discuss "Please Sell It Back To Me" - Domain Name Inquiries And Offers

[Silentptnr]

I received an direct inbound offer and found it interesting so I thought I would share.

This morning I opened my email to find an offer for one of my domains, a four letter dot org. The inquiry came through the efty landing page.

What I found interesting was that the prospective buyer turns out to be a successful phd and easily found on google. What sort of bothered me was her approach. Here's what she said:

"I have had this domain name for almost 17 years but by mistake let it lapse a couple of months ago. Please sell it back to me!"

Problem is, I've owned it for years. She lied. So here was my reply...

"Thanks for your interest in G***.org. I have owned this domain for years. The domain was previously owned by Roger Raffee and Jim Hall, based in La Jolla, California for their company Global Electronic Music Marketplace. They still own the g***.com domain and wouldn't sell it even though they no longer operate.

I would consider selling the domain to you, but not for much less than $3900. If you are interested or would like to buy the domain or would like to offer a higher amount I would consider it."

I was nice about it but it irked me that she would just straight out lie. The world we live in I guess.

Have you had any?

(Please don't type the domain name in the thread.)

 

[GeorgeQuang]

- Could you sell this domain with a fair price ? Cause i'm working as a book keeper and don't have more money ( an Email from the Marketing staff of a company that has 3 offices in USA and India). (This was my 1st mistake in domain industry, i trusted him, and released my domain for only $850. If i had researched more, i would have charged at least 4k for it.)
- My son was just diagnosed a month ago as having disability and i beg your mercy. (Oh, and after sending, replying about 50 emails, i sold it for more than $3k5.)
- We are working as a high school project so we don't have enough money. (Okay, so you should have find another free domain to reg, i can wait for another buyer - i replied. And closing a deal for $5k)
- I may be interested in the domain, but 800 dollars is extortionate. If this is not flexible, we cannot do business. ( Then he warned that he could take my ownership for this domain name, i just replied " Go to fill UDRP if you want. Then i sold this domain for $6 k in Afternic.)
- My client said that he was not interested in this domain anymore. He thought that there was no reason to pay more for a domain, and he would go to GoDaddy and reg a domain for $10. - Receiving an email from an agency after 2 weeks of negotiating. So i replied " Okay, he made his best decision, but please let him know that if he want to buy this domain, we have to charge double next time". 3 months later " Hey George, my client wants to buy this domain again. Okay, double".
Some of short stories in my domain investing career.

 

[Silentptnr]

Please do keep us posted @Silentptnr . It seems bizarre as surely any smart person would know that the name had not changed hands recently?

Is there any chance it was the co.uk that she had meant, as it seems for sale too (if I am guessing the word correctly).

While this, and other stories shared, are disconcerting, it should not blind us to the fact that some stories of mistakenly dropped domain names are indeed true. And also that some do indeed have circumstances that would justify a discount.

Bob

Here's the final update:

Hello.

I am sorry, my web designer got mixed up – I had ****.org.uk, not ****.org!

Kindest regards,
********


I replied:

I suspected that. Very nice to have met you.

All the best,
David

Edit: My final, final email to her tomorrow will be something like...

"Perhaps fate brought us together and my domain ****.org would be an upgrade that could dramatically increase your growth.

Seeing what you do makes me want to help.

Let's talk if you have time. We might make something amazing happen.

Sincerely,"

 

[iAchilles]

The unfortunate truth about this industry is that many end users hold the opinion that domain investors are domain squatters. i suspect this is why they've no qualms deploying morally questionable tactics to acquire a domain.

In their minds they're liberating the domain from an evil domain squatter. It's like the mindset that some people hold that scamming a scammer is more morally acceptable.

It's ignorance on their part, the industry is also somewhat culpable. I've always maintained the view that there's a serious lack of education in this industry, that's specifically targets end users.

I'm not talking about well written articles or soundbites here, I'm talking about real studies showing quantifiable data which illustrates how and why acquiring any given domain will improve their bottom line.

Back on topic...

Yes, it's astounding the number the students looking to acquire domain names for projects with no commercial value. What's even more surprising is that when you take the time to point out alternative options in other extensions, they never seem interested in those.

 

[aryindey]

One of the funniest email I've ever received

 

[MapleDots]

I have a fairly standard reply....

The most important part of any offer are the zeros in front of the dot.

 

[Silentptnr]

I told one guy, "Tell you what, why don't you sell me your business assets for $100?". He laughed and said, "Touche". He was just kicking the tires I suppose.

 

[Silentptnr]

how did you arrive at $3900 price for a 4 letter.org?
did you....
pulled it out of thin air?
it earned some revenue, so price was indicative?
you've had offers in past, in that range?
or what?

imo….

It is bin priced at $10k. $3900 was me offering a discount.

Edit: Believe it or not, I was just eating a popsicle and typed wrong with one hand.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A big tragedy.

But this particular hurricane, according to my inbox, had unusual side effect. Too many inquiries referring to how they need a domain name for cheap because they lost everything in hurricane, and similar things. Unreal.

I would have reduced my price if the buyers had told me the truth.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Exactly. I would have considered less too if the person had been honest. Maybe could have worked out a deal. I try to price domains sensibly. Still doesn't seem to stop people from making up stories.

That's the reason why i asked have you earned $40k in domaining this year.
Just ignore those scamming emails, or emails with low prices.
If you want to make at least 100k a year, spend your time to hunt and bid on Auctions.
It just waste time to reply or care about those poor and tricky buyers.
Now i receive many emails each day, some with fair prices and some not. ( A guy in Netherlands sent an email to buy my domain for only $100 - i didn't reply. Yesterday, he increased to $300. I still not reply. )

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think that the tone of your emails was just about perfect, @Silentptnr . Thanks for taking us along in this journey, and I think that we learned from what you shared. To me the message that I take is while always be cautious of what you are told, at the same time always be polite in professional in every conversation, period. Thanks again.

Bob

 

[BrandPlease]

I got a really funny one - maybe just over a year or so ago, just after I picked up a name.

It was a pretty funny message about being a poor college kid that "forgot to renew it and just want to buy it back" BUT way too cheap for me to consider - and the message just caught me funny. Almost like the writer knew or wanted me to know it was bull. Not sure how to explain that, but the tone or wording of the entire message was a little off? make any sense.

Anyway... I replied that I was pretty sure you are in the industry, which is great as we won't have to spend much time on the actual value of the name. So, I would be happy to work on a wholesale price with you. Let me know if 20 % of the market value seems fair to you.

Needless to say - I did the research ahead of time, so I knew who it really was & found their listing (still on site, active) AND it was WAY higher than I would have been asking - 20% would have been just fine with me hahahaha.

Never got a response back to that offer... didn't think I would though.

Made me laugh though

 

[Ategy]

Sorry I can't edit my reply!
It's very obvious tho!

Unfortunately it's not about it being obvious to us here .. it's about it being indexed by google so that potential buyers don't find this discussion!

Unless you are in a private section of NamePros, then nobody should never ever type out a domain name for sale unless the owner did so first.

 

[Silentptnr]

Update: She has read my email.
( I track that )

 

[MapleDots]

I simply told him,stop with your lies,you are on linkedin with a large group and you claim to be ethical in your organization and you telling me all these lies about raising from family members every week and you keep increasing offers every week.

Try not to alienate the potential client, in the end it does not matter if they lie or not. Just turn down the offer and tell him to come back when he has more money.

Ego is a big thing and if you insult him you may just be talking yourself out of a sale. If his feelings gets hurt he won't buy and in the end you lose out too.

So be polite, stick to your guns and try not to respond personally to his emails. Just state the market value of the domain and tell him to come back when he has funds in place.

 

[BradWilson]

Okay, this reminds me of how I snagged the dot com of my business.

I had owned the dot net for many years but couldn't get the dot com so I forgot about it until...

I received an email asking if I wanted to buy the dot com - well by chance, I checked and it was available so I snagged it in a heartbeat. Wow score!

But this story isn't over just yet. Sometime later, I was contacted by the previous owner of the dot com and he wanted his domain back because it was his blah, blah, blah.

Sorry dude, it's mine now and I'm using it and it's not for sale at any price.

I'm guessing the person who sent the email and the previous owner weren't the same person - duh.

The previous owner got over it or at least lost interest.

But now I'm thinking of rebranding my business and I'm finally willing to sell it.

Turns out the previous owner isn't doing business any more at least as far as I can tell. Luckily a different VC firm exists that's using the exact long version of my business name. They settled for a strangely abbreviated domain. I'm planning to contact the owner on LinkedIn to see if he'd be interested in an upgrade.

 

[tonyk2000]

Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A big tragedy.

But this particular hurricane, according to my inbox, had unusual side effect. Too many inquiries referring to how they need a domain name for cheap because they lost everything in hurricane, and similar things. Unreal.

My son was just diagnosed a month ago as having disability and i beg your mercy.

We are working as a high school project so we don't have enough money.

Such inquirers recently started to include tracking pixels into email bodies. Was an emailed opened, read, and from what IP? So "common" for genuine endusers...

 

[Silentptnr]

I would have reduced my price if the buyers had told me the truth.

Exactly. I would have considered less too if the person had been honest. Maybe could have worked out a deal. I try to price domains sensibly. Still doesn't seem to stop people from making up stories.

 

[Silentptnr]

Personally I'm more curious why you did not pursue it a bit more aggressively by educating her about the advantages of the .org over the .org.uk

I think you gave her a good deal on the domain and with a little more persuasion you may have been able to sway her into the .org.

Not saying she would buy it for sure but it seems to me that the education part is missing to bring this situation to a proper conclusion. By proper I mean from a ales point of view, I think you handled the situation marvelously except there could have been a bit of a stronger sales pitch.

It ain't over.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Haha i got a joke today.
Get an email from previous owner of a domain that i won in Auction several days. And yes, she made my day.
" This has been my website for 20 years and I would like it back."

"Hi,
Thanks so much for reaching out to us.
We have listed this domain for $7000 in aftermarket.
But due to you are its previous owner, we can release it for only $3000.
Please let us know if you have any questions."

"Yes I'm very interested in acquiring XXX back. Please provide the date you purchased my website and how were you notified that it was available?
How do we make arrangements for payment?"

"Hi, we can proceed through Escrow.com"

"Great! I need to know the exact date you purchased my website and how you knew it was available. Provide me that information and then we can proceed. Thank you."

"Hi,
Kindly check att files. They are screenshots about our NetworkSolutions.com account which contains XXXX.com
Please note that we just provide Domain Name, not Website (you have to have Domain Name first, then using Hosting services to build a website which contents, images .etc.)"

"I offer what you paid to get my website back. Otherwise I don't need it."

 

[GeorgeQuang]

Update:
You steal people's websites. This is a predatory practice and I feel sorry for the kind of person you are. You can't feel good about what you do right?

Whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better about what you do. You acquire other people's and businesses websites and hold the ransome. If you don't pay for your sins in this life you will in the next.

Don't lie to yourself. You're a horrible person. I owned that website for 20 years. How can you live with yourself?

You're horrible.

 

[Silentptnr]

Update:
You steal people's websites. This is a predatory practice and I feel sorry for the kind of person you are. You can't feel good about what you do right?

Whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better about what you do. You acquire other people's and businesses websites and hold the ransome. If you don't pay for your sins in this life you will in the next.

Don't lie to yourself. You're a horrible person. I owned that website for 20 years. How can you live with yourself?

You're horrible.

They dropped the domain. Now they are rude. So important, yet not important enough to renew like millions of others.

Just like some people. They dont even understand what some investors pay at auction for good names.

Dont pay? Banks take your house or your car. Doesnt take long either. After they get sold at auction...no going back.

 

[Silentptnr]

The unfortunate truth about this industry is that many end users hold the opinion that domain investors are domain squatters. i suspect this is why they've no qualms deploying morally questionable tactics to acquire a domain.

In their minds they're liberating the domain from an evil domain squatter. It's like the mindset that some people hold that scamming a scammer is more morally acceptable.

It's ignorance on their part, the industry is also somewhat culpable. I've always maintained the view that there's a serious lack of education in this industry, that's specifically targets end users.

I'm not talking about well written articles or soundbites here, I'm talking about real studies showing quantifiable data which illustrates how and why acquiring any given domain will improve their bottom line.

Back on topic...

Yes, it's astounding the number the students looking to acquire domain names for projects with no commercial value. What's even more surprising is that when you take the time to point out alternative options in other extensions, they never seem interested in those.

Thanks for that. She currently has the .org.uk.

Come to think of it, maybe she was actually trying to buy back the .org.uk and got me by mistake.

Nope, just checked. The .org.uk didn't drop.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

lol...people are crazy.

Have you reached 40k in sales this year, buddy ?

 

[dande]

This is a weird as an inquiry can get. Wait until she respond to your counter offer, let's know what she's gonna come up with