I recently received a few $5,000 offers for domain names I own. Based on several factors including the  email addresses, the information in the emails, and a couple of other things, I believe these are mass emails sent to many domain owners. My opinion is that the sender goes through all of the affirmative responses and decides which to pursue and which to ignore.

I assume some people are very happy to get a $5,000 offer for a domain name only to be let down when they don’t receive a response. I also assume some people get annoyed by these $5,000 offers because their domain names are worth much more than $5,000. Others find them annoying because nobody responds when they wish to begin a discussion, as a $5,000 opening offer is usually enough to at least open a dialog.

One takeaway from this is that

When I think of a domain broker, my first thought is that these people represent the owners of domain names who are looking to sell them. There are also brokers  that specialize in representing companies and people who need to acquire a domain name. These domain name buyer brokers serve an important role in the facilitation of domain name deals.

Over the course of a year, I receive quite a few requests from people to help them acquire a domain name. I almost always recommend that these people work with a domain broker to purchase their domain name. I want to share some of the reasons why I suggest this, and I asked three domain name buyer brokers to offer their thoughts. Adam Strong of Evergreen, Bill Sweetman of Name Ninja, and Alan Dunn of NameCorp all shared their insight about using a domain name buyer broker.

Setting expectations – Many people have no idea what a domain name in the aftermarket will cost, and a broker can help set expectations. “A Buyer Broker can help a client understand what sort of budget is realistic for their domain acquisition,” Bill Sweetman told me. “Buyer Brokers should have an extensive understanding (and access to data) of what comparable domain names have sold for and are currently selling for,” he continued. This can ensure that the buyer has the budget for the domain name that is desired. Setting expectations at the outset is important, otherwise it could waste everyone’s time.

Pricing – I would imagine most domain owners’ prices are dynamic. If they

What is the first thing you do when you receive an unsolicited spam email? In general, I mark it as spam in Gmail or simply hit delete. My guess is that most domain owners do the same thing when they receive a purchase inquiry. My advice is to do some basic research before sending an inquiry email.

I want to share a few things I research before sending an offer or an inquiry:

The owner’s name or a good company contact – When I am inquiring about a domain name that is owned by an individual or a small company, I try to find out the owner’s name. A personalized email “Hi Elliot” looks more professional than something else like “Dear sir.” I will simply delete many of the later assuming the person is blindly spamming.

Prior sales prices or domain broker listings – It’s a good idea to