Scary Domain Sales

[xecutech]

It's been a couple of years since I have bought and sold any domain names, but it appears some things have changed. I keep reading horror stories of companies suing people for their domain names.

I used to offer to sell names in my portfolio to companies, and did well, but now I am almost scared to mention it!

How do you sell a domain now days without looking like you're trying to hold the name for a ransom?

What if you owned a name before it was trademarked?

On another note. I noticed that wifi.com was listed for sale for over 2 million, and had wondered why it was not sold to a big telecom company. Is no one buying it because of tm issues, or is it over priced?

 

[katherine]

It's risky to sell a domain to a company when it happens to be their trade name.
Having owned the name for years, before they were established or had a TM = you may be safe (depending on how you use it).
Reaching out to them to pitch the domain = could be used against you to establish bad faith. As a rule you are in a better position when they come to you, because you didn't ask anything and it's not like you are begging for them to buy the domain.
Solution: prefer more generic domains.

 

[xecutech]

Thank you Katherine. So it would appear the game has changed as much as I thought.

I had considered placing them on sedo with a reserve price, or maybe an auction, but in no rush to sell.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

It's been a couple of years since I have bought and sold any domain names, but it appears some things have changed. I keep reading horror stories of companies suing people for their domain names.

I used to offer to sell names in my portfolio to companies, and did well, but now I am almost scared to mention it!

How do you sell a domain now days without looking like you're trying to hold the name for a ransom?

What if you owned a name before it was trademarked?

On another note. I noticed that wifi.com was listed for sale for over 2 million, and had wondered why it was not sold to a big telecom company. Is no one buying it because of tm issues, or is it over priced?

The best solution is to get a legitimate use.

 

[xecutech]

Define legitimate please? I have a site up now, but it's a blog. Should I just keep updating it and using it more?

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

Legitimate: a use whereby you could possibly qualify for your own trademark.