Peek Inside SerpNames’ Ethical Domaining Story

To my dearest SerpNames’ family,

I have a question, and I’m honestly curious! 

Just between you and me...

Would you still trust me if I showed you the greedy side of me? 🥺

I’m asking because recently, I almost violated ethical domaining 😭 

I said ‘almost’ because I nearly gave in to the desire for more profits over ethics. 

The Overview

This is how it started.

Just last quarter of 2020, I thought of reaching out to the owners of expired domains that are still active in the business.

Well, of course, to make more money (who would not?).

I mean, I’m still young and full of ideas on growing SerpNames, and I really thought that was a big idea for selling domains faster.

But little did I know...this would lead to a much bigger purpose.

Read on! 

The Story Revealed

I had no plans of concealing my greediness just to brag about this story and get everyone’s respect without disclosing what really happened behind the scene.

I want to be transparent. In fact, I want to share everything with you. And I want you to see who I really am as a person and as a businessman. 

SerpNames is still a business anyway, and we’re a domaining company!

So when the owner replied of her interest...

You know exactly I’m lying if I tell you, “Well, I was not really excited about it!”

BIG. FAT. LIE.

As a domaining company, I was ecstatic about this newly discovered strategy!!!

Well, who would really be the most interested people to get our newly captured domains? 

Of course, the previous owners who are still in business and for whatever reason forgot to renew their domain.

So when I received her reply, I told her...

The owner made her offer, and right there, we started negotiating.

Obviously, she doesn’t have any idea how valuable SEO domains are.

Well, just take a look at her domain details.

With DR 37, DA 34, referring domains of 250+ from giant sites, and most importantly, a domain coming from an extremely popular and profitable niche 😱 I bet you, too, would also think twice about returning it to the rightful owner.

So I declined her offer.

Apparently, she started to open up more about her personal life and business.

And this is where I started to change my mind a bit about the pricing based on the domain’s SEO value.

But then she negotiated again for a lower price.

So I told her this harshly 😭

And this is how she responded back...

To be completely honest with you, this is where I started to finally give in 😭 

I’m also a human, and I felt like being slapped 100x (side by side) before I got the reality behind this negotiation.

As you can see, I’m about to actually win this but surely on a losing proposition!

Undeniably, I’ll get her money but at what cost? 

That’s for shutting down her business, and I can’t stand it. Never!

Then she added this... 

She just sent me her photo, crying literally 😭😭😭

It really broke my heart, and I really felt guilty. 

Do I really have to do business this way?

Do I have to charge her that much just because she wanted her own domain badly?

This isn’t me! 

So I reached out to her, apologizing...

She’s so happy as in!

She even opened up more about her business, detailing how she worked hard for this while working on a second job.

And this is my honest reply to her.

And to cut the story short, we’ve had some issues with the domain transfer (a unique registrar), but in the end, she got her domain back ❤

Happy ending, isn’t it?

The Lesson

So why am I sharing this now?

To brag? I guess not!

Up to now, I’m still ashamed of myself for trying to hurt someone and for threatening a business to shut down. 

So why?

Because I want to spread ethical domaining to everyone I know and to spark motivation not just for domaining companies but for everyone who’s participating in the auctions. 

I shamelessly shared the whole story, so you know exactly how the owners feel when we take ownership of their lost domain. It’s like we’re taking their business away from them, LITERALLY! (Because we’re taking away their hard-earned business reputation).

While you might be the ‘legal owner’ of the domain, still what is the right thing to do? Really?

Since this happened, we made sure to include it in our process to check if the business is still active and reach out to the rightful owner and check if they’d be interested in getting back their domains.

This time, not for profit but to genuinely help them.

Then what exactly do we get for choosing ethics over profits?

Because choosing the right thing to do will give us the purest joy in our hearts, our souls, and our minds, you name it!

Just take a look at how I responded after this life-changing experience. 

I emailed Leslie, our growth manager in the team (and also one of my ever dearest best friend 😊)

At SerpNames, we consider everyone a family member, and we’re always there to support each other.

So we celebrate even the smallest wins up to the biggest milestones we have. 

Oh, and before I forget...

Always remember that there is so much joy in giving than receiving. Always!

And oddly enough, it is only when we keep on giving that we keep on receiving blessings upon blessings our way 😊

This is legit! It has been our core value since the last quarter of 2019, and up to now, it never fails to amaze everyone in the team.

Miracles just pop from nowhere, believe me! 🙈

The Takeaway:

When you happen to get a domain from the auctions, and the owner wants it back, but you were tempted to own it, remind yourself how to be a person. How to care and how to be a friend. It’s called authenticity.

After all, you’re still a human being with a heart. 

That’s it.

I hope with this, you realize somehow that we are all capable of creating happy endings to every story ❤

Rooting for your happiness,