Potential Sale - Strategy Question

[DN_Hunter]

Hi,

I've currently got an offer at SEDO where the negotiating has gone like this:

1) they offer very low xxx
2) I counter mid x,xxx
3) they counter very low x,xxx (with comment that my asking is overpriced, and that is the most they could offer as they have other potential names to use instead)
4) I counter xx,xxx (higher than my original counter due to reasons I'll explain below)
5) they counter with better x,xxx than in step-3 (with comment of "Their Final Offer"). This counter is "binding" at sedo until Tuesday night.


Some additional info:
a) reason I countered in step-4 with a higher number than my counter in step-2 is because I researched who had recently registered 3 other TLD's of the domain in question -- and it appeared to be the same person/company

b) the person/company is in the Netherlands. Coincidentally, the person bidding joined SEDO in May, AND they happen to also be in the Netherlands

c) I sent out emails to 8 potential end-users (3 replies). Two replies asking how much (I sent them the number in step-4 above, and asked them to feel free to submit an offer at SEDO if that was too high). The 3rd reply was from the person/company who registered the other TLD's of the domain -- saying politely that they were not interested in the .com at this time.


My Dilemma:
i) do I assume the bidder is the same person/company that registered the other TLD's?
ii) is it possible the bidder is an external 3rd party (domain broker, or domainer looking to buy it, and then resell to the person/company)
iii) is the bidder a completely different end-user?
iv) do I wait to see if the other two potential end-users that were interested make an offer (or reply to me via email)? (btw, can you have more than one offer for the same domain at the same time at SEDO?)
v) any other strategy/option you can think of?


Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
DN

 

[copper]

Seems like you are trying to get as much as you can.
This sometimes is called Greed and this could be good and bad.
Question is where do you draw the line?

Is your domain MUST have domain for this company and is it
only domain that this company can use? Could they use alternate domain?

If you don't sell this time, do you think there'll be other similar
offers in near future?

I had many similar experiences such as this and didn't sell most
of time and end up regretting.

I hope you don't regret as much as I did

 

[Name Trader]

It's a very good chance it's the same person. From their own mouth, they are not interest in the .com at this time, but they registered the other tld's. They weren't interested because it's too high a price to pay, probably.

 

[akcampbell]

Definitely the same person. If they registered several other extensions, they will be interested in the .com. If they registered 1 other extension, they might not be. The new Sedo registration and Dutch address would be too much of a coincidence.

I think upping your original mid $X,XXX counter will make it difficult to get more than that now, you showed them your hand, they are going to think that if they let a couple of months go by and approach you again on Sedo, you might give them the option of the mid $X,XXX counter again.

I would send them a message justifying the mid $X,XXX counter, offer it to them again, along with a slightly lower option, of say $500 less, to send the domain to auction. Since they are bought into the keyword with the other extension registrations, they will see the extra $500 as money well spent to avoid an auction.

My gut feeling is they want the domain bad and the original mid-$XXXX counter is achievable, if somebody upped their initial counter, it would get my back up, and if I didn't really want the domain, I would cancel the thread and find another domain on principle. Good luck!

 

[Ralph2472]

Domain bids

I think I would let it go to auction now. You are guaranteed the last offer you had, and could get a lot more if there is in fact more than one serious interested party. If you try to force them to increase their offer; they could back out and you don't get a penny. Play safe and at least guarantee a reasonable sale. A lot depends on whether you need the money now, or could hang on for a sale for an indefinate period.
Regards

Ralph Cockrell

 

[DN_Hunter]

Thanks all for your comments

I have considered almost all thoughts over and over such as:

-don't get too greedy
-send to auction now
-whether it's a domain they really want, or could do with a different name
-counter one more time with a number closer to my original counter


I'm sending a follow up email to the other two interested parties (with luck they will reply quickly and that will help me decide which route to take)

Thanks again everyone

Regards,
DN

 

[garptrader]

What it really comes down to is how are you going to feel if they walk away from the deal? If losing this offer is no big deal because you don't really need the money and you get offers like this regularly all many of your domains, you can be aggressive in negotiations. But how many of us have lost offers which months later we regret. Unless you have a phenomenal domain, XXXX offers are rare and shouldn't be taken for granted. It is also true that for XXXX the buyer probably does have other options. If they were to announce on Namepros I'm willing to spend XXXX for a domain about ____ with characteristics similar to yours, do you think they could find an alternative?

 

[HuntingMoon]

take a profit

 

[DN_Hunter]

Thanks to everyone for your advice

I currently have a low $x,xxx offer on the table (at Sedo), and I am contemplating sending to auction soon (we went back and forth another time, but the person did not budge from their previous "final offer").

Given the following info -- does it change anything in your mind (considering the nature of the domain name, and who might be bidding on it)?
1) the domain is a "Gaming" domain (multiple words with last word = C A S I N O)
2) a Gaming company registered 5 other extensions of this name within the last 2 months
3) Google search shows the individual listed as Admin for those registrations is COO of said Gaming company
4) After contacting said individual, he confirmed ownership of other domains, but also said he was not interested in the .COM because "they don't act in the International Market"

My Current Thoughts
-the low $x,xxx will certainly help pay for a number of renewals I have coming up (but won't make or break me...)
-I really think the person bidding is somehow related to the Gaming corporation (but can't be positive). They claim they will use the domain for an affiliate site -- just a coincidence they are from the same country as the gaming corporation
-if the person is related to the gaming corporation, they are playing their hand extremely well -- I've actually learned a couple of techniques from him to use the next time I am negotiating from the "buyers" side...
-well, I've probably got about 12 more hours before I make a decision on whether to push to auction...

Regards,
DN

 

[cmason]

DN_Hunter, thank you for sharing this experience!! Just a few weeks ago I purchased (hand reg) a few poker/casino .COMs to find out just 3 days later someone registered the .NETs of 2 of them (2 common ways of spelling).

This thread has given me a lot of insight into how to handle the negotiations. Repped for sharing and presenting your posts in such a nicely formatted way! (I appreciate nice formatting)

Good luck,

C

 

[telking]

Thanks all for your comments

I have considered almost all thoughts over and over such as:

-don't get too greedy
-send to auction now
-whether it's a domain they really want, or could do with a different name
-counter one more time with a number closer to my original counter


I'm sending a follow up email to the other two interested parties (with luck they will reply quickly and that will help me decide which route to take)

Thanks again everyone

Regards,
DN

yeah juust dont get to greedy. I just had an offer of 1.5k for a handreg. I went a little higher and never heard from them again

 

[DN_Hunter]

Thanks again to everyone for your generous feedback

FYI, I eventually decided to send this to auction... (Auction listing in my sig).

 

[shane mac]

i wouldnt have expected to get 2k for it.seems like a wasted auction to me.

 

[DN_Hunter]

i wouldnt have expected to get 2k for it.seems like a wasted auction to me.

Constructive criticism is always welcome -- so I thank you for your candor

To be honest, I wasn't sure what the domain was worth. But I thought it might be worth more to the right end-user.

Considering a Gaming Company registered the name in 5 other extensions (and one of the registrations DURING our negotiations), I thought it was possible the Gaming Company was the person bidding on my domain (and SEDO's info on the potential buyer says the Buyer happens to be in the same location as the Gaming Company -- could just be a coincidence).

As far as "wasted" auction, it depends on your definition of "wasted"

If wasted means it won't result in any higher bids, then perhaps you are correct, and I knew that when sending it to auction.

However, I ask you to consider the following:
1) I updated the auction for WinnersCircleCasino with a description and links to several of my other Casino/Gaming domain names
2) after only one day I received almost 600 extra views of the SEDO OFFER page for my other gaming domains
3) After the first day, I see a clear pattern that three of my other Casino domain names are getting ALOT of views -- I now value those a little bit more
4) 600 extra views in one day, probably more by the end of the auction, and if any luck it might lead to a sale of one of my other Casino/Gaming domain names

So in that sense, it wasn't quite a wasted auction (imho)

Thanks again for your input.

Regards,
DN