advice Want to purchase a private / unused domain - broker recommendation?

[itdirector]

Hello,

I work for a ~1000 employee org. We don't own the best .com for our company name (common words) but would like to get it. The domain is currently registered private/Domains by Proxy but has no active website (points to amazon but is blank page) or mx records. Godaddy is the registrar. Using the wayback machine, in 2018 it belonged to a company with a similar name (different industry) but since then it has only been a coming soon page or more recently completely blank page. The same company still has a website using an .international tld but it looks very scaled down and I'm unsure if they are even in business. I did email them asking whether they owned the .com but haven't gotten a response and am not optimistic. Googling there are 1-2 other companies that could potentially have wanted the domain and bought it so I'll ask but don't think so.

It strikes me as odd why someone would want to buy the domain and not use it or sell it but I'm no expert. I read somewhere that godaddy might actually be the owner and just want you to buy their broker service and automatically recommend the highest price. Also read some negative stuff on their broker service that says they really don't care about working to negotiate the domain and just get by on your non-refundable fee.

How would you recommend that I proceed? Are there better broker services that are working hard to get the commission on a sale? I understand that the domains could simply be not for sale or not at the price we would pay but we would want to work with someone who is making an effort.

Thanks for your advice

 

[URL Expo]

Hello,

I work for a ~1000 employee org. We don't own the best .com for our company name (common words) but would like to get it. The domain is currently registered private/Domains by Proxy but has no active website (points to amazon but is blank page) or mx records. Godaddy is the registrar. Using the wayback machine, in 2018 it belonged to a company with a similar name (different industry) but since then it has only been a coming soon page or more recently completely blank page. The same company still has a website using an .international tld but it looks very scaled down and I'm unsure if they are even in business. I did email them asking whether they owned the .com but haven't gotten a response and am not optimistic. Googling there are 1-2 other companies that could potentially have wanted the domain and bought it so I'll ask but don't think so.

It strikes me as odd why someone would want to buy the domain and not use it or sell it but I'm no expert. I read somewhere that godaddy might actually be the owner and just want you to buy their broker service and automatically recommend the highest price. Also read some negative stuff on their broker service that says they really don't care about working to negotiate the domain and just get by on your non-refundable fee.

How would you recommend that I proceed? Are there better broker services that are working hard to get the commission on a sale? I understand that the domains could simply be not for sale or not at the price we would pay but we would want to work with someone who is making an effort.

Thanks for your advice

If you have a decent budget, contact Media Options dot com (Andrew Rosener), they may be able to help you acquire the wanted domain.

 

[bmugford]

Hello,

I work for a ~1000 employee org. We don't own the best .com for our company name (common words) but would like to get it. The domain is currently registered private/Domains by Proxy but has no active website (points to amazon but is blank page) or mx records. Godaddy is the registrar. Using the wayback machine, in 2018 it belonged to a company with a similar name (different industry) but since then it has only been a coming soon page or more recently completely blank page. The same company still has a website using an .international tld but it looks very scaled down and I'm unsure if they are even in business. I did email them asking whether they owned the .com but haven't gotten a response and am not optimistic. Googling there are 1-2 other companies that could potentially have wanted the domain and bought it so I'll ask but don't think so.

It strikes me as odd why someone would want to buy the domain and not use it or sell it but I'm no expert. I read somewhere that godaddy might actually be the owner and just want you to buy their broker service and automatically recommend the highest price. Also read some negative stuff on their broker service that says they really don't care about working to negotiate the domain and just get by on your non-refundable fee.

How would you recommend that I proceed? Are there better broker services that are working hard to get the commission on a sale? I understand that the domains could simply be not for sale or not at the price we would pay but we would want to work with someone who is making an effort.

Thanks for your advice

I am a domain investor, and still have several domains that don't resolve to a sales lander. Some don't even resolve at all.

Not every domain is owned for resale. Others might be available for resale, but for the right price.

I have said this many times, but GoDaddy brokers are a mixed bag. Some are great, others not so much.

However, in a situation like this it is likely that GoDaddy brokers would be able to communicate with the owner where it might be harder for a third party.

With ownership hidden behind WHOIS, there is often no easy way to find the actual owner.

If it's a decent domain, you should come with a strong offer regardless of what service you use.

Brad

 

[itdirector]

I am a domain investor, and still have several domains that don't resolve to a sales lander. Some don't even resolve at all.

Not every domain is owned for resale. Others might be available for resale, but for the right price.

I have said this many times, but GoDaddy brokers are a mixed bag. Some are great, others not so much.

However, in a situation like this it is likely that GoDaddy brokers would be able to communicate with the owner where it might be harder for a third party.

With ownership hidden behind WHOIS, there is often no easy way to find the actual owner.

If it's a decent domain, you should come with a strong offer regardless of what service you use.

Brad

Thanks. I was looking to see if there was a way I could contact the owner through domainsbyproxy but the email address is just a URL back to the whois page.

 

[itdirector]

If you have a decent budget, contact Media Options dot com (Andrew Rosener), they may be able to help you acquire the wanted domain.

I think the company wants to spend in the $10k neighborhood, but might consider going higher. What do you think?

 

[URL Expo]

I think the company wants to spend in the $10k neighborhood, but might consider going higher. What do you think?

It`s hard to say without knowing the domain

 

[bmugford]

Thanks. I was looking to see if there was a way I could contact the owner through domainsbyproxy but the email address is just a URL back to the whois page.

If you use GoDaddy whois, there is a link at the bottom that shows - "Contact Domain Holder".

However, there are limited options and none of them are in regards to buying the domain.

Brad

 

[silentg]

There are brokers who can get it for you:

Bill:
https://www.nameninja.com/

Jeff: Saw.com

Yogi
https://yogisolanki.com/

Here's more:
https://domaininvesting.com/guide/list-of-domain-brokers/

 

[bmugford]

I think the company wants to spend in the $10k neighborhood, but might consider going higher. What do you think?

It depends on the domain. It could be worth anywhere from $0 to millions.

I have noticed many end users in this situation tend to undervalue quality domains.

I made a $20K offer on a domain that might have sold for $500 at public auction last year. It was personal to my business, but there were at least a handful of other potential buyers. Even then, the offer was rejected.

If you want to DM me the domain you can. But, any decent .COM is going to run into the thousands range.

GoDaddy will at least relay the offer to the owner. If they accept it or not, who knows.

But, if you come with some lowball offer it's unlikely it will pan out and you will hurt your own credibility.

Brad

 

[silentg]

GoDaddy brokers: Good luck finding a good one.

Last that that contacted me about a domain I own, I had to repeatedly follow up with the broker to check on the status of the inquiry.

 

[snake_case]

If you need to contact the owner you can use DomainAgents they provide that service for just 19.95$.