Be Persistent to Get Your Domain Name

There are a number of domain names that I would love to own. I would even be willing to pay full retail value for some of these domain names. The problem is that the owners have no interest in selling them for whatever reason. Being persistent is one way to get your deal done.

I want to share a non-domain name related story that could easily be a story about buying a domain name. It’s about a “tiny car” collector named  Bruce Weiner and how he was able to purchase a rare  1955 Kroboth Allwetter-Roller. Here’s how he was able to get the deal done according to NBCNews.com:

Weiner heard that a prized example of the car was owned by an older man in Bavaria. Weiner traveled to the man’s house every three months for three years, but the seller adamantly refused.

‘He chased me off the property every time,’ he said. ‘He either met me with a shot gun or German shepherds.’

Eventually, the owner died and Weiner befriended the man’s sister and brother, and convinced them to sell.”

Now I don’t recommend chasing people down to try and purchase a domain name. However, if you email them on occasion to remind them of your interest and willingness to pay a fair price, you might get lucky and be given an opportunity to purchase the domain name.

There are a couple of factors to consider. First, you need to be willing to pay a fair price. Many people would sell their domain name if given a good offer. Just because someone is blowing off your $2,000 offer on their 3 letter .com domain name doesn’t mean they don’t want to sell. Perhaps they know it’s worth more and your continued emails are annoying. Second, you should be friendly in your email and let the person know your interest won’t wane. Ask them to kindly be in touch if they want to sell.

I have done a few deals after being in contact with a domain owner multiple times over a period of time. People’s finances and/or lifestyles change, and their desire to sell a domain name may change as well. As a domain owner, I don’t mind someone’s persistence, as long as the offer is fair.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

20 COMMENTS

  1. Hello Elliot,

    Really serious suitors will even call your cell# as well as personally visit you. There is something powerful in eye contact as Weiner figured out early in the total gaming process.

    E-mails aren’t going to cut it with certain Sellers, E-mails are about as effective as Likes on Facebook in my opinion.

    Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)

  2. I agree with you. I was after one domain for more than two years which eventually I got it. After writing back several times in those two years, I finally needed to call the domain owner and convince him to sell at reasonable price which he accepted.

    • Abdul: I congratulate you! As a BUYER, you were in a “serious realm”…most, I find, are not committed to a domain name….even if it is costly. THey favor moving to another name that is far less attractive but less expensive. A professional who wishes to exploit a PERFECT domain name that tells the world about their product – concisely, will pay the price. It’s simply an investment cost. It appears that you know this concept well.

  3. Nice article. I agree, eventually you could get it for a decent price and, if you’re lucky enough, even for reg fee if the owner lets it drop. I know it seems impossible but it happens.

    • Doubt you can get a prized name for reg fee. If you want this name for a decent price, then people are watching this name in the auction.

      Would Noob dot com reach all the way to a full drop. I knew about this name and made calls to people associated with Midway Games. However, the company went bankrupt in 2008.

      There was nobody around that could renew this name and sell it. Essentially, the name dropped and went into NameJet auction. It’s a valuable domain name with extremely high searches.

      I just don’t see any excellent domain names you want dropping and you getting them for reg fee. It’s more like a miracle for this to happen. Maybe a lower tier domain name, but not a great name you offered money to buy.

  4. Great post. Persistance is key to achieving many things. I have even resorted to letter writing having sealed it with a wax seal. It seems unorthadox but sometimes you have to get creative to get in front of the people you need to.

    When paying full retail price on a domain is this something you would then invest into developing, Elliot?

    • I considered using snail mail to sell. Good point to mention traditional letter writing to buy and sell domain names.

      E-mails work well for many. Cold calling is also effective at tines. Letter writing shows you are really serious – whether you are buying or selling domain names.

  5. I think this is how Twitter got their domain name, by being persistent. The guy who owned it wouldn’t sell them Twitter.com, then they were able to track him down to a cafe, where they met him in person and offered him a cash price for the name on the spot, which he accepted. Before that they were using an improper spelling of the word, like Twttr.com

    • Hello Elliot,

      As Rick Schwartz would say Know the Value of what you are selling! If you sell blindly how will you ever be at the table of creation of the next BIG thing on the Internet? There are plenty of buyers looking for Lesser Fools, don’t be one of them.

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)

    • The Klout CEO moved from NYC to SF. He already had seed fudging. He needed that Klout dot com name. The owner didn’t want to sell. He followed this guy until he found the right time to confront him with $5K at a restaurant.

      This does not seem like persistence. More so stalking and harassing an owner who wanted 5-6 figures to sell his name. Good story to make owners avoid selling to a person until they reveal their need to acquire the domain name.

      I also lost out on selling a huge name for peanuts. This company rebranded and now has scored 4 million unique visits in past 7 months. Their website consistently delivers 350-400K unique visits per month. It’s a tough learning lesson, but Sedo will never reveal the buyer. You are deemed powerless to not know who you are dealing with in the selling process.

      How many of you can say you sold a domain name that is now the face of a company that will average 350-500K unique visits per month? We see weekly domain sales. How many of these domain names produce results?

  6. I’ve closed a few deals years after initial inquiry. All parties were happy. Ending communication with “If you’re ever interested in selling, my offer stands…” is pretty solid. I’ve found that simply leaving the door open is enough to get most of them coming back.

    Of course, often times, this is subsequent to my turning down their initial, moronic valuation. It usually takes a couple years for the train to arrive in GetRealville, when they come back not necessarily with their head any further out of their ass, but at least some some idea that if they want to sell, they have to reorient their previously idiotic expectations.

  7. As a Domain Name SELLER, I could not agree with you more. I have names like KidKlub, Online Bill Paying, Lean Lifestyle…Irreconcilable.com (one word for divorce) and people offer $60 against a price of $10K, let’s say. I immediately blow them off because I want the fair price for my names. So you are right…many if not most of us domain sellers want to sell, but the buyers are idiots!

    • I don’t mean any disrespect:

      It is highly likely that most people would want to pay $65K for a name. They would rather own something related to attorneys and lawyers that handle those cases. What is fair price? Sellers can also be dreaming and buyers know this.

      Would you think scriptwriting dot com is a $150K name? That is what the owner wants for his name. There are many alternatives than to pay $65K and $150K. Showing upcoming expirations dates is not a good selling point.

      Domain Name Sales domain names are registered many years. The owners show commitment to the value of their domain names. Would a seller want to pay top dollars for a domain name that is about to expire? Maybe. It really depends on the name.

      The seller has to work with the buyer, as well. It can’t be a one-sided process.

  8. There is a difference between persistence and harassing + stalking an owner to get what you want.

    Should a buyer use Twitter to pinpoint the location of an owner who is put on the spot to sell? That’s what Klout dot com CEO did, according to news outlets.

    People cross the line to get a domain name for cheap.

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