Sales question

[NameFit]

I park all of my domains. Typically end-users reach through the parking page. I get all kinds of offers, low-ball, start negotiation ($500) offers, and sometimes very high offers. I do look at the history of the request in the parking platform and the person started with $50, then $100, then $1000, then $4000 - you know that person is quite angry - and is not serious.

But sometimes you get a an offer which is significantly more than what you would take, like $4000 for a name you would comfortably take $2000. We are talking exactly about these numbers not like $50/$100 offers. So I want to know opinion of experienced sellers how do you handle this scenario

1) Do you quote more, like $6000 or higher then see if whatever you can settle down with
2) Do you respond that you are expecting like $3000
3) Do you just respond, confirm your interest in the name for $4000
4) Do you just accept the offer and send the details
5)....
6).....
7)....

Appreciate the responses.

 

[iowadawg]

Number 4 for sure.

 

[DavidH]

I am always reluctant to take a first offer, even when it is significantly above what I was expecting, as psychologically I feel it leaves both parties in a lose-lose situation - the buyer wonders if he could have got it with a lower offer and the seller wonders if he could have got a bit more for it just by asking.

I tend to ask for a bit more - if the buyer is serious, we tend to negotiate a bit higher than the original offer but lower than my stated price, so he thinks he has got a bargain by getting the name not as high as what I was asking for. I get a bargain by getting a bit more for the name than the original offer. The key IMHO is simply not to be too greedy!

End result - win-win

 

[hookbox]

Unfortunately you can't take someones first offer because sometimes they get scared as to why you accepted their first offer and then back out and offer you less. Since they are offering $2,000 more than what you were willing to take then it makes it a little complicated because you don't want to leave money on the table if you can get a little more. I don't know the name but $4,000 for a name that you would take $2,000 for is a really good starting offer but since it's such a high starting offer then for sure they will give a little more. Personally I would roll the dice and tell them that you were looking to get closer to $6,500 for the name and see what happens. They will at least counter offer with $500-$1,000 more and then close the deal. My gut says they will give you at least $5,000 and possibly more. Don't give them a concrete price but word it as "I was looking for around $x,xxx". Concrete counter offers sometimes spook buyers.

 

[Kate]

It depends on the domain. We all have domains that we are reluctant to sell off, but you need to move inventory and make cash to sustain operations.

Sometimes you should accept the first offer especially if it's fairly generous and above your expectations.
Some bidders make a high initial offer as a goodwill gesture, but they expect that you will accept it because they are unwilling to go much higher. It's take it or leave it, even though they don't say it.

Remember: the first offer you receive may be the last too.
Making no sales is worse than leaving money on the table.

 

[Name Trader]

Interesting diametrically opposed opinions here. So in answer to your question.... it depends I've done both Especially if it's from an auction site where you can't find anything about the buyer, I'd be more inclined to take the offer. But those offers are usually few and far between

 

[Ms Domainer]

It depends on the domain. We all have domains that we are reluctant to sell off, but you need to move inventory and make cash to sustain operations.

Sometimes you should accept the first offer especially if it's fairly generous and above your expectations.
Some bidders make a high initial offer as a goodwill gesture, but they expect that you will accept it because they are unwilling to go much higher. It's take it or leave it, even though they don't say it.

Remember: the first offer you receive may be the last too.
Making no sales is worse than leaving money on the table.

But after doing research on the email address.

 

[discobull]

Under those circumstances my preference is to neither say yes or no, but to instead start closing the deal while simultaneously feeling them out to see if there's a possibility they might go higher. What has worked for me is something along the lines of :

"Thank you for your offer. That's quite a bit less than what I think I can get for this domain, but I'll think about it. What's your time frame for making a purchase? Is this for right away or for sometime in the future?"

If the buyer can go higher, he'll often come back with a better offer to improve his chances of getting the domain even though I haven't actually turned him down. If he can't go higher and he's serious, he'll get the impression that you'll be willing to give him a better deal than he could otherwise get provided that he's willing to do the deal immediately. In that case, he'll come back with a response like "right away". Once you get your answer, the next question to ask is:

"And would you be covering the escrow fee ( about $xxx )?"

That almost always gets a yes. So now you've got a buyer committed to a time frame, and a price before you've answered him about whether you're willing to take his offer. The next thing I usually say is:

"Ok, I'll talk it over with my partner [ I don't have a partner ] and get back to you by tomorrow. In the meantime, if you think you might be able to improve your offer let me know because that would definitely increase the chances of this deal moving forward."

Whatever happens next, you take the deal and the buyer will be grateful to you for having made a concession even though you haven't made any. This tactic has had a very high success rate for me.

 

[The New Guy]

I agree with discobull - the non-rejection rejection can be a very effective way to nudge things higher and also demonstrate that their initial offer wasn't too high - which is probably one of a buyer's biggest fears in making an opening offer.

 

[NameFit]

Agree with discobull approach - rather than 2/3 step emails which I fear that buyer will sense it as a templated reply. Also I do not try to introduce the word 'time' as urgency makes people doubt things. I do not like to make him feel that he has to rush it or he is under clock - not to mention that it is a condition that you are introducing which is a good approach.

I keep it simple - I say, I had hoped to get more, but I am ok with this price if you cover the escrow fees. This way, you are introducing two things 'condition' and 'uncertainty' as I wont tell him the escrow fees leave something to be asked for. That way, the buyer will either immediately go shopping for the third party escrow sites or ask you about escrow.com fees and may be about the escrow/escrow.com process. Then you can absorb him in the domain transfer process, meaning that you tell him this is the way 'you do transfer' (you are introducing another condition there. Idea is to take away his attention from the price of the domain and get him diverted on other 'minor' things. This way he is more inclined to clear out the hurdles and move towards closing the deal.

Outright acceptance has never worked for me (buyer never came back).

 

[discobull]

Agree with discobull approach - rather than 2/3 step emails which I fear that buyer will sense it as a templated reply. Also I do not try to introduce the word 'time' as urgency makes people doubt things. I do not like to make him feel that he has to rush it or he is under clock - not to mention that it is a condition that you are introducing which is a good approach.

I keep it simple - I say, I had hoped to get more, but I am ok with this price if you cover the escrow fees. This way, you are introducing two things 'condition' and 'uncertainty' as I wont tell him the escrow fees leave something to be asked for. That way, the buyer will either immediately go shopping for the third party escrow sites or ask you about escrow.com fees and may be about the escrow/escrow.com process. Then you can absorb him in the domain transfer process, meaning that you tell him this is the way 'you do transfer' (you are introducing another condition there. Idea is to take away his attention from the price of the domain and get him diverted on other 'minor' things. This way he is more inclined to clear out the hurdles and move towards closing the deal.

Outright acceptance has never worked for me (buyer never came back).

At the risk of sounding argumentative, I disagree that you're agreeing with my approach. What you're describing is a standard counteroffer which, in my experience, will not yield much better results than "outright acceptance".

 

[domainbartender]

Why risk losing the sale? I'd take the offer.

 

[Brandplix]

I'll probably take the offer, but that's just because I'm new at this and afraid I'll lose the sale

 

[Magicpig2]

My most recent sale begun as a $5k offer on a domain I would have taken less for. But still, I countered over $10k and the buyer countered, adding an extra $500 to his original offer, stating it was a fair price, which it was. I held out for three weeks, and after no further response, I got back to the buyer accepting the offer.

 

[biggie]

when you've been selling names for long, many times you'll look back and say "i should have took the offer"

then many times you'll say, i'm glad i asked for more.

i think one is more likely to accept first high offer when they haven't sold a name in a while, and those with frequent sales may counter more often because they don't need to sell at the moment.

coincidentally, i countered on one offer, which was pretty high. the buyer hasn't replied back.

then, more recently, got high offer on another name, which i accepted, but the buyer hasn't paid yet.

so, sometimes you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.... but you still have the name for another day!

 

[Wilderness]

Great thread and points about the psychology of buyers remorse.
I think it's important to address and mitigate any chances of buyers remorse and a swift acceptance will almost certainly leave the buyer concerned IMO.

Awesome tactics discobull will definitely try implement your strategy next sale.