Since I often receive email inquiries from Hotmail and Gmail addresses, I assume there are many domain investors who use these free email services to buy and sell domain names. I have had a hotmail account for a number of years, and I noticed a banner advertising alias accounts at Hotmail.

According to Hotmail, “Some people like to use multiple addresses for different things. For example, you might use one address for a job search and a different one for online shopping. That way, messages sent to those addresses can be kept in a separate folder.” I think this could be useful when you want to purchase  domain names, and I will explain below.

Let’s say I want to buy DomainInvesting.com, and I don’t know the owner (this is just an example). Assuming it’s someone involved in the domain industry, I wouldn’t necessarily want him to know that I am buying it, since that could increase the asking price. By using an alias in my hotmail account, I can contact the person anonymously.

I am sure many people use aliases when they want to buy a  domain name, but instead of having to maintain different logins and passwords, this particular service allows someone to maintain different email addresses from one single account.  Keep in mind that the seller will likely learn your identity when using an escrow service, but I am sure there are ways around that.

I don’t recommend being dishonest when buying a domain name, but it’s never good to pay much more for a domain name based on who you are. As a seller, I don’t feel that way, but this is about buying and not selling!

What other tactics  are you willing to share? What are your thoughts on using an alias?

When you’re negotiating to purchase something in person, and you’re just a bit away from reaching an agreed upon price, some buyers will show the seller a pile of cash as a means of closing a deal. For instance, if the owner of a collectible wants $15,000 and you’re only willing to pay $10,000, you may pull the neat stack of $100 bills and put it on the table in front of him, telling him to “take it or leave it.”

The owner will look at the pile of cash and realize that it’s the most you (the buyer) will pay, and he needs to decide whether or not he’d rather have his collectible or the money. Once you’ve set your final offer down, you need to hold firm and walk away if you’re rejected, otherwise it will seem like you have a weak constitution and the buyer will get the better deal if you keep upping your offer.

When you are negotiating to purchase a domain name, you can’t really pull out a stack of hundreds and say “take it or leave it.” You can say it’s your final offer, but for the seller, there isn’t the lure of seeing a pile of money in front of his or her face to contemplate. However, you can use Escrow.com (or another escrow service if you prefer) to encourage the seller to make the deal.

If you think you’re very close to a deal in a negotiation, but you’re just percentage points away from making the deal, you might want to try this sales closing tactic. Tell the seller it’s your final offer and let him or her know that you’re not going any higher. Set up the deal at Escrow.com and let them know you’re doing that. You should also be clear about the fees (I like to cover them in this situation).

The seller will receive an email from Escrow.com letting them know about the transaction, and this tends to get them to realize you’ve made your final offer and if they want to make a deal on the domain name, this is it. They will receive a couple of reminder emails if they haven’t signed in to agree to the deal,and that’s something that will also remind them of the finality of your offer.

I used this tactic once and it worked. In fact, the seller and I kidded around about it after and he said it was a pretty good maneuver on my part to get him to close the deal because he really wasn’t sure about it until he received the email from Escrow.com.

Yes, Escrow.com is an advertiser, but so is Sedo, and if you happen to like their escrow service or Afternic, or Moniker, be my guest. I happen to think Escrow.com has wider brand recognition because of the company’s partnerships, and that could make it easier to close the deal, but that’s your decision.

I don’t hand register very many domain names anymore. My most recent hand registrations are SubstanceAbuseTherapist.com, SubstanceAbuseTherapists.com, FlashDiscounts.com, and FuneralRabbi.com. Those are my hand registered domain names since October 25.

I know there are a number of people who do spend considerable amounts of time hand registering domain names. Some buy trend domain names while others buy domain names they hope to re-sell very quickly. Geodomain names seem to be popular choice for hand registrations.

I am curious about how many domain names you hand register on a weekly basis. Please vote in the poll below to share this information with others.