question Can some of you Pros help me in negotiating with HugeDomains?

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

I figured if there was any place in the world to ask it'd be on here since you guys deal with similar situations on the daily and nightly.

I am an average guy who does web dev as a hobby and am helping my gramps set something up for his business. They have the name of the business locked in from some insane price (2200 or something), is there any hope of getting it down to 400-200? All the other major TLD variations are available and it's pretty discreet name and partially in a different language so I'm not sure why they think it's so valuable. Literally no one online seems to be using anything similar to it so I'm trying to negotiate it down.

I know you guys think it's dumb to pay that premium given the other TLDS are available, but I don't want to let my gramps down.

What do you guys think is a good strategy? Factors to consider:

1) Should I call or email? I think calling might be preferred for negations, but I'm not sure.

2) Calling back multiple times to talk to different representatives? Depending on how moody one guy feels, negotiations can take a turn for the worst. But I'm not sure how they operate, maybe calls per domain get tagged and increase value further, so should I just talk to one rep? Male or female rep? Testosterone will make negations difficultly, but there are also bitchy females heh.

3) Purchasing one other TLD (.net, .org) and telling them that, "I'd like to get the .com as an option given it falls into my budgeting plan, but I'm not super invested in it". This is the truth as I have no problem working with the other TLD, but I want to at least try to go all out for my gramps if it's budget-able. Or would this just makes the value soar even higher? I've seen people on other forums say either way so not sure.

At the end of the day, I know it doesn't matter to HD, but my gramps is an immigrant who has worked from nothing to get his business running and just don't want to let him down with something sub-par. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in any event

tomcarl · Jul 22, 2015

1. HugeDomains will probably be reading this post as they frequent NamePros, so I dunno how much this helps your cause.

2. We are domain investors here, so no, we do not think it's dumb to acquire a .COM domain to use for your project. In fact, we're the folks that realize the power of a quality domain name.

3. By registering the .net and .org you just let the owner of the .COM you're after know you're that much more interested in the name, not the other way around.

My final advice: I read they do negotiate however, be up front and contact them with your very best offer within your budget. If you play the lowballing game it may just increase the price. Since they're a boutique, they want turnarounds. If it is a domain name that will be used for a business and not for a hobby site then it's worth the one-time investment IMO. Compare this to a brick-n-mortar business where you have monthly rent to pay for your location. After your cost, your "rent" is only $8 - $15 a year to renew.

Final Tip: Don't grow your business on a .NET or .ORG if ever you expect to acquire the .COM for the same price in the future. Don't register those names before contacting, don't even mention them.

GL

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

tomcarl said:
1. HugeDomains will probably be reading this post as they frequent NamePros, so I dunno how much this helps your cause.

2. We are domain investors here, so no, we do not think it's dumb to acquire a .COM domain to use for your project. In fact, we're the folks that realize the power of a quality domain name.

3. By registering the .net and .org you just let the owner of the .COM you're after know you're that much more interested in the name, not the other way around.

My final advice: I read they do negotiate however, be up front and contact them with your very best offer within your budget. If you play the lowballing game it may just increase the price. Since they're a boutique, they want turnarounds. If it is a domain name that will be used for a business and not for a hobby site then it's worth the one-time investment IMO. Compare this to a brick-n-mortar business where you have monthly rent to pay for your location. After your cost, your "rent" is only $8 - $15 a year to renew.

Final Tip: Don't grow your business on a .NET or .ORG if ever you expect to acquire the .COM for the same price in the future. Don't register those names before contacting, don't even mention them.

GL

Thanks for the reply.

Before making the thread, I used the search to find any relevant info on the company so I hoped they'd be around if anything. It'd be cool if they reached out to me since they see where I'm coming from. Hopefully the post humanizes me and they see how comically bad my approach to negotiation is.

It won't be a full blown business, just like an information page about services so its on the map and a bit more fleshed out then a yellow books listing (like I said I'm still pretty novice). I'm springing for all the cost and it will be hard since I'm still in school. So although choosing the one click buy is appealing for the sake of avoiding confrontation, it just won't work for what I'm capable of. I will do as you suggest and be up front with my intentions and ability.

Thanks again for the tips, I really appreciate it.

AEProgram · Jul 22, 2015

I only discovered how devoted people are to their grandparents once I started domaining.

I rarely get an email that says "Hi I am looking to buy a domain for MY new business, please send me the price" or "here is my offer". It always involves some nice cool story about grandma, sick wife, co-worker struggling etc.

Domainers do not need your education as to what you think the value is of the domain, what we do need is your honesty.

So here is what I suggest especially given I know full well how hugedomains operate, they are a straight forward no BS kinda company, I do business with dropcatch, namebright and HD.

Contact them by phone and simply say hey, I am interested in a name you have for sale but I cannot afford it. Here is what I can afford today. Ask them about payment options, talk to them, like most in this business we are flexible, however we need to know the truth as to what we are dealing with.

Send regards to grandpa

and I hope he gets his domain soon.

DomainVP · Jul 22, 2015

blurp said:
I am an average guy who does web dev as a hobby and am helping my gramps set something up for his business.

Would you classify him as a school teacher trying to get a domain for a project for the students, or an internet startup with a very low budget that thinks of the domain as a 'nice to have' and not invested in the name?

Domain owners hear all kinds of wild imaginative stories; so "my immigrant grandfather' is just another fabricated story to a domain owner; regardless of it's validity.

In the end, buying/selling a domain isn't charity, it is a professional exchange of property.

If you are in the U.S. Operating on another extension other than .COM is

Pay the $2200 and consider yourself lucky that they aren't asking for six figures; $2200 is actually a pretty cheap price.

N-A · Jul 22, 2015

From experience, I would say pay the BIN (total amount).

I approached someone there via phone, identifying myself and making a reasonable opening offer (80% of the listing price, for a bulk purchase of nearly $10,000 in inventory). I don't want to call them out for being poor at dealing with customers over the phone, but the person in question laughed and said I will never get the domain for that little and either abruptly hung up or took another call.

So, I slept on the BIN on this particular name as I was going to develop a nice project on it. I woke up ready to hit the BUY button for the ~$1895, only to find out overnight, the price had jumped from $1895 to $2300.

This was a year ago and I still find interest in the name. However, it's now priced at $2850 and although not out of reach, the company itself left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I just know that I will never deal with them again. Though, if you do, I recommend that you 'buy now' and leave communications out, or you may face the same type of sales tactic.

FX · Jul 22, 2015

Msg the owner @Rebies

FX

Arca · Jul 22, 2015

If you are going to buy at BIN, it might be a good idea to wait for a while to see how the price fluctuates by itself. I am following a handful of domains at HD from time to time, and the prices keep going up and down. One domain which I am considering to purchase for my own use, has changed like this for the past 2 months: 2200-->2400-->3800-->2400-->2000.

I never visit the domain landing page directly, or search for the full domain name in the searchbar or do anything that shows their system that I am looking at that particular domain (I guess their pricing system is automated, and keeps adjusting the prices based on a certain algorithm). Once I visited the landing page of a random name multiple times to test this out, and I'm not sure if my visits triggered it, but when I checked back on that domain after some time, the price had more than doubled. Now its priced closer to the initial price again.

Also, many HD names are listed at sedo/afternic at different prices. I.e. one of the names I am looking at is listed for 4500 BIN at HD, and 2600 BIN at sedo.

Kate · Jul 22, 2015

You say the name is for business use.
I know every penny counts when you are starting out, but a real business should have adequate funding.
A good domain name is a business expense like advertising and stationery.

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

DomainVP said:
Would you classify him as a school teacher trying to get a domain for a project for the students, or an internet startup with a very low budget that thinks of the domain as a 'nice to have' and not invested in the name?

Domain owners hear all kinds of wild imaginative stories; so "my immigrant grandfather' is just another fabricated story to a domain owner; regardless of it's validity.

In the end, buying/selling a domain isn't charity, it is a professional exchange of property.

If you are in the U.S. Operating on another extension other than .COM is

Pay the $2200 and consider yourself lucky that they aren't asking for six figures; $2200 is actually a pretty cheap price.

I don't know if the wording was off, but I'm the one setting everything up and think it will be cool to do so the latter option. Gramps doesn't know/care about anything online related as their work really requires physical customer interaction, but they are struggling lately. It's tough to see someone you care for struggle so I thought to at least try something to help and webdev is only relatable thing I know.

He would never pay for something like this and another thing with old country guys is something called saving face. If I brought up the that I knew he was having difficulty and I wanted to help he would say not to worry about it and set it aside.

What I wrote above is the genuine budget I have so I couldn't manage the original price even if I wanted to. Thanks though

David Walker said:
From experience, I would say pay the BIN (total amount).

I approached someone there via phone, identifying myself and making a reasonable opening offer (80% of the listing price, for a bulk purchase of nearly $10,000 in inventory). I don't want to call them out for being poor at dealing with customers over the phone, but the person in question laughed and said I will never get the domain for that little and either abruptly hung up or took another call.

So, I slept on the BIN on this particular name as I was going to develop a nice project on it. I woke up ready to hit the BUY button for the ~$1895, only to find out overnight, the price had jumped from $1895 to $2300.

This was a year ago and I still find interest in the name. However, it's now priced at $2850 and although not out of reach, the company itself left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I just know that I will never deal with them again. Though, if you do, I recommend that you 'buy now' and leave communications out, or you may face the same type of sales tactic.

So many conflicting ideas now, so be upfront but don't mention the original price? I'm guessing they are going to look it up themselves so not sure what good that will do, but will try anyhow. Thanks.

FX said:
Msg the owner @Rebies

FX

Is he really? Think he would be put off if I messaged?

sdsinc said:
You say the name is for business use.
I know every penny counts when you are starting out, but a real business should have adequate funding.
A good domain name is a business expense like advertising and stationery.

Not actual selling, just listing info, etc.

I'm a fan of your reasoning and agree, but since I'm doing this myself it won't really work. Thanks though

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

Arca said:
If you are going to buy at BIN, it might be a good idea to wait for a while to see how the price fluctuates by itself. I am following a handful of domains at HD from time to time, and the prices keep going up and down. One domain which I am considering to purchase for my own use, has changed like this for the past 2 months: 2200-->2400-->3800-->2400-->2000.

I never visit the domain landing page directly, or search for the full domain name in the searchbar or do anything that shows their system that I am looking at that particular domain (I guess their pricing system is automated, and keeps adjusting the prices based on a certain algorithm). Once I visited the landing page of a random name multiple times to test this out, and I'm not sure if my visits triggered it, but when I checked back on that domain after some time, the price had more than doubled. Now its priced closer to the initial price again.

Also, many HD names are listed at sedo/afternic at different prices. I.e. one of the names I am looking at is listed for 4500 BIN at HD, and 2600 BIN at sedo.

Hah, just as I saw your post, I also checked the landing page to find its dropped a bit and supposedly on "sale"

. It's still insane so a no go. Good tips on the secondary market, but it still the same there. Thanks anyhow

bmugford · Jul 22, 2015

The truth is Huge Domains is not likely to move that much. It does not matter how you approach it.
If you own a large portfolio you have likely heard every story there is (non-profit, blog, school project, etc.)

They are going to price domains based on their own valuation and not care about the usage of a potential buyer.

They own a massive portfolio of several hundred thousand domains and probably receive hundreds of inquiries a day. $2,200 is not all that expensive for a decent .COM. You will just have to decide if that range is worth paying for your intended use.

Brad

m-i-k-e · Jul 22, 2015

David Walker said:
only to find out overnight, the price had jumped from $1895 to $2300.

I had a similar experience here. I offered close, but lower than asking price. My offer was rejected and the BIN price went up

Name Trader · Jul 22, 2015

HD say (or implied) on their own website (or used to, I haven't checked if it's changed), that if you want to negotiate a price, they are always happy to negotiate a price, just as long as it is upwards. I think if you make a lower offer, they automatically increase the price upwards, because they have confirmation that somebody is interested in it. If you must have the domain for your gramps, the only price is BIN. Or look for another domain.

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

stub said:
HD say (or implied) on their own website (or used to, I haven't checked if it's changed), that if you want to negotiate a price, they are always happy to negotiate a price, just as long as it is upwards. I think if you make a lower offer, they automatically increase the price upwards, because they have confirmation that somebody is interested in it. If you must have the domain for your gramps, the only price is BIN. Or look for another domain.

Then I guess I have nothing to lose by negotiating because the original price is never going to work and I have other names lined up any how. Thanks

Name Trader · Jul 22, 2015

You have only the waste of your own time to lose.

blurp · Jul 22, 2015

stub said:
You have only the waste of your own time to lose.

Haha interesting wording, reminds me of yoda. Trying can never hurt. Thanks for the advice though

forge · Jul 22, 2015

Find an alternate name. From what you say it's not critical to his business. In this scenario I don't see the domain as being Job #1. The website is, and this can be accomplished with an alternate domain.

Dumping 2 grand into a domain saps the cash you can put into set-up/development and at least make a go of it.

biggie · Jul 23, 2015

if your grandfather is worth it, then quit being a lowballer.

spend the money and get the name, so you can remove it from his bucket list.

kemjika11 · Jul 23, 2015

Wow some of you domainers are like disciplinarians!! lol.

@OP- you've gotten so much good advice. $2,200 is not tooo much for a name of high utility to you and your grandpa.

yes HD will increase the price because you've already shown interest, so now they increase price to leverage you more.

ksusha64 · Aug 12, 2016

I emailed huge domains and got discount on some chips. The price was below market price at the time. I think they are very reasonable guys. You can definitely get a discount with them. Just ask!

Domain Lead Finder · Aug 12, 2016

Respect to them if they can sell at those prices and even raise the prices when somebody makes a counter offer.

anderow · Sep 23, 2020

On that note, does anyone know how long Hugedomains prices are bumped up for? I mean me and a friend found one we were considering for a site. It was $3500, I forgot to tell him not to view the page directly... and the price has now jumped to $8500 lol.
Clearly this is a non starter as it was only useful for a specific project type for us and nobody will pay current asking. We have plenty of other options if it doesnt drop back to the original price (I would probably take it at that). Does anyone have any idea is it like weeks or months on HD until a domain price reduces when nobody views it? thanks

Name Trader · Sep 24, 2020

@anderow - I would be a little surprized it they increased a domains price from $3500 to $8500 based upon just 1 visitor, but maybe that's how sophisticated they have become. If you, as a domainer, would pay the original asking price, I would suggest that the domain was probably underpriced for an end-user. As they only sell at retail pricing, I would not waste my time waiting in the vain hope they are going to reduce their price. They might. But I have never expereinced that, personally. I'd say you might be better not waisting your time, and go with one of your other options.

anderow · Sep 25, 2020

@stub you make a good point! I believe they viewed it more than one time, possibly 5 or so checking back on it , potentially from
Different IPs.
Regarding it being underpriced for an end user intiially. Not really, because its quite niche specific and hence not a mass msrket usage domain.
I think more accurately is it fitted the bill for our venture perfectly, passed radio test, dummy test (easy to work out what it is), shortness test, no mispelling worries, brandable etc
Whether it would be worth $3000 to anyone but us is a differenr matter. I doubt very much I could get that money back on it if I resold!
Have moved on now; and budget has gone up!

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