The Art of Inquiry/Response

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I wanted to share an "inquiry" that I recieved and my response with everyone as an example, and to see if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts about my actions...

Here is the Inquiry recieved:

Hellp,

I understand that you are the owner of the domain name: www.example.com. I am writing to inquire if you might be interested in selling it and if so, for what price.

Best Regards,
(First Name)

Ok. Now, before I respond back, there is a little homework that needs to be done. Here is my checklist:

1. Check TLD's to see if anyone registered .net,.org, ect
2. Review history of domain name. (archive, ect, pr, links, traffic)
3. Search email address of the individual inquiring
4. Search the name of the individual inquiring
5. Review how offer was submitted (Broker, Auction, Forum, Parking, Whois)
6. Check the email for any additional "clues"

Alright... so, lets go down the list.

1. I own the .com of this domain name, the .net and .org are previously registered. This domain was picked up as a fresh registration when it dropped. The .net version of this name dates back to 2002 and is developed with Asian language on it. The .org is also a simple one page site with information about some music.

2. The site has an Archive history that dates back to 2001, and at the time was some kind of Dance instruction site. The site doesnt have any real major traffic.

3. A search of the email addy returned no results

4. A search of the individuals name (a unique name) revealed some search results, found this person held a high position in a small organization.

5. The offer was submitted through email. Which means the person looked up the whois, and chose to submit it that way.

6. Although this could be simply a typo, the word "hello" was spelled "hellp", more than likely a typo, but this could potentially indicate the individual is outside an english speaking languge.

Conclusion:

This is more the likely a saavy end-user. The email was well written as to force me to repsond with a price, as oppose to making an offer. The inquirer has not picked up any of the other TLD's, but this is likely because the others are already taken. This may but the original owner, but this seems unlikely. Although we recieved some results as to the name of the individual, there is no way to confirm this is that person, this information is almost useless at this time. More than likely the Hello was a typo and this is an english speaker.

The email was well written. It expressed interest, but did not want to give up the advantage of presenting an initial offer. If I was inquiring to a domain name, I would use a very similar email.

Here is my response:

First Name,

Thank you for your inquiry. The domain name example.com was in fact
acquired initially for development after it expired this year. That
project has since been put on hold indefinitely. At this time we are
more than willing to consider any serious offer that is presented.

Sincerely,
Justin Allen

My response does several things. First, it is a timely response, showing some interest. It explains that although I am willing to sell, I do have other interests for the domain name. It also asks that the peson inquiring, makes a "serious" offer. It is my belief that the first person to settle on an asking/offering price is already at a disadvantage. I will update the thread with more details as the unfold.
 
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AfternicAfternic
gazzip said:
Excellent, very smooth operator and a very interesting thread !! I'd luv to know what the name was :blink:

(ps - If you can sell a few of mine for $4,000 each I'll give you 25% ;) )


.

LoL! Thanks Gazzip. (PM Sent)

I'd be more than happy to broker a few sales for you... but my fee is 28%.. LoL

Thanks as well Sam!
 
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lol whenever u are free from brokering other domains u can try out some of my names. (i dont have XXXX expectations though)

i will be satisfied with mid-XXX amounts

**handsome commissions ;)
 
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Congratulations Justin!
 
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domainspade said:
I'd be more than happy to broker a few sales for you... but my fee is 28%.. LoL

26% and its a deal :lol:

seriously though, I suspected you had a background in sales due to the way you posted with confidence and an understanding of human behaviour in that field.

You have inspired me to go and read up a bit more about sales tactics - for that I thank you :tu:

The best I have done so far is turn an $80 offer into a mid x,xxx sale but I did'nt find it a pleasant experience at all :'( there was definetly no "Art" to that sale !

I've also just had another initial high $xxx offer which looks like I may have just blown due to my inexperience in negotiations, clearly I have alot of work to do, this thread has been great !

Please do it again sometime, I'm sure many here will appreciate it :great:

.
 
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Gazzip,

In my mind, Negotiations are much like chess... You need to predict what your oponent might do in every move, and what each counter may bring. You want to anticipate there move, and at the same time plan your own. One of the biggest tricks is to be confident and dont rush it. If you dont analyze the situation, and the data you have, you may very well miss an oppertunity.

Now, is it always this smoothe or predictable? Absolutely not. In all honesty, I was lucky that this played out how I imagined. (It doesnt always!). You need to be able to read the buyer as much as possible, the more you know about him, the more options you have.

Justin

PS - 27% (final offer)
 
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domainspade said:
In my mind, Negotiations are much like chess... You need to predict what your oponent might do in every move, and what each counter may bring. You want to anticipate there move, and at the same time plan your own. One of the biggest tricks is to be confident and dont rush it.

Aaaah, Chess – now there’s a game I can play, years ago I used to play with my workmates for $10 a game and always made a nice little profit !

Now, is it always this smoothe or predictable? Absolutely not. In all honesty, I was lucky that this played out how I imagined. (It doesnt always!).

I would say that was a reasonable and relatively safe price for the name but at the same time, not too far from the initial offer and still well in range for the majority of business buyers, as you know, Buydomains markets mainly to the small to medium businesses ($1,000 to $4,000 range) which makes a lot of sense as there are so many new start up companies with a limited budget.

You need to be able to read the buyer as much as possible, the more you know about him, the more options you have.

This is so hard to do when trying to conduct a sale through sedo, I do spend a lot of time researching the domain beforehand to give me a better idea of who may be interested in it, but of course with sedo offers you can just never tell who's on the other side, I do think the majority of time that tends to be a fellow domainer looking for a good deal.

I am seriously considering just parking a few of my better names on its own plain page with an email link so potential buyers have the choice to contact me directly, I think this may help as it would be an open conversation and I may be lucky enough to find out more about them.

Anyone have good results from doing that ?

I find the whole sedo process usually ends up more like – take it or leave it !
Its just seems too sterile and detached which I don’t really enjoy much, anyone else feel the same way or is it just me ?


PS - 27% (final offer)

Sorry, no deal....I was going to throw in a free 2 week holiday to Bora Bora :wave: for you and your pretty lady but unfortunately.....I can't do 27% ! :p


.
 
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gazzip said:
This is so hard to do when trying to conduct a sale through sedo

Sorry, no deal....I was going to throw in a free 2 week holiday to Bora Bora :wave: for you and your pretty lady but unfortunately.....I can't do 27% ! :p

LoL Gazzip... well, we'll just have to temporarily delay negotiations...

I agree - when dealing with Sedo or Afternic, you dont have direct communication with the buyer - huge disadvantage for the seller. When I parked with NameDrive - I would recieve an offer just about ever week, and about 1/3 of them turned into a real sale.

But, I will be moving my domains from parking (which is making just a few bucks per day) to a "Delicious Domains" Sales page... Just as soon as I can find a developer who will do what I want. I believe this will increase the number of sales inquiries I recieve, and should increase sales overall... 2-3 more sales per month, and I should be able to live off domaining full time.

Justin
 
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An inspiring thread, makes for a great read. Thanks!
I expected you would settle on $900, since $1000 is 250% of what he was offering at the beginning.
A question for all - what is your experience, is the end price always several times higher than the first offer? Do the buyers play the same game - underestimate the price, so that both parties meet at the expected price? Was perhaps THIS buyer targeting the $1000 from the beginning?
 
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Lenz said:
An inspiring thread, makes for a great read. Thanks!
I expected you would settle on $900, since $1000 is 250% of what he was offering at the beginning.
A question for all - what is your experience, is the end price always several times higher than the first offer? Do the buyers play the same game - underestimate the price, so that both parties meet at the expected price? Was perhaps THIS buyer targeting the $1000 from the beginning?

Good question Lenz...

Heres how I view it... when I make an offer on a domain name, I make an assumption they are going to counter. So, if Im willing to pay say, $500 - I will offer initially around $150-200.

If the seller doesnt have a market price determined, they are going to use the initial bid to figure one out. Many sellers will simply just double or triple the buyers offer....

Assume this... You buy a random cruddy domain on day 1 and on day 2 someone says I want that domain and I'll give you 100 for it.... well - considering this, do you accept the more than fair $100 offer? Absolutely not... Your going to ask for more.. the question is how much more...

I think most buyers assume there will be a counter, and hope its within reason....
 
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Very interesting thread, enjoyed reading it!
 
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So you're basically saying, DomainSpade, that both parties, the buyer as well as the seller are (usually? always?) playing the same sales game. The buyer underestimates the price, the seller overestimates and both meet in the middle. Which means: Never say the price you really want.
Good to know. :)
I guess I made a mistake when buying a LLLL.com lately. I offered the price I really wanted to pay. Of course we settled on a higher one. Fortunately it was in the high $xx, making it only a dollar game.
 
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Exactly true... Never offer your "cap" price... always give yourself room to negotiate, because the buyer will almost never accept your first offer.

Justin
 
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Does anyone here remember 'The Life of Brian', the monty python movie, where the merchant forces the customer to haggle instead of just accepting the original price, lol?

I hate haggling, and am much more prone to list the domain at the price I want or to offer exactly what I think the domain is worth and not one penny more.

Needless to say, your approach is a vast improvement as far as closing the deal, which is the end goal. I just hate the used car salesman feel of inflating prices just so I can make someone think they are getting a deal when they really are paying what I want to begin with.
 
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RogueWriter said:
I just hate the used car salesman feel of inflating prices just so I can make someone think they are getting a deal when they really are paying what I want to begin with.

LoL - Im the exact opposite. I feel like people in general dont ever want to pay top dollar. So, If you ask for a certain price, no one wants to give you that exact price....

(Im the same way when buying cars, If you dont discount it, I dont want it! lol)
 
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Since it appears all's well that ends well, time for me to add yet another rep
to you for an educational thread, Justin. Well done.
 
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Thanks Dave... It has ended well, Buyer accepted the merchandise and am awaiting escrow payment....
 
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RogueWriter said:
I hate haggling, and am much more prone to list the domain at the price I want or to offer exactly what I think the domain is worth and not one penny more.
.

I suppose this approach may work, I just think you'd have to explain it to the other party along with your offer/asking price.

Say someone has a domain listed for $2,000. Normally you might open with an initial offer of $500.. They'll counter back and forth and eventually you'll find yourselves agreeing somewhere around $1200-1300. Maybe just offer $1000 from the on set and explain to them that this is your first and final offer and that if they do agree to sell for that price, you can start transferring the money immediately. Negotiations take awhile and theres always a level of uncertainty for the seller. It's quite possible the buyer could get frustrated with the process, they may decide that the domain isn't really worth that much money, they may find another domain in the mean time, etc, etc... If you make a decent offer that will guarantee an immediate sale, you may be surprised how many people will settle for a bit less.

Also on the flip side, if you receive an offer of $500 on a domain that you are asking $2000 for, but would like to get at least $1500 for it, you could just explain that while you are asking $2000 for the domain, you would be willing to sell it at a minimum of $1500.

But in the end, either way you look at it, it all comes down to placing stop limits, so it's essentially the same game, just in different forms :)
 
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Excellent thread, thanks for sharing the "Art". Rep added :great:
 
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bookmark this excellent information thanks DS
 
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No problem... Guys, glad I could offer up some advise.
 
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