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.