groundctrl

Ok, so here's my question. I've got this lawyer in San Francisco who owns the domain name JULIEN.COM, which is my first name, and I want it. If you go there now, you'll see he isn't even using it at all and, in fact, I've confirmed he's only using it for his email address. This to me is a total waste.

I've offered to give him the email address in perpetuity in exchange for the domain, but he totally refuses. It expires in September of 2009 and I want to make sure I get it.

I just did this Backorder thing with Godaddy- was that the right thing to do? What else can I do to ensure that I get it? I'm not new to the web, but I am totally new to this stuff.

shockie

the only way you can make sure you get it is to buy it off him. although it expires in 2009, he gets first dibs on renewing etc. he can own it forever (through renewing) despite anything you do. try to offer him a bit more than just the ability to use the email address. also keep in mind that although he might not be using the name now, he may in the future. plus he may not like what you end up doing with the domain, which looks bad on him as he is using it for email purposes.

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- shockie

tjoseph

Did you offer him money for the domain or just an email address? When you ask how to get your name back, did you ever own it in the first place?

The backorder will only work if he forgets to renew the domain (or something happens to him and he can't renew it). There are several backorder services available and they all have a chance of catching the domain if it drops. If more than one person has requested a backorder on the domain at the backorder service that catches it, it will be put into an auction and the highest bidder will get it. Julien is a popular first name and this domain almost certainly will end up in an auction if the current owner is stupid enough to let it drop. It is unlikely you will get this domain unless you have very deep pockets.

Good luck,
Tom

AzN

Unless you have a trademark, a general name is not a very good excuse to WIPO a domain.

IMO, the only way to get JULIEN.com is to offer to buy it.

Mike

Yep, digging deep in your pockets OR offering an irresistible domain is going to be your only chance. There are definitely going to be more than one backorder on that name, however, it was the right thing to do. Nonetheless, should the name drop, which is unlikely, unless the attorney dies, is incapacitated or really forgets (since it's his email - he's not going to forget) the domain will most likely end up on snap, which opens it to the money loaded community.

Be progressive and see what else you could possibly offer him, given the fact that he's an attorney, money is most likely not the thing he's short of.

just tho.

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sdsinc

IMO you should offer good money. Again he could refuse. Today he's using the domain for E-mail only, perhaps tomorrow he will set up a site. He may have plans for the domain. I'm sure he likes the domain and would not sell without a compelling reason.
I would not sell my family name .com without a good reason (money being one )
You should also backorder with pool snapnames clubdrop. You will be lucky if you catch anything with godaddy. They are good for grabbing .us domains though

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Buy now - MassDeveloper.com $500

groundctrl

thanks, guys. so the next question is: how can i figure out what the value of that domain name is?

Erdinc

Why do you think you can just take somebody elses domain? Your argument is absurd.

tjoseph

It looks like Julien is part of his business name as well as his last name and the domain is registered to his business. It would probably take a lot of money to get him to part with it. I am sure he has hundreds of clients and business partners he has given his email address to. If it were my business I would not want to give up control of that domain.

Tom

Mike

plus he's an attorney and unless he has no client base, money is most likely not an issue to him.
I'd make one more attempt to communicate with him and see whether he's even interested and if money matters (does he have a price?), then i'd drop it and move on. Find out whether your last name is available or first+last, unless you're loaded to the point where it doesn't matter whether you're handing over $xx.xxx for a domain name.

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TT

Domain Name: JULIEN.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 04-oct-2006
Creation Date: 12-sep-1995

You should have been quicker, looks like he has owned it for 12 years.

and if you want it that badly your going to pay bigtime...

You have offered him to retain his email.... Are you kidding me? this is a joke right, You sent the owner of the domain an email demanding he give the domain to you in exchange he can keep using the email address.... Sounds to me like your about 16 and have no clue how the business operates. If i ever received an email like this I would laugh at you.... Hell he is a lawyer lets hope he dosn't sue your a$$ for trying to extort his domain from him.

Placing a backorder on a domain that has been regged for as long as it has is a pointless thing for you to have done. The current owner can extend his rights at anytime and after receiving your email he will have no questions as to renew. You state your new to this before you send off email demands to people who have every right to own the domain in question you should have come to a place like this and read until you were savvy enough to understand that the time you spent on writting your email and the time you spent setting up a GD account to place this backorder was a waste of your time.

Every newb is entitled to a mistake or 2 but you dont send people demanding emails it could be considered a tactic to hijack a domain, which is punishable by law and can include up to 25 years of hard labor ... Lets hope you used an online email source to send your demands to him.

Erdinc

I agree on that. It is surprising so many experienced domainers have responded seriously on such a comical topic.

The guy is trying to "take back" a domain he has never owned. Dude you can only take back things that once belonged to you. You don't have any right to this domain at all. Why don't you go and try backordering msn.com and google.com and then tell us your stories. It is funny to read.

Mike

...it's because everyone deserves their fair share of serious and helpful responses. While TT's post is VERY much to the point, honest and sometimes almost on the harsh side, your post is next to derogatory and certainly uncalled for. Maybe he is new, maybe he is 16 and maybe he didn't know any better and attempted to go with "his head through the wall" before thinking about "the right thing to do". The main thing that NP is known for is to help, assist and guide people that have questions and may be new to the domain scene. Wisecracks are not going to be helpful but disturb the otherwise very community oriented assembly of NP.
I think that by now he got the point that he has no reasonable chance of obtaining this domain.

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Erdinc

Yes and people who post should not misguide people by giving them misleading information. The OP might be a newbie. That's very normal. He might not understand how domain business works. Looking at his backorder apprearantly he doesn't understand the issue. That's very normal as well.

What surprises me are a few others including yourself.

The OP said, to "get my name back", he also said it "is my first name" and he "
offered to give him the email address". then he said "I just did this Backorder". How can you miss all these details? Obviously the OP misunderstood a lot of things and you guys didn't get the issues straight. Did you?

There is also the poor domain owner who probably received more harrasment after the misleading information on this topic.

tjoseph

I am not that experienced a domainer, however I don't see where I missed those issues. I addressed them in my reply to the OP.

You are making the assumption the OP is a naive sixteen year old kid. And that may be true, but you don't know anything about him. He could be wealthy with the resources to buy this domain even from an attorney with deep pockets himself. It is not impossible to acquire this domain, just very close to it. The OP stated he was new to domaining in his first post and in his second post asked for help determining the value of the domain. Why not give him the benefit of the doubt? I think this domain would be worth $XX,XXX to a reseller and it is probably worth $XXX,XXX or more to the end user that owns it. The OP could buy this domain if he has the resources and desire to do so.

Tom