Approaching end users to let them know...

[webmango]

... about one of your domains being for sale, but doing so in a discrete way without it being obvious that you are the seller.

Does anyone have any tactics for this approach?

Why do I want to know this?

I own a completely generic, exact keyword match domain name.

The plural keyword of this product (i.e Products) has 10-12% of the exacts of the singular according to google adword tool, and is listed for $12,600 being brokered through a broker; probably to be sold in the 7-9k region.

My domain has 9-10x this number of exacts, making it the MUCH more desirable domain.

The industry is such that it is very profitable with average orders in the $xx,xxx region, which is only getting bigger; one relatively small company in China has a minimum proven sales requirement of 800,000USD pa to even be considered as a distributer/partner. This is just one manufacturer in an industry packed full of other manufacturers, distributers, end user retailers etc etc.

I want to sell this domain, but letting companies know that it is for sale is the wrong way of doing it as they'll know that it can be obtained cheaper than if it wasn't for sale. The companies currently own the .cn, or hyphenated versions, and ALL TLD's and ccTLDs worth mentioning are taken.

Is there any way of making them aware of the existence of this domain and possibility to obtain this without me sending them an email saying "Hi, It's for sale."?

Sounds like a stupid question perhaps, but would love to know some opinions on this. Am I perhaps just best off hanging onto it until it dawns on them to obtain it and they approach me? Am I better off creating a site on the domain, SEO'ing it and getting it high up in listings then letting it sit there till they realise my domain is what they need?

And therefore, based on this information, what sort of valuation does that put on my domain? Long tail versions of this domain in this niche have fetched over $3-4k according to Namebio.

Thanks!

 

[infosec3]

In my opinion, what you are asking is an impossibility. There is no "method" or "technique" to do that, other than just sitting down and waiting for them to realize they need it and come to you with an offer.

Reaching out to them is the only guarantee they will notice the domain can be purchased.

 

[richrf]

Sounds like a stupid question perhaps, but would love to know some opinions on this. Am I perhaps just best off hanging onto it until it dawns on them to obtain it and they approach me? Am I better off creating a site on the domain, SEO'ing it and getting it high up in listings then letting it sit there till they realise my domain is what they need?

Thanks!

Have you put the name on any of the auction sites, e,g, Sedo, Afternic, Flippa?

 

[SlimPickins]

well, I can only offer my "opinion" and a few clarifying questions that might help determine what is a potentially good route....

I see it like this:

ultimately, regardless of whether you contact them or they, eventually/hopefully, contact you the bottom-line is that YOU have to be clear about what your price expectations (and absolute floor) is. The rest is simply a question of when you want to move towards finding out if they are even interested at that amount. If you WAIT for an eventual offer and it eventually does come, but you are surprised/disappointed that they would not be interested at even near what you think they "should" be interested in then you have the answer.... but later. If you reach out to them (and I got the impression that there was more than one company using variations and/or other extensions, which is in your favor), then if it was mine and there wasn't a TM issue, I would reach out to all of them and see what the interest is, if at all.

If you are worried that if you approach them about buying it and get the typical "how much" reply and you quote a price which they accept and then you kick yourself thinking that you undersold, could have got a lot more etc.... then simply take whatever price you would be HAPPY with and give them a price above that which you would be ECSTATIC about but is, best you can determine from the companies perspective, still realistic. Imagine if they were to contact you with offers, which you declined, and they made counter-offers which you declined..... how long would you let that go on until you could happily finally say "I accept" rather than them potentially walking away from the table?

Another option is to just list it on 4.cn (since the primary endusers seem to be there from your post) and put it on auction, let them know about this "last chance" and see where the price goes. Risky, but the people on that auction platform would likely be more aware who would be interested in the domain and the people at the companies may feel more interested bidding/buying the domain through 4.cn....

A few questions I would have are when was the .com registered in comparison to the extensions you think would be the best enduser candidates?

What has been done with the domain up to this point? Has it been developed (or at least a mini-site) so that even if they HAD been interested in inquiring about it perhaps thought it wouldn't be for sale anyway? Or was it parked and they could tell that it was basically available for purchase all along and, for whatever reasons, have until now opted not to make an inquiry?

regarding approaching them "discretely" about the domain, the only (halfway serious) way that comes to mind is, IF they have an international presence and not just focused on the internal market, is to send an email to them from an email address NOT associated with the domain you want to sell and joke about the fact that you "finally found them on the .cn (or whatever extension)..... you went to the .com, were surprised not to find them there and thought maybe they had gone out of business and you have some sort of general question about products etc".

Or, if the domain is really that promising, putting it on an auction platform that will aggressively market the domain and contact potential endusers about the auction is an alternative to look at. But again is basically waiving the domain in front of them saying "buy me" which seems to be not what you want but rather some sort of jedi mind trick to make the domain "cross their mind".... then grow into an interest, then an inquiry and, ultimately, into an offer you can't refuse.... don't blame ya but I would come full circle to my first point, it all comes down to what YOUR price expectation is and how long you want to WAIT to find out if they are interested at that level or not.

For what it's worth. Good luck! SP

 

[GiftedDomains]

Send them an email (different email than the one associated with your domain)

Ask them if they want to sell their domain name!!

Tell them you already asked the owner of .com (which was unused) and the price was too high for you (mention the price of the other "you" here .

---

Maybe instead of answering you, they have the money and get interested to buy the .com theirselves and contact the other "you"

 

[webmango]

Thanks for the responses guys, really appreciate them.

I have listed it on some platforms but I've not put a price down; I'm not sure yet exactly where the value lies, and I'm not going to under price it if the percieved market value across the board is higher than this. I think I'd be satisfied with a lot less, but if I can aim higher, I sure as hell will!

It's truly generic, no TM's whatsoever; it is the exact term for the product, and a domainer has recently given me a $300 offer for it, literally a day after I bought it. I think 15-17k could be realistic given a single average order is in this ballpark!

It is the precise name of the product; there are no superfluous terms.

I think it would be worthwhile acquiring as many of the other extensions too and possibly offering those in a package to maximise my value proposition... I've asked around, can probably pick up the .info for ~reg fee to add into the bargain; might be a nice closer if it comes to it and I have some of the other extensions too.

I like these ideas; I quite like the idea of asking to purchase their domain!

I'll also certainly check out 4.cn.

I'm uncertain about auction though; it will appeal to your average domainer, but their only going to pitch it to one of these end users anyway, so I'd rather do that myself and get the full end user value for it.

I think it's definitely worth the renewal fee for a good 5-6 years, I definitely see this industry booming at some point.

Thanks again guys; this has been much food for thought.

(oh and btw; I seem to be enjoying my use of ; at the moment - its a key I feel is heavily underused, whether or not I've used it in the correct situation! :p)

 

[Domainace]

Am I perhaps just best off hanging onto it until it dawns on them to obtain it and they approach me? Am I better off creating a site on the domain, SEO'ing it and getting it high up in listings then letting it sit there till they realise my domain is what they need?

Yes, waiting and then playing the reluctant seller is always the most profitable way to go. But if cash flow doesn't permit that, you have to reach out. If it's that great a name, I would send out snail mails on good quality paper with a letterhead to the top potential buyers. Just because you contact them doesn't mean you need to accept peanuts for it. It will impact the price usually, but you have no obligation to sell. You can always say no thanks, and at least you've planted the thought in their heads. They may come back later with better offers.

So far as the SEO route, that's more work. And it leaves you with a similar quandry. Do you put a "this domain is for sale or lease" notice on the website, or do you take the chance that a potential buyer will think it's not available?

If it's a good as you describe, and the website is obviously underdeveloped, you may get inquiries anyway.

If you want to hedge, simple say "this domain is available for lease," and see who bites. That way, potential end users may contact you, but you haven't explicitly said you want to sell.

 

[liquidcherry]

If it's that great a name, I would send out snail mails on good quality paper with a letterhead to the top potential buyers.

Great advice Ace, actually in 08, i believe Latona got his title of "domainer of the year" b/c he went the unusual route and plastered ads in magazines targeting the endusers rather then the domainer, selling a lot...

good luck mango!!

cheers

liquid