Dealing with an unrealistic domain name owner

[burgerman]

Have you ever encountered an unrealistic domain name owner who asked for too high a price for a domain that you wanted to buy from him or her? I'm not talking about a case where the domain is really worth what he's asking for and your bid would be considered too low by most other domainers.

The situation I'm talking about is where the domain is worth about $400 but the owner is asking for $30,000.

How do you politely convince the owner it's not worth that much? Do you have any success stories you can share with us?

Thanks

 

[A D]

We are all unrealistic domain owners

The real answer is if th seller is not motivated, you are probably wasting your time and they are waiting out an offer that may never come.

-=DCG=-

 

[katherine]

The situation I'm talking about is where the domain is worth about $400 but the owner is asking for $30,000.

I feel your pain. I recently was in a similar situation, having bid $400 while the guy wants $150,000, then he would close the Sedo negotiation thread

Try to find comparable sales and forward figures to the seller. Also point out to them that only a tiny fraction of domains actually sell for 30K+ and they should be pretty generic. Check out dnsaleprice.com & dnjournal.com for figures.
IMO the reported domain sales are possibly the best domain benchmark there is - they reflect actual market trends, what people are paying for domain names.

 

[DomainLobe]

As DCG pointed out many DN investors do not need to sell and are holding out for a home run.

 

[BELLC1]

For auctions where someone offers $60 for my domains, I immediately jack up the price several thousand just because they are wasting my time.

I'm one of those proud domain owners.

 

[Raider]

The more interest you show in the domain, the more your telling the owner you really want it... I would tell him that you can only afford to pay $400, make up a hardship story, If he responds back and says no, Reply back and say if you change your mind, please let me know... Keep that window open, and be nice and polite. Then sit back and wait, It takes time for some sellers to come down to reality.

 

[Theo]

I've had all of the following: lowball offers, hardship stories, threats, lame excuses and - eventually - a decent offer. I'd take a decent offer any time than try to convince someone - who thinks they are entitled to the domain for "reg fee" - what the domain really is worth.

 

[hina]

The more interest you show in the domain, the more your telling the owner you really want it... I would tell him that you can only afford to pay $400, make up a hardship story, If he responds back and says no, Reply back and say if you change your mind, please let me know... Keep that window open, and be nice and polite. Then sit back and wait, It takes time for some sellers to come down to reality.

This is a very good advice.

And as DCG said, if the motivation isn't there, the "unrealistic price" will stay... So you have to "motivate" them to sell

 

[DomainsInc]

Chances are $400 is nothing to them and would be pointless to sell at such an amount. You're wasting your time.

 

[DomainMagnate]

yeah happens all the time, move on

 

[dominator]

if you paid $100 just to register the domain in 1997, then offers like $400 are only offending

 

[Nodnarb]

I've been acquiring domains since 1998. I would conservatively value my names today in the 6 figure range, collectively. In many cases, I may already have $50-$70 worth of acquisition, registration and renewal fees invested, and sometimes considerably more. What's another year's worth of $7 or $8 renewal fee, compared to an offer where my return on investment may be in the single digits?

If I can't sell a name for a figure that would put me on the following week's DNJournal chart, I'd rather pay the renewal fee.

I don't buy domain names so I can earn less than a bank CD would pay me. I think that's pretty realistic.

 

[Theo]

Well-said
Especially since renewal fees are expenses in the eyes of the taxman.

 

[draggar]

6-7 years ago I offered to buy Draggar.com from someone. They wanted $25,000 for it.
Um, no. Especially since back then if you did a Google search for Draggar 99% of the results were me. (Plus I've been known as "Draggar" since the mid 1990s)

Last year I settled for the .net, .org, .info, and .us.

I was so close to getting into domaining back then, too. Now I wish I did start back then.

 

[Theo]

Ed, I thought you were 65 years old

 

[draggar]

*lol* No where near that thank god. Form what I see, I am kinda middle aged here. A lot of people older than I am and a lot that are younger.

Too bad draggar.com is being used (poorly, IMO), too, but it is on my watch list.

 

[DNBA]

you can ask them to get an appraisal from a ligit company. or show them comps that prove them wrong for asking a high price. but i do get annoyed when people offer me $20 for a domain name that has way more value. i got offered $80 for a 2 letter domain. lol

 

[Theo]

i got offered $80 for a 2 letter domain. lol

That's forty bucks per letter, or about two mid-size car's tanks of gas

 

[Raider]

Chances are $400 is nothing to them and would be pointless to sell at such an amount. You're wasting your time.

Depends on the domain and who your dealing with, in this case we dont know.. I would research the owner and try to size him up, If his portfolio is crap, then he likely hasn't made any sales, So a $400 offer might look real good after a while.

 

[Theo]

People need to ask what they (objectively) know their domain is worth, not base its pricing on some arrogant lowball offer that they received anonymously. I play the waiting game; time is on my side: you cannot get com/net/org's registered years ago anymore. These lowballing idiots have to settle for a crappy TLD (someone even told me via Sedo's messaging that they offer $100/last offer as they already got the .in for $19 LOL) or pay the fair market value for the domain. My business is based on this principle; otherwise I might as well run a non-profit !