Counterparty Needs to Have Authority

Elliot Silver
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14

I have bought and sold quite a few domain names to larger companies with multiple levels of decision makers. In these dealings, I have negotiated with a variety of individuals at different positions within the companies. One thing that should be discussed is whether the other party has the authority to negotiate terms and agree to a deal.

I have discussed deals with everyone from marketing managers to lawyers to executives. Generally speaking, I assume that the other party is authorized to discuss a deal because they either contacted me to discuss a domain name or they were the point of contact for me. As a negotiation gets going a bit, you should think about asking the other party if they have the authority to do a deal with you.

The primary reason for learning this information is that you don’t want to reach a deal with the other party only to learn that someone else has the power to cancel the deal. It can be a major time waste if you negotiate a price and terms only to learn that there are other people that need to get involved before the deal can be finalized. It is pretty

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Be Mindful of Legal Risk

Elliot Silver
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2

One of the considerations domain investors need to make when buying a domain name is the legal risk. For some domain names such as clear trademark typos, the risk is obvious and great. For others such as keyword and short acronym domain names, the risk is lower.

Regardless of the type of domain name that is owned, I think there is always some level of legal risk, and domain investors need to consider the legal risk before making a domain name purchase. They also need to consider the legal risk before making use of their domain name, as the usage could be cause problems.

Even if the chance of success is low, companies can file a UDRP pretty easily and at a relatively

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Industry Companies Should Hold Local Meetups

Elliot Silver
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6

One of the main reasons I enjoy attending domain conferences is that I can meet with companies in the industry. For instance, at THE Domain Conference this past week, I had several conversations with the Sedo contingent of Solomon Amoako and Dave Evanson as well as the GoDaddy contingent of Joe Styler, Cory Lodder, and Marcus Jackson. I had conversations with reps from many other companies as well.

At conferences and other smaller events, I am able to ask questions about the company, exchange ideas about products or services, and sometimes I can get tech support from the company representatives in attendance. This one on one time is mutually beneficial and helps build a strong relationship between various companies and my business. Even if I am not currently a customer, this time can be spent learning about why I should work with a company, or at the very least, be the foundation for a future discussion.

I understand the large industry conferences may be

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Don’t Try to Sell a Domain Without Permission

Elliot Silver
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17

It’s pretty easy for someone to claim to be a domain broker. There aren’t any special licenses or other requirements for someone to sell domain names on behalf of others. An email address or phone number and some domain name listings are basically all it takes to get started.

It seems that some people may take advantage of the ease of getting started and try to sell domain names they aren’t permitted to sell. Perhaps they see a domain name listed for sale somewhere or believe the domain name may be for sale, and they attempt to broker the domain name without permission. I presume the belief is that if they come to the domain owner with a buyer, they will be rewarded a commission. This is bad business.

Even if a domain name is listed for sale,

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Ask Companies to be Creative

Elliot Silver
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5

One of the many reasons I like to use Escrow.com is because of their flexibility. I closed a deal a week ago that required a bit of assistance from Escrow.com on deal terms. It wasn’t a standard sale, but the buyer and I were able to work with them on a bit of a custom transaction that met our needs. Sometimes a bit of creativity is what it takes to get a deal done.

If you need a creative solution for something in the domain space, always ask an account representative or someone else within the company. The worst that happens is they say no. There are many scenarios that aren’t considered when launching products or services, and many companies will be happy to accommodate your needs, especially if your ask is simple for them to do.

When you ask for a company to do something custom for you,

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Sale Price Doesn’t Necessarily Show “Real” Value

Elliot Silver
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9

I recently won an auction on NameJet, and within a couple of days of changing the nameservers, I had a serious buyer approach me to buy the domain name. After a brief discussion, I shared what I paid for the domain name because it was easy enough to find. To paraphrase his response, it was something like, “Oh man, I would have paid more!”

There have been plenty of times that I have been in the same position as this person. I read about domain names that sold privately or at auction, and I think about how that domain name sold for less than I would have paid had I been involved. This is flawed thinking.

Although the  sale price of a domain name is indicative

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