it was registered by a speculator (their name was a dead give-away)
so I emailed and asked how much, reply was $2995.00
I said no thanks
6 months later they come back and ask me to "make my best offer", so I do: $60.00
that's what it is worth to me. I thought it was fair.
Reply was they would take nothing less than $1950 and they asked me to counter offer.
My counter offer was $55.00
Haven't heard from them in awhile and now they've contacted me again, this time asking for my "best and highest" offer again, but this time the "minimum" bid is $250, and they remind me that I might be bidding against others.
so I bid $60 again.
so far they have come down from $2995 to $250, will they ever come down to $60 for me?
I'm not budging.
I mean $60 is better than $0 and that's what they got now and no one else wants this name. Nobody.
Every other variation of this domain is available except .com
If I get it, its a B-day present for a friend.
commercial value is nil.
Every other variation of this domain is available except .com
In this industry, as in the game of poker, that is called a "tell".
Inexperienced sellers are schooled in the practice of "aim high, because you never know . . ." That's all you are seeing: Someone who has no idea, who may have been counseled "after the fact" about realistic value, who is now attempting to salvage a sale.
If there's real value to you then you need to decide what that value is. It's not uncommon for sellers in this situation to place a domain for sale on one or more of the domain forums that run sale threads. If there's any value to the domain there's a good chance that another buyer can be found as the price settles down to <$100.
If there's no value to the domain then you will get what you pay for, which likely should not be much more than the original registration fee.
they are big and have been around for awhile.
they have a pool of domain names.
[edited by: Webwork at 3:15 pm (utc) on July 20, 2005]
[edit reason] Please avoid identifying specifics [/edit]
In essence, they operate much like noobs do: Aim high, in the hopes that the domain is a "must have", retrench, reprice likely based on cash flow demands, etc. Unlike total noobs they are a bit more pragmatic in both their persistance and their willingness to eventually move the price to a point that reflects the actual market. In other words, chances are that you are the only person who has expressed an interest in the past year and your best strategy is to sit back, show mild interest and hold to a realistic offer.
However, amongst professionals in the industry, their practices are a bit unique.
<song>It's a Small World...</song>
I will just sit back now and see how this "hand" plays out.
thanks for the insights.
