Am I a cheapskate?

[harkster]

I have been watching a non-maintained .com site for nearly 2 years. It has slipped from a PR5 to 3. 2 words with an OVT of 135 and 0 with extension. First registered in 1998.

URLTrends data
Current Rankings:
PageRank: 3/10
Alexa Rank: Not Ranked

Incoming Google Links: 3
Incoming Yahoo Links: 94
Incoming MSN Links: 0
Incoming Alexa Links: 25
Overall Incoming Links: 122 (Overlap is possible - Estimated 106 unique links)
Outgoing Links: 24 (Ratio: 0.125% - Each Link Receives Approx. 0.106 PR)

It would fit well with my other pottery related sites so I called the lady today and offered $250 and willing to dig a bit deeper. Best thing about the name is it is listed in several niche directories.

All I heard was an insane laugh and something about jerk and wasting time followed by a very loud click.

Being called a jerk doesn't really bother me but the general attitude and being hung up on without at least an opening for some discussion does.

Was my offer an insulting lowball?

All other extensions are available so think I'll grab the .info and develop it.

 

[Spade]

Without knowing the domain name, its almost impossible to know if you were being cheap - although assuming a yearly renewal rate of about $12 x 9 years = $108 dollars just in renewals fees - your just doubling what shes already paid (now thats assuming she doenst have it at NetSol) $35x9 = $315 - at that price, your not even paying to cover what shes already spent....

So... really depends on the caliber of domain name and where its regged.

 

[harkster]

Without knowing the domain name, its almost impossible to know if you were being cheap - although assuming a yearly renewal rate of about $12 x 9 years = $108 dollars just in renewals fees - your just doubling what shes already paid (now thats assuming she doenst have it at NetSol) $35x9 = $315 - at that price, your not even paying to cover what shes already spent....

So... really depends on the caliber of domain name and where its regged.

Up until about 2 years it was being run as an active business but she just stopped dead cold.

My offer was based on what might be the value the residual traffic I could redirect to my www.PotteryShopper.com site.

 

[TheBulldog]

Actually, I would say if the name is ohiopottery.com then you were being a little cheap. Assuming that the population of Ohio is over a million (It is) and that somewhere in the neighborhood of half that is women, who tend to be the "crafty" part of the human race. Then you are looking at a base of possible end users/viewers........ok blah blah blah showbiz is drooling.

It's a good name, and even though it is a niche, the name for a vendor in Ohio would be worth mid-high xxx, to low xxxx for an end user. Chances are she is attached to it, so she is wanting to hear a higher offer.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

You say "non-maintained". I take that to be developed, but not updated? If that's the case, the site could still be bringing in a lot of money and their business could be built on it. Probably better not to mention a price at all until you get a feel for the status of the domain.

I have a site myself I haven't gotten around to updating in well over a year (never enough time). Even so, it still brings in about $400 a year in adsense revenue. If they have that many links and a PR at all it probably makes them money even it the site is deteriorating.

Also, I've known of people without even an active website that use a domain only for email. The cost of printing business cards, stationary, ads, and notifying customers alone would be a costly burden even if it didn't bring in $1. You never really know the true value or use without some research.

 

[groundctrl]

would email generally be better in this kind of situation? or would most people not respond-- i know mine haven't gotten a good response rate in this situation.

 

[harkster]

showbiz2,
You are looking at it as a crafts thing. It is related to antique art pottery. My #1 Google site only draws 3k or so uniques/month. Google ads for this niche typically pay $0.05 or less.

AdoptableDomains,
The site is less than not maintained. All but a couple links on the entry page are broken and been this way for a couple years.

Ok, the name may be worth more than I could justify for my use but the amount was an opening offer. I know this area and how hard it is to sell collectible pottery over the net. Soooo suppose the name brings another 1000 uniques/month and 10% click an ad at a very generous $0.10 == $120.00/year which equates to a 2 years + to pay off for my minimum offer.

Guess I am just stuck in a low paying niche so just hollard at da o'lady to fry up a crows thy fer me ta chew on.

 

[NameCharger]

I called the lady today and offered ...

All I heard was an insane laugh and something about jerk and wasting time followed by a very loud click....

... Was my offer an insulting lowball?

I vote yes, but Seller expectations are not always realistic to market value.

 

[TheBulldog]

Hey Hark, I was just looking at it from a Name only.

Since my wife is into Pottery, I looked at it from her point of view.

 

[harkster]

Hey Hark, I was just looking at it from a Name only.

Since my wife is into Pottery, I looked at it from her point of view.

Put a bit of spicy sauce on that crow & it wasn't to bad.
I realize (and am told quite often by my wife) that I overdo my rationalizations when attempting to promote my view. I love this kind of input and hope to learn a bit of something from it.

While I would have loved to add it to my stable of pottery names the anticipated 400 bucks or so can be spent on other products and will likely produce better returns.

To the MobiSucksBalls closed account. I been called worse by better!

 

[floatingworld]

it does not matter whether you were being relatively cheap or not, you were a serious buyer in a niche market and the seller did not behave properly at all.