debate Why Do Buyers Insist on mentioning Asking Prices?

[Haroon Basha]

Why Do Buyers Insist on mentioning Asking Prices?, Why reject "Make Offer" submissions?

In the Buyer Requests section of NamePros, it’s often observed that buyers specifically ask sellers to mention an asking price and avoid “Make Offer” submissions. This seems to be a consistent pattern, raising the question — why do buyers so strongly prefer mentioning of asking price?

The core reason appears to be efficiency and transparency. Serious buyers often have a set budget and prefer not to waste time going back and forth with vague negotiations. “Make Offer” can sometimes lead to unrealistic quotes or endless haggling, which frustrates buyers looking for quick, straightforward deals.

Also, from a buyer’s perspective, a listed price helps them instantly assess whether a domain fits within their range, without the ambiguity or guesswork.

Is there more to it — like a strategy to test seller flexibility or discourage inflated pricing? Let us debate over this topic and brainstorm more hidden tricks and traits.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

[phaethon]

Best strategy might be the domain king's, where you don't reply at all, unless you receive a satisfactory offer..

 

[Namer.id]

Best strategy might be the domain king's, where you don't reply at all, unless you receive a satisfactory offer..

That quite sad, at least say no thanks would be better in my opinion

 

[Kass]

If the request is only for a fixed price, then at the very least the requester should also specify a fixed price. Not “budget per name up to $1000,” but “budget per name: $1000.”
As a rule, these are not serious buyers. All the talk about wasting time is unfounded. Everyone knows that a good purchase or sale always takes time. Meanwhile, they demand the asking price without the option for offers — only the asking price. And some geniuses also demand a package with the registration date and the expiration date. They can go f themselves with their requests.

 

[Namer.id]

If the request is only for a fixed price, then at the very least the requester should also specify a fixed price. Not “budget per name up to $1000,” but “budget per name: $1000.”
As a rule, these are not serious buyers. All the talk about wasting time is unfounded. Everyone knows that a good purchase or sale always takes time. Meanwhile, they demand the asking price without the option for offers — only the asking price. And some geniuses also demand a package with the registration date and the expiration date. They can go f themselves with their requests.

Yeah, I can relate to that. Sometimes even when an offer fits the stated budget and criteria, it still gets rejected or ignored. Maybe the budget itself feels a bit misleading or just set too high.
I think a more realistic, wholesale-range budget might actually help sellers better meet what buyers are really looking for.

 

[alop]

Aint much to debate

im at a dealership and all ya milking cows and I cant get a dollar off?

 

[DomainMundo]

Everyone knows that a good purchase or sale always takes time.

Why? I can go to Tiffany.com and buy a diamond necklace with a click. The same with a precious painting in an art gallery or basically any product listed online on Earth. What is it about domain sales that some people think need to be shrouded in mystery?

 

[AEProgram]

Why? I can go to Tiffany.com and buy a diamond necklace with a click. The same with a precious painting in an art gallery or basically any product listed online on Earth. What is it about domain sales that some people think need to be shrouded in mystery?

You can also go and buy domains now for a million bucks with a click. The people purchasing a 50k item on tiffany's today might have thought about it for a while. Most expensive domains are sold to people that plan to develop it. These people might be thinking of different options. Many names are not listed with a bin, so communications and possible negotiations start. Some people also low ball offers and you have domainers that will instantly just delete those emails, so now the buyer is waiting and then emails again, and again, until they realize they need to up their price or stop emailing.

Domains is not a mystery at all. End users are lucky, there are many great names priced very low and the easiest thing to lease is a domain.

 

[alop]

Aint much to debate

im at a dealership and all ya milking cows and I cant get a dollar off?

Shoutout to Carvana

 

[Kass]

Why? I can go to Tiffany.com and buy a diamond necklace with a click. The same with a precious painting in an art gallery or basically any product listed online on Earth. What is it about domain sales that some people think need to be shrouded in mystery?

It was mainly about domains. This is my current real situation: someone wants to buy my domain. The domain is listed on Sedo with all the desired options (bin, offers), but the buyer contacted me through a broker, and so far the whole process has been dragging on. After a couple of weeks, we are only now approaching the final price. Without the broker, it probably would have gone faster. But there are different kinds of buyers. What can you do? He wants to buy this way, and I still want to sell.
The fact that you are willing, when possible, to buy something with a single click somewhere often also shows that your trust in that particular shop, product, etc., has already been built over a certain period of time.
And how many times have I personally had situations where I bought a domain with one click, only to find out later that it wasn’t actually for sale? Or cases where I purchased a domain with one click and then had to wait a significant amount of time just to receive the code for the transfer, all without any guarantee of whether I would actually get the domain or not.

 

[DomainMundo]

And how many times have I personally had situations where I bought a domain with one click, only to find out later that it wasn’t actually for sale? Or cases where I purchased a domain with one click and then had to wait a significant amount of time just to receive the code for the transfer, all without any guarantee of whether I would actually get the domain or not.

And hiding the price doesn't solve any of those issues. It just adds unnecessary delays to the process. That's my point.

 

[phaethon]

I remember a guy on X complaining that the seller replied to his price request with just a high number and nothing else. Not even hi or thanks.
The buyer / domainer thought it was not appropriate. Well, domaining is a tough business.

 

[Vertibox]

The point that doesn't seem to have been made so far is that despite around 35 years of domain names being available to buy and sell, there is no clear and proper way to value domain names.

This, in my view, is the one of the main reasons why many domain name owners choose not to set a price and just leave it to buyers to make offers. The other is that domain names are unlike tangible assets, in which people can compare several factors to arrive at a value. Then we have the element that each name is 100% unique making comparison even more difficult.

I know there are some “brokers” and “marketplaces” that claim their staff are “domain name experts”, but this is simply not true and its just bluster and hot air, from arrogant, self-important, ego-centric office boys.

These self-appointed fake experts are in the business of turnover, like real estate agents, not securing the best prices for their clients. Over time, these people and their companies have gathered information on what has sold in the past and they then apply defective/guesswork formulas based on past sales, to new names as they come along. But this is crass and comes from the mindset of simpletons.

Doubt about value is heavily affected because some/many domains can be used in a variety of ways and by end users in almost any country. The buyer’s wealth, or lack of, is also a factor. Then we have the matter of potential buyers having their own opinion on what the value is to them of having a particular name and that no two end users see value the same way.

All of this means that many non-junk domains can attract interest from, say, $100 all the way through to, say, $10,000 and beyond.

With so many “it depends on...” factors at play, its no surprise that many sellers choose not to put their cards on the table, in advance.

Finally, if a seller needs to sell a name/names soon (say within a year or so) I would recommend them setting a price that they would be slightly less than happy about selling it for and leave it at that. For sellers who can comfortably wait many years to sell their name/names at the prices they want but don’t reveal, then leave those names at make offer. Or perhaps better still for such a seller, don’t show that you want to sell your names and just let people email you through the whois system with inquiries. Its then upto each seller if they want to respond and how.

 

[bmugford]

I remember a guy on X complaining that the seller replied to his price request with just a high number and nothing else. Not even hi or thanks.
The buyer / domainer thought it was not appropriate. Well, domaining is a tough business.

Yeah, that was this post.

Judging by the comments, the majority seem to think the owner's response was fine.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1929192596611412176

 

[love4ever]

I know there are some “brokers” and “marketplaces” that claim their staff are “domain name experts”, but this is simply not true and its just bluster and hot air, from arrogant, self-important, ego-centric office boys.

You nailed it , Alot of them in godaddy/afternic !

.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

Why Do Buyers Insist on mentioning Asking Prices?, Why reject "Make Offer" submissions?

In the Buyer Requests section of NamePros, it’s often observed that buyers specifically ask sellers to mention an asking price and avoid “Make Offer” submissions. This seems to be a consistent pattern, raising the question — why do buyers so strongly prefer mentioning of asking price?

The core reason appears to be efficiency and transparency. Serious buyers often have a set budget and prefer not to waste time going back and forth with vague negotiations. “Make Offer” can sometimes lead to unrealistic quotes or endless haggling, which frustrates buyers looking for quick, straightforward deals.

Also, from a buyer’s perspective, a listed price helps them instantly assess whether a domain fits within their range, without the ambiguity or guesswork.

Is there more to it — like a strategy to test seller flexibility or discourage inflated pricing? Let us debate over this topic and brainstorm more hidden tricks and traits.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When you want to buy something, the first thing you want to know is "How much?".

 

[BigDenny]

All the domains that were bought from me had a fixed price. I think it’s just more convenient - the buyer sees the price right away, and it might seem attractive to them.