domains Would you like to charge a domain inquiry fee?

[equity78]

Would you like people to pay to make an offer on your name? Would you like to pay to make an offer on someone else's domain name? I read a tweet from George Kirikos about low ballers (someone offered him $500 for Orderly.com) George wrote: What sucks is the time wasters trying to buy domains at 1% of the floor price, spamming their lowball offers. I think Webmagic has it right, charging … [Read more...]

 

[DaveX]

So...you are at Namescon...you see two booths selling domains.

One has a sign that says "No Lowballers" and one has a sign that says "All Offers Welcome"...lol

 

[biggie]

I dunno Biggie. I guess everyone has their style. Its partly psychological too.

There have been debates about which way is more effective.

Hi

well, if you put style in the equation, then yes... that is a different discussion.

but basically:
those who solicit may be happy just to get a reply
while those who don't, may not be happy with the offers they get.

imo….

 

[Recons.Com]

Last thing I'll add is this...

Personally having over 25 years in business, an Inc. 500 recipient, and a corporate turnaround consultant, I have always been successful through education and positive energy and culture.

I can tell you that the term "lowballer" is very unproductive and insulting. In all circumstances but particularly in a business dealing.

I would refer to those as "uneducated". I will take time to educate if an opportunity exists. Perhaps that education involves explaining domain values. It might involve explaining that I am an educated, fair investor that is somewhat firm on the price.

Point is, in my book, there are only educated and yet to be educated buyers.

I'll want all offers!

I appreciate your positivity. But there is category of lowballers. Some domain investors do that and you cannot call them uneducated.

Some business people do that too. I am offering a fantastic deal for under 15k to the owner of 100 million startup for exact match dot com of his startup and he is interested but is trying to lowball it still. And I am close to just setting bin at 50k and pulling my offer off the table. There are 100+ other businesses that could benefit from it. And I have spent hours educating him.

 

[DaveX]

I appreciate your positivity. But there is category of lowballers. Some domain investors do that and you cannot call them uneducated.

Some business people do that too. I am offering a fantastic deal for under 15k to the owner of 100 million startup for exact match dot com of his startup and he is interested but is trying to lowball it still. And I am close to just setting bin at 50k and pulling my offer off the table. There are 100+ other businesses that could benefit from it. And I have spent hours educating him.

We would have to agree to disagree. Someone who is savvy and is trying to get a steal, just needs to know I'm ready to sell if they change their mind.

 

[equity78]

Your article starts off with the following question. Which seems to apply to more than a few individuals who, for whatever reason, shun landers. So my answer to that question remains, no .


Let's consider the real estate analogy here. So you have the funds and financing in place to purchase something. Would you deal with a real estate company that refused to give you any indication of the price of any of their listings? If you, despite that, make an offer, they complain that it is too low not to you but to others. Real estate agents I have dealt with over the years don't operate that way.

Many brokers and investors with valuable portfolios provide some indication like "offers above xxxxx being accepted". Even though people like you indicate choose not to operate a marketplace, or use one, it does not seem to me that they are precluded from making a lander that indicates the range of offers. Yes, that might box them in, and is why they don't do it, but if they make that choice, imho they should not complain about unreasonable offers.

Back to your original question, would you deal with a car salesman or real estate professional that asked you to pay a non-refundable fee just to make an offer for something with no indication at all of the price ranges being considered. I perhaps, in a few cases, can see the approach @Silentptnr made of some sort of minimum refundable deposit to make an offer.

Bob

The article starts off with:

Would you like people to pay to make an offer on your name? Would you like to pay to make an offer on someone else’s domain name?

I read a tweet from George Kirikos about low ballers (someone offered him $500 for Orderly.com)

I think not everyone shares the opinion to compare domain names, truly one of a kind to cars or houses. First off I don't think Nat Cohen or Web Magic cares what any of us here think, I thought it was interesting George wondered why Epik did not offer this ability and tagged Michael Cyger an investor and not Doron who I tagged on Twitter.

For some people it's not about low ballers, some people don't want to be contacted unless it's to buy something, they don't want to educate, they don't want snide remarks. There are some who use the Linda Evangelista line of I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.

Now to what @Silentptnr mentioned I think many have wanted places like Sedo and Afternic to get a deposit when making an offer, that is non refundable if they back out of an agreed upon deal.

Like some have mentioned you really need to own names like Web Magic and Nat does for this to even be plausible, of course anyone can do that, Domain Agents will provide this ability if you open an account with them and you could only own madeup pronounceables.

The beauty of domaining is anyone can ask for whatever terms they like in order for someone to buy their domain names. The flipside is buyers have a lot of choices.

 

[equity78]

I appreciate your positivity. But there is category of lowballers. Some domain investors do that and you cannot call them uneducated.

Some business people do that too. I am offering a fantastic deal for under 15k to the owner of 100 million startup for exact match dot com of his startup and he is interested but is trying to lowball it still. And I am close to just setting bin at 50k and pulling my offer off the table. There are 100+ other businesses that could benefit from it. And I have spent hours educating him.

Absolutely correct, some take pride in making lowball offers and they are highly educated. Like someone told me a long time ago, "I just need one desperate sucker for it to be worth it" Portfolios were built by educated domainers making lowball offers pretending to be broke students.

 

[Sutruk]

I am offering a fantastic deal for under 15k to the owner of 100 million startup for exact match dot com of his startup and he is interested but is trying to lowball it still.

Just for curiosity. It's an inbound or outbound?

 

[DaveX]

The article starts off with:

Would you like people to pay to make an offer on your name? Would you like to pay to make an offer on someone else’s domain name?

I read a tweet from George Kirikos about low ballers (someone offered him $500 for Orderly.com)

I think not everyone shares the opinion to compare domain names, truly one of a kind to cars or houses. First off I don't think Nat Cohen or Web Magic cares what any of us here think, I thought it was interesting George wondered why Epik did not offer this ability and tagged Michael Cyger an investor and not Doron who I tagged on Twitter.

For some people it's not about low ballers, some people don't want to be contacted unless it's to buy something, they don't want to educate, they don't want snide remarks. There are some who use the Linda Evangelista line of I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.

Not to what @Silentptnr mentioned I think many have wanted places like Sedo and Afternic to get a deposit when making an offer, that is non refundable if they back out of an agreed upon deal.

Like some have mentioned you really need to own names like Web Magic and Nat does for this to even be plausible, of course anyone can do that, Domain Agents will provide this ability if you open an account with them and you could only own madeup pronounceables.

The beauty of domaining is anyone can ask for whatever terms they like in order for someone to buy their domain names. The flipside is buyers have a lot of choices.

Ultra premium names are usually brokered. Brokers have connections to the high end buyers. Brokers dont charge their prospective buyers just to make offers. If anything, at that level, I would imagine the players aren't just surfing the web making $xxx,xxx offers.

Were talking about mid range names, maybe xx,xxx. Bottom offers probably xxx. I get it.

More barriers for prospective buyers equals less business.

That's why ebay doesnt do that.

 

[equity78]

Ultra premium names are usually brokered. Brokers have connections to the high end buyers. Brokers dont charge their prospective buyers just to make offers. If anything, at that level, I would imagine the players aren't just surfing the web making $xxx,xxx offers.

I don't believe but not 100% Web Magic deals with brokers. Of course a broker wouldn't charge you can easily go around them, you can't go around the person that owns the domain.

 

[Keith]

The article starts off with:

Would you like people to pay to make an offer on your name? Would you like to pay to make an offer on someone else’s domain name?

I read a tweet from George Kirikos about low ballers (someone offered him $500 for Orderly.com)

I think not everyone shares the opinion to compare domain names, truly one of a kind to cars or houses. First off I don't think Nat Cohen or Web Magic cares what any of us here think, I thought it was interesting George wondered why Epik did not offer this ability and tagged Michael Cyger an investor and not Doron who I tagged on Twitter.

For some people it's not about low ballers, some people don't want to be contacted unless it's to buy something, they don't want to educate, they don't want snide remarks. There are some who use the Linda Evangelista line of I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.

Not to what @Silentptnr mentioned I think many have wanted places like Sedo and Afternic to get a deposit when making an offer, that is non refundable if they back out of an agreed upon deal.

Like some have mentioned you really need to own names like Web Magic and Nat does for this to even be plausible, of course anyone can do that, Domain Agents will provide this ability if you open an account with them and you could only own madeup pronounceables.

The beauty of domaining is anyone can ask for whatever terms they like in order for someone to buy their domain names. The flipside is buyers have a lot of choices.

I think the question you are posing relates to a handful of people in the industry and really shouldn’t even be asked. You’re talking to a crowd of people, of which maybe 1 has domains that warrant upfront payments to receive offers.

Personally, I wouldn’t pay money upfront to make an offer on anything. It comes off as arrogant and starts negotiations off on a bad note imo.

 

[Recons.Com]

We would have to agree to disagree. Someone who is savvy and is trying to get a steal, just needs to know I'm ready to sell if they change their mind.

He is risking to lose a deal of a lifetime. If someone else buys it, he will have to settle for .co and leak sensitive emails and potential sales. For a 100mm business he is hoping to turn into a billion dollar one. All because he wants to save 5k.

I had one greedy or savvy one who didn't take a deal, came back in 3 months, but the name was gone forever to another enduser.

I had another once who agreed 12.5k then tried to lower the price to 10k, then further, while another company came in, inquired, negotiated from 15k to 14k, paid and rebranded and went live, all within 1 week. Now that is savvy.

 

[Abdillahi Abdillahi]

I dont actually get offended when I receive a very low offer for a name I believe can fetch a lot more. The idea of setting minimum offer is also very interesting cause some buyers believe that it is the minimum the name will be sold for. It happened before.

An offer is an offer and it should be a way to start negotiations without thinking about it being lowoffer or not. I always say, reply to every offer, regardless of price, and make sure you give youself a room for negotiation of atleast 30%.

 

[NickB]

If you are one of the lucky ones to own a premium name why not charge $20? Cuts out all the time wasters and people who can't afford it. A serious buyer will not be put off with this request and it sends a message to everyone else not to waste your time or mine.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think not everyone shares the opinion to compare domain names, truly one of a kind to cars or houses.

Agreed.

But having a professional style should apply to all businesses, in my opinion. And in my view going to social media or a public forum to complain, even anonymously, is getting close to a line (not making reference to this case, but the many times on Twitter and here that I see people complain about low ball offers). Also I hate it when people call potential clients low ballers. @Silentptnr expressed it very well:

Personally having over 25 years in business, an Inc. 500 recipient, and a corporate turnaround consultant, I have always been successful through education and positive energy and culture.

I can tell you that the term "lowballer" is very unproductive and insulting. In all circumstances but particularly in a business dealing.

If there was a NamePros 100% agree button I would have used it!

Thanks for initiating to an interesting discussion on a relevant topic, @equity78, and to all who have contributed. I try to see both sides, but on this one, despite the points well argued, my personal opinion is not changed. IF the situation was that a lander clearly expressed a minimum amount, and they were working around that through other forms of contact, I can see the complaint.

Anyway, I think I'm out, having already taken up too much of the space in this discussion.

Bob

 

[DaveX]

He is risking to lose a deal of a lifetime. If someone else buys it, he will have to settle for .co and leak sensitive emails and potential sales. For a 100mm business he is hoping to turn into a billion dollar one. All because he wants to save 5k.

I had one greedy or savvy one who didn't take a deal, came back in 3 months, but the name was gone forever to another enduser.

I had another once who agreed 12.5k then tried to lower the price to 10k, then further, while another company came in, inquired, negotiated from 15k to 14k, paid and rebranded and went live, all within 1 week. Now that is savvy.

Of course. I know what you mean. There are always going to be buyers that dont pull the trigger.

How would that buyer that didn't buy have felt if they also lost an upfront fee just to make an offer?

 

[equity78]

I think the question you are posing relates to a handful of people in the industry and really shouldn’t even be asked. You’re talking to a crowd of people, of which maybe 1 has domains that warrant upfront payments to receive offers.

Personally, I wouldn’t pay money upfront to make an offer on anything. It comes off as arrogant and starts negotiations off on a bad note imo.

I think questions should always be asked, and if someone doesn't have the quality of portfolio, they might still like the option to do that, I am not going to tell someone they can't. Will it work? Probably not but people like as many options as possible.

 

[equity78]

Agreed.

But having a professional style should apply to all businesses, in my opinion. And in my view going to social media or a public forum to complain, even anonymously, is getting close to a line (not making reference to this case, but the many times on Twitter and here that I see people complain about low ball offers). Also I hate it when people call potential clients low ballers. @Silentptnr expressed it very well:

If there was a NamePros 100% agree button I would have used it!

Thanks for initiating to an interesting discussion on a relevant topic, @equity78, and to all who have contributed. I try to see both sides, but on this one, despite the points well argued, my personal opinion is not changed. IF the situation was that a lander clearly expressed a minimum amount, and they were working around that through other forms of contact, I can see the complaint.

Anyway, I think I'm out, having already taken up too much of the space in this discussion.

Bob

Right Bob I think complaining is one thing, to the best of my knowledge Nat Cohen and Web Magic have never complained about "lowballers" it's just their set up for the vast amounts of inquiries. George on Twitter that might have been seen as a complaint, but look there are people that despise lowballers, I have read some quotes over the years that were way over the top, some cannot even be repeated.

 

[Keith]

And btw, most people that make initial contact don’t even make an offer. They are more interested to know if the asset is even for sale and the asking price.

Imagine charging a fee to someone that genuinely has interest in your domain and just wants to know the price. Not everyone are “domainers” that know better, and inquiring about an asset with good intentions shouldn’t require payment to basically ask a question.

 

[Sutruk]

In my opinion, charging the possible buyer just to get a quote, would drive away a 90% of your possible deals, even the BIG ones. IMO, it's a very bad idea. But hey, everyone is free to do what they want with their assets.

If any shop wants to charge the people just to enter and see the clothes or material, they are free to do it. But then they will see how many sales they get.

Althought I doubt that even a Ferrari store would do this.

 

[DaveX]

I'd always be wondering about the offers that I didn't get because of such a requirement.

That would be far too stressful.