cybermonkey

Hi, everyone

When I see a good domain that I like, I normally contact the owner and ask him if he would sell it and what is the price. In respond, 99% I would get "What are you offering?" My question is, how would you respond to that by not putting yourself into disadvantage position.

-Thanks,

filter

Weeelll, this is definitely not the only way to go, but maybe best if you don't have any other game plan down pat ->

Make a fair offer ...

Maybe explain a bit how you got to the number you're putting out there, and try to set the tone of the negotiation so that you might get the same respect in return.

If it works ... great. If not - well, it's a learning experience then ... Plenty of other names out there to invest in anyway.

smashfactory

i agree- that gives you a good base to start. if you want to buy say isat.com, you can do some research as to what this type of name is currently selling for. if the average price is say, $900.00, you kinda know not to start with a $50.00 offer :-)

there are other aspects involved, but it helps to have a base to go from.

(prices and name are only examples)

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tricolorro

Whenever I receive an offer to BUY one of my domains and the
potential buyer says "How much you want?" ,I throw the ball back
to him unless I have a firm price in mind..

If I am in need of cash, I simply respond by saying:
"Make an offer that is fair to both of us".

Amazingly, the offers that come in almost exactly match what
I was looking for or are better.

If the offer is not sufficient but close, I would just respond:
"Can you do a little better?"

In your case, I would throw the ball back to him and say:
"What do you think would be a fair price for both of us?"

And then take it from there.

You'll know from the response if it's a seller you even want
to be dealing with.

Patrick

Nattydomain

Funny....I did this last night to one of my domains..I got back a rude reply..Talking about im reciulious and IM the seller and should KNOW the price (not in those exact words) so I shot him a BIN and never heard back LOL

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weblord

good question, give him what you got if you like the domain.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=422606
this is much better honesty for me

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cybermonkey

Thank you all for your help. I really appreciate everyone's input on this. I will definitely apply some of these techniques next time.

tricolorro

There are all kinds of people on the net and in "real" life.

When someone responds rudely as happened to you (and has happened to me), it tells me they were not really that interested in the domain to begin with.

If they were , they wouldn't burn the bridge so fast.

Many times they are also scammers.

They don't provide any real contact info and respond rudely when
asked to provide some.

Or they'll ask you to get an appraisal so they will know how much to pay.

The (fake) appraisal company they ask you to use is their's.

I used to respond to domain offers to buy with "Make an offer".

I would get rude replies or none at all.

Sometimes they think you want too much $ and don't respond.

After this happened a number of times, I started by responding as I said in my previous post and ask them to make an offer that is fair to all.

This does several things:

• Throws the ball back to them

• Lets them name the price first

(Sales Rule: he who names the price first, loses)

• Shows that I want to be reasonable in pricing but want
  ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=422606
  them to be reasonable too

• If their offer is too low, I can counter but at least we are in friendly.
  not hostile, negotiation

Patrick

JimmyRich

Great advice, many people do think that you the domainer are here to upp the price to crazy amounts. Just be friendly and serious, gets you further in the long run..

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Nattydomain

I was so nice in my reply to his first email. Very profesional and everything...then when he came back at me like a jerk I said ok lets cut the bullshit and gave him a BIN price via escrow..........gues he though I was goin to sell it to him for reg fee..

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cybermonkey

I hate rudness. In my opinion, when people ask me just plain forward "What's your offer?'', it's already sets a negative tone and doesn't make me feel like to continue futher negotiating. Maybe I take this too personally, but this is how I feel.

Yofie

9 times out of 10 when you get the "What's your offer" reply, your best off thanking them for there time and moving on. It's a clear statment they want a lot or more then you are willing to offer.

If you feel that the price you have in mind might work, simply send them a price. If they reply back that you low balled them, simply let them know that was your offer and they asked for it!

If you still feel your offer was "fair" then you can explain "why" with some facts etc. This will normally lower the price some, but again... you might be better off just walking away from the start, when you get a reply back with "What's your offer". In my experiance, it ends up being a waste of time.

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cybermonkey

I agree 100%!

npcomplete

I think the best advice in this thread was to make a reasonable offer if you are asked to make an offer. Most people with quality names know they are valuable, and really don't like low-ballers. Whenever I receive a silly offer I respond with a silly counter offer, typically adding millions onto the BIN. yep... I never hear back. Make a low offer, but not a factor of 10 lower, or you just might have the seller multiply by 100 just for fun.

Marc

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Dimester

I got a request about a domain last week. They wanted to know if the domain was for sale and how much I wanted for it. I sent a reply that I had plans for the name but would be open for any offers. I never heard back from them. I guess they only wanted the name if I was an idiot and gave it to them.

Giode

I agree, and to add to this, it is equally offensive when the prospective buyer ask the seller for a price range of what they are looking for, and the seller responds with something silly like, "well, if you have to ask a price range, than you can't afford it.". I think that is a very foolish thing to say, and turns serious buyers off.

I had a guy in this forum say this to me when I inquired on a domain. Made me laugh because I have probably spent 250k on domains in the past 7 months. If you want to sell, don't say be stupid!

evirtual1

perhaps offer what you feel is fair ..... if rejected , move on

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jagusa

Negotiation takes practice. Be honest and professional, and do not deal with those who are not. There are very few (almost no) situations which absolutely require a specific, exact domain; so, if the potential seller asks for an offer, give them the highest value you would be ecstatic to obtain the domain for.

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npcomplete

Wow. That is still bothering you after two months. I am impressed! You were asking about a domain that is well known to be NFS, not listed anywhere as being for sale, and listed as NFS in the faqs section. Sometimes people get tired of responding to others about things that are clearly not for sale.

Don't worry. I have been even more abrupt with others. Two days ago I wrote back to a guy that was asking the same thing. I asked him to describe at length his doctrine, theology, and life before I would discuss anything. So far I have not received his CV or doctrinal statement.

Sometimes prices depend on both the buyer and the seller, and their core belief systems. If I ever did sell, I would need to know a *lot* about the buyer, which is also part of the price.

Marc

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Giode

You can qualify buyers any way you like. It is you're domain. I just thought I would point out that if you want to sell a domain, saying something like this can be taken as condescending. Aside from the fact that asking for a price range in no way should indicate a person can't afford it, which is what a statement like this alludes to. Sort of like telling somebody to go sit at the kids table. I'm sure had you really wanted to sell this name you word have worded it differently.

It doesn't bother me at all. I just always remember thinking it was a funny thing to say. No big deal

npcomplete

It is obvious that you are taking this at a personal level. After two months you bring it up. I got a good laugh when I responded to you two months ago, and then promptly moved on and forgot about it - until you brought it up.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=422606

The bottom line is that some people simply cannot afford it, while I may simply give the domain away some day to somebody else. For people that do not agree with my core beliefs, then the price would be extremely high, which was and is the spirit of my response. Would it have been less offensive if I had said "the domain is not for sale to YOU", as opposed to saying "you can't afford it"?

Remember, you were inquiring about a domain that is widely advertised as NFS. Sometimes I just get tired of people that do not exercise due diligence.

Marc

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stscac

Let's keep this thread focused people to the OP's question.

No personal issues.

-Steve

CDM

what is the benefit of asking "what is the price?" if 99% pass you the ball back? why not open the conversation with a starting offer? we all know the rules of negotation. for me it is a put off to have people beating around the bush all the time.

with property that is fsbo, (homes, cars, etc,) typically the owner sets the asking price (generally in line with market value of course). however, consider that perhaps the most popular adage on the topic of domain appraisal is: "a domain is worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it"

given that, it seems the price of domains have a higher elasticity in their ceiling than they do in their floor. so I think you can see why it is normally not in the owners interest to open. If the owner opens with an asking price then the ceiling is set. there is almost no reason to set the ceiling when supply and demand is so stilted to the owners favor. As the owner I realize there is only one of my supply and since you are in demand for it i want to know how deep your pockets are, therefore in opening the negotiation let us set the floor first and see where you are coming from.

when the first thing i hear is "what is your price?" more often than not it ends up just someone who was beating around the bush, ie. fishing for a bargain.

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npcomplete

Excellent post! Seller's get these questions on a daily basis. In most cases they are unsolicited (and in some cases unsolicited requests for things listed as not for sale). For unsolicited requests from buyers the most natural order is for the buyer to make the offer since they initiated the transaction. OTOH, for sellers attempting to sell through known venues, the natural order may lean towards the seller setting a BIN.

Marc

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(Just another mathematician obsessed with proving P != NP -- that is a math joke for job security)

Smile! In a few short years you will realize that these are the good old days!

filter

Given that for many domains there is a "real value" that can be evaluated in terms of commercial value (ad revenue, branding budget offsets, other bottom-line factors) - that's the floor.

On top of that, there is the "fine art" aspect - every domain is (more or less) unique in the eye of the beholder. So some fall into the category of "luxury collectable" acquisitions.

In the antiques and art markets, I think that people looking to find a bargain based on taking advantage of the seller's ignorance of the market may actually be held accountable for those shady ethics in legal terms. (Eg, civil liability should the seller later realize that old painting they found in the basement and sold at the garage sale to that friendly gentleman from out of town was actually worth $150,000 rather than $1.50)
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=422606

That being said, there is sometimes a lot to be said for "cash in hand right now" - so that can be the bottom line for a motivated seller. There can definitely be plenty of "value added" on the other side of the trade for a fast, easy sale in many situations - hence the reseller market here.

But that too should be a fair value - seeing people trying to make the "taking candy from a baby" play into their own bread and butter definitely will rub sellers the wrong way ...