The_Other_One
New Member
- Impact
- 1
Hello, everyone, thank you for reading this... I've followed this forum for some time, but have never posted before. I'm sorry to burst in the door and ask for help without ever having contributed anything, but something has come up quite suddenly and I do need advice.
My wife and I own a number of domains, but it's never really been a business to us. It's more of a hobby of hers, going back to the mid-90s. We sell a few of them every year, if the offers are right, but we're not as serious about it as most of you folks are, so we're not highly skilled at valuation or negotiation. We're usually not that motivated to sell, because part of the reason she keeps them is to be a source of passive/windfall income in her later years. She's disabled, and more than 20 years younger than I, so we figure the odds are they'll be handy to have at some point down then road.
Long story short, over the last few months it's become apparent that the road may not be that long as we'd expected after all, and that maybe she'd be better off having and using the money over the next couple of years.So we've been discussing selling some of the better domains, and talking about possible strategies, especially the last few days.
And out of the blue, we got an e-mail this morning asking if we would be interested in selling one of the 2 that we were most interested in moving. It's a serious inquiry, from a very well-established broker, so we know we're dealing with a professional and not a player. In the past, we'd have gone into it with no real pressure, because we didn't really need to sell. Now, we feel we have a lot more at stake. This time, we can't afford to not approach this seriously.
In days gone by, we have turned down offers in the low-to mid 20K range for this one, which may not have made much business sense, but at least gives us a frame of reference for what is and is not reasonable for this one. We would probably be comfortable taking something in that time zone this time around, but given current circumstances, we feel that if there is more to be made, we can't afford to leave it on the table. We are wondering if it would be wise for us to find a broker to represent us, or at least advise us. And we were wondering if anyone here might have some advice for us.
As I said, the other party is a very serious broker, priding themselves on serving a high-end market. This is a 4-letter .com domain, a dictionary word, easy to spell and very easy to remember, and a word that is quite brandable. It could be used as a product name, a company name, or any number of other things. It was registered over 20 years ago, and has never been used for any other site. The buyer has not made an offer; his opening e-mail asked us for a price range (which we would obviously prefer not to do). I did quite a lot of research on the broker, and from interviews and articles, my hunch is he either has a particular potential end-user in mind or possibly has been specifically tasked with acquiring this very domain. But that's just a gut feeling.
This guy lives in a part of the pool we're not used to swimming in. As I said, we're motivated this time, but not desperate. As it happens, we've been talking for several days about developing it ourselves, and had some good ideas, so if we keep it, we wouldn't be heartbroken... but... if we can get a decent sum, it would make a difference in our lives.
So we're just not quite sure here. Is this a situation where it would be smart to make a deal with a professional to negotiate with this professional? Should we seek out a broker, and if so, what's a good way to find a reliable one?
Thanks very much for any advice any of you may have for us. Have a great day.
My wife and I own a number of domains, but it's never really been a business to us. It's more of a hobby of hers, going back to the mid-90s. We sell a few of them every year, if the offers are right, but we're not as serious about it as most of you folks are, so we're not highly skilled at valuation or negotiation. We're usually not that motivated to sell, because part of the reason she keeps them is to be a source of passive/windfall income in her later years. She's disabled, and more than 20 years younger than I, so we figure the odds are they'll be handy to have at some point down then road.
Long story short, over the last few months it's become apparent that the road may not be that long as we'd expected after all, and that maybe she'd be better off having and using the money over the next couple of years.So we've been discussing selling some of the better domains, and talking about possible strategies, especially the last few days.
And out of the blue, we got an e-mail this morning asking if we would be interested in selling one of the 2 that we were most interested in moving. It's a serious inquiry, from a very well-established broker, so we know we're dealing with a professional and not a player. In the past, we'd have gone into it with no real pressure, because we didn't really need to sell. Now, we feel we have a lot more at stake. This time, we can't afford to not approach this seriously.
In days gone by, we have turned down offers in the low-to mid 20K range for this one, which may not have made much business sense, but at least gives us a frame of reference for what is and is not reasonable for this one. We would probably be comfortable taking something in that time zone this time around, but given current circumstances, we feel that if there is more to be made, we can't afford to leave it on the table. We are wondering if it would be wise for us to find a broker to represent us, or at least advise us. And we were wondering if anyone here might have some advice for us.
As I said, the other party is a very serious broker, priding themselves on serving a high-end market. This is a 4-letter .com domain, a dictionary word, easy to spell and very easy to remember, and a word that is quite brandable. It could be used as a product name, a company name, or any number of other things. It was registered over 20 years ago, and has never been used for any other site. The buyer has not made an offer; his opening e-mail asked us for a price range (which we would obviously prefer not to do). I did quite a lot of research on the broker, and from interviews and articles, my hunch is he either has a particular potential end-user in mind or possibly has been specifically tasked with acquiring this very domain. But that's just a gut feeling.
This guy lives in a part of the pool we're not used to swimming in. As I said, we're motivated this time, but not desperate. As it happens, we've been talking for several days about developing it ourselves, and had some good ideas, so if we keep it, we wouldn't be heartbroken... but... if we can get a decent sum, it would make a difference in our lives.
So we're just not quite sure here. Is this a situation where it would be smart to make a deal with a professional to negotiate with this professional? Should we seek out a broker, and if so, what's a good way to find a reliable one?
Thanks very much for any advice any of you may have for us. Have a great day.
