poll Sold name at first offer.. do you sell at first offer usually or not?

xynames said:

If you wish to accept the initial offer you may do so by engaging them then later accepting. This is a little beyond simple Negotiations 101.

Click to expand...

u can't engage buyer on sedo. unless your msg comes with a counter. so once you do that you won't be able to accept his original offer after.... thats like beyond simple sedo 101 hehe

you can do this on gd though... where everything is binding 7 days.. no matter how many counters u or buyer makes.

I think much of this thread is about incoming emails or landing page contact form submissions. Or at least that’s what I’m talking about - situations where you may engage without having to throw out a number.

Even on for example Afternic if you have an assigned broker there are ways to engage via your broker.

DomainVP said:

An offer for $800, you could have countered with $1200 and they would have either been fine with it, offered somewhere in between, or told you that $800 is their max.

Click to expand...

... or just walked away. We see this all the time.

xynames said:

I think much of this thread is about incoming emails or landing page contact form submissions. Or at least that’s what I’m talking about - situations where you may engage without having to throw out a number.

Even on for example Afternic if you have an assigned broker there are ways to engage via your broker.

Click to expand...

yes your all more than welcome to discuss all type landers... I was just making it clear that in my particular sale case.. which was sedo.. there is no such thing as engaging buyer without counteroffer and thus discarding his first offer at same time... and no such thign as buyer going down on his first offer price, after I accept it

Once got an inbound offer of $500 for a keyword based domain related to artwork. I was thinking for a whole day and research some previous market sales and the keyword metrics. As the domain was very long and I was handreg this one for just a few bucks at discount price, also the keyword was not a strong one with many search volume and doesn't have any higher CPC or competition at all. Eventually, I accepted this offer. The buyer rejected and counter with $200. I again counter with $300 and the buyer accepted the deal.
After 3 months of this sale, I found this domain listed in Godaddy auction. But, I was pretty surprised to see that the last bid was over $1k.
I can say that I'm not a noob in market research. Still confused about this auction. And, that day I started to believe in "Domain has no predictable price".

*We should counter at least once which could prevent buyers from thinking that the seller is desperate to sell this domain.

You're in an industry with a 2% sale thru rate. As long as you're making a nice ROI and not losing money, sale the domain. It's silly to waste time and money hoping for something better. 98% of domains will never sell. When you get a nice offer, take it!

@alcy - nice sale!

Last year I tested what will happen if I immediately accept the initial offer. Four times I accepted and at the end I was not able to sell at all. I have over 20 years experience in marketing and sales and decided similar to @xynames advice to engage in future inquiries with the buyer to get a better picture about the buyer intentions and to get as much infos as possible. At the end their should be a deal if possible.

1Darko said:

@alcy - nice sale!

Last year I tested what will happen if I immediately accept the initial offer. Four times I accepted and at the end I was not able to sell at all. I have over 20 years experience in marketing and sales and decided similar to @xynames advice to engage in future inquiries with the buyer to get a better picture about the buyer intentions and to get as much infos as possible. At the end their should be a deal if possible.

Click to expand...

ty
p.s. were you failed sales on undeveloped by chance?

I definitely find there are markets were payment failure rates (whether first offers or later offers accepted) are greater than on other markets... I guess there are just more serious buyers frequenting the bigger older markets like sedo.. gd.. etc..

alcy said:

ty
p.s. were you failed sales on undeveloped by chance?

I definitely find there are markets were failure rates (whether first offers or later offers accepted) are greater than on other markets... I guess there are just more serious buyers frequenting the bigger older markets like sedo.. gd.. etc..

Click to expand...

Yes, but I had also 2 offers on bodis lander which I imported to uneveloped and failed at the end to get paid.

1Darko said:

Yes, but I had also 2 offers on bodis lander which I imported to uneveloped and failed at the end to get paid.

Click to expand...

yeah... bodis sale inquiries are even less binding to most buyers minds than undeveloped.

there is a huge failure rate at undeveloped... I think they just get buyers from various countries which are not so serious (no names)...

but that doesn't speak poorly of undeveloped of course.. its just not yet where sedo or gd auctions are. I had very small failure rate at gd ... and even much smaller at sedo.

alcy said:

yeah... bodis sale inquiries are even less binding to most buyers minds than undeveloped.

there is a huge failure rate at undeveloped... I think they just get buyers from various countries which are not so serious (no names)...

but that doesn't speak poorly of undeveloped of course.. its just not yet where sedo or gd auctions are. I had very small failure rate at gd ... and even much smaller at sedo.

Click to expand...

What kind of owner verification do you use at Sedo when you list your domains there? What works the best for you? I have probably over 50 names in need to verify.

1Darko said:

What kind of owner verification do you use at Sedo when you list your domains there? What works the best for you? I have probably over 50 names in need to verify.

Click to expand...

since gdpr things went down the drain for verifications
as I have domains across various registrars and it messes things up for txt records for me
.. cause some registrars do not offer bulk changes... others won't let you change txt record unless I point dns to their defaut servers.. etc..

so I do not use records at all to verify.

for gd auctions I now go through afternic (which means those lame price requests emails each time someone makes offer thjrough gd auctions)... and for sedo, I change nameservers to sedo park for 24h.. and its all verified. then I change back.

alcy said:

since gdpr things went down the drain for verifications
as I have domains across various registrars and it messes things up for txt records for me
.. cause some registrars do not offer bulk changes... others won't let you change txt record unless I point dns to their defaut servers.. etc..

so I do not use records at all to verify.

for gd auctions I now go through afternic (which means those lame price requests emails each time someone makes offer thjrough gd auctions)... and for sedo, I change nameservers to sedo park for 24h.. and its all verified. then I change back.

Click to expand...

Thanks - I thought the same for myself to switch the nameservers to sedo for some time - it's very anoying this verification. (thanks for off topic answer)
At Afternic I mainly use BIN and I like that they only inform me about the sale after they collected the payment. So there shouldn't be any negative surprises afterwards.

alcy said:

I told myself to try not to sell at first offer.. but then at same time, I had more than one disappointing occasion where I countered and never heard from buyer... even after reducing my counter a few times (sometimes even going down to his original offer lol... and still no reply!).......

I guess it can go either way..... done is done I guess... of course, I also evaluate countering or not by name itself.. its potential value... and definitely extension too.. so given this is .biz... I suppose many will agree I should not have countered... and then some will probably say I should have countered... seeing on sedo the buyer regged there only in 2018... and had no buy activity bars showing... did help me decide too.

so anyway.. the name is below... and I thought I'd make a nice poll out of it too while im at it...

block group
..biz

800$.....6 months old handreg.....sedo offer.

Click to expand...

$800 for a TWO WORD biz is money u should take and never regret.

Well, I regret the sedo commission in that case tho

IMEZI said:

once i got $800 for geo .com on godaddy and i countered for $1200 and the buyer went silent for 2 months, later i ask help from @Joe Styler the very same buyer were reduced their offer to $400, i accept the $400 offer but no more answer and its already more than 1 month since i accept the $400 offer...

Click to expand...

Never a Good-move, to act desperate for a sale.

If your not comfortable with your asking prices, then re-examine where your getting your pricing from. Every once-in-awhile, I too lower my published asking prices, (let previous enquirers know) one sale later they are back where they should be. (just Cash-flow)

Sub-offer pricing - after an initial offer - tells everyone you are soooo desperate, and don't have a clue where your coming from. You've just undermined even their own purchase confidence

MSN-Domains said:

Is that learned through personal experience or just another regurgitated opinion which you now claim as your own?

Click to expand...

Experience if you care to know .

Nice sell @alcy.

alcy said:

yes for sure.. bin makes it all very different from makeoffer.. but that does not really conclusively say if you'd be getting higher price from offer or bin... one excludes the other.. so if you sell domainx.com at bin.. yuou will just never ever know what you'd get for it if you negotiated the final price

Click to expand...

I choose the both depending on my price expectation:
Domains under 2k - 10k >>>> BIN
Domains above 2k - 10k >>>> Make offer or auction.

As to the original question, usually I decline all offers, with no counter. Serious buyer always makes another offer after a few weeks, then another offer, then another. I had and still have such potential buyers who have been after some of my domains since years. They don't get rid of making offers. I don't set a minimum offer too. Because minimum offer = BIN or very close to BIN.


Counter offer = BIN.
If I counter, I am telling the potential buyer "I have a BIN in my mind. I just don't want reveal it publicly." But on the other hand if I had a BIN in my mind, I would set a BIN. I am conflicting with myself and this weakens my decision making process, makes me hesitant. If I had a BIN in my mind, why do I want to spend time in negotations and lose some potential buyers under the uncertainity of negotations?

I am telling the potential buyer one more thing about the conflict in me: "I didn't have a BIN in mind until receiving your offer, I countered you a number based on your offer, as you see the difference between your offer my counter offer is not big. My counter offer looks very reasonable compared to your initial offer. Please accept my counter offer". Actually I am telling the buyer: "You are the boss here, I own this domain but I have no idea on what to do with, why did I buy it, please help me, take this trouble from me. I don't know what I am doing. You know the market better than me, I believe your offer is fair. I appreciate your help, my lord".

Making counter offer makes me conflicting with myself. An experienced buyer/seller is always good negotiator, leaves such negotiations or takes the control easily to take advantage of the weakness in his opponent. Never conflict with yourself in a decision making process even if your oponent doesn't notice. Stay integrated and in harmony with yourself.

If you really want to rule the "make offer" game, decline all the offers until you don't want to decline. Don't be affraid of losing buyers if your domain is valuable. They will knock your door again and again. If you have an idea about the price, always set a BIN, a little more than what you think to prevent possible regret after the sale. Possibility of leaving money on the table with BIN is correct only for high priced domains. Low priced, low quality domains don't receive any offer and are not sold if there is no BIN. Be realistic about the quality of your domains. It must be worth to negotiate for you and for your potential buyer.

Low priced domains rarely receive offer. Because potential buyers usually think these in seconds:
- "I like this domain. But it has no price. The asking price must be high. Because spending days in lengthy negotiations to get a few hundred more wouldn't be a right thing to do for the seller. If I make an offer this seller will negotiate with me at least to get a few thousands more from me or will decline my offer, I will lose time in both scenarios. I am ready to pay now for this lovely domain if it had 500-1k price tag. What a luck! I want to offer 500 for this but I know it will be declined. Who would spend time with me to get a few hundred more? If I offer 1k in the first place, the seller will likely to ask for more. I have only 1k. If I offer 500 and raise it to 1k gradually it will not be worth the time of the seller as he likely owns thousands of domains. If the asking price was really under 1k, negotiation wouldn't be needed, there would be a price tag. I should look at the other domains with prices around 500-1k"

I used to second guess myself when I counter-offered and they walked away. Then I tried accepting opening offers - and buyers would still disappear. A lot of buyers simply change their minds overnight.

That's another advantage of BINs. If the buyer comes home after a few drinks and decides to buy at BIN at Godaddy (or wherever), they normally won't come back to try to cancel their order the next day. It would be a major hassle.

But if the same buyer has a few drinks and offers $2000 for a name with no real commitment, they may change their mind when you accept their offer the next morning. And all they have to do is not respond.

So, normally I engage and counter-offer.

poweredbyme said:

As to the original question, usually I decline all offers, with no counter. Serious buyer always makes another offer after a few weeks, then another offer, then another.

Click to expand...

That's a very bad sales strategy, no matter how good you think your domains are. It is rude, it is arrogant, it is everything I hate in sales. How exactly sure are you that a serious buyer will always hang around one domain, making offers upon offers, without getting responses? I don't think so.

I have made offers in domains with serious intentions to buy but walked away because the owner refused to reply to my offers. And those offers were end user offers that would have resulted to sales.

You are simply losing sales and money, no matter how well you think this strategy works for you.

#MHO

dande said:

That's a very bad sales strategy, no matter how good you think your domains are. It is rude, it is arrogant, it is everything I hate in sales. How exactly sure are you that a serious buyer will always hang around one domain, making offers upon offers, without getting responses? I don't think so.

I have made offers in domains with serious intentions to buy but walked away because the owner refused to reply to my offers. And those offers were end user offers that would have resulted to sales.

You are simply losing sales and money, no matter how well you think this strategy works for you.

#MHO

Click to expand...

Make offer means make offer. If you counter, it turns into BIN. If you have a BIN in your mind, always set a BIN.

Arrogance is not intended by declining offers with no explanation and is a selected perception for those who feel so.
As a seller, I may be offended for a low ball offer may find the offer arrogant and rude. But it would be my personal selected perception. Maybe that person doesn't have enough money to pay the price I may accept.

If seller declines offer it means the asking price is higher. The same person can always make offers until the offer is accepted. Nothing prevents someone to make offers repeatedly until forever. Nobody can be punished for this.

Seller is not obligated to provide explanations or to make counter offer. Because counter offer reveals the BIN while the buyer is free to decline counter offer. Most offers are made to know the BIN, not to buy. If someone knows the BIN without a guaranteed payment, what is the purpose of "make offer"? If you think knowing the BIN price by 1 person speeds up the sale, setting a public BIN would let thousands of people know the BIN, not only 1 person who made the offer. If the main purpose is to speed up the sale "make offer" is the slowest option. If seller chooses "make offer" option, seller is willing to wait more for the right person who will pay the right price. If make offer is chosen, the game of "make offer" must be played correctly.

"Make offer" game relies on keeping the BIN secret before the guaranteed payment. The only interaction/communication with the buyer must be to accept the offer. There is no interaction, communication in BIN option too.. The only difference between "make offer" and "BIN" is price secrecy. If seller reveals a price, at any point before the payment, then the sale is no longer "make offer". Counter offer = BIN. Declining offers with an explanation may reveal the price too. Replying inbound emails, answering incoming calls may reveal the price. If revealing the price is not a problem, BIN works better.