BuyDomains wants to Buy Your Portfolio! So, I wrote them....!

[JuniperPark]

On their web site's front page, buy domains has a form for those wanted to sell a portfolio. So I think, what the heck -- I fill out the form, indicate I habe about 12,000 domains, about 4,000 are .com, about 7,000 .info, and since their little form box would explode if I pasted in 12,000 domains, I gave them about 15 example names. These included names like Dine.info, Menu.info, Contest.info, Advertise.info etc.

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-----Original Message-----
From: **** *** [mailto: ******@namemedia.com]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 8:00 AM
To: *************
Subject: RE: Portfolio Sales Offer - Response


Dear *** ******,

Our analyst has reviewed your domains.

BuyDomains is prepared to offer you;

RnR.com - $3,850.
photobrokers.com - $60
photographs.info - $150
equity.info - $125
brokerage.info - $125

Will this meet with your approval?

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards,

Len

BuyDomains/NameMedia, Inc

[email protected]
www.namemedia.com
www.buydomains.com

============================================

My reply:

**** --

I'm absolutely amazed that BuyDomains is completely unaware of current domain pricing!

As an analyst, you really should read the weekly sales columns at DNJournal.com, Sedo.com, and the various forums to stay in touch with pricing trends.

It might also do you well to look at the pricing on BuyDomains.com. Here are some examples (or 'comps') from BuyDomains.com:

PhotoMarketplace.info $2,000.00 (yet you valued photographs.info at $150)?

EIA.com $375,000.00
BTR.com $228,000.00 (yet you value RNR.com at $3,850)

AskStockbroker.info $10,000.00 (yet you value brokerage.info at $150)

UpAndRunning.info $588 (you valued RUN.INFO at $0)

SellPhoto.com $19,875.00 (you valued photobrokers.com - $60)

I have to assume that you're new in the business, so I would invite you to not only read the domains sales venues and participate in the conferences such as Pubcon and Traffic. You might also consider joining real, experienced domainers at DNForum.com

On the other hand, if you're serious about these offers, that would put the total value of BuyDomains.com's inventory at about $10,000. Would you be willing to stand behind your valuations sell me the entire BuyDomains.com inventory for $10,000?

Regards

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Anything I should add? Do you think I will end up owning the BuyDomains.com portfolio later today?

 

[Johnn]

Why don't you register LowballKing.com and LowballQueen.com and send to them to see how much they will offer?

 

[GAMEFINEST]

Haha, they have to make some money too..

 

[Theo]

They are not called B "F" D for no reason.

 

[Bender]

you valued RUN.INFO at $0

I guess they should call themselves SellDomains

 

[Fearless]

Buy Low Sell High

 

[dodo1]

I'm sure they're aware of domain pricing. But they get contacted by so many domain owners who want to sell their domain names that they surely get some good deals by making low offers.

You should be able to get better offers from them if you're willing to negotiate.

 

[namestrands]

That truly is taking lowballing to a whole new level.

I would of replied back with an MP3 of a laughing crowd.

 

[muris]

They have people on staff not like most of us here -
They can't afford to buy at market price so they have to go 10-100 times lower to make a good profit.
Looks like it's working well for them.

 

[ShaunP]

Or maybe they are realistic?

 

[stuff]

What where you hoping then? That they pay you dnjournal prices?

 

[petrosc]

I see nothing wrong with their practice. The whole point of the reseller market is to try to buy for as low as possible and sell for as high as possible. They are just doing their business in a profitable way. Of course you and I may not like it when we get lowballed, but we can always reply the way you did and set things straight(or just ignore them). That is them doing their job and us doing ours

 

[Raider]

That truly is taking lowballing to a whole new level.

I dont think there any different from New car dealers, dealers that offer below LOW bluebook.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Haha, they have to make some money too..

Yeah, but they don't have to take your trousers down.

 

[ShaunP]

And what are YOU prepared to pay for;

photobrokers.com
photographs.info
equity.info
brokerage.info

 

[Dale Hubbard]

And what are YOU prepared to pay for;

photobrokers.com
photographs.info
equity.info
brokerage.info

Who -- me?

 

[barefoot]

Anything I should add? Do you think I will end up owning the BuyDomains.com portfolio later today?

Len at BD is probably laughing his rear end off at your email, and forwarding it to all his co-workers. Especially the part about being "new in the business".

While it IS funny that they'd offer you $150 for a fine name like Photographs.info, in their minds you might accept their offer and if you did, someone at BD would get a pat on the back for a job well done. They don't know that you're well aware of current domain valuation yourself. But it really doesn't matter. The $150 offer is simply a starting point for negotiations. You counter with something else, then they come back, and on and on it goes, just like at SEDO or wherever. It's business. If you don't like where the negotiation is going, that's cool -- just walk away. If they say they can't offer you any more for your domains, thank them for their time and walk away. No big deal. "No sale today."

The people working at BD surely don't have any emotional attachment to the domains they're buying on behalf of the company. They're employees working within a budget and need to keep their buying costs as low as possible. I'm sure they're told to buy as low as possible, and then sell as high as possible.

If YOU had the chance to buy Photographs.info for $150, would you instead tell the seller that it's worth a lot more than $150 and that you should be paying a lot more for it? No, I'll bet you wouldn't. I'll bet you'd have that $150 payment to them as quickly as possible.

I'm sure we'd ALL love to buy as low as possible and then sell as high as possible. Wouldn't we?

 

[JuniperPark]

I know -- and I was kinda having fun with them.

FYI, for those asking what is expected, a general rule of them in the 'real product world' is about a 60/40 split, where the manufacturer gets 60% of end user sale price, and 40% to the distributor/marketer/seller. BuyDomains seems to be doing a 0.5/99.5 split.

To answer an early post, I think many DNJournal sale prices for newer TLDs really are 'wholesale', because the market has not yet matured, and we'll see those prices skyrocket over time when 'end users' move into the segment and the .mobi and .tv promotional blitz has run its course.

 

[DomainFatigue]

Depends on the market. About 20 years back I worked in NY's jewelry industry. There were plenty of jewelers then and today who buy used/estate jewelry from others at scrap gold prices, only to turn around, polish up, and sell the pieces at a major profit. For example, someone came into the shop I worked for with an antique 18K gold pendant. The owner weighed it, calculated the gold value at 75% (.750), and paid the person $40.00 for the scrap gold. Once they left, he put it on the buffer and listed it for sale at $950. And that was one of the smaller deals I remember. This happens all the time. It's called business. Today I am told they are a tad smarter and will either resell them to wholesalers or list them at another jeweler's shop...

 

[katherine]

BD is in the business for the same reasons as us but on a larger scale. They are not looking for a bargain, they are looking for a steal
At least their offer on your LLL .com was a good starting point. Last time I heard they were buying LLL .com in bulk for $25 :lol:
BD is like a pawnshop, convenient when you need some quick cash but not a fair deal. They need to make a margin after all and don't have to tell you the fair market value for your names.