I can think of several exact match .com domain names I would like to buy from wholesale or manufacturing companies that are not using the domain names. From what I can tell, these domain names were bought many years ago by the various companies, and they have never done anything with them. In all of these cases, my offers have been rejected over the years.
Last night, I thought of an interesting proposal that might entice these companies to sell their domain name, and I thought I would share the idea with you in case you are interested in buying domain names owned by major wholesalers. Instead of simply making a cash offer for the domain name, you can promise the company you will either:
- Exclusively sell their product on the website you launch with the domain name
- Guarantee a specific purchase order amount for the product they offer
- Promise an annual purchase from the wholesaler
- Offer a right of first refusal on a bonafide future domain/business sales offer
Although I am basing my observation on a limited number of discussions I have had, it seems that these companies are reluctant to sell their domain names because they may want to use them for their own businesses in the future. In addition, if they sell them to someone like myself (who may re-sell the domain names), the domain name could end up in the hands of a competitor, and there isn’t a reasonable amount of money that would make this worthwhile.
With the type of proposal I suggest above, the wholesaler or manufacturer would not only get cash for the domain name, but they would generate incremental revenue from product sales. They would also see another potential client who would sell their product (perhaps exclusively), and that revenue would be appealing. Finally, it would essentially guarantee that the domain name won’t be re-sold to a competitor, at least in the short term.
Obviously making an offer would mean that a business needs to be built on a domain name to avoid default, so I don’t really have any plans on the horizon to do this. However, if I was interested in building a business on a domain name that I otherwise could not buy without a creative offer, this type of proposal might make sense.
Well, Elliot, there’s no long winded and flowery way of putting it – this was simply a good interesting post and a good interesting idea. You definitely do need to be ready to build a business, though, and there’s the rub.
This is a 3D reasoning concept and I love the idea. My question is, will you keep your words?
I presume there would be contractual obligations.
>”3D reasoning”
Nice
An excellent read – thanks Elliot!
Interesting idea but once someone with money / resources gets the name it can be quite hard to get any domains they own in their ccore business. Good .com domains limited in supply.