advice How to price and negotiate in this situation.

[Edge88]

Hi all,

I'm in an interesting situation and could really use your opinion here. I own a 4 letter domain in a country specific extension.

I received an email from a guy saying, hey I'd like to purchase your domain and if I was interested in selling.

The person is trying to play off as if this is a personal thing. But he is a director at a major retailer in that country with 200 stores and roughly 200M USD in annual revenue. My 4 letter domain is like a simplification of his brand name. For example let's say the business was named TomoMex and they currently operate with that brand and their main website and ecommerce on TomoMex.com.mx my domain would be Tomo.com.mx

From research it also looks like this brand recently decided to take Ecommerce seriously. not long ago launched their Ecommerce business nationwide.

Tips and thoughts are highly appreciated. We're on the first email and the guy doesn't know that I already figured out this is not for a personal project and that he hails from a large Corp.

Thanks for the thoughts!

 

[gilescoley]

Did it come from a business email or a free hotmail/Gmail account. Are you 100% sure its from the director of this company or are you assuming?

If you are certain, I would get them to make the first offer.

You also have to take into account how much did you pay for the name? Was it a recent hand-reg?

 

[viniproject09]

Make sure its 100% legit account of the client, not scam . I recommend to list your domain and ask him to purchase from a secure thirty party known domain seller. Make sure you receive the funds and release the domain after 2 days of period. In this case both are safe to sell and buy.

 

[Edge88]

It came from a gmail. The person literally tried to play it off as if it was for a personal project. But I researched the person and found that he is a director of a company whose name matches my domain like described above.

Not a recent hand-reg. It's a 4L with a pronounceable and very brandable term. It also has meaning and it's a pleasant word. But I think the main driving force here I believe is the situation I explained above. It's a simplification of their brand. The fictitious TomoMex to Tomo is a very good representation of real life.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yea I'm going to let him make an offer.

But I wonder if before he makes the offer I tell him. Hey listen, I know who you are and I am no child. I am an investor, here is my portfolio (which includes dozens of other domains I would consider even more valuable) if you are serious please make a serious offer.

 

[vravis9]

Hi @Edge88

We're on the first email and the guy doesn't know that I already figured out this is not for a personal project and that he hails from a large Corp

I am not a big expert....
But my assumptions are...

*If the potential buyer is in a position of taking decision... I doubt that he didn't realized... I assume he might have come across this type of situations many times...(not only domain related)
*And you can respond in your email with your expected price....make up your mind with what you want from selling this name and add some 40% to that and propose that number to the buyer...
*Just don't forget to mention the price is negotiable...and also if you can find some comparable sales with the price range you are expecting to get in same 4L domain category...list them along with links..adds proof and authenticity to your words
*You can change your tactics according to his reply...as you already said it is negotiable... you can propose another number you are comfortable with...

That's all....just act assuming he is aware of dealing with buying tactics...

I am sure NamePros community will add more good points to be considerd...

Thanks
Ravi

 

[Edge88]

If the potential buyer is in a position of taking decision... I doubt that he didn't realized... I assume he might have come across this type of situations many times...(not only domain related)

He tried to play it off as being for a personal project. That was his brilliant tactic so far. This is why I'm wondering if I should help him cut to the chase by letting him know he needs to cut the personal project bs and take the deal more seriously.

 

[vravis9]

Either you just say that you want to sell I this particular range...or
Tell him that you are holding it as you gave idea of this particular company with same name....

 

[karmaco]

You are trying to sell a domain not judge his character or tactics. I would not let on or school him. After all, this is a person you’d like to get money from.

You have at least 4 approaches

considering offers in blah blah range
Our asking price is blah may be negotiable
Considering offers
Set a buy it now price somewhere and send him a link with a good for X period of time (48 hours etc)

Also don’t get greedy. Just because he can pay a high figure doesn’t mean he will. Unless you don’t need the money right now I would make the price doable.

 

[Windoms]

You are trying to sell a domain not judge his character or tactics. I would not let on or school him. After all, this is a person you’d like to get money from.

You have at least 4 approaches

considering offers in blah blah range
Our asking price is blah may be negotiable
Considering offers
Set a buy it now price somewhere and send him a link with a good for X period of time (48 hours etc)

Also don’t get greedy. Just because he can pay a high figure doesn’t mean he will. Unless you don’t need the money right now I would make the price doable.

I think the best is our asking price is ...
Don't be greedy.
Even if he tried the personal project thing, dont ''cut the bs'', just throw the price. If he really wants it he will negotiate. Telling him you want high price because you know who he is you might just offend him.

 

[BaileyUK]

Don't make any criticism of the potential buyer or his approach, no matter how absurd it may seem to you. In almost all domain requests aspects come to light if you carry out reasonable investigations, so learn to take it in your stride.

If the four letter cctld is as usable as you say, then reference that point in your reply, There is nothing wrong in injecting a little light-hearted humor if the offer is way below your valuation, which it is going to be if you ask them to submit an offer.

Why not carry out a similar investigation in to the average selling price of similar domains in that Country code. Then try to set a reasonable acceptable price

 

[Edge88]

Great advice guys. I'm waiting for his email.

I do not intend on being rude whatsoever with the prospect. I was just trying to drive the point home here because one of my question was how should I deal with the fact that he doesn't know that I've figured out his background. Someone was suggesting that he already knew that, and I was driving the point home that no, he didn't know, that his strategy was to tell me it was for a personal project.

But yes, that question and others have been answered. I will just have to reject his initial offer and tell him where I stand and go from there.

I see similar sells in that market going for 5K to 10K USD. But nothing that matches the brand of a huge company.

 

[gilescoley]

Don't call him out on who he is? Just ask him to make an offer and if you don't want a lowball offer, be straight with him and let him know you are expecting offers in the x,xxx or xx,xxx range just so he has an idea of what you are expecting.

Good luck