Customer wants to make payments on a domain name???

[DougD]

Hi,

This is new to me. I have a potential domain buyer ask me if he could make payments on a domain. He wants to buy a domain from us for $599. He said he would put $99 down and make payments of $50 each for ten months. He said we can keep ownership of the domain until it is paid in full, as long as he can use the name during that time.

I think it is a great idea, but I have no idea how to set it up. Has anyone ever done anything like this before? Do you have some contracts I can look at? Do you need a special license or permit to take payments? I am not going to charge the guy interest or anything, so I do not know if that makes it any easier.

I already have a merchant account, so that is taken care of. One other thing though... Failure to make a payment... Would that be cause for loss of domain and loss of any monies already paid?

If anyone has any knowledge in this area it would be greatly appreciated.

I think this might be a great way to sell domains in the aftermarket as well. A lot of people want to buy domains, but they just don't have all the money to plop down on a premium domain.

I hope someone has an answer to this one...

Thanks,

Doug Dillard
www.TheDomainPros.com

[RKuhle]

I would charge him interest of some sort. Think about it, he pays all the bills for 6 months ($399) and decides he doesn't need it anymore. He already got his use out of it. Now he saves a couple hundred bucks because he didn't pay fully for it.

In the mean time, someone walks along and offers to pay you full price on the spot. But you obviously don't sell because someone else is "leasing to buy" it. Later this new buyer isn't interested, so you're stuck with the domain again.

So definitely create some kind of contract that protects you against a situation like this. If he fails to pay full amount, you keep domain and all payments. After all, he did get full use of the domain during the whole payment process.

Just some ideas...

[Steelsun]

Scenerio: He uses it for one month, causes all kinds of mayhem (pirating, porn, etc) and gets the domain name associated with all the wrong things. He closes down, won't pay anymore, etc. and now you are left with a domain name worth less (due to name affiliation) than a new one at a discount registrar.

[aspen]

its a standard rent to own contract, much like a house mortgage or car etc. (you don't own your house, the bank does)

Anyways you need to charge interest. 10% is usually standard, but you could also charge 5%. However since this isn't that expensive I'd charge 10% or more.

Tell him he can make 10 payments of $55 or $60 if he puts $99 down.

[DougD]

Thanks for the advice one and all...

Much Appreciated!

Doug Dillard
TheDomainPros.com