Offer Transfer Assistance to End Users

Someone shared some valuable advice, and I want to pass it along to you. When you are sending emails to end user buyers for your domain names, you might consider adding a line in your email offering assistance with the domain name transfer.

There have been countless times that I’ve discussed the sale of a domain name with a potential buyer, and he or she has mentioned the need to speak with their Internet, IT, or SEO guy. Many business owners aren’t tech savvy, but they have the desire to own a great domain name that can help their business, especially because the shelf life for many marketing and advertising initiatives is very short.

One issue for many small business owners is the

Find a Domain Name Buyer Using Tumblr, Blogspot, and WordPress

I always find it interesting when I come across a blog or other website on Tumblr, Blogspot, WordPress, and other platforms and the owner has decided to simply use the platform for its domain name. For instance, it would be like me using ElliotsBlog.Wordpress.com instead of ElliotsBlog.com.

My guess is that most of the blogs that do it either don’t know how to set their website up using their own domain name, they don’t want to spend the time or money setting up their domain name, or they don’t know that they could use their own domain name instead of the more laborious url.

That said, I think you can use these platforms to find a buyer

Information About XM.com Acquisition

The Wall Street Journal posted a press release this morning announcing the private acquisition of the XM.com domain name. According to the article, “Internationally acknowledged financial Institution Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd has recently announced the successful acquisition of the prestigious two-letter domain name XM.COM as the short name for XEMarkets for an undisclosed amount.”

Although the purchase price for the domain name wasn’t announced by  the buyer or seller, past marketing of this domain name may shed some light on the acquisition cost for us.

In March and April, Frank Aiello, formerly of Domain Holdings, announced in his newsletter that XM.com was for sale with a price of

How to Get Back at a Low Baller

Receiving low ball offers on my domain names is a slightly annoying part of this business. Having someone try to convince me why a domain name I own is worth what they are offering is much more annoying. I want to share a method I use to get back at someone who has lowballed me on an offer and tried to convince me the offer is good.

Days, weeks, months, or even years later, when you’ve received a far more adequate offer for the domain name, I like to rekindle the email thread where this person gave his low ball offer, and let them know of the high offer and ask if they want to beat it. Most likely, they will pass, but it’s a subtle way to tell them their analysis was wrong and their offer was silly.

Since many low ball offers are the result of automated programs (or even paid contact centers), I don’t bother doing this to the people who made a low ball offer but didn’t follow up with a discussion about why their offer was good. This is a time waste and will likely end up going to an email address that doesn’t work any longer.

Chances are good that this won’t result in a sale, but at least it will be an opportunity to gloat a bit when someone wasted your time.

Be Cautious When Using Domain Search Tool

In March, I wrote an article about how the Domain Search Tool can help you find a buyer for a domain name, and Andrew Allemann recently posted a great video illustrating how to use the tool. In short, this DomainTools tool can help you find other domain names that use your keyword string in them, and it is an exceptional tool to help you find someone to buy a domain name.

I want to give you a bit of a warning if you are using this tool though, based on something that happened to a friend of mine a week ago. It’s not the fault of the tool, but it’s more of a business risk.

Sizing Up a Buyer

Since moving to our home, my wife and I have undertaken various home improvement projects. I am far from a “do it yourself” type of person, so we’ve had a number of contractors come to our house to give estimates for the different projects.

Here’s how the process has gone. The contractor will look at the area that needs work, and we’ll bring the discussion about the job and pricing to the kitchen table. More often than not, there will be some small talk before getting to business, and invariably, the contractor will ask what I do for a living, followed by more probing questions about my business.

Generally speaking, I try to downplay my business as much as possible for obvious reasons. The first time it happened, I had a painter who thought I owned a big Internet company (my “you’ve never heard of my company” line fell on deaf ears). His price was almost 3x the price of the painter we selected who ended up doing a fantastic job.

I can’t criticize contractors for trying to size me up to see how much I can afford and quote a price accordingly. I do the same thing when a buyer inquires about a domain name, although my methods seem far less intrusive, and most buyers wouldn’t even know I am seeking out this information. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty about doing it, especially because there are many people with great jobs who are looking for a particular domain name to go out on their own, but it’s a part of doing business.

If you want to get the most for your domain names, you need to do your research on the buyer, just like most other businesses.