Take the cash or counter offer a few times?

[polyromcom]

I've been slowly trying to hone my negotiation skills but have been a little uncertain about this latest transaction:

Got a decent offer (not great) on a domain. I countered with a much higher number just to set the negotiation parameters higher. The buyer doubled his offer (good offer) and I came down about 15%. We're still pretty far apart (Im countering about 2.5 times what he's offering). My reasoning was that if he could double his offer so quickly he might be able to do more.

Haven't heard from him in a couple days....

In general do you all feel like it's risky to keep countering. My logic is that if he wants the domain, the worst thing that can happen is that he'll counter and say he can't go any higher at which point I can accept his offer. The down side (I suppose) is that he's excited to buy and if I quell that excitement, he may change his mind. Until this point, though, I've always felt like I should be gauging a buyer's ability to pay more...

In any case, wondering if I've frustrated the buyer to the point that they've changed their mind completely.

When do you stop trying to get maximum value and start accepting reasonable offers? Im not sure which is the best strategy...

Thanks!

 

[bmugford]

Without knowing the domain and offer it is hard to give specific advice.

In general though how likely are you to receive a higher offer in the near future?

Is the domain worth holding long term?

Unless the domain is truly unique, a good sale is better than no sale.
I would rather leave some money on the table than all the money on the table.

Taking good profits and reinvesting in better quality domains is a good business model.

Brad

 

[polyromcom]

Thanks Brad, I agree with you completely. Im always happy to take the cash and reinvest. But I think the problem Im facing is exists within that process: what risks do you see with providing a counter offer? Is the risk of turning off the buyer significant or can we assume that they will more often be willing to counter offer, even saying 'this is the highest I can go'...

My feeling has been that if the buyer is legitimately interested, they won't run away from a high offer, they'll just counter with something lower...

What do you think about that premise?
Thanks for your time.
P

 

[bmugford]

Every domain is one of a kind, and without knowing the specifics I can only offer general advice.

If you want to PM me the details I will try to help.

Brad

 

[Kate]

How many days ? Perhaps the potential buyer would like to think it over, or discuss with partners. Then he will get back to you... or not.
Maybe he exhausted his available budget and feels there is not enough room for negotiation.
Give it a few more days then you can always get back to him.

Plus what Brad says ^^

 

[johname]

Often as a beginner your need for the money/sale trumps what you think the domain is worth.

One strategy when you need the cash but think the offer is low, is to do one relatively small size bump.

When you go for the real big bump your then playing the "take it or leave it" game. You cant get upset when doing this, it based on the strength of your name and being happy to hold on to it until the right bus comes along.

But if that one bus was the only one for you then no bump or small bump.

Your essentially guessing your one emailers limit, (which is very hard to do) absent from a true knowledge of the domain worth.

Your buyer could very well be emailing other domain owners and no matter what you say to them, found a better deal and stopped negotiations with you. You just dont know!

 

[Keith]

I make offers quite a bit through email contact. I always have an idea of what I'm willing to spend on that particular domain. In most cases the seller counter offers with a ridiculous price. At that point I end contact and move on to the next.

Classic example that just recently happened. I made a nice offer on a domain that is 6 months old. The seller countered with 10k and said he might come down a little. I didn't reply and can almost gaurentee that down the road they'll wish they took the offer.

I respect someone trying to get a nice pay day but as a seller you need to be realistic!

 

[verbster]

I make offers quite a bit through email contact. I always have an idea of what I'm willing to spend on that particular domain. In most cases the seller counter offers with a ridiculous price. At that point I end contact and move on to the next.

Classic example that just recently happened. I made a nice offer on a domain that is 6 months old. The seller countered with 10k and said he might come down a little. I didn't reply and can almost gaurentee that down the road they'll wish they took the offer.

I respect someone trying to get a nice pay day but as a seller you need to be realistic!

I'm curious if you think domainers that are buying have a different mind set than end users, though, especially if the end user is a business or starting a business? Perhaps those end users also have a max budget in mind, but start as low as possible, and up the offer as slowly as possible as part of a normal business negotiation. While a domainer's end goal is to spend as little as possible, most likely with reselling in mind, an end user's goal may be to spend as little as possible with development for their product or service. Domainers may be able to judge the market for profitability via resale, but end users have to judge what they pay on how that domain will affect profit to their business. Is there a difference? I think so, but if so, maybe the trick is identifying what kind of buyer it is? That may be where experience comes in...kind of like fishing.

 

[johname]

Perhaps those end users also have a max budget in mind, but start as low as possible

Yes endusers can lowball on par with the best of cheap domainers, thats why you got to have a realistic number, based on an educated look at the domain itself, before you even get the email.

 

[verbster]

Yes endusers can lowball on par with the best of cheap domainers, thats why you got to have a realistic number, based on an educated look at the domain itself, before you even get the email.

Perhaps so, but I meant in terms of negotiating there appears to be a distinct difference between negotiations with a domainer who wants to resell, as opposed to a business that wants to use, even just in the way they negotiate. I kind of think that's where all of the end-user vs reseller pricing distinction came from . . . and if you have an idea which you are dealing with whether by approach or tenor, you can adjust the "number" accordingly. Sometimes picking a number isn't enough; it's how you get to (or stay above) that number.

 

[Keith]

I'm curious if you think domainers that are buying have a different mind set than end users, though, especially if the end user is a business or starting a business? Perhaps those end users also have a max budget in mind, but start as low as possible, and up the offer as slowly as possible as part of a normal business negotiation. While a domainer's end goal is to spend as little as possible, most likely with reselling in mind, an end user's goal may be to spend as little as possible with development for their product or service. Domainers may be able to judge the market for profitability via resale, but end users have to judge what they pay on how that domain will affect profit to their business. Is there a difference? I think so, but if so, maybe the trick is identifying what kind of buyer it is? That may be where experience comes in...kind of like fishing.

Yes I do think the mind set of a domainer is different from that of an enduser.

You need a margin for resale as a domainer. Endusers have more flexibility. I'm not sure how a seller can identify where the offer is coming from, especially when it's made from a place like sedo. Email offers may leave a few clues which help the seller.

 

[johname]

if you have an idea which you are dealing with whether by approach or tenor, you can adjust the "number" accordingly.

The problem is the smart ones approach you in full stealth mode. You know zero about the other person, so you have to once again know your domain.

If they give you details about who they are, that obviously helps alot. Doesn't sound like this is the case here.

 

[Fonzie]

You can go broke swinging for the fences, every time. There is a point where buyers move on. Once they start looking at other options, your domain becomes worth a lot less to them, even less than they had offered not 24 hours prior.

On mediocre domains, $1K-$5K is usually a helluva payday.

As someone who's been around the block in terms of selling too cheap relative to the ultimate end user and getting too greedy thus busting a hugely lucrative sale, I always tend to err on the side of cash in the bank.

Is your price based on greed (the "IF THEY CAN PAY (THIS) THEN THEY CAN PAY (THAT)!" mentality), or something fundamental? Is this credibly a great name that gets regular offers?

Are you getting a huge ROI here? If so, you might want to take the cash. If you haven't heard back from them in days, be prepared to learn a hard lesson...

 

[carob]

Is this via Sedo?

Beware, you may suddenly get a message saying buyer has cancelled negotiations. I would not drag it out.

Some options on Sedo include raising the minimum bid or just setting the domain to a fixed price you would happily accept.

If this is via another venue, you have more options to sound someone out imo.

It hurts dropping domains that have never got offers after the first one years ago.

 

[GiftedDomains]

My logic is that if he wants the domain, the worst thing that can happen is that he'll counter and say he can't go any higher at which point I can accept his offer

Sorry don't have much time to read all the answers, so if this has already been mentioned i apologize.

From my experience, there is no stable Domain Name selling formula on which you could always count on.

Some buyers might get frustrated and never ever reply back to you.

Others are patient and will submit you their last offer and tell you that they can't pay more.

If the domain name is a good generic domain name or something like a LLL.com, then you don't need to sell it for a low price. There are always other potential buyers for such names. So your position is strong and you can be patient.

But if its a brandable name or something like that, this might be the only offer you will ever receive from someone, so don't exaggerate with the offer/counter offer game.


Also try to find out as much information as possible about the buyer during the negotiation process. Sometimes you can find useful information which can affect the
price.

 

[polyromcom]

Thanks for all the advice. Not yet ready to say which domain it was, but it turned out well. It was a generic keyword.

Here's how it went down:

Buyers offer: $1,000
My counter (20 minutes later): $6000
Buyers counter offer (30 minutes later): $2000
My counter offer (a few hours later): $5250
--- no word from buyer for a day and a half ----
My counter offer + message: $5000

Thanks for your interest. Hoping we can get a little closer and find some common ground. Send along your best offer and we'll try and get this to you.

Buyer counter offer (a couple hours later): $3000

And I accepted. I think it went pretty well, although it was a little nerve racking during that pause in negotiations.

Thanks again, appreciate the various insights and approaches.
P

 

[Fonzie]

You're lucky they came back, but you played your cards right. $3K just put a 375 domain portfolio in black for another year.

If this is some domain you've registered in the past few years, chances are, a $3000 payday is more than gracious. Chances are, a $2000 payday would've been more than gracious.

I've found that a good benchmark when dealing with those middling, mediocre names is: how much money could I blow off and not lose any sleep over?

I they had bailed at $2K, would you have regreted not taking the $2K?
If you knew for certain the most they were willing to pay was $750, would you have taken $750 for that domain?

If so, then you're flirting with fire by tickling the negotiations higher when you'd lose sleep over figures much lower. It all boils down to how much fire you want to flirt with. On truly great names- names that generate type-ins- it's usually not wise to sell very low but on speculative names, especially some random string you registered recently, take the grand, two grand, three grand and be very happy.

 

[polyromcom]

I've found that a good benchmark when dealing with those middling, mediocre names is: how much money could I blow off and not lose any sleep over?

I they had bailed at $2K, would you have regreted not taking the $2K?
If you knew for certain the most they were willing to pay was $750, would you have taken $750 for that domain?

Yes, this is a good bit of reasoning and it definitely entered my thinking. At $1,000 I knew that Id be happy with that but also felt like I could get future offers (this year even) at that level. $2,000 was great and I could have lost some sleep over losing that. On the other hand, the counter offerer's jump from $1k to $2k so quickly made me understand that they had a decent budget, wanted the name and weren't afraid of the negotiation process. So I thought I would put in a bit more effort.

I do feel lucky that they came back.

 

[gemstar]

You're lucky they came back, but you played your cards right. $3K just put a 375 domain portfolio in black for another year.

If this is some domain you've registered in the past few years, chances are, a $3000 payday is more than gracious. Chances are, a $2000 payday would've been more than gracious.

I've found that a good benchmark when dealing with those middling, mediocre names is: how much money could I blow off and not lose any sleep over?

I they had bailed at $2K, would you have regreted not taking the $2K?
If you knew for certain the most they were willing to pay was $750, would you have taken $750 for that domain?

If so, then you're flirting with fire by tickling the negotiations higher when you'd lose sleep over figures much lower. It all boils down to how much fire you want to flirt with. On truly great names- names that generate type-ins- it's usually not wise to sell very low but on speculative names, especially some random string you registered recently, take the grand, two grand, three grand and be very happy.

Good post yo!​

Congrats on the sale

 

[wwwweb]

Yes, this is a good bit of reasoning and it definitely entered my thinking. At $1,000 I knew that Id be happy with that but also felt like I could get future offers (this year even) at that level. $2,000 was great and I could have lost some sleep over losing that. On the other hand, the counter offerer's jump from $1k to $2k so quickly made me understand that they had a decent budget, wanted the name and weren't afraid of the negotiation process. So I thought I would put in a bit more effort.

I do feel lucky that they came back.

What do you have into the domain, and are you on the hook to sedo for 20%?

Those are factors to consider when making counters, looks like you had an end user, as they were aggressive in coming up on their pricing, in most cases a domainer wouldn't be jumping up in 1k intervals.