Purchase of domain name

Domain name recovery

Are you interested in acquiring a domain name but don’t have any rights to it? SafeBrands offers to negotiate its purchase for you.

WHEN SHOULD YOU HIRE US?

A domain name that is already registered (descriptive or not) interests you for a project or your company’s brand strategy. You want to buy this domain name but don’t want to reveal your identity.

You don’t know how to proceed and wish to have the best chance of concluding an agreement by using the secure services of a trusted third party. You have reached an agreement with a domain name seller and would like to benefit from our expertise to carry out the transactions.

SafeBrands offers to stand in for you for all the procedures, through its domain name buyback service. In most cases of this type, it is not possible to establish the infringement of intellectual property rights; the name holder is the legitimate “owner.” The owner cannot be forced to part with it.

In addition, we will routinely evaluate the value of the name. Even if we cannot guarantee that the amount will match the holder’s expectations, this estimate will avoid unnecessary steps, if it is clear that the budget to be allocated is lower than the estimated value of the name.

Even if success is unfortunately never guaranteed, our experts are available to make specific analyses of possible additional actions that may crop up during the file in light of our discussions and the information collected.

Our service offering is divided into three major steps:

Negotiations
Agreement on the sale price
Name transfert and transfert to you

1. NEGOTIATION

Expenses related to this mandate are non-refundable and invoiced by domain name, at the unit cost given in the appendix. They are charged for communications between SafeBrands and the domain name holder and for all negotiation that we will undertake, as detailed below.

In certain cases, if the time required for the file exceeds the current standard duration (approximately two hours), continuing the procedures will result in additional billing for the time involved. In this case, you will be consulted beforehand so you can decide whether to continue or end the procedure.

Step 1.1 : Preliminary study

Once the mandate has been given, our legal department will quickly compile a status report in which the following documents are recorded and archived:

• Screenshot of the website homepage

• Screenshot of the source code on the homepage

• Information about the domain name in the WHOIS database

• The result of in-depth research to identify the type of domain name holder and the different possible contact methods

These steps are carried out in order to identify any change in situation, to enable the unblocking of a file in which the domain name holder refuses to sell, or to identify the holder in order to make contact.

Step 1.2 : Making contact

The second step is to make contact with this name holder, which can quickly become complex: because the WHOIS contact details are not up to date, the addresses given are incorrect, the holder hides its real identity behind a private WHOIS, etc.

Drawing on its experience, our legal department may carry out different research to increase the chances of identifying the holder. All methods identified by our department will be used here: e-mail addresses, telephone number, social networks, etc.

We will inform you of the establishment of relations with the domain name holder. The holder will be contacted on behalf of an anonymous third party, the potential buyer. This approach involves making carefully-considered contact in order to avoid creating the impression that we are desperate to buy at any price. If contact could not be established quickly with the holder, more assiduous attempts will be made using the different contact details that we have found.

Depending on the progress of the steps or the unresponsiveness of the holder, we can decide together to communicate directly on your behalf if you wish. This may have a negative effect on the amount negotiated, so this step should be approached with caution.

If the holder cannot be reached within three months, we will inform you and close the file. You will be given a research and actions report. If the recovery is to be initiated and conducted in an emergency situation, we also offer an option that allows you to benefit from actions taken in a tighter timeframe.

Step 1.3 : Drop catching and back ordering

At the start of the process, if the domain extension allows, we will set up a real-time detection probe that will allow us to intervene if the domain name is not renewed, or is deleted, by the holder at the end of its registration contract. If the name falls into the public domain in this way, you will have the opportunity to:

• Recover the domain name if you are the only applicant (additional fixed fees in the appendix).

• Take part in auctions that will take place in the event of multiple requests: additional fixed fees plus the cost of the auction (management of the end of an auction outside French business hours is subject to a charge for the time involved).

However, through various solutions, we offer multiple strategies to maximize the chances of recovery and reduce the chance of an auction.

Step 1.4 : Negotiations

Where direct contact is made, we will inform you of the holder’s intention to sell or keep the domain name and of the holder’s expectations in the event of a buyback opportunity. We will begin trading to establish a purchase price that meets your expectations.

Special case of specialized platforms:

In the context of trading on specialized platforms (Sedo, BuyDomains, Namedrive, etc.), if the bid made according to your budget is accepted by the seller, an irrevocable purchase obligation will be automatically transmitted. It is therefore important to consult your account manager to know the applicable rates and we will ask you to confirm your agreement before submitting the bid.

These platforms require fast payment times (maximum five days). After these deadlines, the transactions are cancelled. In this situation, SafeBrands will offer you a “cash advance” option (see below).

2. AGREEMENT ON THE SALE PRICE

If the holder agrees on a selling price, the quote for domain buyback will be sent to you, with the following details:

Cost of third-party buyback

Depending on the seller’s country of residence, trading as well as purchase of the domain name may be carried out in a foreign currency (€, £, etc.).

During trading, we will provide you with these amounts in their original currency and Canadian dollar equivalents. The buyback amount will be charged in Canadian dollars. To this calculation we apply the conversion rate in force on the day the quote was made. Nevertheless, a safety margin equivalent to 0.05 points of the conversion rate in effect will be retained.

SafeBrands Commission

Communicate in private.

Transaction fees (trusted third party, bank charges, etc.)

Communicate in private.

Domain name transfer and annuity fees corresponding to the price of the domain extension

These depend on the registry that manages the domain extension in question.

Change of owner fees corresponding to the domain extension

Once the buyback quote is signed, the invoice will be sent immediately. Payment must be on receipt of this invoice. If your company cannot settle the buyback immediately at the risk of thwarting the agreement with the seller, SafeBrands will offer you a cash advance option.

Cash advance

This service allows us to place the necessary funds on the secure platform upon receipt of the signed quote by our sales department. In fact, too great a delay can jeopardize the transaction and cause the seller to reconsider its decision. In addition, the extra follow-up required to manage the payment delay may result in the billing of specific fees.

3. NAME TRANSFERT AND TRANSFERT TO YOU

Once the buyback has been concluded, we will proceed with the repatriation of your domain name to our account. In any case, we will keep the name ownership for 60 days to avoid speculation by cyber squatters. During this period, the domain name cannot be used.

This period is however optional, you can ask us to change the owner immediately in order to use the domain name as soon as possible.

Get a free consultation

According to the provisions of the french law « loi informatique et libertés n°78-17 » of January 6, 1978, you have the right to access, correct and delete the personal data that SafeBrands collects from you. You can obtain more information regarding this subject by connecting to the website www.cnil.fr. our personal data are collected by us for the sole purpose of contacting you as part of your free consultation request. You can contact us to exercise this right, with a copy of your ID attached, by writing to the following address : Safebrands, Correspondent Informatique et Libertés, Pole Media of the Belle de Mai, 37 rue Guibal, 13356 MARSEILLE Cedex 03, or via email to cil@safebrands.com.