The Non-Disclosure Clause is Bullshit

Morning Folks!!


You read that right! Non Disclosure Clause is Bullshit. It can actually be a benefit to you. The penalty for violating a non disclosure is usually the return of the item and the money. OK. I can buy into that. Let me tell you all my secret deals and see if the buyer wants to give me back the domain for what he or she bought it for.


Get the point? It’s a paper tiger. It means nothing. It only means something during the first days of the deal. After that, meaningless and most of the non disclosure agreements can be violated with no penalty whatsoever.


Aside from that, I have only been involved with 1 non-disclosure deal and while I can never disclose, the buyer never had the broker sign the non-disclosure.


The #1 reason for non-disclosure seems to be “Embarrassment.” True. Companies are scared that others will laugh or think they overpaid. That usually goes away within days of obtaining the domain. Few ever regret buying the domain name.


So when folks want non-disclosure I say no. No! NO! and NO again! Why? Because I am trying to establish a market. The sale has more benefits to me and the domain industry than just the dollars. Look at the story and take out all my sales. Some like Men.com and iReport.com were markers in the sand. Sales like that help to build the foundation for other sales.


So go ahead. If you sold a domain too cheap and it is now worth a lot more, you can talk without fear in most cases. The remedy in most cases is you have to give them their money back and you get the domain if they were to exercise their rights. I am not saying go back on your word, I am talking about the penalty for violating the contract. There really is none.


At the very least you can go back and ask them to release you from that clause. Many have a time limit built in. So after 3 years you can speak. So you can always use that as a backup.


I think folks would be STUNNED by how many deals we never hear about. For example, I would venture to say 3 of every 4 million dollar deals are never reported. Even in the iReport deal that was the final sticking point. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, Not going to happen. Yes, I would walk away from the deal. YES! YES! YES!


Have a GREAT Day!

Rick Schwartz


Just a little footnote. On the Meet.me deal, the 3 of us agreed we would not sell with a non-disclosure. That deal would have not happened if a non-disclosure was involved. If it were involved, that information would have never seen the light of day. Nobody would know about that deal. That is why new info is so important and we all have a responsibility to support what we do.