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 have noticed this tactic also works when trying to sell domains to end users. If anything you can usually get a reply if you apply a time constraint to the email.
Great point Elliot. I find this to be true in many of my negotiations. I think it is important for Domainers to realize this sales process is similar to many other private sales.
When you sell a house or car – as the seller you always start with a higher price than you expect to get. Buyers should realize this and know that as with anything – price is negotiable.
It can always help to use a tool like NameBio or the DNJournal sales lists to show a seller what similar names have sold for. Using another domain as a reference-point can go a long way towards getting a fair deal on a domain.
Making offers on names is a lot easier if the owner knows what he wants for the name as . I really start to think the seller is a idiot if they don’t have some baseline area to start negotiations. I don’t go to the car lot and say is this forsale they say make a offer. Can you apply that type of model to anything else?
Once again, great article.
As the buyer gets close to his ceiling or the seller gets close to his floor, there is an “urgency” to close the deal and that’s that.
You can tell when someone is close to their “walk away” point.
Also there’s the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” or BATNA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_alternative_to_a_negotiated_agreement
If you are serious about buying or involved with a serious buyer, do some homework on negotiations. DON’T wing it.
Also, nothing like a deadline to get things done.
I’m trying to buy a domain right now and gave the buyer yesterday as the deadline and I didn’t hear back. I’m at my max but he didn’t reply. I told him (and this is the truth) that I will move on from this domain on Monday so if he wants to sell, now is the time.
If he doesn’t want to sell then there are more fish in the sea.
When I see “make an offer” it tells me the owner really has no idea the value of the domain and that the owner either has no desire to sell unless a super high bid comes through or will take what they can get. When you own the domain you are in the drivers seat because you have the goods. Doesn’t make it easy as we all want to sell for a great profit but as we all know, there are times when we settle for less for cash flow purposes. As long as you don’t have to sell or have to have the name, negotiations will be in your favor.
@ shane i feel the same way you either have a price in mind or you dont why wastes time if you want 5 million say that dont waste time saying that my offer was tooo low
This technique is actually well detailed in a book I’m reading now, from George Ross (D. Trump’s main man in The Apprentice and his lifetime lawyer).
I’m happy to hear it works for domains as well.