Buyer/Seller Agent (i) promptly notifies Seller of such claim, (ii) provides Seller with reasonable information, assistance and cooperation in defending the lawsuit or proceeding and (iii) gives Seller exclusive control and sole authority over the defense and settlement of such claim.

JOINT MATERIALS: The Parties agree that all marketing materials developed in connection with the services performed by Buyer/Seller Agent hereunder shall be the joint property of Buyer/Seller Agent and Seller and neither party shall use such materials after the Exclusive Sale Period without the prior written approval of the other Party.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE PARTIES; REPORTING OF INCOME. Buyer/Seller Agent is retained hereunder as an independent contractor and nothing herein contained shall create an employer/employee, principal/agent, partnership or joint venture relationship between the Parties. The Parties agree that Buyer/Seller Agent shall include all compensation it receives hereunder in its own books or account for inclusion on its own applicable tax return, that Buyer/Seller Agent shall be responsible for payment of all income and employment taxes thereon, and that such compensation will not be subject to any offset, employee payroll taxes or other deduction.

CONFIDENTIALITY: Each Party agrees that it shall not disclose the terms of this Agreement to any person or persons except as required by applicable law or compelled by a court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section 12 shall not apply to disclosures made by a Party to its agents, employees and advisors to whom such disclosure is necessary in order to perform pursuant to this Agreement.

ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS: In connection with any litigation arising out of this Agreement, the prevailing party, whether Seller or Buyer/Seller Agent, shall be entitled to recover all costs incurred, including reasonable attorney’s fees, for services rendered in connection with such litigation, including appellate proceedings and post-judgment proceedings.
DISCLOSURES: Seller and Buyer/Seller Agent specifically acknowledge and understand that if either Seller or Buyer/Seller Agent knows of facts materially affecting the value of the Name(s), whether said facts are readily observable or not, Seller or Buyer/Seller Agent, as applicable, shall disclose these facts to the other Party.

NOTICES: Any notice required or permitted to be delivered pursuant to this Agreement must be delivered by facsimile, U.S. Mail, certified or registered mail, or overnight courier, and addressed as set forth below the signature line of the Party to whom notice is being given, or to such other address as the Parties may from time to time designate by notice in writing to the other Party.

GOVERNING LAW: This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Florida, without respect to its conflict of laws provisions. Venue for any litigation arising under, or in connection with, this Agreement shall be in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This Agreement constitutes and represents the entire agreement between the Parties and supersedes any prior understandings or agreements, written or oral, between the Parties respecting the subject matter of this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended, supplemented or modified only upon an agreement in writing executed by all of the Parties. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and shall be binding upon the Parties and their respective successors and assigns. If any provision of this Agreement shall be determined to be invalid, void or illegal, such provision shall be construed and amended in a manner which would permit its enforcement, but in no event shall such provision affect, impair or invalidate any other provision in this Agreement.
Headings For Convenience: As used in this Agreement, captions and paragraph headings are provided solely for convenience and shall not be deemed to restrict, limit or interpret the meaning of the text.

COUNTERPARTS: This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Photocopies, signatures reproduced by mechanical, digital or other means, and/or facsimile transmittal signature pages may be used instead of originals.

[remainder of page intentionally blank]

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have set their hands and seals on the date first written above.

SELLER:
By:
Name:
Title:
Moniker Account #:
Email:
Phone:
Fax:

Address:
BUYER/SELLER AGENT:
DOMAINSYSTEMS, INC.
By:
Name: Monte Cahn
Title President/CEO
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 954-984-8445
Fax: 954-969-9155
Address: 20 SW 27th Ave.
Pompano Beach, FL 33069


ADDENDUM TO EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL AGREEMENT
Declaration / DESCRIPTION Of Assets (if applicable)

My Moniker.com Account Number is:____________


THIS IS AN ADDENDUM TO EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is entered into this ___ day of _______, 2008, by and between _____________________ (hereinafter referred to as “Seller”), and DomainSystems, Inc, a Florida corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Buyer/Seller Agent”) (Seller and Buyer/Seller Agent each a “Party” and may be collectively referred to as the “Parties”) whereas, it is the desire of Seller to grant to Buyer/Seller Agent the exclusive right and authority to sell the Internet domain names, assets, or web sites listed hereto of which additional items may be added. This ADDENDUM represents the declaration and description of assets as described hereto.

1.Assets – Tangible:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________
1. Assets – Intangible:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________

2. The liens and or encumbrances and or options to purchase Assets described above consist of:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________

3. Please list all of the owners of the Assets described above?

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________

4. Documents of title ownership / leans, such as a UCC filing, are filed in the facility listed below on the date listed below:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________

5. If patents are listed above, can you provide due diligence they do not infringe on any other parties rights?

Yes - ________________________________________________________________________
No - ________________________________________________________________________

6. Please describe any current or pending litigation, decrees, judicial proceedings or judgments of courts related to the entities, corporate or personal, having interest in the Assets listed above:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
7.How many personnel, doing what, are required to support the Assets listed above on a weekly basis:

A. ________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________

8.If / when the Assets above are sold, how would you foresee the transition process and what if any of the above personnel would contribute to the transition:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


9.The monthly gross revenue produced by the Assets above consist of an average of

$_______________ .

10.The monthly net revenue produced by the Assets above consist of an average of

$_______________ .

11.The revenue amounts provided above are verified specifically by *********************_____________________________________________________________, yet it should be

known that: ___________________________________________________________________.

12.It is also important to know that: ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Additional descriptions of items above and supporting documents may be added to this Addendum and become one and part of the whole.

This document is completed by one of the owners representing all owners of the Assets described above and the information provided is true and accurate to the best of my ability.

As owner this is submitted by:

Signed: __________________________________
Title: ____________________________________
Printed Name: ____________________________
Company: _______________________________
Date: ___________________________________
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
oldtimer said:
My advice to those who want to be domainer friendly is to make sure that your contracts, TOS and prices including any fees or commissions are fair and just to all sides, reply to customer emails and inquiries in a timely and helpful manner (don’t ignore the little guys) and be sure not to abuse your position of control and power over your customers and then you will have a lot of happy domainers on your side. :)

Now that sounds like good old common sense to me oldtimer :tu:


.
 
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I am a huge fan of Moniker & have stated to many that they are hands down my favorite registrar. I also consider them to be the best & safest option in the industry. Even with saying all of that, I must say that these contract terms are beyond ridiculous.

While I can argue all day about the worthiness of the commission I won't as that isn't the big issue here. While I can understand the need to have a time period of exclusive rights to a name, I can't justify the length in this contract. In my honest opinion, a fair way would be to have rights as soon as the name is accepted & up until 30-45 days after the auction in case a deal is worked out behind the scenes. There is absolutely <b>NO</b> possible way to justify a 2 year window.

There is not a company in the world that I know of who has such a long exclusive term. I am still waiting to read one justified reason as to why you feel you deserve commissions up until 2 years after the fact? I think this elitist attitude is the wrong way to go about it considering all the new options currently available & on the horizon.
 
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Has the contract changed yet?

I havent heard or seen anything. Does anyone know if the contract has changed yet?
 
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Does Moniiker just take any domains submitted to an auction? Or do they have some criteria?

What would it be that sets them apart so that they apparently have a bigger fee schedule than say one of the on line places selling domains?

Or is it that they more actively market a domain through an auction, perhaps.?

Doc
 
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The only thing that sets them apart from the rest is their greed. :lol:
 
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mcahn said:
no one likes legal agreements....especially exclusive ones. we try to make them as fair as we can.

Are you kidding? You went out of your way to make them as UNFAIR as you could!!!
 
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HBK216 said:
I am a huge fan of Moniker & have stated to many that they are hands down my favorite registrar. I also consider them to be the best & safest option in the industry. Even with saying all of that, I must say that these contract terms are beyond ridiculous.

While I can argue all day about the worthiness of the commission I won't as that isn't the big issue here. While I can understand the need to have a time period of exclusive rights to a name, I can't justify the length in this contract. In my honest opinion, a fair way would be to have rights as soon as the name is accepted & up until 30-45 days after the auction in case a deal is worked out behind the scenes. There is absolutely <b>NO</b> possible way to justify a 2 year window.

There is not a company in the world that I know of who has such a long exclusive term. I am still waiting to read one justified reason as to why you feel you deserve commissions up until 2 years after the fact? I think this elitist attitude is the wrong way to go about it considering all the new options currently available & on the horizon.

I disagree 150%
 
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Real estate brokers contracts are very similar.

Moniker is the best of the best.

:)
 
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...except for one minor difference........real estate brokers spend upwards of a thousand dollars in advertising fees trying to sell the house and often never do. Will moniker take the same chance..........no way.
 
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i too was not thrilled with many of the contract terms when i first read them a couple of months ago, but to be honest since i have been domaining a year and have not had much luck so far selling on my own. now i have 5 domains in the upcoming auction so if they sell it will be worth it.

however, the opt-out part is way ridiculous. also are they going to actively promote my domain outside of their auction if it does not sell? if not then there is no way they should be having an exclusivity clause in there saying that if i sell the domain privately i will still owe them their cut. that is some real BS too imo.
 
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Sooner or later someone will have an epifony, and terms will be scrapped to a more client friendly contract instead of client hostile contract.
 
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If you do not like the terms of a contract, make single line strike-throughs the part/s you do not like and sign your initials next to your strike-throughs, then submit the modified contract to the other party.

eg:
NON CIRCUMVENTION: In addition to any other rights Buyer/Seller Agent may have, during the term of this Agreement and for a period of two (2) years 90 Days <sign initials here> following the termination of this Agreement, Seller shall not, directly or indirectly:
 
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Just so you know, you can try and modify terms. So for example you can do a 60 day exclusive contract instead of 120 and so on.
 
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Not True

valerie said:
Just so you know, you can try and modify terms. So for example you can do a 60 day exclusive contract instead of 120 and so on.


Thats not true. When I expressed my desires to have different terms in the contract, the moniker agent simply said "tough, it's our requirements"

So it seems we are back to square 1.
 
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I just had all the info through from moniker with regards 2 domains, asking me to sign and return and the exclusive agreement!!!

Laugh, i nearly wet myself :)

Think i will just keep the names and see what happens with them :)
 
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This is all a perfect opportunity for a company like Ebay to step in and control the market by undercutting domainer auction houses.

I like Moniker still but yeah..since the sale the place has slid down a bit in terms of customer care.
 
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Moniker Auction

dentalpro said:
the "auto-renew" is the worst part imo...that not needed since the seller is really concentrating on THAT exact auction date or dates and when that auction closes the contract should be expired.
.

I agree with this. It seems to give a domain registrant a minimal window or opportunity before thrusting them back into the contract...
by design, I'm sure.

I wonder how much they've collected using this tactic.

The contract should EXPIRE naturally without the need for explicit cancellation on the part of the registrant.
It shouldn't be set up so that one has to opt out.
The renewal should be what one opts into, in writing, and not by default!
Also the two year 2 year bit...that's just :td:
:
 
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Does it really mean what it seems to be sayying ?

a. You have to write to cancel 'within 15 day' (whatever that means) otherwise the agreement goes on in perpetuity
b. Even if they don't accept your names into the auction the 'exclusive' agreement still stands, so just by submitting names and signing the agerement you are signing away your rights
c. This may explain why they never tell you your names have been refused, because if they state they have been refused the agreeement no longer stands.
 
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I actually had considered Moniker on a couple occasions... No way am I giving them 2 years exclusivity unless they are going to be advertising it on Google and in the NY times for 2 years...
 
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c. This may explain why they never tell you your names have been refused, because if they state they have been refused the agreeement no longer stands.
Interesting point.
 
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It seems that some positive changes have recently been made to address the previous issues, one major step has been the automation of the auction process through the SnapName auction management interface and it appears that the term for exclusivity rights has been shortened, hopefully the automatic renewal has been dropped too. Has anyone seen the new contract to verify these changes. lets hope that all the unfair language has been taken out of it. (that’s the only smart thing to do at this point)
 
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Moniker who knows???

I think the contract is stultifying at best and had never even heard of Moniker until 6 weeks ago when they contacted me.

The only domains I ever bought were for my own businesses but I took a run at .asia because I had some ideas for end users.

Moinker has two of my domains in the Paris auction and I let them price them. They set a range of $100,001-$250,000 which I know means nothing if no one bids on them. But for someone as inexperienced as I, the restrictive contract of Moniker seemed one-sided but it allows me to concentrate on my real business.

Doc
 
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It helps they upgraded their submission software.
 
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