advice Just closed a deal, but feel like I didn't handle it well. Can I get some advice?

[skysarwer]

I just closed a deal for `public.garden`, selling for $2200 USD, which I initally bought for around $100 for a project that ended up being shelved.

I will include as much details as I can to ensure a rich context while theorizing about the negotiation.

I got an offer earlier this summer to buy it; I was contacted through a godaddy broker at first, and then an offer from Domain Agents.

I ignored the message from the GoDaddy broker, but when I received a message from DomainAgents around two months later, I did decide to see the offer. Here is how that went:

1. The initial offer was $1000 USD. Via the DA app. They initially offered $250 but upped it to 1K before I first saw the offer.
   
   
2. I countered for $5000.
   
   
3. The person countered that for $1500. I was still unsure if I wanted to sell at this time, so I just countered 5k again.
   
   
4. They countered $1750 with the added message : "Happy to work out a plan to pay more if we can get the business off the ground."
   
   
5. I didn't have the energy to negotiate so I did not respond for a while, they then upped the offer to $1850.
   
   
6. I eventually offered a counter of $3000, and left a message giving my contact details so we could discuss better.
   
   They reached out to me via the contact details, the key part of their message was as follows:

I’d like to present an offer to our CEO and team, and I would like to explore creative ways we can structure a deal to purchase the domain. Below are a two options I’d be happy to discuss:

1. Lump Sum Purchase:
We would provide full payment of $1,800 upfront for the domain, transferring ownership to us immediately.

2. Installment Plan:
We could agree to a structured payment plan over a set period (e.g., 12 months), which could make the acquisition easier for both parties while providing steady compensation.


I believe this domain could be a great asset for us, and I’d love the opportunity to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement. Please let me know if you would be open to discussing any of these options or if you have any alternative ideas in mind. I’m confident we can find a solution that works for both parties.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

I honestly did not have a lot of energy during this period and was not feeling like negotiating a lot. I was also getting pressure from my partner to sell it for the money. So eventually, I just made a counter offer of $2200 lump sum, which was accepted and just recently closed.

I am now reviewing all of this with fresher energy and questioning if I could have negotiated a higher total value if I went with the payment plan option.

Based on their communication, it seems that their main reservation was more about managing the cost as a business expense, balancing it with payroll and etc... not the actual asset value. However at the same time it seems they were bidding pretty low initially..

Kicking myself admittedly, as I was attached to the domain (but had no use for it) and I definitely could have benefitted from the extra money.

I would love to get some advice here, based on all the signs provided by the buyer shown here, how I could have maximalized this deal. Want to approach this as a learning opportunity. Thanks!

 

[OceanKing]

Personally i feel that they were even ready for 3k under a payment plan. They seems desperate in getting the domain.

 

[MKA]

If you let people bid low they'll bid low. The rest is is just an act.

It's clear that they're pursuing this specific domain, so if I were in your shoes I would've told the client that's I wasn't willing to part with the domain for that amount. Because I'd be fairly confident in that he'd return.

That said. Since it's a premium priced domain it's not something I'd want to hold on to. $2,200 certainly isn't a bad price for it.

 

[skysarwer]

Personally i feel that they were even ready for 3k under a payment plan. They seems desperate in getting the domain.

Yeah, it's killing me how I didnt see this more clearly in my decision fatigue

 

[skysarwer]

If you let people bid low they'll bid low. The rest is is just an act.

It's clear that they're pursuing this specific domain, so if I were in your shoes I would've told the client that's I wasn't willing to part with the domain for that amount. Because I'd be fairly confident in that he'd return.

That said. Since it's a premium priced domain it's not something I'd want to hold on to. $2,200 certainly isn't a bad price for it.

Appreciate your insight here

 

[pb]

It's a good sale, don't kick yourself over it.

 

[skysarwer]

It's a good sale, don't kick yourself over it.

Appreciate your positivity there. Would you say the critical (and somewhat neurotic even) reflection is typical in these kinds of worlds? Do you think it's common for sales to have money left on the table?

 

[BaileyUK]

I don't think you done badly at all. Every domain sold could possibly gone higher. It's very easy to get retrospective about every domain sale. But don't, It's water under the bridge, You'll feel more confident about every sale from now on. Keep the positive aspects in mind.

I thought that quite sweet of them to offer a tie-in to their future success, Not many start-ups would do the same. This says to me, they were negotiating from an open book. Personally I would always prefer a straight cash sale

 

[VadimK]

You did and negotiated well. You were living and making decisions under certain circumstances. No point in reflecting on ''yesterday's you''.

Probably would've got a better price (up to 3000, imo - because obviously his installment idea was a clear indication he could go for more - but also not by much), if you'd be pursuing another idea in mind about this name, but you know how we say in Russia: ''if a grandma had a dick that would be a grandpa''.

One thing I learned here on this business is do not look back emotionally on decisions taken yesterday. Every time you start regretting leaving money on a table, think - what if he has an equally valuable option and the hypothetical 100$ you was fighting over was the last one he would really allow? Because after a certain offer he would disappear and just never get back. That's how I tackle this issue ))

 

[skysarwer]

I don't think you done badly at all. Every domain sold could possibly gone higher. It's very easy to get retrospective about every domain sale. But don't, It's water under the bridge, You'll feel more confident about every sale from now on. Keep the positive aspects in mind.

I thought that quite sweet of them to offer a tie-in to their future success, Not many start-ups would do the same. This says to me, they were negotiating from an open book. Personally I would always prefer a straight cash sale

Interesting you think they were offering a tie-in to their future success. To me that seems odd since how could that be guarunteed? I think also the idea of setting up a payment plan seemed sketchy to me, since I don't have experience with setting up guaruntees like that. I do think I was imagining them flaking in long term scenarios once they had the domain secured.

Realizing later on there could have been options, interesting to analyse all the same.

 

[skysarwer]

You did and negotiated well. You were living and making decisions under certain circumstances. No point in reflecting on ''yesterday's you''.

Probably would've got a better price (up to 3000, imo - because obviously his installment idea was a clear indication he could go for more - but also not by much), if you'd be pursuing another idea in mind about this name, but you know how we say in Russia: ''if a grandma had a dick that would be a grandpa''.

One thing I learned here on this business is do not look back emotionally on decisions taken yesterday. Every time you start regretting leaving money on a table, think - what if he has an equally valuable option and the hypothetical 100$ you was fighting over was the last one he would really allow? Because after a certain offer he would disappear and just never get back. That's how I tackle this issue ))

Thank you! Yes I will try my best to not be too emotional about it. I just think that the clear buyer interest is rare and unlikely to happen again. Definitely a lot to learn from though!

It's also nice to hear that people hear don't think I got outrageously ripped off or anything

 

[pb]

Appreciate your positivity there. Would you say the critical (and somewhat neurotic even) reflection is typical in these kinds of worlds? Do you think it's common for sales to have money left on the table?

Yes, I cry myself to bed after every second sale. Seriously though, seller's regret is as common as buyer's regret. You can be sure they are also pondering if they could have gotten it cheaper.

 

[skysarwer]

Yes, I cry myself to bed after every second sale. Seriously though, seller's regret is as common as buyer's regret. You can be sure they are also pondering if they could have gotten it cheaper.

Haha well I actually learned later on that the business actually seems quite well off, so I am not as sure about that

 

[BaileyUK]

I've previously sold a domain to Apple for $800, They then went on to use it for a major sales and TV promotion. Of course they didn't disclose they were the buyers at the time - I even had to push them, after about a month to complete the sale. Yeah probably through a domain broker with too many other negotiations in progress. Don't sweat on completed sales, just learn a little bit more each-time

 

[johnn]

Nothing you can do with the past and no one know the exact price for each domain as small company may pay for $2,000 and big company may pay $2,000,000 for the same name.
As long as you make money put them in your pocket and move on.
Don't live with the past.

 

[Zavian]

You could have sold the domain via LTO but if you did that, the buyer could have decided 6 months in that they no longer wanted the domain. Sure, you would have been paid but it could have been a lot less.

You don't know if your buyer will finalise the deal in an LTO transaction.

 

[bmugford]

I just closed a deal for `public.garden`, selling for $2200 USD, which I initally bought for around $100 for a project that ended up being shelved.

I will include as much details as I can to ensure a rich context while theorizing about the negotiation.

I got an offer earlier this summer to buy it; I was contacted through a godaddy broker at first, and then an offer from Domain Agents.

I ignored the message from the GoDaddy broker, but when I received a message from DomainAgents around two months later, I did decide to see the offer. Here is how that went:

1. The initial offer was $1000 USD. Via the DA app. They initially offered $250 but upped it to 1K before I first saw the offer.
   
   
2. I countered for $5000.
   
   
3. The person countered that for $1500. I was still unsure if I wanted to sell at this time, so I just countered 5k again.
   
   
4. They countered $1750 with the added message : "Happy to work out a plan to pay more if we can get the business off the ground."
   
   
5. I didn't have the energy to negotiate so I did not respond for a while, they then upped the offer to $1850.
   
   
6. I eventually offered a counter of $3000, and left a message giving my contact details so we could discuss better.
   
   They reached out to me via the contact details, the key part of their message was as follows:

I honestly did not have a lot of energy during this period and was not feeling like negotiating a lot. I was also getting pressure from my partner to sell it for the money. So eventually, I just made a counter offer of $2200 lump sum, which was accepted and just recently closed.

I am now reviewing all of this with fresher energy and questioning if I could have negotiated a higher total value if I went with the payment plan option.

Based on their communication, it seems that their main reservation was more about managing the cost as a business expense, balancing it with payroll and etc... not the actual asset value. However at the same time it seems they were bidding pretty low initially..

Kicking myself admittedly, as I was attached to the domain (but had no use for it) and I definitely could have benefitted from the extra money.

I would love to get some advice here, based on all the signs provided by the buyer shown here, how I could have maximalized this deal. Want to approach this as a learning opportunity. Thanks!

In an alternate universe, the domain owner would be kicking themselves for asking too much and not closing the deal.

Factoring in the circumstances, I think you did fine.

Brad

 

[DomainBite]

Let things slide. Don't bide yourself with a domain, don't be in love.

It is a just a domain. Nothing less, nothing more.

 

[william]

1) It's not a good domain name. Super niche garbage TLD and you may have landed on the one buyer interested to pay (anything) for it.
2) You did fine negotiating and got a great return on it.

Enjoy and move on.