You May Get Only One Chance to Buy a Domain Name

There are quite a few ways to try and purchase a domain name in private. A buyer can negotiate directly with the owner, an anonymous offer can be placed on the domain name, a broker can be engaged to negotiate, or a domain name can be purchased through a domain marketplace. Despite all of the great options, buyers need to know that they may only get one good chance to buy a domain name.

When a prospective buyer inquires about a domain name, the domain owner may begin doing research on who the buyer is and why the buyer wants the domain name. He will also determine the value of the domain name, and a major factor is the demand for the domain name.

Continued efforts at acquiring a domain name may end up increasing the price of the domain name. A domain owner may sense desperation by the prospective buyer, and the price may be adjusted accordingly. Similarly, if the inquiries were made privately, the domain owner may assume more than one prospective buyer is interested in the domain name, and the price may also rise as a result of the perceived increase in demand.

Domain buyers should realize that they will only have one opportunity to buy a domain name. Startups and other buyers should put together a domain name acquisition plan to plot out how they will approach the owner and how they will respond depending on the price and the owner’s responses.

There are certainly times when this may not hold true, especially for a domain name where there might be one logical buyer. However, if the domain owner senses he or she is in the optimal negotiating position, the price may increase over time. This is especially the case if the buyer inquiries about the domain name via multiple channels over a period of time.

My personal feeling is that if a seller offers a domain name for a good or reasonable price, take it. Don’t risk a price increase in the future. If the business plan is solid, the extra money to secure the optimal domain name will be money well spent.

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

5 COMMENTS

  1. Agreed with what you wrote. But sometimes it is the buyers who have the choices of choosing which domains they want unless the domain is premium too, it can work both ways

  2. Nobody buys domain names they are entitled to be associated with the registration similar to a phone number. Alternatively I need help putting a value on a registration. Regarding value of domains geo domains just need to be utilized and the registrant owner needs an exit plan for when death comes knocking. Same for other domains. Priceless.

    I believer that all geodomain owners should pass their real estate test, create a classifieds and real estate section and make bank selling real estate.

    I have a contract dispute that if your good at math one could extrapolate the value associated with the contract violation. I own (registrant) the town where I grew up in Dracut, MA http://www.dracut.com but also bordering Tyngsborough, MA tyngsboro.com. I am suppose to still have tyngsborough.com but since the company i did a contract with didn’t honor the contract i lost the domain (they were contractually obligated to pay Internic / Network Solutions’ renewal fee. The new owner (registrant) wants $15,000 for the domain as reported in the Lowell Sun Newspaper article.

    I had an appraisal done last year. They break down the domain value from wholesale, retail and market values. Furthermore the cost of keywords is something that your smarts could help with.

    Basically I need to substantiate the monies that I tell the court I want. I have been involved in domain battles throughout the planet. See my facebook TIMELINE for facts.

    RRRRJ
    Forcal atoutlook dotcom
    718x290x5689
    Reply All

  3. Can definitely relate to this thread. I’ll bet many of us can admit to having blown a deal or two that was just within our grasp with a small “mistake” as the one seeking to buy. One such occasion was particularly memorable. After it was clear the seller had turned on me and was refusing to honor the original deal I gave him a big long lecture via email, even calling him a cry baby. This guy was particularly degenerate and juvenile in my view, but he had a domain I really wanted to buy.

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