A couple of years ago, I made an offer to buy a domain name. My email went unanswered for nearly two years before receiving a reply early this year. The longtime registrant and I exchanged a few emails, and I learned he and his wife lived less than an hour from me. He seemed apprehensive to close a deal, having been burned in the past when a prospective buyer flaked on him.
After agreeing on a price and discussing details about closing a deal, he asked if we could meet in person. I was not inclined to do this, but I quickly concluded that this would be the only way the seller would be comfortable moving forward on a deal. I suggested a coffee shop about 20 minutes from my home and about 10 minutes from his home.
As soon as I arrived for the meeting, I saw the seller and his wife sitting at a table. We exchanged pleasantries and he showed me printed out copies of Whois records and screenshots of the domain name in his registrar account. They asked me a couple of questions about using Escrow.com, and we shook hands to agree to on the deal. Within a couple of days, the deal was closed.
I nearly didn’t take the meeting. I told the seller I did not think it was necessary to meet in person. He disagreed, and I almost opted out. I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to meet with people in person to close deals. I am glad I met the seller.
In my history as a domain investor, I can only recall two deals that I closed in person with sellers who aren’t domain investors.
I once had a seller who wanted cash, I went to his office with £25K in my briefcase and we did the deal, I was crapping myself at the time and wondered if they would have baseball bats etc but all was good, the deal was too good not to risk.
Elliot, knowing you personally, I can see how meeting you in person would have set him at ease and alleviated all of his concerns. The internet (and business in general) can be tough and intimidating, and it’s really refreshing to meet and do business with kind, friendly, and genuine people such as yourself. I’m sure that they were quickly at ease. Congratulations on the deal!
I think we have become very comfortable with technology. Before, in order to sell and not do it by phone, we would make pre-arranged visits and even if the sale had not been closed, we would go to eat at the restaurant and sometimes after eating you would close the sale.
Happy New Year
There is the human side of things…
sounds like the diner scene in Heat 🙂