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question I think I blew it trying to buy this domain!

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domaintexan

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Hello! I’m a long time lurker, but today, I decided to share my recent domain story. I have been trying for 15 years to get this one dot-com domain that is my first and last name. It’s for my coaching business. Most other coaches are using their names as their domains.

My name is also trademarked and it’s the name of my LLC too.

The domain in question has no site on it at all, it’s just taken. I finally reached out to the owner via Who is. Now, this is where I screwed myself.

I should have seeked out a broker. I sent an email saying that I was interested in purchasing the domain and asked if they would sell it for $1,000.

They wrote back like 10 minutes later that they were not interested. I took it to mean that they wanted more, so I wrote back asking them to name their price.

They wrote back in an extremely rude way so must have taken my message badly. I wish I contacted a broker for this and not tried myself.

Is there still hope that a broker could help? I would pay up to $10,000 for this domain. I’m thinking it’s a lost cause and that they just want to keep the name themselves for vanity reasons.
 
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Since they wrote back with extremely rude way !! , and you are the current owner of the trade mark ,
try to consult with special lawyer incharged of this to see the possibiIity of opening a UDRB case against them .
in case if the domain was registered before the date of your trade mark registration then maybe its difficult .
and it is possible if they just received the UDRB notification they will get panic and give up the domain .

OR probably we will find the domain owner writing his story in namepros thread asking for solution ! lol :ROFL:
 
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Since they wrote back with extremely rude way !! , and you are the current owner of the trade mark ,
try to consult with special lawyer incharged of this to see the possibiIity of opening a UDRB case against them .
in case if the domain was registered before the date of your trade mark registration then maybe its difficult .
and it is possible if they just received the UDRB notification they will get panic and give up the domain .

OR probably we will find the domain owner writing his story in namepros thread asking for solution ! lol :ROFL:
Thank you! I didn't know you could do that. I've held the trademark for over 10 years now. I don't know how long that person has had this domain. Perhaps I could use that $10,000 to pay the lawyer instead of this rude person. Does anyone know of a lawyer specializing in domain trademark issues like this?
 
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You were given a really poor advice by a person who can't even spell UDRP properly.

I have been trying for 15 years to get this one dot-com domain
I finally reached out to the owner via Who is.

Kinda curious, what exactly was this "trying" before?

If the current registrant has had the domain for 15 years, they probably know what exactly it means to them.
If they aren't interested in selling at all, there is nothing you (or a "broker") can do.
If they interested in selling but for $50K, 100K, 200K....whatever, there is no "broker" that could help you get it for $10000.

just want to keep the name themselves for vanity reasons.
What a mindset! If that is something you shown in your email, a rude response was more than justified. Just because you can't understand someone's reasons to have a domain registration doesn't make it "vanity".
 
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You were given a really poor advice by a person who can't even spell UDRP properly.




Kinda curious, what exactly was this "trying" before?

If the current registrant has had the domain for 15 years, they probably know what exactly it means to them.
If they aren't interested in selling at all, there is nothing you (or a "broker") can do.
If they interested in selling but for $50K, 100K, 200K....whatever, there is no "broker" that could help you get it for $10000.


What a mindset! If that is something you shown in your email, a rude response was more than justified. Just because you can't understand someone's reasons to have a domain registration doesn't make it "vanity".
Hello! Maybe they mistyped it. I'm glad someone responded to me.
I mean "trying" by trying to contact the owner of the domain. I would contact them by WHOIS every few years. Finally, I received a response back. It's all my fault because I should have gone with a broker who is professional and knows how to handle this situation. They would receive a commission so they would be able to negotiate well.

I don't know why they want to keep it. If they don't want to sell it or have a site on it..they may be wanting it for vanity reasons. They might tell their friends and family that they own their own domain of their name. Who knows? I was just guessing. They never said why they wanted it.

It isn't any of my business why they have it or won't sell it. They were able to get it first. I will be talking to my lawyer to see what my options are with this.
 
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Maybe we could offer some help
 
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Hello! Maybe they mistyped it. I'm glad someone responded to me.
I mean "trying" by trying to contact the owner of the domain. I would contact them by WHOIS every few years. Finally, I received a response back. It's all my fault because I should have gone with a broker who is professional and knows how to handle this situation. They would receive a commission so they would be able to negotiate well.

I don't know why they want to keep it. If they don't want to sell it or have a site on it..they may be wanting it for vanity reasons. They might tell their friends and family that they own their own domain of their name. Who knows? I was just guessing. They never said why they wanted it.

It isn't any of my business why they have it or won't sell it. They were able to get it first. I will be talking to my lawyer to see what my options are with this.

They might be keeping it for a future project that they never get around to. It could be the name of his kid. The name could mean something else in another language etc.

I have bunch of names I am not using yet, but I have an idea for.

And someone gave you here a really bad advice. Rude response saying they are not selling the name is not a basis for UDRP. You'd need to prove that the guy is trying to sell the name to you for an unreasonable amount and has no other use for himself. By refusing to sell he is actually shows he doesn't care to sell to you. So that blows your case.
 
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Hello! Maybe they mistyped it. I'm glad someone responded to me.
I mean "trying" by trying to contact the owner of the domain. I would contact them by WHOIS every few years. Finally, I received a response back. It's all my fault because I should have gone with a broker who is professional and knows how to handle this situation. They would receive a commission so they would be able to negotiate well.

I don't know why they want to keep it. If they don't want to sell it or have a site on it..they may be wanting it for vanity reasons. They might tell their friends and family that they own their own domain of their name. Who knows? I was just guessing. They never said why they wanted it.

It isn't any of my business why they have it or won't sell it. They were able to get it first. I will be talking to my lawyer to see what my options are with this.

Back in 2000 I registered my sons firstlast dot com on the off chance they might want it when they grow up. Twenty years later, one is using his, the other is not ready for it yet. You have no idea why someone wants a domain and frankly it is not your worry. Just because it is not developed does not mean it has no purpose.

oh and stop with the udrp crap that’s a terrible idea.
 
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You reached out and got a negative response, so wait another six months and try again.

You may have just caught them on a bad day.

Now that you have said that you will pay $10,000 for this domain, I'm sure that you will receive a number of cold messages from brokers and wanna-be brokers.

A broker could very well cost you money for the same result. No gain.
 
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If intent on the .COM only, then make them an offer they can't refuse.
But why don't you try the alternate extensions such as .ORG or .NET?
 
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If you do a whois search, you should be able to establish if the domain predates your TM.

Having said that, don't ever initiate legal proceedings unless you are absolutely sure that you cannot live without this domain and you have very deep pockets.
 
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Keep the money in your pocket and register any other extension

Believe me it is not worth chasing
 
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Well, rude response or not you don’t need a broker to just email them back and give them your best offer. They may surprise you and accept. If they don’t maybe you should put yourself in their shoes. Would you sell the domain for 10K if you owned it?
 
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This is the mentality of some would be domain buyers - “I see you’re not using the domain for anything so why not sell it to me cheap.” Such buyers don’t want to understand the concept of domaining including that someone might not have held the name fifteen years to sell it cheap today.

If you’d not threatened legal action - which perhaps something in your response alluded to this - you could have written back and said that you’d be willing to pay a higher price than 1000. and to please name their price to see if it fits your budget. As it stands they may now think you’re trying to build ammo for some kind of claim.
It also sounds like at some point in your communications you have mentioned this “you’re not using the domain for anything” line which might have led to their “rude” response.

I’ve received two step emails before where first they insult me with a low offer that is stated either right away or on follow up to be based on that I don’t appear to be using the domain for anything, followed by a legal action threat. No one has ever actually followed up with any claim. Almost all of my domains have been held by me for over fifteen years.
 
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Hey seriously. Here’s a thought.

I‘be seen plenty of domains of people’s names. Can’t remember them right now. What stayed in my mind is how because their full name was taken or last name they went with still a .com which is what you want really and then slap an “s” at the end like......

magicjohnson.com
MagicJohnsons.com


TylerPerry.com
TylerPerrys.com


Now if you are lucky and your last name is somewhat rare? If it’s taken? With any luck you can register it with an S at the end


Johnson.com
Johnsons.com

This solution is the closest you can get to your name without turning your domain into a three word domain like

magicjohnsonwebsite.com


Just to have a domain.

In fact it kinda works.

if someone were to ask “ so whose website is this?”


“Ummm duh?!?

it’s Magic Johnson’s can’t you read?”

there is more than one way to light a fire.
nobody really cares how you light it. All that matters is that it’s lit.


BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!!


As far as broker? There are many good ones.

but I don’t know any broker that can’t be substituted by a newly created free gmail account.


Anyone can be anyone these days online with the right email address.



get a new email address and call yourself a “domain broker” and then just “sound like one” via email.

“hello my name is Mike Johnson. I am a domain broker. I have a client interested in your domain. Do you have plans to use domain.com? My client is interested in your domain name. How much?”


If you really feel the need to threaten them and if you can confirm they really just want a bucket of money for it.

provide the facts.

1. Not many will buy the domain. Family Names are very specific to the buyer. Unless it’s famous. You never did say if your name was famous like right now BillieEilish.com is huge.

2. they have had it for 15 years and no one ever bought it.

3. Then the udrp. Tread lightly. No need to go in all hard and threatening. I have given up domains under threat of udrp. Costly lawyers were not even needed. The cost of a udrp for both parties to file and defend is costly. Only lawyers will get rich. The sweet spot for the seller would be any amount below the cost of filing and defending a udrp.

Of course it goes without saying you better have a good case for udrp.

Uspto.gov and Whois are your friends.

of course all of the above won’t matter if they really want to keep the domain for personal reasons.

with any luck they just want big money for a domain.

In this case data is your friend.
 
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Let's keep it simple:

Negotiate for the best deal you can afford.

Otherwise it's not going to happen.

They may have found your offer insulting and highly value the domain.

Consider payment plans, be kind and mindful of your own position in this.

Good luck.
 
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Can you quote the response you recieved and redact any names mentioned? Might shed some light on any possibility of moving forward with the seller.
 
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As long as you didn't mention the trademark to them, there's no reason for them to be rude with a $1,000 offer.

I have garett in .com and I also have my son's first/last name in .com as well. I've been asked to sell garett almost once a year, but I use it for my personal email and wouldn't consider doing it. People have also asked me over the years about selling my son's name and I usually don't respond because it also isn't something I'd consider.

But if it's important to you, I'd go big. Put a large amount out there and see how it goes. You have to think of the psychology of it as well. If you say how about $2,500. They then think about that $2,500 number and say..."no, that isn't enough". Then you offer $5,000. Part of their thinking is inevitably comparing their state of mind in considering the original $2,500 being too low, so now is the additional $2,500 going to make a difference? If the name is truly important to you, I'd just throw a large $5,000 or $7,500 offer out there to avoid some of the incremental reasoning that happens in a more stepped offer.

If someone came to me and offered $5,000 or $10,000, I'd at least forward it to my son so he can decide.

But to your point, there's been names I've offered $1,000 on in the past and the seller had all their email going through that name. Some of the sellers sold the name anyway and just switched their email on the fly. So it wasn't unreasonable to try $1,000.

But don't even consider the UDRP approach. For the owner of the domain, if the domain matches their name or if they purchased before your trademark, they will have no problem defending a UDRP with no lawyer and just a basic response to the UDRP and your chances of getting it after that is zero. A lawyer may encourage you to do it and they'll happily charge you. But don't do it. All it will do is reduce your actual chances of acquiring the domain.
 
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they rude or not rude should not impact you,this is first...

your purpose is clear, u want that name, the purpose is not care they are rude or not rude, that is not important.... u try many years, and they finally response your email, means they may consider sell...so, just reply their email and retry...or use the TECH whoadomain mentioned, reg a New email, approach them like a broker...in any case, unless they not response, u still have chance...but not necessarlly be emotion...just do a buy Business, ask price, negotiate price,

meanwhile, find alternative, other extension, add a "s" ....think about it, u may can find a really nice alternative...

anyway, this is the nature of domain, they are unique, if the current owner just want hold it...u have to respect...
 
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A few guys have suggested adding an S to surname.

If you have a middle name, have you considered a middle initial?
Or first initial followed by surname.
There are so many options.
 
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Brokers aren't miracle workers. Maybe they just don't want to sell it for whatever reason.

All you can do is make a better offer and let the chips fall where they may. It might be compelling enough to lead to a sale.

This thread kind of shows the value of popular name combos to end users. They really help for branding and marketing in professional fields.

Excluding some amazing set of facts that I am not aware of, the UDRP is a lost cause and a waste of money and resources in this case.

Brad
 
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15 years and you offer 1K?

Should have mentioned 10k from the start.

What exactly did he say that was rude?
 
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No need to find a broker, it is useless and cost you lots.

And, no UDRP, that brings you lawsuits that you are not familiar with, you could even use a lawyer in that way, which costs more.

Re-consider if the dot com is really that important to you.

Moreover, you can try Domain Name "hacks", such as yourna.me , use the extension as a part of your name, it is creative and becoming more popular in a way to show your brand.
There are plenty of examples of personal and enterprise that using domain name "hacks", such as: D.na, Poli.cy, Capit.al, ele.me (one of the biggest Chinese takeaway / delivery company, well-known), who.is, abc.xyz ( Alphabet ), here.it.com.es, passa.ge, much more...

People are starting to accept and understand Domain hacks, unlike IDN domain names.
For more, you can take a look at Ten of the Best Domain Hacks in Active Use.

New TLDs are generated, people has to accept it, like about.google, nic.office
( Just my personal opinion that new TLDs are being more popular. )

Here is the tool, for you to find your favorite domain hacks.

And it is shorter than a dot com domain. Of course, domain hack have cons, but also have pros that a dot com does not have.
 
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Use another extension + hyphenated dot com. Make your offer again next year. You might have a bigger budget and they might be willing to sell then.
 
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