Continue Selling to a Buyer

Not everyone understands the value of domain names and how a domain name can help a business. There are plenty of smart business owners that don’t really care about domain names, especially those that cost more than the annual registration fee.

There are many people who do understand what a domain name can do for a company, and some of these people will pay what it takes to acquire great domain names to help their businesses. When you find a decision maker that appreciates good keyword domain names, you should do what it takes to generate additional sales from that buyer.

There are quite a few people I’ve done multiple deals with who aren’t domain investors. They are in different industries (or serve different markets), and when I purchase a domain name I think might help their business, I give them a heads’ up before I let others know. Even though I’ve come to expect a bit less than what I estimate the “fair market value” is, I know that I will be paid quickly, and there won’t be any issues with the domain transfer.

Sometimes with some of these buyers, I will let them know about a domain name that is available (either on the market or I had inquired and received a price), and I will let them buy the domain name directly from the owner, receiving a finder’s fee as compensation. Most of the time this is because it’s a very high value and/or quite specific domain name and I don’t want to chance that I’ll buy it and the buyer will change his mind.

When you find a person or company that appreciates valuable keyword domain names, you should always ask that person if they buy domain names often and if they would be interested in knowing about other domain names in the future. When you are answering inbound inquiries, it’s most likely someone needing a domain name for something specific. When you find a buyer via outbound channels, you might find yourself in a  serendipitous  situation that contributes to additional sales.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

17 COMMENTS

  1. I actually have a very interesting story to share, I work for a mid-sized tech company based out of San Francisco, and sold a name that I snagged on Namjet this week the very next day to the CMO of my company for a very nice profit. She literally replied to my initial e-mail to her in 2 minutes and said.. “we’ll buy the name from you”

    • It did not cause any issues, as I first went to my boss who is a VP and asked his opinion. I told him no big either way, but I wanted to give my own company the first opportunity to utilize such a great marketing tool. I even joked and said something along the lines, that I didn’t want the name to go to our competitors. He then approached his peers to see if there might be any interest. I even gave him a ballpark quote to mention.

      I presented it to the CMO as a a unique opportunity that I have been presented to grab a prime keyword domain in their industry. I then when on to explain how the back order system works and said I had been tracking this name for years.

      I also made sure that I was not greedy, and gave them the appraised value on estibot and offered it to them for 50% of the estimated value. I said that based on my initial estimate and time spent obtaining the name, I was willing to give them a great discount while I was still paid for my efforts.

      Now that I know that they are open I may present some other names to them.

      • I hadn’t… as mentioned in an email, your first comment was under “Don” and the second was under “D.” Comments are automatically approved if it’s the same name and email address as a previously approved comment.

    • If I was your BOSS, I will fire you ASAP.

      You are using company resources and time to purchase the domain name.

      Be careful what you do at work because it all belongs to the company.

  2. Don,

    That is an excellent story! Do you think that your company understood the value of the domain name because they are a tech company? I was thinking of approaching a few ppl in my insurance company for insurance related domain names but I am hesistant because I dont feel they understand the value of the name. Elliot or Abdul or anyone please feel free to chime in here. Happy friday and domaining to all!

  3. This is an excellent strategy Elliot, birds of a feather flock together. Nothing rings truer when dealing with decision makers at any level. Even if they never buy from you again, often they are connected with other individuals / companies that could be a future customer down the road.

  4. Good post Elliot!

    Can u share the following

    1. Names you buy before you approach your customers, how many of them would u say go the customer?

    2. I assume this is a good part of your overall business and top customers?

    3. Do you offer your bigger buyers volume discounts or you hold firm?

    • Not really sure.

      The profit margins are lower, but a fair amount of business goes to previous buyers. Not really sure percentages.

      I do give discounts, but it’s not really a volume business (ie selling a company 5 names over 3 years for example).

  5. DON!

    If I was your BOSS, I will fire you ASAP.

    You are using company resources and time to purchase the domain name.

    Be careful what you do at work because it all belongs to the company.

  6. I gave my company a domain name for free to gain some visibility / leverage. It did not pay off. That domain is likely worth well over $10k today.

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