Sales advice needed (contacted by end-user)...

[Daem0n]

Ok, so I know people always ask for advice on sales but I think this is a little different. I was contacted by a web company out of the US (I live in Canada). They have a client who is interested in a domain name. The client told the web company "I want suchandsuchadomain.com". It turns out that I registered this domain about 3 years ago because I thought it would make a great ticket sales site (to sell sporting tickets, opera tickets, whatever). Anyhow it turns out that this client has a slogan that IS the name of my domain. I've checked online and it doesn't look like anyone has this slogan...or not in wide-use right now anyway and, definitely not here in Canada.

So this web company contacted me through my WHOIS information on the domain and told me about their client and how they are interested in the domain. They also asked me what my plans were for the domain. I told them that I had development plans for a long time about creating a "ticketing portal" website and just hadn't gotten around to it yet (which is the truth). Anyhow I told them that I might be interested in selling the domain if it was worth my while. The web company wanted a ball-park figure to go back to their client with. I don't know too much about the client other than I'm sure they would really like this domain.

How do I evaluate what ball-park figure to provide them with? I am good at evaluating a domain's potential but have never had to figure out what a domain is worth to a particular company. I know this domain is easily worth about $1k min. to me for future use (if I can successfully use the name for marketing). Any ideas for valuation?

Thanks for any help! If you need more details, let me know and maybe I can fill them in. Obviously I didn't want to post the particular domain in question because of search terms.

Thanks!

 

[jdk]

I would let them make an offer. You can then go and purchase a professional appraisal that you can use to counter their offer. Most buyers will throw a lowball offer to see if the seller will bite.

 

[Johnn]

You need to know the enemy before starting a fight. In business you have to know the budget before starting negotiation.
1. Do not show them that you are interested in selling the name
2. Asking for a budget - Most companies would set a budget a side before buying - without knowing the budget, you are going no where. Your asking price may be too high.low
3. Be patient when dealing with end users - they are not online all the time like us. It may takes days or even weeks.

 

[Daem0n]

Ok thanks a lot for both of your replies. I will put the ball back in their court and try to find out what kind of budget they're working with. I didn't mention to them that I'm a "domainer" or really interested in selling so nothing lost on that front yet. I'll let you guys know on what comes from it.

 

[copper]

Forget you are a domainer for a moment.
Let's say you want to start a business that sells tickets online.
You already have slogan in mind and found exact slogan term domain name.
How much would YOU be willing to spend to get it if it's going to be your main business?

 

[DomainBELL]

you could stick it on SEDO with a Minimum Offer amount of $1k

and give that link to the host to give to the buyer...

surely the host would be familiar with how SEDO works...

Sometimes a host knowing their buyers budget will try to get it for as cheap
as possible from you... and then resell it higher - knowing their buyers budget
was all along higher...

~DomainBELL (Patricia)

 

[Deleted member 70408]

They may try to claim first use of the slogan, and if you say that you'll sell the name, they could file a UDRP and claim that you registered it in bad faith. I would tell them that you aren't interested in selling it. Since their client is using the slogan, they need the domain name and will make you an offer.

If it's a decent domain name and worth a decent amount, contact an attorney who specializes in this (Brett Lewis or John Berryhill for example) and make sure you don't say anything that could get you in hot water.

 

[LHofTHD]

Agree with EJS, depending on how long they've been using or publishing their "slogan" it could be a TM issue. Maybe try the USPTO online search tool.

 

[AustinWeb]

I see a practical approach and a profit minded approach to this issue.

1) If you have been sitting on the domain for 3 years with "plans" to develop it, you have to face facts that you are either too busy or not motivated enough to follow through. That wasn't an intended insult, it just reflects a little truth that affects all of us. We get great ideas and then never quite find the time to develop all of them. A quick, reasonable profit means you can use the cash for renewing domains or other expenses.

2) Push the envelope a bit. If the site isn't developed, put up a quick RSS news page to attract attention and watch your stats to see what sort of traffic you get. If the phrase isn't trademarked and really isn't a common, public domain type expression, file the paperwork yourself. You can prove 3 years of use with the domain registration being your historical record. This gives you a package to sell that includes the domain, moderate initial traffic AND the trademark. You'll touch a nerve and make them think about their business rather than focus on bickering over the price of a domain.

Let's face it, the consulting company is probably looking at developing the site AND marking up the domain price for a quick side profit. When dealing with a trademark, you force the issue and have to deal directly with the client. (I hear boos & hisses from the crowd because I cut out the middleman profit.) Like I said, this is pushing the envelope. You can turn a $1k domain sale into a $5k package that has a direct impact on their business.

If you have the knowledge and experience, you can take it one step farther and set yourself up as their web marketing consultant.


---
Domaining, expand your market, increase your profits.

 

[petrosc]

They may try to claim first use of the slogan, and if you say that you'll sell the name, they could file a UDRP and claim that you registered it in bad faith. I would tell them that you aren't interested in selling it. Since their client is using the slogan, they need the domain name and will make you an offer.

If it's a decent domain name and worth a decent amount, contact an attorney who specializes in this (Brett Lewis or John Berryhill for example) and make sure you don't say anything that could get you in hot water.

Elliot gave you some good advice here, I completely agree

 

[Daem0n]

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm not too worried about a UDRP because of a few reasons. I am in Canada and can easily make the domain useful to a company here even if they are using that slogan in their state. I can also say that as far as I know that company has not had a web-presence for the last three years, where I have with other domains. It turns out that my page wasn't even parked, so it doesn't look too malicious (since they contacted me first). And lastly, I've found out that the domain is a phrase or "term" that can be used for quite a few other business ventures (and currently is)...so those would be facts used in my case. Plus, a UDRP would be about $5k+ right?...so would it be worth it for this company to do that if I'm willing to sell the domain below that amount? ...Anyhow, just some ideas against a UDRP.

I received an offer from them that I think is too low (not extremely bad though) as well they mentioned that the client has found another URL in the meantime (they said this at the same time as their offer for my domain...so obviously the other domain isn't that great)...which I think is a bluff anyway. So my thought now is to valuate this domain to how much income of a company of this magnitude would make...or even myself. I've said to myself that this domain is worth about $3k+ at this point. I would be happy with anything over $2.5k for myself. I think that is a very reasonable amount for most companies to pay, especially when it comes to marketing. You have to think that not only is a good domain easy for people to remember and relates to your business but also saves you future marketing costs. How do you valuate a domain in terms of selling to a company?

It's has to be a formula that's very different for a multi-million dollar company compared to a mom-and-pop company....?