Short, friendly, and professional:
That's the magic triangle for closing end user sales. And I mean REAL short. For future reference, whenever you receive an offer and it's less than you want, the following statement is ideal for continuing healthy negotiations:
Hello _______;
Thank you, that is a good offer, just a little less than I wanted.
Looking for $5K for this domain.
Thanks again for contacting me.
Sincerely,
_____________
No explanations, nothing uncomfortable. Guaranteed to keep negotiations fluid and active. If they counter, or hard line their original offer, keep your responses this short, open, honest and polite. Never enter the game of 'explaining' things, debating, or even worse, arguing and justifying. Ever.
Even if they hard line their offer, just respond 'Thank you, I can tell you're serious, but I can't accept the amount you're offering. Thanks again'.
- Keep thanking them, because they are an interested buyer and even if they're lowballing you, they're still making a serious offer. Be thankful for each email from them no matter how lowball. And if they become unpleasant or insistent... don't use that as an excuse to lose yourself and forget the magic triangle of 'short, friendly and professional'. Stick to it with every email
IMHO
Oh, and to answer your original question: I'd let this name go for 2K with no regrets... but if that was the first offer, I'd counter at 5K and settle for 3K or above. I'd appraise it as worth $1200 minimum to an end user, up to an optimistic but still sober ceiling of around 4 - 6K.
