How much to pay for Your First Name.com

[dailypress]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has purchased their first name as a domain. And if so, how much did you pay for it and why? Did you do anything it?

Unfortunately my first name is the same as someone else's last name and he has purchased the .com version of it in 1996.It's been parked all these years.

there's only 2 Million search results on Google, and it's not a generic or popular name.

I'm not sure what I'd like to do with the domain, but as of now, I'd just like to own it. ;)

How much should I offer? I have contacted the owner and have asked him to quote.

[edited by: dailypress at 2:07 pm (utc) on Nov 23, 2011]

[mack]

I am in a very similar situation. I have been in touch with the owner for several years, but at no point have I been able to convince the owner to sell.

I think I would tend to play it cautiously, without the mention of an amount. Simply inquire if the owner has plans, if they use it for anything. Then perhaps ask if they would be prepared to see it being put to use.

If you offer money early on, it becomes a sellers market and they can dictate a high price. If they realize they might be able to sell it to you and want rid of it it may be seen as a sellers market where you can offer a lower amount and it may be acceptable.

Mack.

[dailypress]

Thanks Mack. I own the .tel version of my name but it's worthless. Since he hasn't done anything with the domain, I thought maybe an exchange of domains + $2-3K would be an OK offer.

I'm willing to pay up to $3K although I know it doesn't make any business sense and he'll probably ask for much more anyway.

Interestingly enough he lives in the same town and state as I do. I only sent him an email asking him to quote, if domain is for sale. I'll let you know his response.

[Webwork]

$3K sounds about right for the web's equivalent of a vanity license plate.

I take it that YourName.me is taken? That appears to be a popular compromise for those who desire a "web presence = name".

[tim222]

My initial thought was $5K although after reading the other posts, $2-3K does seem like a good starting point. But I think if the final offer was $5K then I would do it.

P.S. - In this case I'm referring to a less common name than "Tim"

[dailypress]

$3K sounds about right for the web's equivalent of a vanity license plate.

lol

I take it that YourName.me is taken?

Yes.

[wheel]

I own {my first name}.{my country's ccTLD}. I got lucky years ago, the ccTLD was under tight restrictions and then they opened them up - I made the lottery and won it.

I've contacted the owner of the .com, he's never shown any interest in selling, now he's got it parked and showing those parked domain ads. Personally I'm happy with my version.

The only benefit from this is that it confirms your geek status, and makes for a really easy to remember email address - I'm {firstname}@{firstname}.{ccTLD}. So if you know my first name and the country I'm in, you know my email.

In terms of value, I wouldn't buy the .com for $5K....but on the other hand I wouldn't sell my ccTLD for 5K either. I wouldn't sell it for $10K. It'd have to be enough to overcome the emotional benefit of owning the domain.

[Webwork]

the emotional benefit of owning the domain

Another reason for domain ownership: emotional benefits! ;)

By ^that^ standard I should be feeling a whole lot better than I am. :P

[IanTurner]

Hmm - wonder whether the current owner would considers selling my first name :)

I doubt I'd get it for 3K

I did however get both my childrens first names in a cctld at reg fee.

[dailypress]

I registered the .tel version of my me and my siblings name. My siblings can care less, but I had thought .tel would become popular in maybe couple years and then they would appreciate the value.

Anyway, yes its all about the emotional benefit. As I mentioned it doesnt make any business sense but I would probably offer up to $3K if I had to.

The current owner hasn't yet responded and as Wheel mentioned I wouldn't have sold it either. Not even for $20K. Again its all about the emotional-geeky benefit.

I noticed the .net, org and most other TLDs are all parked.

[topr8]

... personally i never even reply to people asking me for a quote for a domain i have.

i know there are a couple of domain experts who have posted in this thread - however i think in the case of

firstname.tld and most specifically firstname.com

is a special case and cannot be valued like other domains - where there is ultimately always an alternative.

i have a 'vanity' domain that i get enquiries about, i use it for email, not for a website - like dailypress i wouldn't even consider selling it for $20k, (and i had an offer near that) i couldn't care less that a valuer would value it at only a few hundred.

If you offer money early on, it becomes a sellers market and they can dictate a high price. If they realize they might be able to sell it to you and want rid of it it may be seen as a sellers market where you can offer a lower amount and it may be acceptable.

in this case being discussed in this thread, the owner registered the domain in 1996, anyone savvy enough to have registered it then is likely to be very well aware of its potential emotional value.

[piatkow]

I just wish that I had got into this domain name lark a year or two earlier. I did get my surname as .co.uk at normal registration when I was expecting to be made redundant from the day job and wanted something more professional looking than a webmail address.

[Jonesy]

heh...
With my surname I had no expectations of getting my surname.anything_useful.
But, I did get the "dog treat" version of it in .net -- some 15 years ago in the 'available' pool.
I'm really happy with it. It gives me an extra moniker to go by,
as well as:
Jonesy