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Who's in charge, anyways?

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In a domain deal, who's in charge?

  • 1st

    The seller- they have the asset

    20 
    votes
    31.7%
  • 2nd

    Every circumstance varies

    17 
    votes
    27.0%
  • 3rd

    The buyer- they have the money

    13 
    votes
    20.6%
  • 4th

    Neither- there must be compromise

    11 
    votes
    17.5%
  • 5th

    Google is in charge- duh!

    votes
    3.2%

  • 63 votes
  • Ended 5 years ago
  • Final results

HotKey

Made in CanadaTop Member
Impact
11,996
Part of every deal is coming to an agreement on a price. But is there a general understanding of who's in charge when it comes to making the deal? Is it the buyer? The seller? Or, does it depend on the circumstance..would like to see comments or votes on who you think holds the upper hand when it comes to selling/acquiring domain names.

Have you ever been in a situation where you came out guns a-blazing, only to realize you weren't impressing no one, and all's you got was a big yawn in response? Have you ever turned the tables on someone, where they've caved and come to see it your way?

Although I think each circumstance can vary, eg. whom contacts whom, what kind of venue is being used and particular demand for the keywords/TLD, ultimately it is the merchant that's in charge. After all, even though money talks, it is their asset you are after as a buyer.

But.. in the world of domains, unless you bent on the holy grail one-worder .com, there are always, always alternatives, be it long-tails by adding a word or two to your keyword, or going with ccTLD or even a new extension. So with this in mind, perhaps it is the person with the billfold that has the upper hand.

Of course, it's rarely so black and white. There are gray areas, where one has to adapt to the circumstance. A deal can quickly run askew if you are focused on power, and not on compromise. A merchant stoically holding his merchandise at a set value without willing to understand his buyer or the true value of real dollars, might never get that chance back again to a decent sell. At the same time, a buyer undermining the asset he is after loses the opportunity to ever own it.

So who's calling the shots, in your opinion?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Seller, unless you have a domain that no one else other than that one particular buyer would ever want.

Or unless you are so desperate you give up control and let the buyer set the price.

If either is the case, you are doing it wrong.


If you have the item someone wants, and it's one of one, you shouldn't feel like you can't control the negotiation.

I think it comes down to understanding why a domain is valuable, and who it is valuable to. You need to know this before you buy it.

If you can't understand and articulate how a domain is worth it, and you don't believe it is worth it youself, you will lose.
 
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It really depends on a number of factors.

I would say in general the seller is more in control, but it depends on the seller.
Regardless, it still takes both parties to make a deal.

Brad
 
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The buyer..
"The golden rule...he who has the gold makes the rules"
The buyer decides what price he will pay for a domian.
 
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The buyer..
"The golden rule...he who has the gold makes the rules"
The buyer decides what price he will pay for a domian.

But who is "the buyer" ? What if there are 10 or 50 buyers ?
 
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But who is "the buyer" ? What if there are 10 or 50 buyers ?
If that is the case, 10 or 50 buyers, the seller is shitting in high cotton and lets the buyers bid it out.

It is s two way street IMO, the seller has to be in control of the beginning of negotiations, the buyer has to be in control of the end of the sale.

The torch gets passed back and forth , so to speak
 
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But who is "the buyer" ? What if there are 10 or 50 buyers ?

the buyer has to be in control of the end of the sale.

The torch gets passed back and forth , so to speak
You (seller) post your domain for sale at $10,000 ...I (buyer) see your domain and like it , then I decide how to proceed (low ball offer etc)
So who's calling the shots, in your opinion?
To me the question is direct.. "who's calling the shots, in your opinion?" can only be one answer, anything before the answer is just part of the equation...
 
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To me the question is direct.. "who's calling the shots, in your opinion?" can only be one answer, anything before the answer is just part of the equation...
Yes. Although the question is close-ended, based on experiences and scenario, the answers can vary.

So different than say, walking into a proprietor's shop where items are priced with tags, and then taxed at the counter. Calling the shots in domaining can really depend on the person initiating the transaction too, like grabbing the reins of of a horse and taking control.
 
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I see more BS in the industry than ever.
You offer 5k and someone says ..... sorry already have a higher offer and you know that is BS.

Why not come back and say...

I'm sorry I was looking for a bit more for that domain. I was thinking more in the 7.5k range, please feel free to call me at 416-123-4567 to discuss the closure of this sale.

The customer is always in charge, no different than a real estate transaction. It is the customers that set the price not the seller. The seller can ask all he wants but its not until a customer agrees to pay that the deal can be consummated.

If no buyer agrees who is in charge?

So yes a domainer may own a hot piece of real estate but in the end the highest bidder gets it and have no doubt that person was in charge. He made the highest bid and wins the domain. Now the domainer can say he is in charge and not sell but that concludes in a no sale. Now the domainer was definitely in charge of a no sale which is no different than being in charge of a large store that has the most expensive inventory and no customers. All we have to do is wait for the bankruptcy sale on that one. :xf.laugh:
 
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for inbound inquires, the seller calls the shots
because they already know the buyer is interested, which gives seller leverage in negotiations

for the outbound spammers, the buyer runs the show
because it's obvious seller wants to sell.

imo...
 
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When it comes to domaining, supply, by far exceeds demand. And that's why the buyer is in charge. However, not every buyer understands this.
 
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Just to add
The actual Legal status of any sales /purchase transaction is the labelled or advertised price is merely an offer to sell and as such the advertised price has no legal bearing or status, the purchase at a till-point or at any other payment point is equally just your offer to purchase. This is why nobody can be held to sell at an advertised price.
The seller has all the 'transaction' control by law

This applies even when you do your weekly supermarket shop and actually makes perfect sense when you think about it
 
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I would say it's the seller, just as long as they are not a desperate domainer, or someone in need of quick cash, over leveraged running a firesale.

Rick Schwartz and Mike Berkens are always in control, I have known Michael to turn down $75,000 for a name most people I ever met in this biz would sell for $5,000. No sale, no care. So it really comes down to who the seller is and then the question can be answered more properly. Again IMO
 
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I would say it's the seller, just as long as they are not a desperate domainer, or someone in need of quick cash, over leveraged running a firesale.

Rick Schwartz and Mike Berkens are always in control, I have known Michael to turn down $75,000 for a name most people I ever met in this biz would sell for $5,000. No sale, no care. So it really comes down to who the seller is and then the question can be answered more properly. Again IMO

He is only in charge as long as someone pays, let's look at Rick Schwartz as an example. He says he is in charge but he really is not. Yes he had a handful of large sales and amassed a small fortune but the buyers wanted the product. Had he tried to convince someone in a cold call sale then technically the buyer would also have been in charge.

So yes Rick has said "no" a lot of times and that makes him appear to be in charge but he is sitting on huge real estate with no buyers. So much so that the new TLD's are starting to encroach a bit and Rick releases his daily musings to say they have no bearing on his sales. Yet the more he stands up and shouts the more we realize the new TLD's are gaining some momentum.

I don't have million dollar domains and I don't deal in the new TLD's but I understand they are a threat to Rick because if not he would just quiet about it. He needs to continuously justify his .com's telling us how superior they are. I mean, I do agree with that, but in the end the customer is still in charge because if the King thinks he is the only one in charge he will see he is not. The client makes the ultimate decision no matter how we as domainers beat out chests and shout from the mountain tops.

PS. We saw a classic example of that in the @uglydork string this month where the shoe was on the other foot. The expert domainer was the client and backed out of the sale. You can say the seller, or the broker, was in charge but in the end by cancelling the deal the client was in charge. Funny how in this case the client was a domainer too.
 
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Me thinks that with any relationship (a domain sales is a relationship between the buyer and the seller)

The person who has the most control is the person who cares the least. :)
 
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Me thinks that with any relationship (a domain sales is a relationship between the buyer and the seller)

The person who has the most control is the person who cares the least.

.. or the person with the strongest personality. Some people have a stronger drive to "win" than others.

Great discussion @HotKey; thanks for posting.
 
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Money and knowledge in charge everything in a domain sale. :xf.cool:


Sellers have big money in their pockets are not rush to sell. They are likely focus on selling for high price only. You may found that some domains sold for 10K+ USD are not what we considered supreme domains. They sold for a high price just because the buyer want them and they also have big money in their pockets.:xf.laugh:
 
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Money and knowledge in charge everything. :xf.cool:


Sellers have big money in their pockets are not rush to sell. They are likely focus on selling for high price only. You may found that some domains sold for 10K+ USD are not what we considered supreme domains. They sold for a high price just because the buyer want them and they also have big money in their pockets.:xf.laugh:

Ok, so when you get your cancer diagnosis money is in charge?

Hmmm.... you only think money is in charge, look at the Microsoft guy that just died at 65 years. Trust me money is not in charge, we only think it is.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/tech/paul-allen-dead/index.html

He had billions and was still not in charge.
 
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Ok, so when you get your cancer diagnosis money is in charge?

Hmmm.... you only think money is in charge, look at the Microsoft guy that just died at 65 years. Trust me money is not in charge, we only think it is.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/tech/paul-allen-dead/index.html

He had billions and still not in charge.

I just modified my original post. :xf.grin:

I would say in term of a domain sale. Money and knowledge in charge everything.
The buyer have the knowledge nowadays may use 'Stealth acquisition', if the seller unable to hold their asking price. It will end up a low price domain sale.
 
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for inbound inquires, the seller calls the shots
because they already know the buyer is interested, which gives seller leverage in negotiations

for the outbound spammers, the buyer runs the show
because it's obvious seller wants to sell.

imo...

Perfect. How ya been Don haven't seen you in awhile?
 
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The person selling should be in charge, you need to control the sales process.

This does mean every sale will be completed - but without control there is no structure without structure there is no road map, no road map no destination and without a destination in mind you are just talking......
 
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The person selling should be in charge, you need to control the sales process.

This does mean every sale will be completed - but without control there is no structure without structure there is no road map, no road map no destination and without a destination in mind you are just talking......

So all the newbie domainers selling junk are in charge?

Hmm, news to me

Consider me a client asking newbie

How much for NameMispell.xyz ?

Newbie 5k

Client 100 bucks

Newbie: no way

Client ok, I get NameMispell.biz

I like how the newbie domainer was in charge

You have a semblance of being in charge if you have more than one bidder on a name and even there you are only in charge if the bidder lets you. I often see bidders back out of deals so ultimately who can argue as to who was in charge?

I don't see how you can call it any other way. We need the client, we can pretend we are in charge but in the end the client decides. We can say we won't sell but renewal time is always right around the corner. Or we can just sit on our throne and harp about how we have the best domain names in the world and the client should bow at the throne for the opportunity to buy it. Fact is it is our opportunity to sell it and not the other way around.
 
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I mean to me the fundamental question is really if you have quality domains, who is in charge?

If you have garbage domains you are not going to have many opportunities to sell them anyway.
If you have domains with a limited pool of potential buyers clearly a buyer has more control than a term with many potential buyers.

It also depends who initiates contact. I basically just respond to inquiries.

In that situation you are in far more control than someone who is basically spamming proactively trying to make some low dollar sales of marginal domains.

Brad
 
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Yes. Although the question is close-ended, based on experiences and scenario, the answers can vary.
True, the answers can vary...my answer is just my opinion..

for inbound inquires, the seller calls the shots
because they already know the buyer is interested, which gives seller leverage in negotiations
Sometime, seller is too greedy and buyers leaves negotiations...just my experience

Google apple ..
prefer McIntosh
img_20.jpg
 
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