Buying Domain Names

When you are trying to buy a domain name and your offer is turned down, I recommend giving the owner one last opportunity to consider your offer, and add a time constraint to it to make him consider it quickly. Oftentimes when a person rejects your offer, it’s a tactic to increase the amount of your offer. If you specify that you won’t increase your offer and that you will give him a few days, he might realize that’s the best offer he will get from you and potentially change his mind.

When I was negotiating to buy Burbank.com, negotiations came to a head after a couple of weeks. I really wanted the name and had to increase my offer a couple of times. Finally when the offer was rejected, I replied that my previous offer was final and that I would move forward with another significant purchase if the owner didn’t change his mind over the weekend (it was a Friday afternoon).

Several hours later, the deal was verbally confirmed and all parties seemed happy. I don’t know whether the former owner was using his reply as a negotiation tactic or if he just didn’t want to sell until he realized that my offer would be off the table. However, putting a time constraint on a reply can get you a final answer.

Just don’t use this method if you made a lowball offer, because you will probably just get a snark reply   🙂

I frequently run into the problem of locating domain owners when the Whois information is invalid or outdated. When I want to purchase a domain name, I generally send personal notes to the Whois email address on record – or the historic information if necessary. Oftentimes, I receive the “Delivery Status Notification (Failure)” message that is standard for invalid or inoperable email accounts.

When this happens, I typically call the phone number of the registrant to make contact that way, but I often find that the phone numbers aren’t working either. Depending on the domain name, I will either give up and consider it a lost cause, or I will use a few different ways to get in touch with the owner.

1) Search for the owner’s last name and city on WhitePages.com to find a current phone number. A big DING goes off in my head if the phone number listed is different than the Whois.

2) Search for the owner’s name in Google (in quotes). Oftentimes you will see that the owner is either associated with other companies or email addresses, and you can use those to get in touch.

3) Search for the email address in Google. Sometimes you will find the email address associated with different websites or listed on a particular website along with a more current phone number or alternative means of contact.

4) Search the domain name’s website for info – both the current site and archive.org record. Sometimes the most obvious way of contacting the owner is overlooked.

If all else fails and you need the domain name, you can always visit the last known address. Usually this doesn’t work out, but it is a good way to get information. Sure, most people are reluctant to spend $1k+ on travel and associated expenses to visit a location, but if it can help you buy a $250,000 domain name, why would you give up so easily?

A whole lot of effort went into purchasing Customs.com in September of 2007, and if it wasn’t for going the extra few miles, I would not have been able to acquire it. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get in touch with a domain owner, but if it was easy, someone else would have acquired the domain name long ago.

A lot of domain owners have received offers on their premium domain names. Strike that. ALL owners of premium domain names have received offers on their domain names before. It’s virtually impossible to be the first offer someone’s received if they own a great domain name. To get there attention, your email needs to stand out from everyone else’s solicitation.

As a domain buyer, your job is to make an offer that is compelling enough for them to respond. If you insult someone with a lowball offer, they will delete it. Even if you think your offer is a “good” introductory offer, step into their shoes for a minute and imagine you’ve owned that domain name for 10 years and received countless emails. How would you respond to the email? If you aren’t impressed, they won’t be either, and they probably will delete it.

If you ask the domain owner if the name is for sale without naming a price, they will probably delete it, too. They’ve owned the name for a long time for a reason, and that’s because they haven’t received a compelling enough offer to sell it.

The best way to get a conversation going with a domain owner is to make a good opening offer. At the very least, you will usually get a response, and at the best, the domain owner will accept your offer. I enjoy negotiations to a point, but I generally make a strong offer at the outset. Maybe I can go higher, but maybe I can’t. However, it’s generally good enough to get a response.

I’ve also found it helpful to include my phone number in my email correspondence. People want to know they are dealing with other real people, and if they can give you a call to talk, they will generally feel more comfortable. This has helped seal the deal on a couple of acquisitions in the last few weeks.

People are willing to sell their domain names, but you need to give them a reason. For many it’s financial, and you can’t negotiate with someone who immediately deletes your email upon opening it.