Seeking assistance with purchase of a domain name
January 17, 2018 11:07 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for someone to contact and negotiate with the current owner of a domain name on my behalf. Not sure a domain broker is the right fit, unless I just haven't stumbled upon the right one. Details below.
I want to buy a domain name that is currently owned, and actively offered for sale by, someone else. ("Domain squatter" is not correct as I understand the term, since I have no reasonable or legal expectation to the name.) I've been watching the domain for over two years, and it's been for sale the entire time. The advertised price on the domain name is $3500, whereas I might be willing to pay $1000 and would prefer to pay even less. I understand that's a very large difference in price, but since it's been on the market so long I figure it couldn't hurt to try?
However, I'm extremely introverted/interpersonally awkward and terrible at negotiating, especially when anything of real value is at stake. So I've been considering hiring someone to approach the seller for me, but I'm not sure who that someone might be.
I've researched domain brokers, but primarily they seem to sell domains, not buy them. Some of them do offer buying services, but a percentage of the final price is included in the payment, which leads me to believe it's not in their best interest to reach the lowest possible price for me.
Any suggestions? Experiences using a domain broker or someone else for a purchase are welcome too. Thank you! :)
I want to buy a domain name that is currently owned, and actively offered for sale by, someone else. ("Domain squatter" is not correct as I understand the term, since I have no reasonable or legal expectation to the name.) I've been watching the domain for over two years, and it's been for sale the entire time. The advertised price on the domain name is $3500, whereas I might be willing to pay $1000 and would prefer to pay even less. I understand that's a very large difference in price, but since it's been on the market so long I figure it couldn't hurt to try?
However, I'm extremely introverted/interpersonally awkward and terrible at negotiating, especially when anything of real value is at stake. So I've been considering hiring someone to approach the seller for me, but I'm not sure who that someone might be.
I've researched domain brokers, but primarily they seem to sell domains, not buy them. Some of them do offer buying services, but a percentage of the final price is included in the payment, which leads me to believe it's not in their best interest to reach the lowest possible price for me.
Any suggestions? Experiences using a domain broker or someone else for a purchase are welcome too. Thank you! :)
I sold a domain name. I did not have a broker. The buyer tried to use godaddy to transfer the domain but they were not able to accomplish it. They ended up registering with my domain registrar and that worked fine. We used escrow.com to hold the funds until the transfer was complete. Godaddy has a domain appraisal tool - it is a very rough estimate.
Email the owner and make an offer. I see that you have registered meatfiter.com. I'd be interested in buying it for my project. I'm able to offer 825US. You can reach me at findabair@example.com or by text at 608-555-1212. Thank you. They might say No, they might ask for more $, or they might take your offer.
posted by theora55 at 12:14 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Email the owner and make an offer. I see that you have registered meatfiter.com. I'd be interested in buying it for my project. I'm able to offer 825US. You can reach me at findabair@example.com or by text at 608-555-1212. Thank you. They might say No, they might ask for more $, or they might take your offer.
posted by theora55 at 12:14 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
I had an excellent experience buying a domain name through DomainAgents.
I think the whole thing started with Hover, my registrar, and I did a search for a domain I wanted. This lead to me making an offer through DomainAgents, which I think cost me $20 to make the offer.
The way that DomainAgents works is that they offer $10 of the $20 you gave them to the domain owner if they even START negotiations.
All negotiations are done through DomainAgents. You make an offer, they counter, you counter-offer, etc.
In the end, I think I got a decent deal and (this is super important), it was all anonymous, so they weren't able to research me and find out if I have money or not.
DomainAgents takes a fee, and then we went through escrow.com, which also took a fee.
My final offer to was $1500, but in the end I think the whole thing cost me $1750 after fees. In this case, I found the fees to be worth it and it definitely alleviated the stress and anxiety that I otherwise would have felt.
posted by gregvr at 7:23 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think the whole thing started with Hover, my registrar, and I did a search for a domain I wanted. This lead to me making an offer through DomainAgents, which I think cost me $20 to make the offer.
The way that DomainAgents works is that they offer $10 of the $20 you gave them to the domain owner if they even START negotiations.
All negotiations are done through DomainAgents. You make an offer, they counter, you counter-offer, etc.
In the end, I think I got a decent deal and (this is super important), it was all anonymous, so they weren't able to research me and find out if I have money or not.
DomainAgents takes a fee, and then we went through escrow.com, which also took a fee.
My final offer to was $1500, but in the end I think the whole thing cost me $1750 after fees. In this case, I found the fees to be worth it and it definitely alleviated the stress and anxiety that I otherwise would have felt.
posted by gregvr at 7:23 AM on January 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Nearly 9 months after posting this, I put on my big girl pants and (successfully!) negotiated for the domain I wanted. Here are some resources that I found helpful:
posted by findabair at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2018
- This article: What Every Startup Founder Should Know About Buying Domain Names
- Researching comparable sales at NameBio
- Lurking on the forums at NamePros
posted by findabair at 12:37 PM on October 13, 2018
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posted by DarlingBri at 11:31 AM on January 17, 2018 [3 favorites]