strategy Mock Negotiation - Let's negotiate here week #1

[abstractdomainer]

Hi All,

We know how tricky negotiations can be. It is a part and parcel of the domain name business. Even if we get the price for the domain name, that we were expecting, we feel like we left money on the table. And it happens time and again. So why not practise negotiation here:

Step 1: Members share the name which they would be willing to offer for sale
Step 2: I will be the buyer, the member whose domain is chosen becomes the seller
Step 3: We appoint 1 member who doesn't belong to either party. Let's call him referee
Step 4: Both buyer and seller share their minimum and maximum prices which they are willing to accept/offer respectively for the domain name
Step 5: We negotiate here on the thread with proper emails/texts. Everyone can view how you and I respond.
Step 6: Buyer and seller can re-adjust their offer - buyer can increase the maximum that they are willing to offer, and seller can decrease the minimum that they are willing to take
Step 7: Either a deal is made or not
Step 8: The appointed representive (referee) will share the buyer and seller minimum maximum
Step 9: We draw conclusions from the negotiation and the learnings

This is going to be extremely amazing and I am super excited.
Please share your names so that we can pick one and start the process. The negotiation should last 1 week or less. Let's do this. The shortlist will be done tomorrow if we have ample entries.

 

[abstractdomainer]

@Soofi I have shared the quotation with Kartik. Let me know once your quotation is submitted. As soon as Kartik confirms, we begin.

 

[Soofi]

@Soofi I have shared the quotation with Kartik. Let me know once your quotation is submitted. As soon as Kartik confirms, we begin.

Apologies for the delay. I have communicated my part

 

[abstractdomainer]

Perfect. @kartikahuja Please confirm. Let us begin.

 

[kartikahuja]

I have received the message from @abstractdomainer and @Soofi ; let's start

 

[abstractdomainer]

ok let's begin!

Dear @Soofi

I would like to acquire the domain name ViraGroup.com. Can you let me know what you are looking to sell this name at?

 

[Soofi]

Hi @abstractdomainer,

Thanks for reaching out to inquire about ViraGroup.com

We do have a buy now price, however please feel free to make a reasonable offer for us to consider.

thanks

 

[abstractdomainer]

Hi @abstractdomainer,

Thanks for reaching out to inquire about ViraGroup.com

We do have a buy now price, however please feel free to make a reasonable offer for us to consider.

thanks

Thanks @Soofi . I did happen to check the BIN price, which seems extremely high. Why do you think the domain name is worth the price you think it is?
Can you point me to the right data/thought process behind the pricing?

 

[Soofi]

Reads @abstractdomainer’s email and decides not to respond.

Thanks @Soofi . I did happen to check the BIN price, which seems extremely high. Why do you think the domain name is worth the price you think it is?
Can you point me to the right data/thought process behind the pricing?

 

[abstractdomainer]

After waiting for 2-3 days, responds:

Dear @Soofi

I did not get any response from you.
I did some research myself about the domain name and its potential, and I see that most domain names ending in 'group' keyword typically sell for low to mid 3-figures.
In that light, I would like to make an offer of $500 for this domain name.

 

[Soofi]

Was thinking of not responding again due to a low-ball opening offer from the enduser however, respecting his first move plus understanding that he has somewhat research involved behind his offer. Going to try and better educate him with my bit of research.

---my email response starts here---

Hi @abstractdomainer

Thank you for writing once again.

While we do respect your low-ball offer of $500 which is backed by research somewhat however, would love to point you to some of our research work as-well, which shows that there have been plenty of "group" domain sales in five figures or more. For your reference: https://namebio.com/?s==kTNycDO5MzM

As we stated earlier, we do have a buy now price which is considerably reasonable. Please let us know if you have any further questions or queries to quickly close this one through escrow.com

Thank you once again for your interest in our asset.

After waiting for 2-3 days, responds:

Dear @Soofi

I did not get any response from you.
I did some research myself about the domain name and its potential, and I see that most domain names ending in 'group' keyword typically sell for low to mid 3-figures.
In that light, I would like to make an offer of $500 for this domain name.

 

[karmaco]

The problem here is you guys are replying as domainers not as an end user really talks. Nice attempts though

 

[Soofi]

The problem here is you guys are replying as domainers not as an end user really talks.

I disagree'd this part. He (@abstractdomainer) is attempting as an enduser and I am having a go as a domainer. Fairly easy to do that when we put ourselves into shoes of endusers when we need a domain for our own project bud.

Nice attempts though

Thanks for appreciating. I liked your this part of comment!

 

[Alop]

And I think you are better off waiting 4-6 days before attempting to communicate the seller again

 

[Soofi]

And I think you are better off waiting 4-6 days before attempting to communicate the seller again

this I agree, or in fact it’ll show you as a desperate buyer.

 

[Alop]

** @Soofi is urged to charge @abstractdomainer $500 just for emails **

Story is developing:d

 

[abstractdomainer]

Was thinking of not responding again due to a low-ball opening offer from the enduser however, respecting his first move plus understanding that he has somewhat research involved behind his offer. Going to try and better educate him with my bit of research.

---my email response starts here---

Hi @abstractdomainer

Thank you for writing once again.

While we do respect your low-ball offer of $500 which is backed by research somewhat however, would love to point you to some of our research work as-well, which shows that there have been plenty of "group" domain sales in five figures or more. For your reference: https://namebio.com/?s==kTNycDO5MzM

As we stated earlier, we do have a buy now price which is considerably reasonable. Please let us know if you have any further questions or queries to quickly close this one through escrow.com

Thank you once again for your interest in our asset.

Hi @Soofi

Thanks for the information. I definitely see what you are referring to. In terms of what you have quoted, if we look at the top 100 sales by date, with names like MarsGroup, you would see that not 1 name has sold for more than mid XXXX, let alone XX,XXX. Most are high XXX and very few are low XXXX.

In light of the same, I would still be fair and increase my offer to $999 for this domain name, which I believe is a fair price. I see that the search volume and CPC here are not very significant as well.

 

[Soofi]

Reads through @abstractdomainer's email and politely ignores it.

Though I have one very important point to justify my asking price (have mentioned it to referee) but I am not going to waste my time with low-ball offers and the reason why I have set my landing page of ViraGroup.com as BIN.

Hi @Soofi

Thanks for the information. I definitely see what you are referring to. In terms of what you have quoted, if we look at the top 100 sales by date, with names like MarsGroup, you would see that not 1 name has sold for more than mid XXXX, let alone XX,XXX. Most are high XXX and very few are low XXXX.

In light of the same, I would still be fair and increase my offer to $999 for this domain name, which I believe is a fair price. I see that the search volume and CPC here are not very significant as well.

 

[abstractdomainer]

Reads through @abstractdomainer's email and politely ignores it.

Though I have one very important point to justify my asking price (have mentioned it to referee) but I am not going to waste my time with low-ball offers and the reason why I have set my landing page of ViraGroup.com as BIN.

Thanks @Soofi
After waiting for 3 days, replying back.

Dear Soofi,

I did a little research and with the price you have put for the domain name, we may be looking in the ballpark of Vira.com. I was trying to go through NameBio sales and here is where I am referring to: https://namebio.com/?s==cTNyEDMwQzM
Although I haven't reached out to Vira.com owner, I suppose the prices would be in the ballpark of what you are asking, and hence, I would rather get Vira.com for that price/extend some budget to get that name.
Therefore, I would make my last offer of $1,800 which is the maximum budget that I have for the domain name, before looking out for alternatives.
Let me know if we can meet around this price or if you have a reason why this name is worth the price you are asking.

 

[Soofi]

Waits out a day/two before responding.

Hi @abstractdomainer,

Thank you for trying again and again but I believe you are better off trying your hands @ Vira.com, which in my strong opinion will be nothing below mid-high five figures.

The reason we are asking $18,888 because we have previously received dozens of offers on ViraGroup.com from dozens/multiple interested parties due to the significance of the term “VIRA”. Refer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vira

I’m afraid we’re going to stay at our asking price and wish you to the best in your domain search.

Best,

Soofi

Thanks @Soofi
After waiting for 3 days, replying back.

Dear Soofi,

I did a little research and with the price you have put for the domain name, we may be looking in the ballpark of Vira.com. I was trying to go through NameBio sales and here is where I am referring to: https://namebio.com/?s==cTNyEDMwQzM
Although I haven't reached out to Vira.com owner, I suppose the prices would be in the ballpark of what you are asking, and hence, I would rather get Vira.com for that price/extend some budget to get that name.
Therefore, I would make my last offer of $1,800 which is the maximum budget that I have for the domain name, before looking out for alternatives.
Let me know if we can meet around this price or if you have a reason why this name is worth the price you are asking.

 

[abstractdomainer]

Waits out a day/two before responding.

Hi @abstractdomainer,

Thank you for trying again and again but I believe you are better off trying your hands @ Vira.com, which in my strong opinion will be nothing below mid-high five figures.

The reason we are asking $18,888 because we have previously received dozens of offers on ViraGroup.com from dozens/multiple interested parties due to the significance of the term “VIRA”. Refer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vira

I’m afraid we’re going to stay at our asking price and wish you to the best in your domain search.

Best,

Soofi

Thanks @Soofi! The negotiation ends here.
The result is NO DEAL.

@kartikahuja Would you mind sharing what our conversation was, from both side?

 

[Alop]

This was horrible

 

[abstractdomainer]

This was horrible

Which part? And why?

 

[Alop]

Which part? And why?

You guys didn’t make a deal :/

 

[abstractdomainer]

You guys didn’t make a deal :/

Isn't that what's negotiation is all about? That's what makes it real, my friend. I had a budget, the seller had an expectation. They didn't match and we didn't have a deal. Simple as that.

I think what we hear as negotiation is only a part of the deal. There are numerous others where the deal didn't go through. And it's alright

 

[abstractdomainer]

Others, feel free to comment on your learnings or observations from these discussions/mock negotiation.