Should I sell my twitter account for $100k?
April 5, 2020 9:39 AM Subscribe
It’s more than a twitter account for me.
I have had my twitter account since twitter started. When I created it, I was very into a song that had a beautiful, somewhat uncommon word with a cool meaning. I used that word as my twitter handle as you could imagine.
My twitter has always been my home on the internet. It’s basically been a record of my adulthood. Every few months or so I’d download my twitter archive and jump into a random point of time to get a glimpse of my life back then. I also have used it to share some of my design work. I made a number of great connections through it, including someone who went on to became a state minister (I’m not from the US if you haven’t figured that out yet). Locally, I’d get people approach me in design events to ask me, “are you @mytwitterhandle?” I always feel great when this happens.
My twitter account morphed into a personal, makeshift branding initiative for me. It became a seed from which I created a website using a url derived from the same word. That word and its derivatives became my whole “brand.” It also started to become a representation of the cooler part of me. I can’t lie, I have tremendous sentimental value attached to it. I’ve always struggled with depression and anxiety and my twitter has always been there as a place in which I can be interesting and cool and receive positive feedback from others.
Throughout the years, I’ve started to notice that there are many commercial things that seem to use the word in their brandnames. I know that because I routinely get mentions where the users think that I am this or that brand. I get mentioned in tweets related to a car model, a beverage, a brand of cheese, various bars, a canceled tv show, fashion designers, to name but a few.
I was approached recently by a brand protection company to buy both my twitter and [another social network, name redacted to keep some privacy] accounts, which both use the same handle. I was very clear from the beginning that I’m only willing to sell the [redacted] account because I basically have no attachment to it.
I completed the [redacted] transaction (which I sold for nowhere near $100k if you’re wondering). However, the company remained insistent about the twitter account, and I kept refusing or outright ignoring their offers. Their “final” offer that sits in my email is $100k. They say it’s final offer and I’m supposed to get back to them soon.
I am really not in a bad place financially. I make $170k+ a year from my day job, and have no debt. Yes, I’d love to quit my job and live independently, but I just can’t see how this $100k will make that happen. I also worry about what will I do with my website, etc that relies on that word for branding purposes. Not to mention having to get people to follow whatever other twitter account I’d end up with (though admittedly the number of my followers is modest but it includes some extraordinary local individuals who I’m not sure would follow me across a twitter name change shenanigan).
I also keep thinking that this might be some good opportunity to make some money and I’m being stupid. I keep picturing others in my place and how they’d be thrilled to get this sum of money for a twitter account. Maybe I’m too depressed to appreciate this, I think sometimes.
What do you guys think?
I have had my twitter account since twitter started. When I created it, I was very into a song that had a beautiful, somewhat uncommon word with a cool meaning. I used that word as my twitter handle as you could imagine.
My twitter has always been my home on the internet. It’s basically been a record of my adulthood. Every few months or so I’d download my twitter archive and jump into a random point of time to get a glimpse of my life back then. I also have used it to share some of my design work. I made a number of great connections through it, including someone who went on to became a state minister (I’m not from the US if you haven’t figured that out yet). Locally, I’d get people approach me in design events to ask me, “are you @mytwitterhandle?” I always feel great when this happens.
My twitter account morphed into a personal, makeshift branding initiative for me. It became a seed from which I created a website using a url derived from the same word. That word and its derivatives became my whole “brand.” It also started to become a representation of the cooler part of me. I can’t lie, I have tremendous sentimental value attached to it. I’ve always struggled with depression and anxiety and my twitter has always been there as a place in which I can be interesting and cool and receive positive feedback from others.
Throughout the years, I’ve started to notice that there are many commercial things that seem to use the word in their brandnames. I know that because I routinely get mentions where the users think that I am this or that brand. I get mentioned in tweets related to a car model, a beverage, a brand of cheese, various bars, a canceled tv show, fashion designers, to name but a few.
I was approached recently by a brand protection company to buy both my twitter and [another social network, name redacted to keep some privacy] accounts, which both use the same handle. I was very clear from the beginning that I’m only willing to sell the [redacted] account because I basically have no attachment to it.
I completed the [redacted] transaction (which I sold for nowhere near $100k if you’re wondering). However, the company remained insistent about the twitter account, and I kept refusing or outright ignoring their offers. Their “final” offer that sits in my email is $100k. They say it’s final offer and I’m supposed to get back to them soon.
I am really not in a bad place financially. I make $170k+ a year from my day job, and have no debt. Yes, I’d love to quit my job and live independently, but I just can’t see how this $100k will make that happen. I also worry about what will I do with my website, etc that relies on that word for branding purposes. Not to mention having to get people to follow whatever other twitter account I’d end up with (though admittedly the number of my followers is modest but it includes some extraordinary local individuals who I’m not sure would follow me across a twitter name change shenanigan).
I also keep thinking that this might be some good opportunity to make some money and I’m being stupid. I keep picturing others in my place and how they’d be thrilled to get this sum of money for a twitter account. Maybe I’m too depressed to appreciate this, I think sometimes.
What do you guys think?
Try to value the account. It might be worth 250K, 500K, whatever. Then you'll feel better about rejecting the offer. and by Value, I mean the value to you.
posted by theora55 at 9:53 AM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 9:53 AM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
This is a good opportunity to make $100k that you could invest in the market now and benefit from what is likely to be a significant upside in 5 years or so. I can appreciate that you have a sentimental attachment to the handle, but it's not your name I have to believe you could become equally attached to a different handle in time. Moreover, who even knows that Twitter even will be a going business in a few years, never mind something that has anywhere near the cultural influence it has today? There may be people who really regret not selling their fortuitously-named AOL handles when it was a seller's market.
posted by slkinsey at 9:56 AM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by slkinsey at 9:56 AM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: 100k is nothing IMHO. For example, I’m vaguely familiar with website reselling/flipping business, and when dealing with properties under a million the ballpark “purchase price” is about 25-30x the average monthly income generated. So if i have a small site making 2k/month, in general i could flip it for 50-60k. If the brand is as big as you say it is I guarantee any good marketer could make more than 4k/month from it.
Now, not saying the markets are the same. But if you are interested in selling, do your own independent research as to what the real value of the handle is, and act accordingly. Do not trust them to give you a fair price — you need to understand yourself what that is. You’ve stumbled across owning property that is worth something. If this was physical land, you’d have an idea. This is digital land. Now of course something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but just do some research first on your own before deciding.
posted by cgg at 10:01 AM on April 5, 2020 [19 favorites]
Now, not saying the markets are the same. But if you are interested in selling, do your own independent research as to what the real value of the handle is, and act accordingly. Do not trust them to give you a fair price — you need to understand yourself what that is. You’ve stumbled across owning property that is worth something. If this was physical land, you’d have an idea. This is digital land. Now of course something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but just do some research first on your own before deciding.
posted by cgg at 10:01 AM on April 5, 2020 [19 favorites]
My calculus would be: Is it worth 10 years of my labor?
Your calculus would be: Is it worth 1/2 a year of your labor?
posted by aniola at 10:02 AM on April 5, 2020 [7 favorites]
Your calculus would be: Is it worth 1/2 a year of your labor?
posted by aniola at 10:02 AM on April 5, 2020 [7 favorites]
If I were you, I would take the $100k and then donate it through GiveDirectly or similar to people in a part of the world where it would be enough to live on forever.
posted by aniola at 10:03 AM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:03 AM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
If you do keep it, you should listen to the Reply All episode about username theft and ensure you're protecting this account as well as you'd protect any other stealable $100k object.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:14 AM on April 5, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:14 AM on April 5, 2020 [16 favorites]
Is the handle worth something to you in terms of like driving business your way? I know you have a day job now, but would you be able to get another one if you didn't have that name recognition?
posted by bleep at 10:21 AM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by bleep at 10:21 AM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Is there somewhere to get an independent appraisal of the market value?
posted by qurlyjoe at 10:40 AM on April 5, 2020
posted by qurlyjoe at 10:40 AM on April 5, 2020
Best answer: Me, I'd sell, because it strikes me as crazy to possess an asset worth that much which is utterly unprotected.
The existing protections for usernames and the like under law are basically nonexistent. If Twitter decided tomorrow that they were going to disable your account and sell it to the highest bidder themselves, that is almost certainly permitted by their user agreement. There are very few forms of property which are so vulnerable. My bank can't decide tomorrow that my mortgage is invalid and that it owns my house. My brokerage can't just repossess the investments in my account for no reason. If I publish a book and do not cede the copyright, I maintain control over who publishes it, when, and how, and have successful legal recourse against those who would ignore that agreement.
But if Twitter decides to no longer grant you access to this account, then there's fuck-all you can do. If a malicious third party gains access and changes the logiin credentials and contact info, Twitter will probably decide that it's not worth their time and energy to validate your claims, and any public law-enforcement arm will probably not see any actual crime here and kick you right back to Twitter's completely indifferent internal adjudication.
(IANAL, but I get the impression there's honest-to-God no legal recourse for account theft.)
posted by jackbishop at 10:47 AM on April 5, 2020 [22 favorites]
The existing protections for usernames and the like under law are basically nonexistent. If Twitter decided tomorrow that they were going to disable your account and sell it to the highest bidder themselves, that is almost certainly permitted by their user agreement. There are very few forms of property which are so vulnerable. My bank can't decide tomorrow that my mortgage is invalid and that it owns my house. My brokerage can't just repossess the investments in my account for no reason. If I publish a book and do not cede the copyright, I maintain control over who publishes it, when, and how, and have successful legal recourse against those who would ignore that agreement.
But if Twitter decides to no longer grant you access to this account, then there's fuck-all you can do. If a malicious third party gains access and changes the logiin credentials and contact info, Twitter will probably decide that it's not worth their time and energy to validate your claims, and any public law-enforcement arm will probably not see any actual crime here and kick you right back to Twitter's completely indifferent internal adjudication.
(IANAL, but I get the impression there's honest-to-God no legal recourse for account theft.)
posted by jackbishop at 10:47 AM on April 5, 2020 [22 favorites]
Don't sell it. You clearly do not want to, and the money you would obtain from this transaction does not hold significant value for you. Don't let anyone who isn't you make you feel badly about that.
Yes there's a bunch of stuff you could do with that amount of money. But you're making nearly twice that amount now and not doing it, so whatever. It's okay to not be struggling, and to make financial decisions from a position of not struggling.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:48 AM on April 5, 2020 [12 favorites]
Yes there's a bunch of stuff you could do with that amount of money. But you're making nearly twice that amount now and not doing it, so whatever. It's okay to not be struggling, and to make financial decisions from a position of not struggling.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:48 AM on April 5, 2020 [12 favorites]
Yeah, you don't give any reason to sell it. A lot of people could use that money, but those people are not you.
I think of it like I could sell my house for a lot more than I paid for it, and if I needed the money maybe I would. But not until then, because I live here; it's my house. Your Twitter handle is where you live; there are reasons you might choose to sell it, but none of them apply right now.
And yes, this might be a lost opportunity--you might need money in 10 years and not be able to sell for that, maybe there's some kind of legal argument this other place could use to get it away from you for no money--but that's no reason to sell something you value.
You care about it; you don't need the money. Why would you sell?
posted by gideonfrog at 11:00 AM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
I think of it like I could sell my house for a lot more than I paid for it, and if I needed the money maybe I would. But not until then, because I live here; it's my house. Your Twitter handle is where you live; there are reasons you might choose to sell it, but none of them apply right now.
And yes, this might be a lost opportunity--you might need money in 10 years and not be able to sell for that, maybe there's some kind of legal argument this other place could use to get it away from you for no money--but that's no reason to sell something you value.
You care about it; you don't need the money. Why would you sell?
posted by gideonfrog at 11:00 AM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
Yeah I changed my mind, if you can get your hands on 100k legitimately then you should. You're not not going to need it.
posted by bleep at 11:11 AM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 11:11 AM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you don't have a need for the money, and the money that they are offering isn't sufficient for you to want to sell it, then don't sell it. If you have a number in mind that you would consider selling it for, you may consider a counter-offer, but if they reject your counteroffer, then I would leave it at that. There are plenty of good reasons not to sell something that you value, especially if you value it more than whatever they are offering you to sell it.
posted by honeybee413 at 11:15 AM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by honeybee413 at 11:15 AM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
A 'final offer' is never final and you dont need to sell. So why not email them and say you have thought about it and really dont want to sell for less than $300K.
They might walk away or they might try to meet you somewhere in the middle.
Also a good way to think of this is if you didnt have this name, would you spend $100K to buy it? If the answer to that is No, you should seriously consider taking the money.
posted by Lanark at 11:18 AM on April 5, 2020 [9 favorites]
They might walk away or they might try to meet you somewhere in the middle.
Also a good way to think of this is if you didnt have this name, would you spend $100K to buy it? If the answer to that is No, you should seriously consider taking the money.
posted by Lanark at 11:18 AM on April 5, 2020 [9 favorites]
I've been some variation of Mizu for over twenty years online. I have a few accounts that have my username from when whatever began being whatever, too. I understand the power of sentimentally attached to the consistency of your name. Because it is your name, for all that it is virtual.
I've also had to change to variations because mizu is a common word in Japanese and give up accessing accounts with decades of history on them as sites change hands and my mental health whims change.
Sell it, man. 100k can make a huge difference, maybe not to your life right now but you could choose to be so much more generous than you are now with no change to your life. You could pay for plenty of therapy to help you with any sense of loss you may feel and have a lot left over. If someone from Mizuno wanted to pay me for my whatever account I'd ask for enough to buy real estate in Seattle, but I'd take the deal.
posted by Mizu at 12:01 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
I've also had to change to variations because mizu is a common word in Japanese and give up accessing accounts with decades of history on them as sites change hands and my mental health whims change.
Sell it, man. 100k can make a huge difference, maybe not to your life right now but you could choose to be so much more generous than you are now with no change to your life. You could pay for plenty of therapy to help you with any sense of loss you may feel and have a lot left over. If someone from Mizuno wanted to pay me for my whatever account I'd ask for enough to buy real estate in Seattle, but I'd take the deal.
posted by Mizu at 12:01 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I think a $100K cushion is nothing to sneeze at. If you do decide to sell the account, could you establish a new Twitter account as "still[mytwitterhandle]," "thereal[mytwitterhandle]," "fka[mytwitterhandle]," "always [mytwitterhandle]," "name@[mytwitterhandle]," "[mytwitterhandle]since2006," or some similar convention, and start migrating your audience over using several levers? Pairing it with an Instagram account + other social media will help. Notify your followers of your new handle in multiple places before you lose access, follow the 'extraordinary local individuals' with the new account, and don't be too proud to message them directly before and after the switch if they haven't followed you over.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:04 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:04 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
Um, can’t you just surrender your username without sacrificing your whole account? You’d get to keep your history and connections, the bastards get their brand back, and your wallet ends up that much fatter. Sounds like it would be a win-win.
posted by WCWedin at 12:10 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by WCWedin at 12:10 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
can’t you just surrender your username without sacrificing your whole account?
Twitter don't support the secondary market in selling usernames at all, in fact they will probably just terminate any account that looks like it is up for sale. So I would not expect them to make this easy.
posted by Lanark at 12:18 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Twitter don't support the secondary market in selling usernames at all, in fact they will probably just terminate any account that looks like it is up for sale. So I would not expect them to make this easy.
posted by Lanark at 12:18 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'm surprised at the level of mercenary thinking here.
My reaction is, you put your heart and soul into building that account, it clearly has a lot of sentimental value for you. Is that worth more than 100K (or 200, or 500, or whatever)? Think about how you would feel in the weeks and months following your sale of the account. How much will money assuage your feeling of loss?
Note that I say all this as someone who doesn't make nearly as much money and has very little savings to "retire" on. 100K would be an immense amount of money for me, and I STILL wouldn't give up something so dear to me to get it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:33 PM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
My reaction is, you put your heart and soul into building that account, it clearly has a lot of sentimental value for you. Is that worth more than 100K (or 200, or 500, or whatever)? Think about how you would feel in the weeks and months following your sale of the account. How much will money assuage your feeling of loss?
Note that I say all this as someone who doesn't make nearly as much money and has very little savings to "retire" on. 100K would be an immense amount of money for me, and I STILL wouldn't give up something so dear to me to get it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:33 PM on April 5, 2020 [3 favorites]
BUT...If you do decide to sell it, for the love of pete follow cgg's advice!!!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:35 PM on April 5, 2020
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:35 PM on April 5, 2020
I'd like a little more information before giving you hard advice. For example, who is the brand protection company representing? Is it the songwriter of the original song, or one of the fashion designers? Or is it the car company? Personally, I'd feel much more OK letting it go to someone who would use it for something creative, rather than a multinational corporation. And what's your financial situation like? A $170k salary seems high, but maybe you live in a huge city like New York or London where the cost of living is crazy, and maybe you have multiple kids in daycare/private school, and whatever else. How much of your expenses would that $100k offer go toward meeting? And finally, what is your current Twitter presence like? Do you have a ton of engaged followers with new mentions every day? Or is it a lot of legacy stuff?
In the meantime, some general advice: First, as others have said, negotiate. Especially if it's the car company, they can probably do more than $100k. $100k might not do much for you, but if they go up to $200k? Even if your salary only covers your expenses with nothing left over, that's more than a year free from the need to earn a paycheck. You're getting into "what would you do if you knew you could not fail?" territory. Maybe you won't quit your day job yet, but you can go a long way toward doing that if you invest it wisely.
Second, you could try out a new Twitter account before committing. Even something like "word_firstname", to make it clear it's still you. See if you still get the same engagement, and more importantly, the same feeling.
I get where you're coming from. I use the same name almost everywhere online (and, well, offline too, because my screen name is just my first and last name), and I've been doing so since I first got AOL Instant Messenger in 1998. It's basically everything except LinkedIn at this point for me. And I'm an extremely sentimental crouton-petter. I'd be quite sad to part with it. But I have to say, if someone offered me $100k, I'd probably take it. Especially if the money is enough where I could use it to build a new identity going forward.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:11 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
In the meantime, some general advice: First, as others have said, negotiate. Especially if it's the car company, they can probably do more than $100k. $100k might not do much for you, but if they go up to $200k? Even if your salary only covers your expenses with nothing left over, that's more than a year free from the need to earn a paycheck. You're getting into "what would you do if you knew you could not fail?" territory. Maybe you won't quit your day job yet, but you can go a long way toward doing that if you invest it wisely.
Second, you could try out a new Twitter account before committing. Even something like "word_firstname", to make it clear it's still you. See if you still get the same engagement, and more importantly, the same feeling.
I get where you're coming from. I use the same name almost everywhere online (and, well, offline too, because my screen name is just my first and last name), and I've been doing so since I first got AOL Instant Messenger in 1998. It's basically everything except LinkedIn at this point for me. And I'm an extremely sentimental crouton-petter. I'd be quite sad to part with it. But I have to say, if someone offered me $100k, I'd probably take it. Especially if the money is enough where I could use it to build a new identity going forward.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:11 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
You don’t want to sell. You don’t need to sell. I don’t think you should sell. That said, if you do look into it more seriously, I’d investigate the tax implications. If you decide to sell thinking you’ll get $100,000 but it’s more like $50,000 post-tax, that might affect your calculations.
posted by kat518 at 2:07 PM on April 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by kat518 at 2:07 PM on April 5, 2020 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Yes, I’d love to quit my job and live independently, but I just can’t see how this $100k will make that happen
Speaking as someone who was making about as much as you and quit his job to live independently, every 100k counts.
"A billion here, a billion there, sooner or later it adds up to real money."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:14 PM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
Speaking as someone who was making about as much as you and quit his job to live independently, every 100k counts.
"A billion here, a billion there, sooner or later it adds up to real money."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:14 PM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
First of all, look into what this will do you your taxes and how much it will really net you after all the paperwork is squared away. Also calculate how much it will cost you in time/effeort/energy to rebrand your website, and factor that into the "real" value of the offer.
Second, imagine that your twitter identity was deleted by an act of the cosmos, and a week after that cataclysm, you were offered a choice: 100K (or whatever you would get after taxes), or your twitter account back. Which would you pick?
Another thought experiment: Is there anything interesting or exciting for you about the idea of rebranding? Have you been considering branching out into a new niche or taking on a new project?
If there's any way to spin this as a professional/social/personal opportunity for a fresh-ish start (some of you followers might migrate to a new account with you) and a clean slate, take the money.
If this just feels like someone trying to buy your home out from under you when leaving it wasn't even on your mind, then hang on to it.
posted by itesser at 2:36 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
Second, imagine that your twitter identity was deleted by an act of the cosmos, and a week after that cataclysm, you were offered a choice: 100K (or whatever you would get after taxes), or your twitter account back. Which would you pick?
Another thought experiment: Is there anything interesting or exciting for you about the idea of rebranding? Have you been considering branching out into a new niche or taking on a new project?
If there's any way to spin this as a professional/social/personal opportunity for a fresh-ish start (some of you followers might migrate to a new account with you) and a clean slate, take the money.
If this just feels like someone trying to buy your home out from under you when leaving it wasn't even on your mind, then hang on to it.
posted by itesser at 2:36 PM on April 5, 2020 [5 favorites]
You’ve already said that the money holds no real value to you but the twitter account represents a significant part of your life. Why would you sell? There are a few significant things that I have owned and lost that when I think about, still give me a little ache. Regardless of what the capitalists say, not everyone has a price and some things ARE worth more than money. It’s ok if your twitter account is one of them, you don’t need to justify it to anyone.
And you know what, for the flip side of someone painting a grim picture of this being the start of the Great Depression, you could just as easily say,
“Remember that time there was a pandemic and people were convinced the sky was going to fall and I panicked, taking cash for my twitter account. Meanwhile, the world then righted itself and the creative project I poured my heart and soul into for most of my adult life was sold for naught.” Perspective is everything.
posted by Jubey at 4:46 PM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
And you know what, for the flip side of someone painting a grim picture of this being the start of the Great Depression, you could just as easily say,
“Remember that time there was a pandemic and people were convinced the sky was going to fall and I panicked, taking cash for my twitter account. Meanwhile, the world then righted itself and the creative project I poured my heart and soul into for most of my adult life was sold for naught.” Perspective is everything.
posted by Jubey at 4:46 PM on April 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
I would sell it unless you already have more than 100k in liquid cash. 100K is so much money! You could take an expensive cruise all expenses paid for the next 5 years!
posted by bbqturtle at 4:54 PM on April 5, 2020
posted by bbqturtle at 4:54 PM on April 5, 2020
Sell it. Donate the money to charity. Now how good do you feel? Because you'd actually be doing real good, not just feeling good because you're "interesting and cool and receive positive feedback from others".
posted by some little punk in a rocket at 5:06 PM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by some little punk in a rocket at 5:06 PM on April 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
That money could save a lot of lives. If you don't need it, sell the domain, donate the money to Medecins Sans Frontieres or something. In many countries donations can be claimed on tax as well. What an opportunity.
posted by smoke at 8:42 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by smoke at 8:42 PM on April 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sell. Donate at least half to charity. Select a non-profit affiliated with one of the local contacts you really want to stay in touch with (obviously if it’s a cause you support). If these people are connected, they’re probably on a board for a local nonprofit and will definitely stay in touch with you professionally if you do this.
posted by areaperson at 7:20 AM on April 6, 2020
posted by areaperson at 7:20 AM on April 6, 2020
I'd sell in a heartbeat for that money, but I travelled the world for 3 years on half that by being frugal. My Twitter handle is 5 characters. I barely use it and it's a common last name. I get asked to sell it every week by some schmo offering $500. $100K?! No question I would sell.
posted by dobbs at 8:16 AM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 8:16 AM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sell. Just being blunt here but it's not a real thing. It's a username. A literal avatar. It's not you. Sell please. Please please please sell.
posted by chasles at 3:19 PM on April 6, 2020
posted by chasles at 3:19 PM on April 6, 2020
100K would be a lot less after taxes. It sounds like you already make decent money and this wouldn't be life changing for you. It also sounds like you really don't want to sell. Try and figure out how much of that 100k you would actually get to keep, and what you might do with it. Is there anything that would be meaningful enough to give up a part of yourself for? Its OK to let an opportunity pass if its not going to make you happy in the long run.
posted by nalyd at 6:06 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by nalyd at 6:06 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I’m not a tax accountant, but I am willing to bet your handle sale would count as long term capital gains - and only be taxed at 15%
A twitter handle is a phenomenally speculative thing to own. Right now is not the time to have speculative properties. Sell it, take the cash, and put it into real estate.
Yes it’s your online identity, but if someone offered me $100k to change my REAL name I’d do it in a heartbeat.
posted by chuntered inelegantly from a sedentary position at 6:21 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
A twitter handle is a phenomenally speculative thing to own. Right now is not the time to have speculative properties. Sell it, take the cash, and put it into real estate.
Yes it’s your online identity, but if someone offered me $100k to change my REAL name I’d do it in a heartbeat.
posted by chuntered inelegantly from a sedentary position at 6:21 PM on April 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all for the responses. I honestly ended up with great ideas on how to deal with this situation due to the comments I got on this thread.
What I've done is that I responded with the amount for which selling the account would be attractive to me. I have nothing to lose either way if they accept it or reject it.
(Regarding tax, I am fortunate to live in a place where there's no income tax.)
posted by thenickeldropped at 3:24 AM on April 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
What I've done is that I responded with the amount for which selling the account would be attractive to me. I have nothing to lose either way if they accept it or reject it.
(Regarding tax, I am fortunate to live in a place where there's no income tax.)
posted by thenickeldropped at 3:24 AM on April 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
A bit late to this, but I haven’t seen this clarified - are they after your account or the username? Because they’re different things, with somewhat/slightly different values.
If you sell the account then presumably you hand over the login details and walk away. They get all your followers. You start a new account, with a new username, and try to build up your followers.
If you sell the username... I guess the process would be: you would change your account’s username, immediately create a new account with the now-free username you’re selling, and hand over the login details for that. They have a new account with the username they want, with no followers. You have a new username with all your existing followers.
The account is worth more than the username. I don’t know how much more. But (a) it has existing followers, which would be a big deal if you have a lot of followers, and (b) it’s been around for a while - this creates legitimacy in the eyes of anything trying to identify spam accounts, for example. A brand new account with their desired username is still a brand new account.
Upshot: the username is not the same as the account. Which are you (possibly) selling?
posted by fabius at 5:43 AM on April 8, 2020
If you sell the account then presumably you hand over the login details and walk away. They get all your followers. You start a new account, with a new username, and try to build up your followers.
If you sell the username... I guess the process would be: you would change your account’s username, immediately create a new account with the now-free username you’re selling, and hand over the login details for that. They have a new account with the username they want, with no followers. You have a new username with all your existing followers.
The account is worth more than the username. I don’t know how much more. But (a) it has existing followers, which would be a big deal if you have a lot of followers, and (b) it’s been around for a while - this creates legitimacy in the eyes of anything trying to identify spam accounts, for example. A brand new account with their desired username is still a brand new account.
Upshot: the username is not the same as the account. Which are you (possibly) selling?
posted by fabius at 5:43 AM on April 8, 2020
That money could save a lot of lives. If you don't need it, sell the domain, donate the money to Medecins Sans Frontieres or something. In many countries donations can be claimed on tax as well. What an opportunity.
SELL IT.
Think how many lives you could change for the better, as opposed to just keeping it for your branding.
Download all your tweets then sell it. No amount of sentimentality is worth that much money.
posted by daybeforetheday at 2:27 AM on April 19, 2020
SELL IT.
Think how many lives you could change for the better, as opposed to just keeping it for your branding.
Download all your tweets then sell it. No amount of sentimentality is worth that much money.
posted by daybeforetheday at 2:27 AM on April 19, 2020
Also: like you I thought I was financially secure, but no one is in this environment. You could lose your job next month.
posted by daybeforetheday at 2:28 AM on April 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by daybeforetheday at 2:28 AM on April 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Just an update: I did end up selling the account, but for $200,000. Thank you all for your help.
posted by thenickeldropped at 6:42 AM on May 3, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by thenickeldropped at 6:42 AM on May 3, 2020 [9 favorites]
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