I read Ray Hackney’s interview with DAN.com CEO Reza Sardeha, and he mentioned that the company is “setting up a brokerage division to provide integrated buyer/seller brokerage support.” I don’t typically need broker support when negotiating a deal, but I found myself in a situation where I think having third party assistance could prove beneficial in closing a deal.
I won a pending delete auction a week ago, and the domain name was provisioned to a registrar I have used maybe once or twice. I set the DAN nameservers but did not list a BIN price, so it showed a make offer field. I was unsure if I could even sell this domain name on DAN because of the 60 day lock on new registrations (it was deleted and re-registered before the auction), so I did not want someone to execute the BIN and end up not being able to do the deal.
As luck would have it, I received an inquiry and price request via the lander within a few days of owning the domain name. I proposed a mid five figure price, and the buyer countered with a four figure offer. While discussing the merits of the domain name, I was also having a side conversation with DAN about whether or not I could sell the domain name given the lock situation. Long story short, I can, as long as the buyer is cool with it sitting in the DAN holding account there or taking possession of it knowing it can’t be transferred for a few weeks.
After confirming that I could sell the domain name via DAN, I was a bit more flexible with my price but still have it solidly in the five figure range. The buyer indicated a willingness to improve his offer but there was still a pretty big gap. We exchanged a few messages and both seem fairly dug into our positions, unable to reach an agreement.
I would be willing to give a better price to make a quick flip on this, but if I go back and lower my price after indicating that my price is firm, the buyer will be in a position of strength. There is not really a great way for me to indicate I could be more flexible without losing considerable negotiating strength.
On the other hand, if a broker from the DAN platform gets involved in the negotiation (at my request), I would be willing to offer a concession and the buyer might be willing to do the same. Having a new perspective might be beneficial in this situation so neither party shows a weaker hand and we can reach a deal.
Since the negotiation has been done via the DAN platform, DAN is only getting its commission if a deal is closed, so they have an incentive to work with both parties to bridge the gap. After a long (and cordial) discussion between a buyer and seller, having new eyes look in on this to try and find common ground would be beneficial without much risk. This is a nice name, but it’s replaceable inventory to me. I am happy to make a fair deal on a quick flip, and getting a broker involved could help expedite the process without either party showing a weak hand.
How do you know if a professional domain broker wouldn’t have negotiated with the buyer better than you from the start?
There is no way to know how something would have turned out if it was handled differently. Maybe I would be in the same spot. Maybe the broker would have steered the prospect to a different name he represents if he did not think the gap could be bridged. Maybe the deal would have closed at a fair price. You can’t choose one path and know how things would have turned out differently had you chosen another path.
The only thing I know for certain is that if I made a decision to hand off many/most leads to a broker, I would be committing to pay 15% +/- commission on deals, even if the broker was completely unnecessary. I would rather own and manage the lead on my own, for better or worse.
There are times when a broker might be able to help, but there are also times a broker would slow things down. On a lower-end deal like the one in the article, it would be a low priority for the broker.