I would like to buy a .com domain name which already exists. The domain was registered in 1993 and displays the date it was last updated, which was a good few years ago. It does not look like the site is used as it only has a holding page, however it might be used behind the scenes (hosting test pages etc.)
What is the best way of finding out if the domain is up for grabs, without encouraging the seller to up his price and is there a way of securing the domain in case it is not renewed?
Thanks in advance for suggestions.
Courage. Do it and move on. Either the registrant will be interested or not. Either the price will be reasonable, manageable or not.
Dive in. Either the water will be warm, refreshing and invigorating or a shark will eat you. The nice thing about diving into domain waters is that domain registrants don't eat you. (I've heard that a few Australian domain holders have been known to eat people, but they won't travel for a meal. The only eat locals.)
Do it. Be nice. Be respectful. Let the registrant have their opinion. They're entitled to it, right, wrong or crazy. If they're not interested that's their right. If they tell you a price that you think is crazy that's their right, too, as they do not have to do business just because you wish to do business. If they are crazy or nuts, smile and walk away. It does no good to tell a nut "you're a nut". True nuts just don't get it. If they did get it they wouldn't be a true nut, right?
The ONLY strategy that I've ever found to be effective in approaching someone about a domain name was to enter the interaction in a state of detachment, entirely prepared to smile and walk away.
Do it. Move on.
The ONLY strategy that I've ever found to be effective in approaching someone about a domain name was to enter the interaction in a state of detachment, entirely prepared to smile and walk away.
... and indeed this applies to all business negotiations
Some parked domains with ads on the page make big bucks. It is a strategy used by some big players.
The site my look dormant but check Alexa it could be getting big traffic. Then check Overture for bid prices.
You do not need to do very much to make good money off of a great name.
My point is, get a good feeling for the value of the name first.
Contacting a domainer with frivolous offers is very annoying.
If a site sold no product or if it had no ads would you offer the owner $100
Think webmasterworld.com
If a site sold no product or if it had no ads would you offer the owner $100
That is exactly my point.
What looks like just a parked site my be making hundreds a day.
It does not look like the site is used as it only has a holding page, however it might be used behind the scenes (hosting test pages etc.)
There are many good/company names used for e-mail purposes only.
A German client of mine registered their company name 10+ years ago and have only recently activated it as a web site since "They were not sure the Internet would work"!
I got this response
"Your offer is too low.
Premium domain names typically sell for three or four-figure amounts, and sellers will simply not respond to a bid if it is too low. If you need help setting a price, you can request an expert Domain Appraisal. You are REQUIRED to enter a bid of at least 60 USD."
So then I tried entering $61.00, & Got this message
"Unfortunately your offer was too low and has been rejected! Please enter an offer that at least meets the minimum price of 100 $US."
They are calling it a premium domain, but it was never in that category. Is it possible to convince them it's NOT in the premium category?
How would I negotiate, other than just plugging numbers into the Sedo site?
How would I find out if they are making money using it as a portal?
...So then I tried entering $61.00
If the name was once yours and is valuable to you why in the world would you be offering such ridiculous and insignificant money to buy it?
Personally, I am not a domain seller but on the unsolicited offers I get they are rarely replied to if under 1K, because why waste my time for such comparatively small monies (assuming it's a reasonably 'good' keyword name) which likely will end up going up in value in the future.
Do you really think $61 will add to the wealth and lifestyle of the domain owner when all it means in value is paying for his family to go out to dinner today? I do not even want to deal with such cheap and stupid acting people who fail to realize what a great value a domain can be to their success.
I would like to have it back, but it was never a commercial site, it never drew much traffic, it never made any money. It was a site put together by volunteers with spare time, with donated hosting to share info for free about a rare disease.
I don't have much money myself, the disease has made my household poor.
I want the domain so I can put the site & the info back online. The current owner bought it when our site manager was sick & missed the renewal. Personally I don't approve of that way of making a living, so my main concern is NOT to add to the wealth and lifestyle of the domain owner.
I'd like to figure out a way to communicate that it isn't in the category of a premium domain. No one else will want to buy it besides me, & I'm not really willing to pay much. I can just get the .org or .net & hope the people who are looking for info on the rare disease can find us at the new location. It just doesn't seem right that they should have to search beyond our old domain name.
What do you think I should offer given the circumstances?
Save the money for something better
If you can track down those who linked to the old website do so immediately upon setting up your new website. Don't let the person holding the domain benefit for a minute longer by virtue of the traffic you built up.
Make your best pitch for why the domain name should be returned to you - for whatever the new registrant paid - and if the answer is some version of "no" - just move on, per above.
Oh, you might also contact the various search engines once you have your new website online and see what, if any, consideration they might give to getting you back up in the SERPs. One way to help that along is to get your old inbound links reset to your new web address.
Sorry to read about your misfortune.
[edited by: Webwork at 4:09 am (utc) on July 10, 2006]
When I said of value to you I meant mostly personal value, not monetary value and that is the case according to your subsequent post.
Since it sounds like a medical name I would simply reg the .org as org goes very good with these names. For example, I own both the com and org for a common medical condition but recently made the website built on the dot-org, with the com forwarding to the org.
P.S. Feel free to sticky mail me the domain and I can give opinion on comparative worth of both the com and org. Will also volunteer to put up 1-way free links to you on some of my medical, health and disease related websites.
I would like to have it back, but it was never a commercial site, it never drew much traffic, it never made any money. It was a site put together by volunteers with spare time, with donated hosting to share info for free about a rare disease.I don't have much money myself, the disease has made my household poor.
I want the domain so I can put the site & the info back online. The current owner bought it when our site manager was sick & missed the renewal.
Have you tried to contact the new owner and communicate the situation to them?
What do you think I should offer given the circumstances?
Your sincere thanks, enough to cover costs for the current owner, and a likelyhood of good karma for the current owner. If you haven't tried this, you might be surprised.
