discuss My first $1,000,000 offer to purchase

HFT said:

He was just testing your waters, and seeing if you would step-up. Typical Wall Street type moves.

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I agree, the broker was just trying to make it like they were making a splash. The fact they sat on a 7 figure offer while on vacation, given they work on commission shows they did not take this to seriously. I am sure they check emails daily, and 7 figures offers do not come in daily, so it's to bad. Even if you offered $1.5M they would try to move the needle higher, I would just walk away, and let them chase you if they really want to sell it.

Nat Hunt said:

I'm pretty sure a letter of intent isn't about stating your "intention" for use after purchasing something. I think it's more to get your intention to purchase in writing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_intent

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They wanted to know what the end use of the site was going to be.

I may have phrased that wrong.

MapleDots said:

They wanted to know what the end use of the site was going to be.

I may have phrased that wrong.

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Oh ok, so the broker did not ask you for a "letter of intent?"

That would be the kind of situation where they would ask for one, but you're saying that they didn't?

To the members asking....

At this point I request that the name is not speculated and I do not wish to discuss it further until the domain is sold. I may or may not come back to the bargaining table if they drop their price but I also don't want them to think they have me to come back to should they not get their price.

So as far as I am concerned I am moving on, I was firmly told 1.5 and that makes it too rich for me.

I do have another domain under consideration but it is not officially for sale so this time I might actually hire a brokerage company to represent me. I probably made a number of errors in my negotiations on this domain, and it was definitely a learning experience, but from now on anything I do over 100k I am going to get someone in the field with a proven track record to do the negotiations for me.

What a shock, no purchase and never will be even if they came back at $1million.

MapleDots said:

I was asked several times for a letter of intent - I basically responded that I was a domain investor and my intention was to either monetize or resell the domain. I think that might also have made a difference because to me it almost sounded like they wanted to know exactly what the end use of the domain was going to be.

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A letter of intent is not a statement of what you “intend” to do with the domain - it is merely a common business expression referring to your putting in writing your intent to follow through with whatever you are proposing as long as certain conditions are met.

In your case your letter of intent would have stated that you offer to pay $1m with 500k down and 500k payments for the domain if certain conditions are met. You’d outline whatever contingencies you’d want to make your offer contingent to - for example clear title, transaction and payment via escrow, and (in your case since you wanted to put a time limit on the matter) acceptance and placement into escrow within a certain time, etc. Also you’d outline your payment terms.

Or, instead of outlining everything in detail, you could make it more general or open ended - just state that your offer is contingent to buyer and seller coming up with mutually acceptable payment and transfer terms.

If I were presenting a letter of intent for this deal I’d make confidentiality a condition of it so that it wasn’t used by the broker or seller to shop around other offers (showing it around to induce others to offer more).

MapleDots said:

Turns out xynames was correct and the broker was off for holidays for a week.


Couple of things which I thought were a bit unusual in the negotiation process.

1. I was asked to provide proof of funds when I made my offer - which I did.

2. I was asked several times for a letter of intent - I basically responded that I was a domain investor and my intention was to either monetize or resell the domain. I think that might also have made a difference because to me it almost sounded like they wanted to know exactly what the end use of the domain was going to be.

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So you were buying the domain from a business? Got it.

First of all we talked about proof of funds, this is 100% normal when dealing with business.

2. LOI, or Letter of Intent is not what you intend to do with the domain, but actually a written proposal to buy the domain.

I.e.

Letter of Intent

Date

I, MapleDots, an XYZ corporation make an offer and have intentions to purchase the domain XYZ123.com from Seller Corp for $1,000,000.

Payment will be due XXX

etc.

Then the rest of terms.

xynames said:

A letter of intent is not a statement of what you “intend” to do with the domain - it is merely a common business expression referring to your putting in writing your intent to follow through with whatever you are proposing as long as certain conditions are met.

In your case your letter of intent would have stated that you offer to pay $1m with 500k down and 500k payments for the domain if certain conditions are met. You’d outline whatever contingencies you’d want to make your offer contingent to - for example clear title, transaction and payment via escrow, and (in your case since you wanted to put a time limit on the matter) acceptance and placement into escrow within a certain time, etc. Also you’d outline your payment terms.

You could also state that your offer is contingent to buyer and seller coming up with mutually acceptable payment and transfer terms.

If I were presenting a letter of intent for this deal I’d make confidentiality a condition of it so that it wasn’t used by the broker or seller to shop around other offers (showing it around to induce others to offer more).

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You beat me to it. hehe.

That exactly why I am going to seek the help of a broker next time.
These type of bigger deals require the pros, I'm used to doing business on a handshake.

I will say though.... a few members came to bat and really helped me on the back end and some of the information provided got me to doubt there was any real significant offers on this domain to begin with.

Time will tell, I'll update here if they come back to me or if the domain sells to another party.

Sounds like you need to get the owner on the phone and discuss your offer. After all, you are presenting a million $ proposal.

MapleDots said:

That exactly why I am going to seek the help of a broker next time.
These type of bigger deals require the pros, I'm used to doing business on a handshake.

I will say though.... a few members came to bat and really helped me on the back end and some of the information provided got me to doubt there was any real significant offers on this domain to begin with.

Time will tell, I'll update here if they come back to me or if the domain sells to another party.

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I would not quit just yet.

The executive office does not always go for the best price... they sometimes go for the cleanest deal.

I would go ahead right now and put together your Letter of Intent, make it very specific and VERY CLEAN... meaning very few contingencies on your side, provide full proof of funds.

The broker will have to take it to their client and typically the client, in their fiduciary duty has to present all written offers to the board.

If you are offering a damn near certain sale at a lower price, versus someone who will give them the full 1.5 but has many outs, lack of funds, etc... they just may take your offer to be done with it.

maksimfa said:

I would not quit just yet.

The executive office does not always go for the best price... they sometimes go for the cleanest deal.

I would go ahead right now and put together your Letter of Intent, make it very specific and VERY CLEAN... meaning very few contingencies on your side, provide full proof of funds.

The broker will have to take it to their client and typically the client, in their fiduciary duty has to present all written offers to the board.

If you are offering a damn near certain sale at a lower price, versus someone who will give them the full 1.5 but has many outs, lack of funds, etc... they just may take your offer to be done with it.

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THIS is 100% what I would have written.

maksimfa said:

I would go ahead right now and put together your Letter of Intent, make it very specific and VERY CLEAN... meaning very few contingencies on your side, provide full proof of funds.

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That's another mistake I made, I provided proof of funds and the account had significantly more funds than what I was offering. I made it clear the funds were earmarked for more than one domain purchase but I did not know how else to provide proof. In retrospect I should have transferred the excess out before providing proof of funds because they probably thought they could squeeze me for more.

The broker started at 2.4 and went to 1.5 so at this point I think it's pretty much hit rock bottom. I don't think I'm going to be pursuing it further. I got so many different stories on who is offering what that I am no longer sure what to think.

I was told 1.5 was bottom line so I said my good-bye and that is the end. If for some reason they should come back to me in the future I will probably offer less because by then I will have spend some of the funds on other acquisitions if you know what I mean

I just realized that I was reading a thread on NP about "A shift away from .com". I come to find out that the same guy turned around and started this thread and now making 1mill offers for on a .COM name?????? WOW!

maxtorz said:

I just realized that I was reading a thread on NP about "A shift away from .com". I come to find out that the same guy turned around and started this thread and now making 1mill offers for on a .COM name?????? WOW!

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Also this same person bought Kitchener.com from A.D. on namepros, which is a Canadian city, which most likely ties into a .ca extension based on their own analogies, ironic ?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/kitchener-com-large-canadian-city.1114972/

Kind of like Frank saying buy GTLD’s, but .com will be for like the AM dial. We all know how much he spends per day over at NameJet on .com’s.

But push comes to shove, money always follows the .com.

@xynames called this out early on also.

I think you have just been squeezed out a extra 100k. A well written offer of 1.1m should be in place "if you really want the domain" because that's how business works.

wwwweb said:

Also this same person bought Kitchener.com from A.D. on namepros, which is a Canadian city, which most likely ties into a .ca extension based on their own analogies, ironic ?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/kitchener-com-large-canadian-city.1114972/

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Yup, got that sweet one, the name of my hometown.

I never said I don't buy .com's that would be pretty stupid if I did, my biggest sale to date was a .com so I know where my money is coming from.

That said, I sell quite a few ccTLD's so the article in question was also making the point that all ccTLD's together will eventually overtake .com.

Again, I always say that shows the strength of .com and not a weakness. It takes all ccTLD's combined to give the king a run for his money.

If that is not strength then nothing is.

Besides, there are bargains in the .com industry with domains like user.com selling for only 150k.

So if one would have bought it at wholesale a million could in theory buy about 10 similar domains. I got a lot of PM messages from members telling me to do just that because the odds of making a large profit on 10 domains are greater than on one.

PS. I'm getting a ton of PM messages and if I don't answer it simply means I'm not interested in the domain you are offering.

Whatever the domain is, its value / price is exactlyyy what the owner is willing to accept.
The owner sets the valueee
And the owner makes the priceee

DOMAIN ILLUMINATI said:

Whatever the domain is, its value / price is exactlyyy what the owner is willing to accept.
The owner sets the valueee
And the owner makes the priceee

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Value an price are two different things. Now go to your threads.

MapleDots said:

If for some reason they should come back to me in the future I will probably offer less because by then I will have spend some of the funds on other acquisitions if you know what I mean

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Lol You really don’t want to buy this name.

-EM- said:

Value an price are two different things.

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I can confirm you that valueee and priceee are two different things yesss
Let me remind you that I never wrote that it is the same.
I wrote that the owner sets the valueee and that the owner makes the priceee

The point is, that, under normal circumstances, in 99 %, the priceee is based on the valid valueee * and the valueee is (and can only be), again, set by the owner and by no one else **. Therefore the onlyyy valid / decisive / official valueee is the valueee that is set by the owner and therefore the onlyyy valid / decisive / official priceee is the priceee that is set by the owner. That's the awesome advantage of being the owner hahaahaaa


* Sure there can be exceptions with the result that the item will be offered / sold under its valueee - for example if the owner is forced for some reason (need in money etc.) to sell it under its value or if the owner decides to discount the price for some reason (special offer etc.).

** Sure it can - and will always - be "valued" by someone other hahaahaaa or by others hahaahaaa or even by "valuating - apps" hahaahaaa - but in the end, all those "2nd party" - valuations are not decisive because noone except the owner owns it and therefore noone except the owner has the power to define the valid / decisive / official valueee and it is complete irrelevant if others agree or not - if they want to buyyy it, they will have to payyy the priceee that the owner has set based on the valueee he has set - and in the moment they pay, they agreee with the valueee that was set by the owner.

-EM- said:

Now go to your threads.

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Nowww go to myyy threads hahaahaaa

How longgg does it take to writeee like thattt or do you have some auto script that does it for you?

xynames said:

How longgg does it take to writeee like thattt or do you have some auto script that does it for you?

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I meant to ask that myself a few times now

johnnie018 said:

Lol You really don’t want to buy this name.

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Nope, I made my offer and attempted a purchase, I was told the offer was not high enough.

If they cannot sell and come back to me I will offer less than my original amount.
That's pretty standard procedure for me in domaining, if a domain is for sale and my offer is turned down I move on. The only reason they end up coming back a few months later is if they could not sell the domain. At that point I have the upper hand and why would I offer the same amount?

6

MapleDots said:

Nope, I made my offer and attempted a purchase, I was told the offer was not high enough.

If they cannot sell and come back to me I will offer less than my original amount.
That's pretty standard procedure for me in domaining, if a domain is for sale and my offer is turned down I move on. The only reason they end up coming back a few months later is if they could not sell the domain. At that point I have the upper hand and why would I offer the same amount?

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Because u want the domain ? Lol