discuss Which Works Better Selling...Nice Or Arrogant?

I meet arrogance with arrogance and kindness with kindness. Does not have to be if/or question in sales or any interaction with another person frankly.

I at least try to start out nice but I am probably too quick to switch if I encounter stupid.

Being nice is cool but doesn't guarantee a deal. Sometimes it makes you sell too low . am Not saying being arrogant is good but has its one side. Buyer will respect you more or see reasons to pay more and value the name higher. If you have premium domain, Just indirectly do as if you don't care (corporate arrogance) and your price will be honoured .. IMO

My memory remembers an arrogant lost sale, more than the kind successful sales.

Which is why I try to avoid being arrogant. Clouds hanging overhead isn't optimal for grilling.

When buying I always remained very nice, very positive and, very confident.

When selling - negotiating a sale as the seller ( in the past as now BN almost exclusively) was a bit
" over-confident " bordering on entry level arrogance.

If a degree of bold confidence and self-assuredness as a seller equals arrogance then I self-labeled.

Neutral for me

There's no need for arrogance. Be professional, firm and fair. If you're arrogant, I simply won't deal with you, either as a buyer or seller.

Ultra premium domain owners can be arrogant since they have names that multiple people would love to own. Easy to be asshole when you know your name is worth a million dollars, and there really is no second choice name for that potential buyer. Its basically a take it or leave it scenario.

If you have regular names, like most here, then being a dick won't help you sell very many names. There are way to many choices for buyers, so if a seller is a pain in the ass the buyer will go find another name.

In a nutshell, the quality of your names determines your acceptable attitude level.

Silentptnr said:

I know for a fact that, good or bad, some top domains are quite arrogant in their sales negotiation.

They sell the most for the most.

Which is better, arrogant or nice?

Click to expand...

I'm missing a third option. But I don't now how to define it. I think that most of us would like to be professional and nice but there are times you have to fight back! imho

I'm not nice nor arrogant. I am polite and to the point, I respond to each request and when I get a low ball offer I email back saying....

Thank you for your offer, but I need more for that domain.

wtf is arrogant

and wtf is nice

is arrogant being firm, sticking to your price

is nice being flexible, willing to take less

if those are the definitions, then....

of course a lowballing reseller will like the nice seller, and despise the arrogant one

and, it's typical of how some np members describe or attribute such to sellers, when they don't get their way.

imo....

You can't go wrong being nice.

For me = 100% kindness, efficiency, firmness.

Never any need for arrogance or toxic responses, even if the person emailing me is acting that way.

Kindness doesn't translate into 'weakness' or 'passive'. Across the board, I am kind to anyone who emails, even if they descend into toxic communication themselves.

In short: you can be firm, efficient, professional...

And the 'kindness' or 'arrogance' you attach to those is entirely up to what kind of person you are (or what kind of person you wish to be )

Years ago I'd mix it up, mostly kindness but could get scrappy sometimes too. These days, I've entirely dropped the scrappy. It just feels better. Life's too short.

In between, like firm and stern.

One can remain friendly and polite whilst still being firm.

some people may think
its arrogant

when I tell them exactly why a domain
is valuable

and next I tell them
that the value has nothing to do
if with their estimate of value
and their not so deep pockets
and their purpose of the domain

( and yes its for the little daughters school project
still I can't sell it for $200 USD ...)

As it is valuable
to the right buyer
who understands it
and can make use of it


so am I arrogant
just quoting the value facts?

some people say yes
some people say no

I say
I don't care
as I am right and I know you know.


( yes I understand you don't want to rent the domain for $50 USD
you want to buy it for $200 USD)

Be assertive. You can be firm and confident without acting like a d*ck.

I don't know why people always assume that nice = weak.

A very successful domainer once told me to be polite and professional.
He wasted no time and had a one line courteous response.

I liked it and have used it ever since.

" Thank you for your offer, but I need more for that domain. "

No more, no less, easy to type and hits all the key points that need to be said.

I agree that friendly and helpful usually works. Shadowing is good too. If after trying nice, they are shrewd and agressive, I'm shrewd and agressive.

I'd say neither, or neutral. In case of endusers, it is not always possible to determine psychological or mental state of any particular inquirer, as well their ultimate desires. Some may think that there should be negotiations like in middle-eastern small offline store (where the original asking price on anything is 100x higher exactly for negotitation purposes), others may simply inquire as a curiosity without any interntion to purchase @ any price, etc, etc, etc.

So imho what should work for endusers is pre-written neutral templates.

Another story would be inquires from younger domainers (it is not a rocket science to see the difference or even find name/nickname/branding in most cases) which are unfortunately epidemic and almost always nonsense ("I can offer you $100 for <..>"). I am still trying to figure out a better way to deal with this sort of inquiries - ignore them, or increase bin price especially if it is shown on the marketplace or landing page, or to respond with enduser templates (waste of time anyway).... ?

First off I would say you always operate in a professional manner, that will serve you better in the long run. While I see these two options more as confident and respectful, how you approach a negotiation is going to depend on how the lead was generated. If contact was initiated by the potential buyer through a landing page than a more confident approach is certainly going to beneficial during negotiations. If the buyer is found through an outbound campaign than hands down you need to be respectful and courteous as they can walk away from the discussion at any point.

MapleDots said:

A very successful domainer once told me to be polite and professional.
He wasted no time and had a one line courteous response.

I liked it and have used it ever since.

" Thank you for your offer, but I need more for that domain. "

No more, no less, easy to type and hits all the key points that need to be said.

Click to expand...

Usually that elicits a "how much more?" kind of response. Which basically requires you to name your price first. Which when its a Make Offer solicitation isn't what you are trying to achieve. I personally haven't found that a very good strategy, overall. It doesn't matter if you state your required price, or double it. The usual response is "bleat, bleat". A waste of time. Better to respond immediately with a price and terms of payment, at the initial offer of $10..$25 (usually). At least the potential buyer knows immediately you are prepared to sell, even if they don't like the price. I don't leave any "wriggle room" in the price. It's up to the buyer to work their own "wriggle room". Just IMHO.

Silentptnr said:

I know for a fact that, good or bad, some top domains are quite arrogant in their sales negotiation.

They sell the most for the most.

Which is better, arrogant or nice?

Click to expand...

When you own great domains your attitude only matters so much. If you have domains people want that is what matters. If you add in being an unmotivated seller and willing to sell very few domains then you get high prices for the handful that do sell.

Brad