advice Received my first inbound offer, counter offer rejected

[Jay Ha]

I was about to put my phone away and get some sleep at around 3 AM when I received an e-mail from Undeveloped saying that I got a 200 USD offer on one of my 5-letter names. Knowing that I had a 199 USD minimum offer I thought that this guy is after a bargain.

I looked up the guy's name knowing that he resides in a specific country (from my google analytics and Undeveloped also shows me their location). I found his LinkedIn profile and I'm 100% sure it is him. He works at a multi billion dollar chemicals company, in their commercial development program. That company's domain name is a 3-letter .com which is worth several millions. Their pockets are pretty deep, that's all I can say about them (please don't throw guesses on public).

Anyway, here's the whole convo with his name hidden for their own privacy:

Now I know that I hit high on my counter offer. Several reasons include it was waaaay too late in my timezone, really didn't feel like selling a name for the amount he asked, and given that he works in a commercial program, I didn't really buy his story about the nickname thing.

Just wanted to share this experience since it was my first in ~5 months of domaining. Has any of you guys went through this situation before? How does it usually turn out? Any comments on how I handled this brief convo? Anyway, thanks for reading!

 

[NickB]

Was the company Sony?

https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/design/stories/toio

Nice play on words possibly? Or defensive buy?

A Toio

 

[farouk20]

Was the company Sony?

https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/design/stories/toio

Nice play on words possibly? Or defensive buy?

A Toio

Lol .. op will just collapse

 

[wwwweb]

Lol .. op will just collapse

Given their brand is called Toio doesn’t really add infinite value to atoio.

Unless the wife’s nick name is Anotonio, the story kind of sounded a bit BS.

Not sure how the $500 deal happend after counter., but without knowing all variables, and the wife story, of this was a real end user who had an immediate use, the seller probably have been better to sit on his hands for a bit.

 

[BaileyUK]

Apologies, I didn't mean to sound biting in my previous post. I just think if you explore every eventuality and possibility with a sale, 90% just wouldn't happen.

A father approached me once for a domain ***4 com, wanted for his sons year 4 project. About a year later he explained on another domain board how he felt so stupid after this truthful approach.... And him a fellow domainer. Genuine but, obviously no sale.

I note everything and his dog ATOIO is still available, So reads genuine up to now

 

[efizi]

I am happy with this 500 USD sale. I simply had this name for 2 months and already offered it for 70 USD on NP for a quick flip. 500 USD is good.


I had this name at make offer with a starting price of 199 USD. When he offered 200 USD, I countered with the 5 figure.

Okay, now i understand.....though I still believe there was "more juice" you could have squeezed out of the sale of this name.

 

[Name Trader]

Okay, now i understand.....though I still believe there was "more juice" you could have squeezed out of the sale of this name.

If not this buyer, then maybe another person with a partner called "atoio", may come along, at sometime in the future. Or maybe a startup might decide upon this name, also, some time in the future. I think the OP made the correct decision. It's cash/profit in his hand vs an unknown future.

 

[55Domains]

I dont see why domainers always wanna take everything they can get and leave nothing on the table... when they miss tons of prpfitable deals like this it becomes an unprofitable practice...

Neither should the price be determined by who you are dealing with except if you are lowering it for someone.. or maybe differantiate between domainer and end user (of course).. but i just dont think a start up should be asked to pay 5k and a billion dollar company should be asked to pay 50k.. should be the same 5k or 50k from the get go for every inquiry.

 

[Jay Ha]

I got into domaining mainly to test/develop my branding and negotiation skills. This was my first ever inbound. Did my research and it turned out the person was genuine. I have multiple proof it is just a regular IT guy (from his full name, LinkedIn, IP, and address). I don't know about the wife part, he might use it to build an IT website given he's an IT engineer. I don't know what the plans are and I don't care tbh.

As long as it is not the Fortune500 company that I thought it was, then I did a good job in my opinion. The WHOIS records are under privacy but that F500 company do not have their main domain under privacy and I guess this.

I will probably lose a couple of hours of sleep if the sale went to a big company camouflaged by this person. I have due diligence reporting experience and that would be a shame if I let it go right past me.

Also for those saying I could have squeezed out some more money, you're right. I could have and I could have ruined the whole sale. For me, 500 USD is similar to a 1,000 USD so it is not a big difference to me.

I didn't get into domaining to go ahead and accept the first offer that comes to me for any name. I don't mind losing 3 or 4 digit sales if it means I am gonna learn (or earn) something later on. Gonna have to wait for the next inbound to test myself again.

 

[Jay Ha]

I dont see why domainers always wanna take everything they can get and leave nothing on the table... when they miss tons of prpfitable deals like this it becomes an unprofitable practice...

Neither should the price be determined by who you are dealing with except if you are lowering it for someone.. or maybe differantiate between domainer and end user (of course).. but i just dont think a start up should be asked to pay 5k and a billion dollar company should be asked to pay 50k.. should be the same 5k or 50k from the get go for every inquiry.

I beg to differ. Brokers aim for big pockets and slap 'em with big fat prices. You can see that daily on namebio. Big companies jack up their prices in relation to their manufacturing costs just because their brands are written on them. Big companies need to pay up while startups and individuals should get their domains for reasonable prices. I will always price my domains according to who the buyer is. Gonna switch to Efty landers once I have time or even use a custom made form just like the one @MapleDots has on his marketplace.

 

[Hitesh Wadhwa]

The guy just messaged me that he asked his wife and she said 500 USD are OK. So the deal is done. Will report it in the Completed Sales thread once the money hits my account.

It was a great learning experience for me and I hope it was for other NPers too.

Congratulations on your first inbound sale.

 

[MurphCo]

Congrats on your sale dude!

 

[farouk20]

Given their brand is called Toio doesn’t really add infinite value to atoio.

Unless the wife’s nick name is Anotonio, the story kind of sounded a bit BS.

Not sure how the $500 deal happend after counter., but without knowing all variables, and the wife story, of this was a real end user who had an immediate use, the seller probably have been better to sit on his hands for a bit.

You will never know all the variables . Am i to believe, if you where in the sellers shoe you wont sell?

 

[Windoms]

Congrats on the sale.
$500 or $5000, you're getting experience and building reflexes.
Soon you'll be a master.

 

[Ostrados]

So you made a counter offer of $34k because the guy works for a multi-million company? Really?!!!

He could be just a normal employee with $1000/mo salary, and also he said he wants it because it is his wife's name not his business name!

Next time be realistic and price your domain name fairly, $600-$800 was a fair price that the buyer would have accepted.

 

[Ostrados]

I didn't read the full thread, so you sold it for $500
congrats

 

[Nick]

That was literally your one and only buyer for this domain.

 

[EbookLover]

You think that just because he works for a multi billion dollar chemicals company, in their commercial development program, that his intent was to use the domain for the company, commercially?

What makes you think that? Is your domain very close to the name of the company or a new project they are undertaking? If so, I would say this is justified to a degree. But the real question is, how many other companies would be seeking out this name? In other words, what is the demand?

And if I understand correctly, if he is sincere that it is for personal use, you still want him to pay out-of-market prices because you think he makes a lot of money?

The most likely scenario here is you are going to let the domain expire and he will get it for less than $100.

Edited to add...

Well here's an update: Did some research on the name, IP, and location. It seems this is an IT engineer. Will fix my counter offer to suit his financial ability.

OK, so I see now. You price your domains according to the prospects earnings potential.

Good luck with that strategy.

 

[ValleyRock]

I am still in contact with the buyer, he said that around 400 is his limit. I countered with 500 which should include the 9% undeveloped commission. He should accept now I guess..

Ohh look who's back from la la land.

 

[Jay Ha]

WHOA! Look at them fellow NPers go! Never thought I'd be lynched for initially assuming it was a Fortune500 company going after the name. The moment I was 100% sure it was for a personal website, I priced it accordingly. What's wrong with this approach?

I thought domaining was about getting the most out of your names.. I will always be bracing myself for a multi X domain sale, whatever the name is and whenever the name was regged. Now keep on selling your names for pennies and come renewals you are in the minus. I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to turn down your invitation to..

 

[ben pedri]

It is probably the previous owner's listing, I'm only listing it on Sedo and Undeveloped for now.

He probably was the old owner,I can find names like that in 5 seconds ,they may be possible brandables but until someone grows a brand its worth squat, Get the guy back and tell him he can use the domain for nothing for 3 months if he has a short term project,that will open the doors for more talk ,then tell him you found a better one you like for 1k and you need to get that to pay for it. Then sell it and buy 10 more crappy names just like it

 

[Jay Ha]

He probably was the old owner,I can find names like that in 5 seconds ,they may be possible brandables but until someone grows a brand its worth squat, Get the guy back and tell him he can use the domain for nothing for 3 months if he has a short term project,that will open the doors for more talk ,then tell him you found a better one you like for 1k and you need to get that to pay for it. Then sell it and buy 10 more crappy names just like it

Hi Ben, thanks for chiming in. The name crappy has already been sold. I have already used the funds to buy some more crappy names + a Valentine's gift for my wife. This year's Valentine's day was sponsored by Atoio.com

 

[xynames]

There are times when I’ve received anonymous price requests for domains that would, in a vacuum, perhaps be worth 2000-3000, and then upon doing my research reasoned that the inquirer must be a specific buyer, such as a large corporation. In such cases I’ve gone ahead and tripled the asking price.

But there’s more to my rationale for upping the price than that the domain “must” be intended for a certain company. In order to justify in my mind the higher asking price I’ve also had to determine that probably no other domain would work for this buyer.

In one such situation I even increased the price all the way to low to mid five figures; more than tripled what the domain might be worth.

I’ve now done this more than several times and in all but one instance (on a mid four figure price I quoted) it has worked out well for me.

So my increasing the price is not entirely based on the buyer but on additionally determining that the domain name must be intended for a specific use by the buyer - a specific need that might not be able to be filled as well by any other domain. My research in each of these cases has unearthed that specific need.

Otherwise - you’re just following the inane logic of trying to charge the guy who is wearing a Rolex more than the other guy. Even if your buyer was wealthy why would you think he’d pay more than market unless he really needed the domain and no other would suit his purpose? You were missing the key part to the puzzle here - fitness for a particular purpose - i.e. - need. You had no idea what for or if this buyer (and by buyer I mean - the corporation you thought was the buyer) needed your domain.

 

[Jay Ha]

There are times when I’ve received anonymous price requests for domains that would, in a vacuum, perhaps be worth 2000-3000, and then upon doing my research reasoned that the inquirer must be a specific buyer, such as a large corporation. In such cases I’ve gone ahead and tripled the asking price.

But there’s more to my rationale for upping the price than that the domain “must” be intended for a certain company. In order to justify in my mind the higher asking price I’ve also had to determine that probably no other domain would work for this buyer.

In one such situation I even increased the price all the way to low to mid five figures; more than tripled what the domain might be worth.

I’ve now done this more than several times and in all but one instance (on a mid four figure price I quoted) it has worked out well for me.

So my increasing the price is not entirely based on the buyer but on additionally determining that the domain name must be intended for a specific use by the buyer - a specific need that might not be able to be filled as well by any other domain. My research in each of these cases has unearthed that specific need.

Otherwise - you’re just following the inane logic of trying to charge the guy who is wearing a Rolex more than the other guy. Even if your buyer was wealthy why would you think he’d pay more than market unless he really needed the domain and no other would suit his purpose? You were missing the key part to the puzzle here - fitness for a particular purpose - i.e. - need. You had no idea what for or if this buyer (and by buyer I mean - the corporation you thought was the buyer) needed your domain.

This is the kind of answer I was looking for. I didn't find a specific use for this name, mainly because it is a made up word that has no meaning and nothing can be assumed for its use. That's the problem with made up brandables.. Although this was my first sale, I am gonna have to stay away from this kind of names because I don't know how to price them.