Thinking of buying a domain and wonder about using a domain name broker

Anyone have any experience using a broker?

[gecko1]

I am interested in purchasing a particular website. I have tried emailing the owner but haven't been able to get a response from them.

The site hasn't been updated for years. I was thinking of trying a "domain broker".

Has anyone had any luck using these kinds of services?

I wonder if there is any other way I could contact the owner.

[Webwork]

Never used one. I've been approached by several people who could legitimately call themselves brokers - looking to act as an intermediary and proactively find buyers for some of my domains. Politely declined.

In the vast majority of domain transactions I'd suggest using a broker would be unnecessary. However, if you are in the hunt for what might properly be described as a "top shelf domain" ($100,000+) you might consider working with an experienced person.

Ways to contact current owner:

• Telephone
  
• Snail mail
  
• Email with subject line: "Offer to buy your website"
  
• Contact domain registrar, by snail mail, including a postage prepaid unaddressed envelope, asking the registrar to forward the letter to any billing address not reflected in the WhoIs
  
• Use your imagination

Use Archive.org to see if the contact info for the website has changed over the years.

Using a broker? Why do you think you need someone else to act on your behalf? Unless it's a website/domain that you are prepared to pay >$2,500 I'd keep it simple and suggest you handle it yourself. Alternatively, if you're not comforable "doing business", then I'd solicit a competent friend to handle the negotiations.

Anyone can act as an intermediary - a "broker" by another name - so long as they are trustworthy, experienced with the subject matter (domains) and have communication and negotiation skills.

[jtara]

A private investigator would be more useful than a broker...

I second the idea of using the archive.org Wayback Machine. You could dig up an old but still-usable email address, a postal address, a phone number, etc.