How Do I Reply to a Domain Offer?

It”s a bit strange to me, but there are a lot of domain investors that don’t know the best way to reply to a domain offer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as easy and as clear cut as it may seem, but in my opinion, if you are going to be a domain investor with a goal of selling domain names, you need to know how to reply to an offer to close a deal.

First off, it’s critical to research who your potential buyer might be by using the email address, name, IP address and/or anything else revealing about the potential buyer. This is important to make sure they aren’t going to use your reply in a UDRP or lawsuit, and so you are able to know why the domain name is coveted and how it will be used. I don’t like pricing domain names based on the size of the wallet of the buyer, but it would suck to sell a domain name for $5,000 when the buyer is going to spend millions of dollars to market a new brand around a specific domain name.

With that being said, I want to give you a recommendation to learn a good way to reply to potential buyers: attempt to buy a domain name from one of the industry leading companies or domain investors. I am sure some people will probably not like to get emails from non-buyers posing as prospects, but it’s a good way to learn from experienced domain investors and domain sellers.

For example, Buy Domains has successfully sold millions of dollars in domain inventory, and they get inquiries every single day from potential buyers. They’ve probably got a pretty good response down by now, and you may be able to learn from that.

The one caveat is that you can’t be too passive in this exercise because many companies may not even reply unless you make a significant opening offer, which says a lot right there without even saying anything. Needless to say, a company like Buy Domains will probably reply no matter what, and perhaps they will try to cross-sell, down-sell, or up-sell you depending on the domain name.

Although the domain business isn’t yet mature, there are plenty of leading companies out there whose insight can be gleaned by others. Your success can only help them in the future.

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

55 COMMENTS

  1. Feel free to remove or edit if not to your taste but here is how I handled a recent inquiry.

    Their opening email for PushUpBras.com

    “I’m interested in purchasing this domain from you. My boss is curious how much you’re asking for it.”

    Thanks,

    My First Reply:
    “Does your boss have nice tits?”

    His Reply:
    “She walks around swollen as a lactating cow. They’re great.”

    I always find that breaking the ice, changing the subject, saying the unexpected, takes negotiations to another level very quickly.

  2. *

    RS,

    I just hope that’s a bad joke and not a real response. That comment is not only sexist, but also offensive to women. How do you know that the potential buyer isn’t a woman or even a man who actually respects women?

    You would never hear from me again.

    Now to the topic at hand: I also research the buyer. If the buyer keeps his or her identity a secret, I quote a huge price, no matter the domain. That gets rid of the riff raff. In the absence of a full name, I will also research an email address, and if the search brings up the identity, I will politely address the person by his or her full name. My website clearly states that I want a potential buyer’s full name. Also, I state that if he/she is a domain appraisal scammer to just move along.

    If the potential buyer gives his or her own name, I will research the the domain a bit more fully and quote what I think is a reasonable price, perhaps on bit on the high side. That way, we have some negotiating room. I am very polite; I thank the potential buyer for his/her interest in my domain. I just assume that the person is interested and not just fishing (even if I suspect that that’s the case, because you never know).

    I just think that courtesy and respect never go out of style.

    🙂

    *

  3. @ MS Domainer

    “You would never hear from me again.”

    If you were going to pay 6 figures, which is probably the price it would take Rick to sell it, you would put aside your personal feelings and try to get a deal done. It’s business, and you can go off thinking RS is an asshole for making a comment like that, but it would only hurt your business if you let your personal feelings get in the way.

  4. I always ask if this is for personal or business use and ask what they will do with the domain. If they don’t answer, then I am no worse off than before I received the email. If it is a business, I look at the market and size of search competition before setting price.

    I do a lot more, but can’t share all of what I do…

  5. *

    Elliot,

    I don’t do business that way; I also don’t buy or sell six-figure domains.

    That being said, as a potential buyer, I would break off negotiations, wait for a while, and go through a domain broker–that is, if I really wanted that specific domain. Otherwise, I would seek another domain.

    The “boys will be boys” argument is getting old, especially when the “boys” are supposedly grown business men.

    *

  6. @ MS Domainer

    If I was a woman, I might be offended, too. The beauty of Rick’s business is that he answers to nobody. If a company is offended by his reply and doesn’t do business as a result, chances are good that Rick won’t care and they didn’t want it badly enough. People get offended in negotiations (“my house isn’t worth $1,000,000 it’s worth $1,200,000!”) but the negotiator who retains a cool head with his or her eye on the goal will prevail.

  7. The best offer I ever got was $500 for an absolutely top domain. At that time, I was making over $500 a day on that developed site. He even had the nerve to wonder why I never replied to his ‘fair offer.’

  8. I think Rick was right-on the money with how to deal with that partixcular situation….

    He wanted to find out more about the owner, and now knows that it is a ‘she’, which means he can negotiate with his feminine-side that only comes out at special events…

  9. This is the reply I’ve been using for awhile now;
    If you want to buy this I will make it available for auction beginning at the price we agree on and let the marketplace determine its value.
    My last sale was done this way at Sedo and began at $399.00, the buyers desired price, and no one else bid on it so thats what they paid.
    Let me know if that’s a good price for you or if you had something else in mind.
    Also, if you don’t want it to go to auction but would rather buy it outright be sure to make the offer significant.
    Thanks for your interest.

  10. I am apologize for the response Mr Schwarz to our email. In my country the swollen mammaries are very nice . HIgh five. We also do not have this pigeon bird to have shit on .

  11. @rick,

    your a brave brave man with that reply.

    not sure how i would go about making up some figure on some random name / combination domain.

    @Paul Brin has a reasonable idea and think it would work well seeing Rick has taken all the 6 figure names, i dont think i could negotiate a 6 figure sale though for a domain (most probably die from laughter first) and would employ a lawyer to make things fair in negotiation(s)

    @Borat……a simply golden response

    wish i was around 10 years ago

  12. I have had different experiences with every domain that I have sold. One offer I received from a Network Solutions broker so I had no idea who the buyer was. They offered me $xxx for the domain and I could respond with a counter offer. I picked the max $xx,xxx and 8 hours later it was accepted. Once the transaction was over I found out who it was and my hunch was correct.

    Another was just a private inquiry. I wound up accepting less than what he was offering if he agreed to push the domain to a Sedo auction. He did and in the end I received double what he originally offered. Not everyone goes for that but I have tried it a few times and I have gotten more for the domain every time.

    Right now I am in the middle of negotiating an actual website. Much tougher but enormous potential, so we’ll see.

    Great blog!

  13. Hey folks,

    I am new to domaining. I often wonder, how people make money from a developed site? I am aware of Google adsense. I have also heard of lead generation and I am almost about to give it a try, but do not know which company to try it with.

    Could anyone of you connoisseurs guide on some good ways to monitize domain names?

    Thanks in anticipation.

  14. I think Rick knew he was not responding to a woman, but a response like that is very unprofessional because it could backfire. It’s childish at best and sick at worst. Just because the response was positive only goes to show there are others operating on the same level. I guess that’s how most of us guys relate to each other and the world, but it would be arrogant and foolish to think everyone can relate this way. I don’t think Rick cares how or when the next sale comes along. And I also don’t think he cares that relating this story could hurt him in the future, for example if Ms. Domainer should ever contact him about a domain the way she would negotiate with you will be much different than if she had not learned about this aspect of your personality. A big part of negotiations is getting the other party to “like” you if you can for the small advantage you get. I would never risk losing this with an attempt at humor that was questionable at best and in 2010, clearly out of place in business.

    Say Risk, you don’t mention if you ever got that sale or not…? 🙂 Anyway, unless you are as successful as Rick I think this is a perfect example of what NOT to do, and as such very educational and useful.

    But about contacting compaines that sell domains to see how they work, I was expecting you to provide an example. While it’s ok to fish for information, I think it would be a kindness to have one person do it and then relate the experience to all of us. Maybe someone knows someone at one of the large companies that would be willing to talk about how they deal with the different types of offers and buyers that we get contacting us on a regular basis?

    I just got a message about Earlet.com and the person said very little about themselves. It’s hard to tell if they are just casual or more serious from the first message. I know most of you don’t treat all inquires seriously, but I do up to a point. I don’t have many sales and you never know when a low offer, badly written, or short message has some real intent behind it. Frankly, when I act as a buyer’s agent or broker, I learn as much about the seller as possible (I do extensive investigations on sellers and buyers.) so I have the best possible profile of who I am dealing with. In one case I dug around until I found the person’s home address. With that informtion I was able to find out what the value of their home was. That doesn’t mean a lot, but it means something and was added to the list. I don’t have formal training as an investigator, but I started doing this even before I got into domaining so I could know something about new consulding clients. With domaining it became even more important.

    “I don’t like pricing domain names based on the size of the wallet of the buyerbut it would suck to sell a domain name for $5,000 when the buyer is going to spend millions of dollars to market a new brand around a specific domain name.”

    Sounds like you have an inner conflict going on there…? A sense of fairness and financial greed? 🙂 I admire that you have this conflict, many in our industry don’t have it. A few just price domains at what they think is reasonable for a profit margin and eschew having regrets. Others slap huge prices on everything and wait for the fish to bite. When they get some interest they play tough and get as much as they can. If they can make a deal they are happy and the customer often feels screwed. Well, that’s business. There are winners and there are L-O-S-E-R-S!!!

    Very nice. And great for repeat business and making a good name for yourself…

    Anyway, I deal with this problem too, and it is the one thing I have not been able to resolve at this point. The buyer wants a price, but what price can I name that will be within the range they will negotiate on, yet not leave too much money on the table? Asking for a price almost never works. When they name something it’s always way under what I feel I need to get. Maybe my expectations are too high. I’m trying bargaindomains.com now to see if I can sell some domains there. I think they have a good model in basing prices on a large discount of the Estibot appraisals. I think they just need more domains and more publicity to draw in end-users and it will take off.

  15. Personally, I don’t think Rick’s approach is the best but then again there really is no good way to reply to sale inquiries, imo.

    Bruce Tedeschi mentioned he asks the buyer what they intend to do with it but I have tried that a few times and it was always met with hostility when the buyer said it was none of my business.

    Lately we have been getting a disproportionate number of inquiries from people claiming they are nonprofit organizations and wanting a very low price as a result. Always tough to deal with that without insulting them since I know the nonprofit aspect is usually BS. Any thoughts on that?

  16. If they are using a gmail address, I usually respond with “I do not discuss business with people using gmail”, and then ask them to use their corporate address. If they say they do not have a corporate address, then I ask for some other address that is not “free email”. If that fails, then I do not respond.

    If they want a .com premium at a lowball price, I “downsell” into a .net or less valuable .com. I do this a lot. Rather than drop my price I offer a domain that is within their price range. I even do this with brokers. It lets the buyer know there are options, and that they are wasting time trying to buy on the cheap. I did this a few weeks ago with an afternic broker… and the buyer came back with an offer above my asking price! Shocked the **** out of me. First domain I ever sold above the clearly stated BIN. That domain is now fully developed and buyer and seller are both happy.

    If they ask for a domain that is fully developed (not minisite) and stated as Not For Sale in the FAQs section, then I get downright snarky with them for not exercising due diligence.

  17. One thing you have to realize about sales is that 2 parties come to the table and lie and bullshit each other. They play liars poker. That’s the nature of negotiations and sales. So you can keep it on that level which is a very tough way to do things or you can have a meeting of the minds by finding out the needs and wants of each party.

  18. The scenario:

    Question: “Is _______.com available for sale? If so what is the price?”.

    Answer: “[Name of your domain company] only responds to serious inquiries. A serious inquiry is defined as including the name of the company, telephone number, name of the interested party and the planned use of the domain name if acquired.”

    ————————-
    YOU set the terms of negotiation, not the buyer!!!

  19. “…2 parties come to the table and lie and bullshit each other.”

    And what happens when only one of the parties is playing this game? The one that is not lying or BSing is going to have little to no respect for the one that is. I do agree that you need to find out as much as possible when negotiating, but in my experience, that’s really easy to do if you pay attention. Look at all that has been revealed about the people that are posting in this thread. I can see a lot that I could take advantage of if I should later try to do a deal with them.

    I prefer honesty just short of anything that is harmful or not in my best interest. I’m not going to state the lowest price I will take and I may say things that cause uncertanty and doubt for the other side. But I sure as hell would not tell anything that was lie. If I have to do that to make a sale or get a better price, then that’s not a business I should be in – I can’t feel good about that business model, but that’s me. I know others don’t care.

    I have been contacted by non-profits before, but if you are worried about someone being disingenuous there are ways to find that out or work with limitations:

    “I can take payments toward ownership while you can use the domain”

    “I can rent the domain”

    “Are you sure you NP needs a .com? Wouldn’t a .org be more fitting and affordable?”

    “Let me talk to the ED or board directly and maybe we can work something out if they don’t have to pay your full commission? Neither of us will make much, but the NP will get a good name.”

    I don’t know, I guess because I don’t BS and don’t like it I find it’s pretty easy to spot and cut through it… 🙂

  20. That’s why you don’t see too many women in business. They mix personal feelings with the business, which I don’t think it’s a good thing.
    Once, a woman wanted to enter in a business with me…but then when we had some arguments about some personal things (not business related) she was quick to also shut down the business proposal.
    Other than that, if I don’t know the person who is asking very well then I would make Rick’s comments. I don’t know with whom I interact and it’s better to be neutral…but that’s me.

  21. Correcttion:
    “Other than that, if I don’t know the person who is asking very well then I would make Rick’s comments. ” – it should be “wouldn’t” instead of “would”….damn speed…

  22. Speaking about “Breaking the Ice…”
    There is this one company or party (its unclear and hard to guess who it is) who claim in their ads which fills the net that they’re ready and willing to purchase generic premium quality domains;
    yet, whenever you display to them any domains (and I mean only those of the one generic word .com caliber domains); they abruptly ask for a pricing as if saying “Lets cut through the hi, bla bla bla and bye crap..”, and then whenever you prudently do as they order, they immediately and automatically respond: “we’ll pass on this one… We’ll pass on that…”
    So, you know how I decided to demolish what is left of the icy bridge between us?
    I suggested that they should go for the domain pass.com, because its the only guess I have for the domains they seem to be searching for…
    Ha Ha Ha… I know that ain’t funny. However, don’t pass on it…

  23. If I did not know better I would think RS was trying to “clip his competitions wings” …

    After all this post was supposed to give GOOD advice on how to respond to a domain offer. It seems RS did not take that to serious. So you should not either Elliot, it is clearly NOT the way you should respond to a domain offer and hopefully readers will realise that.

    You say that if people want a million dollar deal they better just shut up and accept his mannerism. But this does not help the average investor hoping to sell a xxxx$ name to a local businessman/woman.

    Bottom line.. Ms. domainer had it right. Be polite and make a serious counter offer. Dont offend just to break the ice, thats just poor people skills.

  24. When approached by email I firstly try to nail these points:

    1. Are you a dealer?
    2. Will you be developing the domain?
    3. What is your offer..

    I need to know if the buyer is on the same page before going ANY further, otherwise I’m spending 3,4,5 emails trying to find out and basically wasting time.

    I don’t usually sell to dealers unless it’s a traffic domain. If they are business or private I need to get an angle on their future intentions for the domain. I’m not really motivated to sell ANY domain, and that should be made clear unless I receive the figure I have in mind. If the buyer runs away and hides then I know I have a faffer or a lowballer and time has been saved. Otherwise, if it’s the “right buyer” negotiations on my terms can then begin.

    The way I look at domain sales.. We are selling unique property, once that domain is sold it’s gone!. The other party is going to profit, develop and gain from it long term. Because the future of domain property hasn’t even started yet!!

    If you are fortunate enough to own BIG domains, then you’ll relate to my outlook.

    As Rick points out, braking the ice can also work wonders in negotiating a sale. It depends on the domain, the nature of the contact and which side of bed you woke up 🙂

  25. I find it annoying when I enquire about a domain and the seller asks me what I plan to do with it – I don’t see how it’s any of his/her business. It’s not like I’m asking to borrow it!

    • @ Adam

      I encounter that on occasion, and I think it’s the fact that some people have owned their domain names for 10+ years and have grown attached. I also think some people fear their prized domain name will turn into the huge brand they could never turn it into themselves, and they would want to be a part of that transformation (ie keeping a %).

      Needless to say, I don’t generally disclose my plans unless I have plans.

  26. Yes, I sometimes ask what a potential buyer is going to do with a domain. The “None of your business” reaction is overly defensive and says you have no trust or respect for the seller. There are only a few reasons I can think of why this question is asked:

    a) The seller wants to know more about what you consider the valule of the domain to be which will affect their price. A casual investor may get a lower price than the person that “needs” the domain for a project already under way (“What do you mean you haven’t registered the domain yet…!!??”).

    b) As mentioned, the seller has a stupid attachment to the domain and wants to see it go to a good home and not be abused. “You want to put an rodent porn site on my MiceInLove.com? No way!)

    c) The seller may also be a developer or know someone who is and is thinking about suggesting products or services.

    So I recommend being defensive, but not reveal things that are going to be likely to put you at a disadvantage. In fact, you can use this question to your possible advantage by the way you answer:

    “My XXXXXX died and I want to build a tribute site to their life.”

    “It’s for a non-profit group I work with. I’m donating it to them.”

    “I like the name.”

    “My wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/child/grandmother/buddy needs a domain for a site they want to build. They can’t afford much so I’m trying to get the best name possible for them.”

    “Oh, we are thinking about doing a site about xxxx and want to make sure we have a domain that will work before we start planning it.”

    Some these suggestions are less serious than others. I don’t recommend making a big lie. Someone did that to me once and I still resent it. If you have to lie, then something is wrong with the way are doing business, IMO. Better to evade or to be vauge with your answer if you feel you have to. But if you can tell the truth, it will resonate on an unseen level with your buyer, or seller for that matter.

  27. Here is what I do, since most of the offers are ridiculously low I respond by saying I turned down $5,000 last year for this name so I am not interested in selling it for $100. The $5,000 figure changes depending on the name but represents the ball park price I want for the name.
    This approach saves everyone time since a serious buyer will counter or continue the discussion if truly interested and the low ballers move on.

  28. I made an inquiry to buy a domain last week.
    the guys response and asking price was enough to make me never ask again.
    it wasnt the best domain but his reply was $49k and that was enough to make me laugh and not to bother with him.
    if he left room to negotiate on his price he would still have enough to buy a nice car, but he didnt

    so i collected all the ccTLD’s and .org etc.
    now its who has the best SEO strategy / marketing.
    with him parking the domain……..im sure i will win.
    i will wait for him to offer me the domain seeing i have all the other extensions now and hopefully turn the tables and get for 10k (still a nice price for that domain).

    i could have purchased a few LLL.com’s for $49k.
    I am young so I have time on my side and if it takes me 10-20 years to get a good price then its no problem.

    I didnt ‘lowball’ him with a dumb offer just for the record. 😛

  29. I once replied to a request for price with $110k. Considering that I had never sold a domain for more than $2k I was either being stupid or I really didn’t care if I sold the domain, but I didn’t get a counter offer.

    If you get put off because you got a huge price as a response it says to me you didn’t really want the domain all that much. I’m sure you didn’t give him your top offer, so you could have kept trying. Being offended has no place in negotiations. That’s not always easy when dealing with a jerk, but what’s more important, your ego or the deal? Too often it’s the ego that wins. I know it has with me from time to time.

    But I question the logic of buying up the other TLDs. Most people seem to think when the other TLDs are registered that it drives up the price of what is available. Even if you SEO like crazy and bury the main domain (.com right?) Any site on the other domains may lose some traffic to the .com from people that are confused. They expect any popular site to be on .com and often type that in out of habit even when they know they were looking for the .net or .org.

    Do you think there are other people that would put the same price tag on this domain as you do? If not, I would wait 30 days and then offer him $1k less than your first offer. Keep doing this every month with lower and lower offers. You may wear down his resistance as he realizes that he is not get other offers that are close to what he asked and that your interest is getting less and less as time goes on. If nothing else it might make for nice revenge. 🙂

  30. Sales is a numbers game. (no pun intended)
    You have to hear a number of “no’s” before you will
    receive a “yes”.

    If the domain doesn’t have a lot of natural appeal or meaning,
    you might need to be more flexible.
    (Punchbowl,com compared to GlassMixingBowl.us)

    There are many styles and approaches to selling.
    But, you have to be comfortable with that style.

    Some prefer a very professional approach.
    Some prefer the ‘used car salesman’ approach.

    Some sales persons razzle dazzle with facts and figures.
    Some use ‘take it or lease it’.

    Some sales persons enjoy the negotiation game.
    Some hate it.

    There is no totally correct style.

    As for the buyers use – personal or business – it is totally irrelevant.
    You can only sell it once.

    The buyers job is to buy the domain as low as they can.
    The sellers job is to close the sale at the maximum profit available at that time.
    You can only profit from the sale of the domain ONCE.

    Rick is correct.
    The majority of the time, the buyer and seller are both being misleading.
    This is not unique to the domain industry.
    It occurs everyday in every industry –
    real estate, automotive, cosmetic, television advertising, etc.

    “We have 3 other buyers looking at this townhouse.”
    “This is the only available Mercedes convertible in Delaware.”
    “This creme will make you look 10 years younger.”
    “Your TV commercial will be seen by 10 million viewers”
    “Cherrios will make you healthier.”
    “You will probably win the federal lawsuit if we move forward.”

    If the buyer can’t afford or justify the .com price and registers all
    of the other tlds. Then, develop them hoping to
    get a better price in the future, is kidding themselves.
    You just made the .com more valuable.

  31. @ MS Domainer,

    HEARD ABOUT FREEDOM OF SPEECH

    Shut Up!

    Don’t tell other what to SAY or do, …

    and who cares what you think anyway.

    Go watch Oprah.

  32. I rarely receive offers. However, I do close every deal for inquiries to buy. I don’t have deep pockets like most on this board, but I do well with finding what I personally think are good domains, and I put them in the hands of a company that will use them.

    My sales strategy is to be professional, patient, and persistent. I have to put in the work to find buyers, but I find it rewarding to close deals, especially when the end-user will request me to contact them again to sell them more domains. Then, I know that I have a buyer for several more domains in the same niche.

    I save all rejection e-mails. You never know when you may come across a domain they will want int the future. i thank a prospect that rejects a domain, telling them I appreciate their time and I respect them for contacting me.

    I know ahead of time what price I want for a domain. I may leave the price out of a sales request because I’ll have less than a 50% chance they will contact me if they don’t like the price point. I would take a different approach if I owned generic domains from pre-2002. I work with the domains I have.

    I know everything I need to know about a company – unique traffic, backlinks, sites that link in, ranking, a few keywords they are bidding on, and whether they own any additional domains. I make it a point to know about my domain, as well. I received a few replies where the buyer mentioned why they would need a domain because it doesn’t have any traffic. I knew enough about website and the domain. After convincing the buyer, they asked what I think the domain is worth, and what price I would want. It all worked out.

    I may lack the domain tools to look up every domain name a company owns, but I do come across some where I already have an idea of what domains they point to their website, or which they’re trying to sell.

    I will treat every sale different – a sale-by-sale basis. If a company uses the service and sells the product, and generates heavy traffic, I won’t be afraid to ask what I feel the domain is worth. For the most part, I know they will increase the value of the domain after they incorporate it into their marketing plan.

    I focus on at least 3-5 niches. As long as a buyer keeps the door open, I can work on closing the sale. At the beginning, I was rejected many times, but I assessed what I may have done wrong in the process. Making some sales mistakes and receiving rejections improved my sales experience.

    Buyers that make low offers sometimes don’t have any idea of what price the seller wants. Elliot mentioned that selling a domain for $5000 to a company that has a million dollar campaign would suck. What if a buyer make a $50,000 offer on a domain they could have purchased for $20,000? The seller is not going to say, “I actually would have taken $20,000. You can work with buyers that make low offers.

    It really depends on your domain portfolio. If you own thousands of domains, and don’t have the time to devote to negotiating with a buyer, then you could tell the buyer thanks for inquiring about the domain, but I decided I will retain the domain until I get the price I think it deserves. They may change their mind to buy the domain because they know the vale of the domain to their success.

    A seller who owns 1,000 domains, or less, can invest time to work with a buyer to make a sale. Sales are sometimes like the CPC rate. The more buyers you contact, the greater chance you will have to find a few prospects. I won’t pass up on any attempt to sell a domain.

    Every domain investor has their own sales technique that works for them. I believe that building trust is the key to succeeding. The buyer that never worked with a seller before may be reluctant to purchase a domain. There are quire of few dishonest people that are trying to take advantage. The price may be perfect, but how to deliver the goods may create some conflict. Once a domain investor closes a deal, they will gain the end-user’s trust to sell future domains. Closing the first sale with a particular buyer will result in more deals down the road.

    You learn from every sales experience. If you don’t sell because you made the deal too complicated, then you can avoid sharing too much information, or tossing out too many stats. Companies that rely on a specific service or product will find a way to purchase the domain. Unique traffic and their advertising expenses are useful to moving a deal forward.

    You don’t have to convince an established company with stats. Work on the price. If they request a price for the domain, don’t try to ruin the deal with trying the rebuild interest in the domain. Sometimes less facts is better to close a sale.

    I would like to buy and sell premium domains. However, I can only depend on finding what I think are good domains in marketable niches. It works for me. If you make more than what you spend, you’re doing something right. You can’t be afraid to sell domains.

    (IMO) Elite domain investors know exactly what price they want for any domain in their portfolio. They may have several prized domains that are not being offered for sale. If they receive the right offer to sell the domain, they will change their mind to sell the domain.

    Every domain has a price – whether it is price .99 or $100 million. A 4 figure name can sell for 6 figures, and a 6 figure domain may only sell for 5 figures. I think the domain name, the market appeal, and the use are good factors to determine the price. You can’t expect to receive an offer. When you build a reputation of one that owns and sells quality domains, then people will come to you. In the meantime, most domain investors must be active sellers to get results. Thanks.

  33. @Elliot.

    Thanks. Over the course of time, I learned a few good sales techniques from your blog. I appreciate the sales tips last year, as well as all the good information. I applied the techniques to gain practical experience. Pardon my random typos.

    I forget to mention that when a domain investor is working with a buyer, they should never sell to the domain to another end-user without consulting the first buyer about a higher offer. Having integrity is a good way to build trust. IMO, you will avoid any legal issues with binding offers. Thanks.

  34. @Elliot.

    Thanks. Over the course of time, I learned a few good sales techniques from your blog. I appreciate the sales tips last year, as well as the good information. I applied the techniques to gain practical experience. Pardon my random typos.

    I forgot to mention that when a domain investor is working with a buyer, they should never sell the domain to another end-user without consulting the first buyer about a higher offer. Having integrity is a good way to build trust. IMO, you will avoid any legal issues with binding offers. Thanks.

  35. at Ms Domainer

    Do not listen to RS . He is an old porn-parking-website investor so you cannot expect to much respect for women.

  36. Hi Elliot,

    I just received an email this weekend from a person claiming to represent an investor from Europe who wanted to purchase a domain name of mine for an amount in between 20,000 and 25,000 dollars.

    This individual instructed me to obtain a domain certification for the domain name which costs 159 dollars on the website he led me to. After researching the website using “whois.net”, I noticed the site was just created in the beginning of August, 2015. This alone raised a red flag.

    Here’s what the email said:

    1st email:

    “Hello!

    I represent an investor from Europe who needs [Redacted].com for a new project.

    My buyer is a professional investor.

    Are you still interested in selling?

    I work for a Swedish online auction company. I help our clients to buy names. If you have more domains, please email me the list.

    Are you a beginner or an experienced seller?

    Best Regards,

    Edvin Rosborg

    Vice President

    Tradera.com”

    2nd email after asking him what type of project he wants to use this domain name for:

    “You can read about my company Tradera at DNJournal http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2015/20150204.htm

    We have completed several big sales in 2015.

    My client is a well known businessman in Norway and can pay you a price in $20,000 – $25,000 range.

    Do you have a domain certificate?

    Professional buyers require this thing before starting the sale process.

    If you don’t have it’s not a problem. You can order it online.

    Please note my client does not accept it from each and every source. Only manual services are accepted.

    The certification must include the following:

    1. Independent valuation of the market price. It will show your domain name is not overpriced. On the other hand if the valuation comes higher we will increase the price accordingly.

    2. Trademark infringement verification. It proves your domain has no trademark problems.

    I’m also interested in a good estimate of the market price because they pay me % on each sale.

    You can read about the certificate agency at http://archive.answers-google.org/answers/threadview/id/153862.html (“Tradera Sales” is my nickname).

    The process is very easy:

    1. Go to the certificate agency site and order a certificate. Just submit your domains and let them know you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer and need a valuation near this value. If the price in your certificate comes higher we will increase our offer accordingly.

    2. Send it to me and he will buy at the fair market price.

    How do you want to get paid? What is your preferred payment method?

    If you are new to the certification process, I can help you with the step by step instructions.”

    3rd email after questioning him what exactly his client wants to use my domain name for:

    “I only help him to buy the domain. I don’t know his plans.

    He is waiting for your certification.”

    4th email after asking if (topdomainsales.net) was the correct site to purchase the domain name certification from:

    “Yes, this is the correct site.

    My client accepts their certificates. It’s very important because he does not want to risk and does not accept each and every certification service.

    Enter your domain there and write in the comment field you have a buyer with $XX,XXX offer so you need the valuation near this value.

    It will take only 2 minutes to submit your domains.

    They will send you the results within 24 hours. Simply resend me the certificate via email.

    After we receive your certificate we will proceed with the sale. I may help you with the transfer process. Please don’t worry. I will be with you during the whole sale/transfer process. You can count on my help.”

    5th email after letting him know the domain name certification will be ordered shortly:

    “Ok. I will let my client know the certification will be ordered soon.”

    6th email after informing him the domain certification was purchased:

    “I see. Very good. Please keep me informed. My client can wait.”

    After researching many different articles on the Internet, it looks like this is an elaborate scam and I just wanted to share this with you because others in the domain name industry may be experiencing the same thing. I cancelled the payment immediately after reading all the articles regarding this apparent scam. The writing this individual sent me was identical to the writing on the internet that described how this scam works.

  37. 7th Email after asking for his skype id:

    Please don’t worry. If it was scam I would not respond to this email.

    I don’t know his plans. I only help him to buy this name.

    What’s wrong with you? Just switch your brain on. If some people think I earn money on appraisals I don’t care. Did I send you any affiliate links? How can I earn money on the appraisals? Any idea? A lack of technical knowledge make people think such bogus things.
    I’m not interested in making $10 on referring appraisal services. I earn much more money on actual sales. My investors pay me 10%-20% on every sale.

    I earn money on reselling domains. I’m working with many clients all over the world and many of them are happy because I really sell domains. These losers from the forum never sold a single domain for 1000 usd or more.
    All these forums claim I must disappear after you pay for the appraisal. Did I disappear? I’m still here and I’m ready to work with you. You can read bad info about each and every company on forums. Don’t trust forums. Trust facts.

    • I have a valuable TLD that I occassionally get unsolicited offers on. . .I wish I had an agent who would represent me since all of them have been low-balling, or clearly not authentic buyers but researching the starting bid on my domain name.

  38. I like how you said it’s critical to research your potential buyer. That way you can make sure you’re making the best deal for both of you. I’ll keep this in mind when I have a potential buyer.

  39. This article is very helpful. Thank You. Now I understand how to pick a domain name. But, unfortunately, every short two-word domain name in a .com I have thought of for my niche is already taken. And the ones I thought of that are available I don’t like. I will keep racking my brain until I figure it out!

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