question Ever insulted a potential buyer? I plan to! Lol

[WhoaDomain.com]

I have been putting off contacting the CEO of a huge company that generates $2 billion a year in revenue.

The domain in question I rather not say.

But as always I am shooting for the moon. 6 figures.

I was going to go the usual typical pitch.

but based on their offers I'm losing my cool.

Backstory.

The CEO and his company owns multiple companies. Of which my domain? is an EMD for an offshoot product for one of them.

That generates $30 million yearly consistently

I have been hesitating contacting the CEO because I'm scared of what I'm about to do.

he bought this "failing" company back in 2004.

How will I insult him?

I will explain to him all the mistakes his employees made as far as my .com is concerned.

These mistakes even happened years before he purchased the company back in 2004.

here's a list of the mistakes.

1. Company has a great brand. been around since 1967. Their .com is a single word. So they did a good job there. Then they registered other domains for brand protection strategy.

Think Kentucky+FriedChicken.com

First mistake?

They did not register "FriedChicken.com" and or "Chicken.com" and even though they didn't? they made the second mistake and did not try to buy it while it was cheap back in 1998 mind you they have been in business since 1967.

2. Enter their competitor. let's call them Popeye's.

Popeye's came in at 1997 while KFC started in 1967.

So KFC was around 30 years before Popeye's. so much opportunity. Missed.

3. So now Popeye's purchased Chicken.com and FriedChicken.com and is kicking their ass as far as online is concerned.

so what's left? as far as domain registration how "close" can you get to "FriedChicken.com" or "Chicken.com"? I say....

EChicken.com
EFriedChicken.com
IFriedChicken.com
IChicken.com

well you get the idea.

4. next mistake? His "team" got into a room and decided to go with a new brand launch and called it.

EChicken and advertising it all over the net via press releases. WITHOUT REGISTERING the .com or even trying to purchase it from me first before putting it out there.

When does the "insult" come in?

I was gonna tell him. I've checked the salaries of his employees.

some are $100K+ up to $350K +

I assume these are smart people to have such big salaries.

So since 1967 how much salaries were paid? millions!

yet no one thought to register the perfect URL shortener for their brand? plus a domain that allows them to "sit" on the best keyword like "Chicken"?

My domain is basically the "next best thing" as owning Chicken.com and FriedChicken.com

I'll tell him I decided to contact him directly because all these employees offering me just $5000 are just people trying to save face and not look like a bunch of idiots.

"So you guys went with EChicken but did not register EChicken.com and did not try to buy it first before letting the cat out the bag?"

They F***Ked up. Plain and simple.

Not my fault.

my domain? was never registered till about few years ago.

All this time. 30 years, no one thought to just reg this domain for "the heck of it".

now I have it and they offer just $5,000 to make this embarrassing problem go away?

I'll tell him.

"Under Who's WATCH was domain.com supposed to be registered?"
Who dropped the ball on this?
And what is their current salary? All of them in Total?

I don't work for your company
I don't make $150K a year. or $350K a year. But I did something useful for your company. Something that will promote your $30 million generating business.

You tell me. Who is the best person to promote your EChicken $30 million dollar a year generating business?

20 sales managers earning $150K a year? or a Schmuck who registered EChicken.com and can email anyone around the world with a brochure of your product via email in seconds? for free? using something like

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

I have worked for large companies and have manage large teams.

All I ever see are people doing the "bare minimum" for what they get a pay check for.

Just enough to get by but never "above and beyond" the call of duty.

When you hire people. You are putting business in the hands of Total Strangers.

They only care about their check. They never look out for your "best interest at heart".

They could care less that you are #2 and Popeye's is 1#.

To them that is "Good enough" and then collect their check.

They never think of registering EChicken.com or try to buy it for cheap before announcing to the world the new "EChicken" brand to save the Boss money.

Yet my dumbass registered a domain that is the perfect web address for your $30 million dollar generating business.

How dumb is that? To get a bunch of $150K- $350K earning a year people in a meeting and they come up with a new brand and "went with it" without securing the EMD .com first?

next mistake? They contact me using THEIR REAL NAME not broker. Easy enough to Google them and check Linkedin and find them.

I wish I could say the web address they are using because they can't own my domain. lol

soooooo idiotic.

They are already hashtagging the EMD for my domain.

I would then say "How stupid are your employees?"

and they are still rolling out with Press Releases mentioning my domain's EMD Keywords.

dumb dumb dumb.

Meanwhile I decided to renew the domain for several years. So I'll just wait.

so would you ever insult your potential buyer?

lol

Why am I hesistating? I might just piss off the CEO they won't buy or come after me via UDRP.


Fyi. in case yall didn't figure it out. The companies and .com's mentioned here are NOT my domains or the buyer..

 

[Rob Monster]

That's a long one.

Some possible soft-sell strategies:

- Set up landing page for your domain with good SEO but no trespass on any registered trademark.

- Follow the decision makers on Twitter and connect with them on LinkedIn.

- Add a catch-all email address on your domain and watch for inbounds.

- Forward emails that probably should have gone to those execs.

- In response to their Tweets, you can say "Too bad you don't own <domain>" where it maps to your hash tag, etc.

However, main thing is ..... don't be an ass. Try to set your ego aside, and be helpful. Eventually your logical buyer may return the favor. However trolling or humiliating execs is not likely to bring ROI.

 

[gilescoley]

Don't insult an end-user EVER, you never know when they may come back later and want that name from you.

Always be professional and if they don't want the name, they dont want the name, not a lot you can do about it. The fact that you say the name is an "EMD for an offshoot product for one of them" means they dont really need the name, they can and will just use their main site to market/sell their products.

You keep saying how they screwed up and the mistakes they made, they dont need the name you own. If they wanted the name, they would have registered it ages ago.

Just remember, you are approaching them so they are in the box seats here, they dont even have to reply to your email, so the best way forward for you is polite, friendly and professional. If I got an email that was rude or insulting in any way, I'll just delete it.

This game is all about building relationships, good luck

 

[bmugford]

It is possible that the end user doesn't see the same value in the domain that you do.

Lecturing them is not going to change that. It is an unprofessional, unproductive waste of time.

Also, why would the owner care about what some random person, trying to make a domain sale, has to say?

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Yea i know. It was just me venting. It's basically a rhetorical question that I know the answer to.

Would be nice to just be an ass.lol

What annoys me is offers. My owning this domain is such stain.

Plus I've been getting emails from their potential customers. I don't forward sh*t.

They think my lander is the lander for echicken.

Asking my questions I can't answer.

This company just keeps sending me some little guy to GET THAT DOMAIN and do it for cheap.

And if they get it. They get the big bonus and probably a raise and I get $5,000 which isn't bad for a handreg.

But the backstory on this domain makes I rare.

At thee end of the day if I said "ok $250" they'd jump on it.

And be on their merry way making $150k a year.

While I figure out how to make $5,000 last a year. (Exaggerating)

This company spends $2 million on the most ridiculous things to "standout" to lure customers but can't bring themselves to pay six figures for a domain that can help them look professional and legit.

It boggles the mind.

Either that or they are just a bunch of d**ks trying put one over on me like a schmuck.

Well this domain is mine for a long while. Ain't deleting anytime soon.

So if they think they can wait it out in the hopes I'll let it delete? Think again EChicken! Lol

You seem to have a sense of entitlement or something. It is not the companies responsibility to give you some massive payday.

They seem to be running a successful business without your domain.

They don't want the domain that much. Get over it.

Brad

 

[branding]

At the car dealership:

Me: nice car, how much do you want for it?
Dealer: 200K. It's way better than that piece of shit you're driving right now. Did your wife make you buy that? What were you thinking! You dropped the ball. She must not love you at all wanting you to drive that pathetic looking car. Oh it's a business car? What sucker advised you on that? Fire them all, they take advantage of you. They don't know shit. You should've come to me. I'm the sales God and am here to judge all your decisions, which have been crap btw. Now go buy this car.
Me: ... punching him in the face (*), walking out...

(*) No car dealers were harmed in this story. This is pure fiction.

 

[hawkeye]

However, main thing is ..... don't be an ass. Try to set your ego aside, and be helpful.

Based on his long winded ranting and chest pounding, not sure that is a doable option.

@ OP, I say sure go with your plan, insult the heck out of him and the company staff. Belittle and berate them as much as you can, show them 'you' are the professional and it's an honor for them for you to bring this to their attention. Put them in their place for their naive domain oversights! Maybe they'll even hire you! And why only ask for 6 figs? This type of advice to them should be worth...a couple mill at least. But most importantly do provide us all here with all the responses and actions they come back to you with. It'd be so interesting for all to hear how this 'tactic' plays out, both the good and definitely the bad! ...good grief!!

 

[Joe N]

Actually after the last $5000 offer I stopped responding. Even when the VP told me to call her on her mobile.

This is a shame. I feel like that was your opportunity to make a deal happen. Having a VP of a major corp calling you multiple times with interest in your name is exactly the situation you're hoping for. I agree with the others who said to call her anyway. I don't care if it's been a month, two months, or a year. Just tell her it was off the market for a while but now you're considering offers again.

On a side note - couldn't help but chuckle at the example names and companies you're using... I've owned Louisiana/Chicken [.com] for a few years, and since then I've been all up and down the internet trying to talk to execs at the big companies you mentioned. I'm not reaching for the stars like you are, but needless to say I would be pretty happy to have a Popeye's VP calling me up.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think insulting anyone is never the right move.
I would simply give my price, along with the message you are willing to negotiate on that price, if you are.
If you are open to a payment plan, I would indicate that in the message. But keep it short.
It is not your business what the company has done right or wrong, in your opinion.
Bob

 

[EJS]

It sounds like you are emotional about this, which is good and bad. I get it. I have names I think companies with funds should buy but either don't have an interest or don't have the budget. It is frustrating.

My suggestion is to work with a broker to negotiate a fair deal on this. In addition to taking the emotion out of the equation, you can also get a third party's opinion about what the name is worth or a fair price for the domain name.

Yes, a broker will cost you a commission if the name is sold, but it might be helpful in this situation where you feel so strongly. I don't really know of any good/reliable brokers who would jump into a negotiation - especially in the 4 figure range, but maybe others can suggest one if you choose to go that route.

It's not good to bring emotions into a negotiation, and it can be really tough to put emotions aside when the other party is not acting as I would expect them to act.

Good luck closing a deal.

 

[NamesMax]

Actually after the last $5000 offer I stopped responding. Even when the VP told me to call her on her mobile.

Silence is a great negotiating strategy, but here it looks like that silence got you a call from a VP. And you are going to ignore the invitation to call her? But instead want to flame the CEO.

Do you really want to sell that name?

 

[Bernard Wright]

We have some real class acts in this forum. It’s interesting that such honorable minds would gravitate toward domain investing. Or perhaps it’s survivorship bias, and only the noble survive. That’s likely it.

I’ve read lots of good advice in this thread. OP, I hope you’ve found some relief in venting your frustrations and you’re ready to move forward with positivity. Wishing you well.

 

[NamesMax]

I did see that she called me several times from her mobile. Even on weekends.

Yes yes. I should check my spam regularly.

So call her back now! Or honest question, are you afraid of the phone? Some people are afraid of calling people. To them it is like the fear of public speaking is to others.

If that is the case, Get a broker to help. Give them all of your information, emails, etc and let a seasoned closer go after the sale.

 

[NickB]

@WhoaDomain.com You are one crazy son of a bitch, if I may say so

Call the VP back - open a dialogue without insulting the company, her or any other employees and see how it goes.......you have nothing to lose by doing this except slightly bruising your ego

And don't be to greedy

 

[Bob Hawkes]

There are millions of domains each year that don't get sold.
There are millions of shares of stocks that don't get sold or resold if there are no "takers".

I think though that the market system, regulatory information sharing, abundance of information sources, mean that most stocks (except for a few very startup or penny stocks) do usually trade with not that great a difference between the Ask and Offer prices.

It would be interesting if some sort of domain market that anyone could log into, would list domain names, and could list Bid and Ask prices. Let's say I list a name and ask $5000. But I see a number of people around world submit Bid of say only $500, $800 and $900. So I reduce my ask to say $1500 (assuming I want a quick sale) that may bring in a few more Bid people, and whenever a Bid equals an Ask the domain name sells.

It would work best if there was a superb search and notification system, and also if there was the equivalent of financial analysts that would do brief reports and price ranges on domain names. The idea of increasing the liquidity of the domain market is important, even though difficult to achieve.

It probably would work best at first with domains that are already kind of liquid, like short L or short N .com, or a few specific country codes like tech word .io and generic word .co etc.

Bob

 

[bmugford]

True true. Thanks. I kinda knew that but just needed to I don't know how to say it. Ram it home?

It just frustrates the living crap out of me and of course a 6 figure sale finally would be awesome.

This company is trying to beat #1 this domain would have been a great start.

Their competitor is even bold enough to have registered domains containing Echicken's parent company,'s trademark name. And without even a Whois privacy.

Like Echicken+review.com or Echicken+food.com.

Crazy stuff!

Shaking my head.

Let's flip the script. Let's say you are running a successful company generating $2B a year in revenue...

Are you going to give any credibility to what some random person on the internet, who is trying to make a sale, has to say?

I know if I was in the situation it would piss me off. There is absolutely nothing to gain from it.

Brad

 

[.X.]

Being a well established company , I seriously doubt they would offer you any holdings with the company, but you could certainly try and negotiate getting a 0.25% share along with their offer, its instant residual income. wouldn't hurt to try, all they can say is no

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks buddy. Appreciate it. I probably did not make it clear. They contacted me. Never contacted them. They used a broker via afternic. But the idiot created a username to match their "actual name" lol. I never even knew this company was an option to try and sell to. Just regged it on a hunch. Seeing as how there is so much competition for the keywords. Plus I liked it. And could make it into an affiliate site if anything

Ok, so besides the part where I said you approached them, everything else I said is still valid. Still be polite and professional at all times. Judging from what you said about the name, I'd take the offer they have made, this wont be a 6 figure sale.

 

[garptrader]

Potential buyers often think that since a domain can be registered for low $xx that any offer of $100 is more than fair. But what if that domain was won in auction and has been renewed for years. What about compensating for the time and experience of the investor in acquiring virtual properties that a company might want to use to promote their products and services. What is the production cost of a lawyer's time in rendering an opinion? Yet it is quite common to see attorneys billing at $300 or more an hour.

 

[bmugford]

I'm not a stock expert.

I can tell.

There is absolutely no comparison between the liquidity of stocks and domains.

It is not necessarily a bad thing though. A big reason people can make money in the domain market is the inefficiency and subjective value.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Actually after the last $5000 offer I stopped responding. Even when the VP told me to call her on her mobile.

First I think it was an intern or sales director. Totally rubbed me the wrong way this guy. Speaking of entitlement. This guy gave me that impression actually.

I admit I was about to just accept it and move on.

Something about this though makes me want to just see.

Hey. I'll probably end up getting no sale. Heck they might rebrand again! That would be funny,!

I am guessing the actual domain is probably not that great honestly. If it was it would have likely been registered a long time ago.

$5K might be more than a reasonable opening offer.

The issue might be your unrealistic expectations more than anything else.

Brad

 

[karmaco]

I agree that you appear to have a sense of entitlement and are likely to shoot yourself in the foot if you contact anyone. The cost willing to be paid for a domain does not directly correlate to the company’s earnings. That’s your first problem thinking you are owed anywhere near the salaries or the revenue of said company.

If you want to remain staunch set an opening offer closer to what you are actually looking for to eliminate those pesky 5K offers and do not contact anyone to school them on their business choices.

Post after post, you are often the one standing in your own way.

 

[BrandAptly.com]

I have been putting off contacting the CEO of a huge company that generates $2 billion a year in revenue.

The domain in question I rather not say.

But as always I am shooting for the moon. 6 figures.

I was going to go the usual typical pitch.

but based on their offers I'm losing my cool.

Backstory.

The CEO and his company owns multiple companies. Of which my domain? is an EMD for an offshoot product for one of them.

That generates $30 million yearly consistently

I have been hesitating contacting the CEO because I'm scared of what I'm about to do.

he bought this "failing" company back in 2004.

How will I insult him?

I will explain to him all the mistakes his employees made as far as my .com is concerned.

These mistakes even happened years before he purchased the company back in 2004.

here's a list of the mistakes.

1. Company has a great brand. been around since 1967. Their .com is a single word. So they did a good job there. Then they registered other domains for brand protection strategy.

Think Kentucky+FriedChicken.com

First mistake?

They did not register "FriedChicken.com" and or "Chicken.com" and even though they didn't? they made the second mistake and did not try to buy it while it was cheap back in 1998 mind you they have been in business since 1967.

2. Enter their competitor. let's call them Popeye's.

Popeye's came in at 1997 while KFC started in 1967.

So KFC was around 30 years before Popeye's. so much opportunity. Missed.

3. So now Popeye's purchased Chicken.com and FriedChicken.com and is kicking their ass as far as online is concerned.

so what's left? as far as domain registration how "close" can you get to "FriedChicken.com" or "Chicken.com"? I say....

EChicken.com
EFriedChicken.com
IFriedChicken.com
IChicken.com

well you get the idea.

4. next mistake? His "team" got into a room and decided to go with a new brand launch and called it.

EChicken and advertising it all over the net via press releases. WITHOUT REGISTERING the .com or even trying to purchase it from me first before putting it out there.

When does the "insult" come in?

I was gonna tell him. I've checked the salaries of his employees.

some are $100K+ up to $350K +

I assume these are smart people to have such big salaries.

So since 1967 how much salaries were paid? millions!

yet no one thought to register the perfect URL shortener for their brand? plus a domain that allows them to "sit" on the best keyword like "Chicken"?

My domain is basically the "next best thing" as owning Chicken.com and FriedChicken.com

I'll tell him I decided to contact him directly because all these employees offering me just $5000 are just people trying to save face and not look like a bunch of idiots.

"So you guys went with EChicken but did not register EChicken.com and did not try to buy it first before letting the cat out the bag?"

They F***Ked up. Plain and simple.

Not my fault.

my domain? was never registered till about few years ago.

All this time. 30 years, no one thought to just reg this domain for "the heck of it".

now I have it and they offer just $5,000 to make this embarrassing problem go away?

I'll tell him.

"Under Who's WATCH was domain.com supposed to be registered?"
Who dropped the ball on this?
And what is their current salary? All of them in Total?

I don't work for your company
I don't make $150K a year. or $350K a year. But I did something useful for your company. Something that will promote your $30 million generating business.

You tell me. Who is the best person to promote your EChicken $30 million dollar a year generating business?

20 sales managers earning $150K a year? or a Schmuck who registered EChicken.com and can email anyone around the world with a brochure of your product via email in seconds? for free? using something like

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

I have worked for large companies and have manage large teams.

All I ever see are people doing the "bare minimum" for what they get a pay check for.

Just enough to get by but never "above and beyond" the call of duty.

When you hire people. You are putting business in the hands of Total Strangers.

They only care about their check. They never look out for your "best interest at heart".

They could care less that you are #2 and Popeye's is 1#.

To them that is "Good enough" and then collect their check.

They never think of registering EChicken.com or try to buy it for cheap before announcing to the world the new "EChicken" brand to save the Boss money.

Yet my dumbass registered a domain that is the perfect web address for your $30 million dollar generating business.

How dumb is that? To get a bunch of $150K- $350K earning a year people in a meeting and they come up with a new brand and "went with it" without securing the EMD .com first?

next mistake? They contact me using THEIR REAL NAME not broker. Easy enough to Google them and check Linkedin and find them.

I wish I could say the web address they are using because they can't own my domain. lol

soooooo idiotic.

They are already hashtagging the EMD for my domain.

I would then say "How stupid are your employees?"

and they are still rolling out with Press Releases mentioning my domain's EMD Keywords.

dumb dumb dumb.

Meanwhile I decided to renew the domain for several years. So I'll just wait.

so would you ever insult your potential buyer?

lol

Why am I hesistating? I might just p*ss off the CEO they won't buy or come after me via UDRP.


Fyi. in case yall didn't figure it out. The companies and .com's mentioned here are NOT my domains or the buyer..

As tempting as insulting the CEO may be, please restrain yourself. I recommend you go with @Rob Monster suggestion with a little twist. Present it to their competition and start a bidding war. Make them aware that you're receiving offers from their competitors. That usually does the trick.

 

[Rob Monster]

Think about not doing that. Not a good idea (IMO) since they can easily use the emails as concrete evidence of confusion and bad faith to help win a potential UDRP case.

Nah, I approach it more from perspective of ombudsman. This is about inbound emails. I have gotten payroll notices from employees from companies and notified the responsible exec to update their credentials. It is just courtesy -- do unto others stuff. Sometimes it brings ROI. The key is intent.

 

[bmugford]

I'm never bitter. I'm actually SWEET! lol

In the stock market. Doubling your money is a DREAM.

Put in $100 get back $100? Any stock market expert would tell you that's a pipe dream. Realistic would be 6-10% ROI over time.

We register domains for $10? and sell for $20?
NOPE our target is $50-$100 or $1000

What percentage is that?

$1000 or $5000 or $500,000 or $1,000,000

Anything above trying to flip a domain for double the money is be definition a pipe dream because we expect to make more than 100%.

Something the Stock market can't even guarantee.

Sorry Artstar. I tend to rant. But thanks.

That is a bad analogy. It is comparing a highly liquid market to an inefficient market.

You need huge margins on domain sales to account for the low sell through rate.

You have to account for all the domains you don't sell in a year, not just the ones you do.

Brad