question Email from Harvard Professor today on Domain Name! HELP!

DomainBarracksRob · Oct 19, 2017

Need some advice here, Still new to all this and this is my first major"talk/negation".

So about a month ago I reg'd APOPS. org on the drop I liked it for several reasons.

Today I got a email from Jerold S. Kayden - simply saying -"Have you purchased the domain name apops.org?"....I looked at the Email name tag and it said, GSD Harvard . edu . Of course I was like Wow this is cool. Naturally I looked him up and Turns out he is Professor of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Also Founder of Advocates of Privately Owned Public Spaces....(apops)!!!! Wow again....turns out his other title is "Urban planner and LAWYER"!!

.......How safe am I here????I did not look up Trademarks or anything like that on the name, could him being a Lawyer make this more difficult??

Please read this link here with The info on him and APOPS, he has a large team of pre$tigiou$ people and ceo's
https://apops.mas.org/about/people/

I have not responed to his email yet. I need suggestions , thoughts, opinions , appraisals, and maybe even legal advice

Thank You

Robert

frank-germany · Oct 20, 2017

it doesn't matter who the buyer is and how deep his pockets are
its your domain
and there are a lot of options to use a short acronym

so its up to you what to do with it
just don't violate any 3rd persons legal rights
thats it

renew it for 10 years

if somebody wants it
they are free to offer you a compensation
for giving up your plans

and your time
and your knowledge
that was needed in order to find such domain

if they don't honor that
they might choose another domain

there is no need to explain your initial plans to anybody
and there is no need to justify the fact that you registered an available domain

--

disclaimer
I am no lawyer
no legal advice

just my opinion
as a result of more then 15 years domaining

DomainBarracksRob · Oct 20, 2017

frank-germany said:
it doesn't matter who the buyer is and how deep his pockets are
its your domain
and there are a lot of options to use a short acronym

so its up to you what to do with it
just don't violate any 3rd persons legal rights
thats it

renew it for 10 years

if somebody wants it
they are free to offer you a compensation
for giving up your plans

and your time
and your knowledge
that was needed in order to find such domain

if they don't honor that
they might choose another domain

Thank you! I understanding people having opinions which is okay, but just wanted advise and not name bashing by others! a p o p s Aside from the A is not random POPs is a real word. Regardless what tools others use here, I saw and still see plenty of potential uses....and many of which the acr "finder" does not find. It's all in what you see in "your name. If this name "grading" was accurate...Mike Mann would not be the Man !..given some others opinions on his names which I actully happen to like.

ALSO I have Respond this morning via email and held FIRM , and let it be known I'm willing to work with do to the circumstances. Thank you again for everyones input and advice.

Mister Funsky · Oct 20, 2017

frank-germany said:
there is no need to explain your initial plans to anybody
and there is no need to justify the fact that you registered an available domain

Exactly. Come up with a reasonable offer and submit it...no need to explain or justify your reasons for acquiring the domain.

promo · Oct 20, 2017

DomainBarracksRob said:
@Kate I don't need a market to sell an apple , I just need to find one hungry man with a quarter in his pocket

Sounds like the market value of an apple. Means you will sell the domain for 10$?

Kpett · Oct 20, 2017

I would think most of us are in this business to make a profit. Part of one's overall business *might* be to assist others when needed (see Eric Lyon flood) or charity, but in the end, we buy domain names for x and sell them for y, with the goal of y being larger than x. Some of the domain names we buy may not sell, so for the ones that do, that profit needs to cover the registration (and re-reg) fees of the ones that don't just to stay even. I would have responded in the same way as @DomainBarracksRob (except maybe not mentioning I just acquired the name ... even though that's obvious), and start a negotiation.

DomainBarracksRob · Oct 20, 2017

btw the salary I quoted earlier was for 2012,....... this is the 2016 below

http://faculty-salaries.startclass.com/l/5537/Harvard-University

it has since basically ...Doubled!.....Let that resonate when you go back and re-read his "pitch" to me.

wwwweb · Oct 20, 2017

It's a tough call, some people no matter how much money they have will not do business in the sense they have programmed themselves to not take responsibility they let their domain expire. It is always a glitch on the other side that made this happen. I would just go silent, and let him talk to himself, until he throws out a number. He does have a legal background, and a UDRP justified or not, could be his means in attempting to get it back also. You play it as you need to, but this one doesn't sound easy.

DomainBarracksRob · Oct 20, 2017

wwwweb said:
It's a tough call, some people no matter how much money they have will not do business in the sense they have programmed themselves to not take responsibility they let their domain expire. It is always a glitch on the other side that made this happen. I would just go silent, and let him talk to himself, until he throws out a number. He does have a legal background, and a UDRP justified or not, could be his means in attempting to get it back also. You play it as you need to, but this one doesn't sound easy.

No you are completely correct and I agree with you whole heartily, however I do Not take kindly to being taking as a uneducated and dim whited fool! He has more than enough behind him that it could have been settled in the first response, I would have respected that. Heck I would have taken a LOT less then I will hold back for now. I'm not sure how deep everyone hear has looked as he also wrote and sold a book. My whole point is , if you're earning $xxx,xxx yearly on just SALARY alone...and have book sales , and all other investments , including this one at the very topic at hand. Shame one you for coming at me so penny pinching cheap to offer at cost, when you say it is "important to me". It's a insult. Point blank !

Honestly, makes my blood boil and almost make me feel like adding another X to the BIN! For you GOT fans....SHAME lol (couldn't help it)

BaileyUK · Oct 20, 2017

Lets not forget it's a dot .Org that gave rise to this thread. Hardly a cash-cow even at the best end. Good Job we get to argue about the minuscule domains , we might be buggered for debate otherwise,

Jv1999 · Oct 20, 2017

Apops.org has a da of 1. How can that be the site for that project for 10 years?

karmaco · Oct 21, 2017

These type of decisions should be made logically and not emotionally. At the most you are playing with fire. At the least you will never get your perceived value and name will never sell.

It sounds like you’ve made a decision so let us know how it goes.

Names are worth what someone is willing to pay not their personal income or any other single factor. The advice given here overall was good although varied and should not be taken as an insult.

Haris · Oct 21, 2017

A billionaire media company's CEO contacted me recently, for a short one word .tv domain that has many potential buyers and my BIN price at AfterNic/etc is $20k. After learning about this CEO and his companies I thought I shouldn't have put a BIN price because he is so rich he might pay 6 figures or at least $50k.. But he had probably seen the BIN price and I felt it was not right to increase the asking price just because he is rich and gave him the $20k price.

Guess what his max budget was for the domain? USD 862. LOL. I can't sell for that amount and he wasn't willing to increase his budget so he moved on.

Perceived values differentiate from person to person.

Jv1999 · Oct 21, 2017

Haris said:
A billionaire media company's CEO contacted me recently, for a short one word .tv domain that has many potential buyers and my BIN price at AfterNic/etc is $20k. After learning about this CEO and his companies I thought I shouldn't have put a BIN price because he is so rich he might pay 6 figures or at least $50k.. But he had probably seen the BIN price and I felt it was not right to increase the asking price just because he is rich and gave him the $20k price.

Guess what his max budget was for the domain? USD 862. LOL. I can't sell for that amount and he wasn't willing to increase his budget so he moved on.

Perceived values differentiate from person to person.

LOL. HE PROBABLY LOST $862 IN SURCHARGES FOR SOMETHING HE FORGOT TO DO AND DIDN'T EVEN FEEL IT.

Yet he spent more than 30 minutes giving you his full attention, but that wasn't worth more than $862

jamesau · Oct 22, 2017

If you aren't going to develop the domain I would just hand it back over to this guy for a nominal fee.

You will expand your professional network and have an IOU in hand from a well connected individual (Harvard networks are huge).

Otherwise the best case is you hold this for 5 years and maybe scrape out a $500 sale.

promo · Oct 22, 2017

I once gave an expired name back to an org for free. Back then I was regging what ever had stats from the drop and had picked up uw seneca dot org.

In my case it was a local division of a childrens org so an easy decision. A bit more cut and dry than this situation but certainly sometimes the circumstances dictate that profit takes a backseat.

Kate · Oct 22, 2017

James Rayers said:
You will expand your professional network and have an IOU in hand from a well connected individual (Harvard networks are huge).

Maybe. Sometimes building (and mending) relationships is more important than closing a (one-off) sale.

This reminds me of another thread: https://www.namepros.com/threads/he...-threatening-legal-action-need-advice.968545/
Hope this is not going to turn the same way.

ResoluteDomains · Oct 23, 2017

nbuzz · Oct 23, 2017

This happened to me this year, a .com domain dropped out by accident as they use the .org usually and I ended up selling it back to them for $500, it cost around $25 they also had a TM on it.

xynames · Oct 23, 2017

If the non profit is going to pay to get it back, they will do it quickly, to maintain continuity, etc. A sort of a nuisance expense to avoid disruption. Any other avenue they follow including legal will take time.

So if you don't get paid right away assume that they are either forgetting about it or pursuing other channels, such as trying to get the registrar to recover the domain due to registrant error (if that is what happened), or a trademark claim, if indeed they have a trademark (the only issued and live TM I saw related to this was to APOPS ASSOCIATION FOR PELVIC ORGAN PROLAPSE SUPPORT, and even that is a design + words TM, not words alone). But if I were them and the domain mattered at all, I'd just cough up some money to you to end the matter quickly.

This is notwithstanding the right or wrong of this matter, just the reality of the situation.

DomainBarracksRob · Oct 23, 2017

I wrote a detailed response ......with reasons in which handing over my name at cost was a no, though I was open to negotiations.

I don't think it was taken well...at all due to the short and what sounds friendly at first ..... and then you pick up on all the lawyer lingo in the short reply and realize what it means.

" Thank you for your thoughtful response. I fully understand your position and wish you luck going forward."

.....I'm no genius , but when a "lawyer" uses wording such as this ...it's not hard to tell what he's thinking or planning.

This was on the 20th

Haris · Oct 23, 2017

obvious..

eko prasetio · Oct 23, 2017

i see similiar domain in google Apops.org.ar

Elad n · Oct 23, 2017

DomainBarracksRob said:
I wrote a detailed response ......with reasons in which handing over my name at cost was a no, though I was open to negotiations.

I don't think it was taken well...at all due to the short and what sounds friendly at first ..... and then you pick up on all the lawyer lingo in the short reply and realize what it means.

" Thank you for your thoughtful response. I fully understand your position and wish you luck going forward."

.....I'm no genius , but when a "lawyer" uses wording such as this ...it's not hard to tell what he's thinking or planning.

This was on the 20th

Surprise Surprise lol

maxtorz · Oct 23, 2017

Haris said:
A billionaire media company's CEO contacted me recently, for a short one word .tv domain that has many potential buyers and my BIN price at AfterNic/etc is $20k. After learning about this CEO and his companies I thought I shouldn't have put a BIN price because he is so rich he might pay 6 figures or at least $50k.. But he had probably seen the BIN price and I felt it was not right to increase the asking price just because he is rich and gave him the $20k price.

Guess what his max budget was for the domain? USD 862. LOL. I can't sell for that amount and he wasn't willing to increase his budget so he moved on.

Perceived values differentiate from person to person.

You should ABSOLUTELY FOLLOW-UP this guy multiple times, or let me broker this name for you!

maxtorz · Oct 24, 2017

DomainBarracksRob said:
I wrote a detailed response ......with reasons in which handing over my name at cost was a no, though I was open to negotiations.

I don't think it was taken well...at all due to the short and what sounds friendly at first ..... and then you pick up on all the lawyer lingo in the short reply and realize what it means.

" Thank you for your thoughtful response. I fully understand your position and wish you luck going forward."

.....I'm no genius , but when a "lawyer" uses wording such as this ...it's not hard to tell what he's thinking or planning.

This was on the 20th

Don't sweat it!
Did you quote a price in your email?
I would follow this guy up multiple times....He contacted you, he's on your time.
Send one liners... like "what's stopping you from purchasing this name?"
then a couple days latter follow him up again... sending him some other sales/comps 5L.org:
Simply say here are some comp sales or similar names:
pmfai.org 940 USD 2017-10-11 GoDaddy
icnnd.org 780 USD 2017-09-18 NameJet
gapan.org 770 USD 2017-09-18 DropCatch

Then follow him up again if he doesn't reply....

So what if he's a lawyer/teacher whatever! You are more powerful then you think, you need to act accordingly and control the negotiation.

question Email from Harvard Professor today on Domain Name! HELP!

Top Member

domainer since 2001 / musicianTop Member

Top Member

Top Member

MemberRestricted (85-100%)

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Hopeless Fighter: Desolate Knight of Exo TowersTop Member

Top Member

Best Domainer Of The End-TimesTop Member

Hopeless Fighter: Desolate Knight of Exo TowersTop Member

Top Member

MemberRestricted (85-100%)

Domainosaurus RexTop Member

Top Member

Established Member

XYNames.comTop Member

Top Member

Best Domainer Of The End-TimesTop Member

Top Member

Account Closed (Requested)

Established Member

Established Member

Similar threads

We're social

Pinned

Appreciation

Agreement