advice Would it be improper to ask about a domain that's currently in use?

[Dan_D]

In general - Is this okay? Should you come with an offer, or inquire first? Should you hire a service to assist you? Is all lost of they decline/ignore?

Specifically, the domain in question is the .com title of my business, and it's currently either owned by a (non-English) University, or one of their professors (It's currently unclear). It redirects to a sub domain of the University's main site (Eg, "mybusniessname.university.de").

The url is used to host some form of student project, by which the aforementioned professor is the main contributor. It's rarely updated (Three updates the past two years - One this year), and it's exact goal is unclear. Despite the University's main site being completely in their native language, the sub domain from which "mybusniessname.com" direct to is completely in English. They've owned it for about 10 years.

Oddly, they do not own the localized version of this url. Whereas the University's main site is, for example, "university.de", and they own "mybusinessname.com", they do not own "mybusniessname.de" - I own it.

So, the non-general question:

In this case, would it be worth trying to get the URL from a foreign University/professor? Anyone have experience with anything similar?

I'm thinking I could offer the local version of the domain + additional compensation. The url is only referenced in a handful of other places (Evidenced by Google and Yahoo), which all happen to be Wikipedia-type/editable environments, so they could be altered to reflect a different url. It's not referenced anywhere else in the digital realm.

 

[johname]

There nothing wrong with asking. But be prepared for a no unless you make him an offer he cant refuse.

Also he may be totally happy with his university life and if the website is a big part of that life he has no reason to sell it.

 

[indiegrind]

Dont ask, dont get. I say go for it. Also if he isnt prepared to sell, ask him if he ever decides that he does not need the domain in the future to please contact you.

I have done that on a couple of domains that are not really in use.

 

[Dan_D]

There nothing wrong with asking. But be prepared for a no unless you make him an offer he cant refuse.

On that note, simply from the outline given of this situation, what do things like this usually go for? Any example?

The url itself isn't a single word or anything like that. It's sort of a phrase that makes sense in the context of both my business and the project it hosts.

I feel like I'll have to rename my business if the url isn't acquired. Similarly, the associated Twitter handle is for some reason suspended and they'll only give it to holder of the equivalent .com

Thinking aloud:

The phrase itself is composed of two parts so it technically could be stylized with an underscore. In the context of my business (Software oriented), that's technically legal, but is it tacky?

 

[Beezy]

I got a lot of inquiries for domains I was using and have sold some. Definitely go for it.

I hope the university doesn't own it, because your money will probably be like the profit they make off of a set of textbooks.

 

[Dan_D]

I got a lot of inquiries for domains I was using and have sold some. Definitely go for it.

I'll ask you too - What did they generally go for? What quality were they?

Any advise with my approach? Offer first or ask what they want?

I've never really dealt with the buying side of urls. I've sold several, but they were usually minor/out of my own desperation. All the others weren't taken!

I hope the university doesn't own it, because your money will probably be like the profit they make off of a set of textbooks.

Another reason to hope it's not the case! :P I suspect it would be harder to work with an organization than an individual, but I guess that varies and depends on the individual.

 

[Beezy]

I'll ask you too - What did they generally go for? What quality were they?

Any advise with my approach? Offer first or ask what they want?

I've never really dealt with the buying side of urls. I've sold several, but they were usually minor/out of my own desperation. All the others weren't taken!



Another reason to hope it's not the case! :P I suspect it would be harder to work with an organization than an individual, but I guess that varies and depends on the individual.

I would simply write "domain.com domain name" as the title.

Then a succinct email like:

Hello [name],
I see you are the domain owner for domainname.com - I like the name, would you be interested in selling it to me? If so, what is your price?