The seller then sent me a further wellknownEscrow.com offer for the same price, to complete the transaction. I agreed and signed up with this well know domain transfer website.
I then transferred my money to the website. After some time, and a couple of emails, the seller finally emailed me and said I 'm not going to continue with the deal.
I have been left high and dry with transfer costs and a website I have paid to be developed.
Surely an agreement to buy/sell is exactly that!
What are my legal rights? Can anyone help me?
However - read the sites TOS and that should clarify your position.
What I would suggest if that you read the escrow agreement of the escrow agency and the TOS/TCU of any agency that participated in the sale process.
It's possible that one or both agencies may refuse to conduct future business with sellers that don't comply with their terms of service. That can be a significant incentive to perform.
It seems a bit misguided to have a website built for a specific domain before you own the rights to the domain. My guess is that the actual website could be used with another domain, so your claim for additional loss is likely minimized.
As in all matters legal the best advice any of us can give is for you to talk to a lawyer. In this case, since you may wish to enforce the deal, it might be helpful to sue the scoundrel where he/she lives. That way you don't have to start a seperate (later) enforcement action in the soundrel's home State plus there's less of an issue about proper jurisdiction (all matters that need to be discussed with your lawyer).
Yes, the terms of the agreement are very clear that we have entered into an agreement to buy/sell.
Why do people go back on their word and hide behind emails and geography so much these days? Its just going to cost us both time, stess and money.
Thats life on the www...
