advice Reaching out to Potential Buyers

[Arimor]

I have recently acquired two generic domain names which I am in the process of emailing 40 or so businesses (separately) to advise them that said domains are available for auction at Sedo.com.

After having done some research however, am I right in understanding that this might actually be a bad idea?

I only ask because theoretically, it would only take one business to make a claim on my domain (my domains are very generic and not directed toward any particular trademark), and because I essentially approached these businesses, the UDRP could potentially rule that these domains were registered in bad faith.

Could someone please advise if this makes any sense and how likely would this be to happen?

Is what I am about to do, regular practice when attempting to sell domains?

Many thanks.

 

[Alox Capital]

I'd say as long as the domains are not directly related to any trademarks you should be fine. Specifically the UDRP states:

(ix) Describe, in accordance with the Policy, the grounds on which the complaint is made including, in particular,

(1) the manner in which the domain name(s) is/are identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights; and

(2) why the Respondent (domain-name holder) should be considered as having no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name(s) that is/are the subject of the complaint; and

(3) why the domain name(s) should be considered as having been registered and being used in bad faith

Because of that "AND" language, any potential complaint would need to satisfy all three elements. If your domain are generic enough, it would be tough to satisfy that first element to move forward with a complaint.

Hope that helps!

 

[biggie]

After having done some research however, am I right in understanding that this might actually be a bad idea?

Is what I am about to do, regular practice when attempting to sell domains?

Hi
reaching out, outbounding, whatever, etc, is still spam to me
and because others do it, doesn't legitimize the practice.

however,
since both of those quotes are questions, it appears to me that you are still unsure.
if that is true, then perhaps more research needs to be performed.

here's a question for you:
say you send those 40 emails and 5 of those businesses file suit or even try reverse hijacking your domain, then how will you respond?


will you hire a lawyer to defend your case?
will you offer to surrender the domain?
will you respond to the complaint yourself?
will you ask a np member who said it was ok, to defend or help you?

just asking.....


imo…..

 

[Arimor]

Thank you both very much for your input and advice, it's very much appreciated.

There's certainly no issue in terms of potentially confusing my 2 domains to that of the business names I intend to contact, so clause 1) would certainly not apply imo, and 3) imo wouldn't apply either as I'm not targeting a specific business/company/trademark, as these are very generic domains, although I guess I'd have to prove that.

All the best.

 

[sircc]

The fact you registered the domains with the intention to sell it to any of those 40 businesses, is in itself a show of bad faith.
However, if the domains are truly generic, do not contain any wording similar to those businesses and their mark, then you should be fine. At worse, you'll get your email blacklisted for spamming.

 

[Arimor]

Thanks sircc for your response and advice. When I originally registered those two domains, like all the rest of my other domains, it was with the intention that some business might be interested in acquiring it at any given point in time.

However, I thought, well, why not reach out to several businesses specific to that industry in the event one of them might be interested?

It seems as if I'm getting a 50/50 split as to whether it's the norm to reach out to businesses in this manner. Although I do wonder what professional domain brokers do? Do they not also reach out to potential interested buyers?

Someone else responded to my question on another forum saying that they have given up reaching out due to some of the negative responses they get, so all they do now is just keep them listed on GoDaddy or another domain auction site and/or on their own website, and just wait until someone comes along and shows some interest.

Thank you once again for your input, it's appreciated.

 

[sircc]

Well, for me at least, domaining is a waiting game.

One thing you can do to maximize your chances of completing a sale, is to offer them to as many marketplaces as convenient or possible. List them at least at Afternic, Sedo and Dan or Epik.

Point the nameservers to Dan for their landing pages and low sale commissions. Afternic and Sedo will get a lot of inventory searches even though your domains are pointed elsewhere.

 

[Arimor]

This is some very useful advice, thank you. I currently have all my domains listed on Sedo, so essentially what you're saying is that you can list them on multiple domain auction sites, point the nameserver to Dan, and should an offer be made, you just un-list it on the remainder domain auction sites?

 

[sircc]

Yes, that's what I would do, although I do not consider them as auction sites. The only one that does auction is Sedo. When you do sell a domain, de-list and mark them as not for sale at the other venues.

Dan makes sense as they offer 9% commissions on sales. You'll find that domains will still sell through Sedo or Afternic.

You can adjust the pricing at Sedo and Afternic to reflect their sales commissions but I don't bother, as I usually carry over pricing from one place to the other.

 

[Arimor]

Thank you sircc, will definitely take your advice, much appreciated.

 

[sircc]

Happy to be of assistance. Best of luck in your endeavors.