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What's the best way to buy a domain name that is occupied?

by Preben Frenning
11 replies
There are a few domain names I want really bad, but they are already occupied.

I used the whois check at findmypagerank.com/whois.php and emailed the owner.

He told me the domain wasn't for sale, and I replied "What if I told you I was willing to give $500-$1000 for it?" And he told me it was worth many times more.

It was a domain with only advertising on it, and it had been registered for several years.

When I first took contact, I simply said:

"Hey there!

I just have a question...
How much do you want for your domain, xxx.xxx?

Thanks,
- Preben"

Now I don't want to blow it with the other 2.

One of them is for a friends company.
She has a lot to invest, so she is willing to use quite a big amount on it.
It's a one-page useless website, which has got almost no traffic.

But it's a good domain name.

The last one, is one for myself, which is for my business.
I don't really need it yet, and I don't have that much to offer yet.
But it would be great to at least get a price for it, and maybe I'll buy it when I can afford it.

So what are your suggestions?

Should I ask in another way? Say something different?

A ready-made "I-want-to-buy-your-domain-name-please-tell-me-a-price" email would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
- Preben
#buy #buy domain name #desired domain #domain #find domain name #how to buy domain #occupied
  • Profile picture of the author Derek Pankaew
    Hey Preben,

    Generally if you're approaching someone who's not actively marketing the domain, you'll probably end up paying a lot more than $500-1K for the name IMO.

    I think you're pretty much going about it the right way. Send them an email with an offer or ask for a price. If the owner really feels it's worth a lot more than you're willing to offer, you'll probably have a hard time convincing him to let it go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Johnson
    Below is the basic template I use for an initial e-mail. In my experience, a good rule of thumb would be to make your initial offer about half of what you would ultimately be willing to pay for it. Also, keep in mind that you might get a better response from some domain owners if you simply contact them by phone - if the domain is a good one, chances are the owner gets a decent number of e-mails from people wanting to buy it, and by picking up the phone you could set yourself apart from the pack.

    Dear sir,

    I recently came across the domain [domain name], and I noticed that there is only advertising on the domain. I found your email address by looking up the domain's whois record. I would like to enquire if you are intending to keep the domain or if you would be willing to part with it. I am interested in the domain and would like to develop it as a [blank] site. I would like to offer you $[reasonable offer] to purchase the domain from you. Please contact me if you have any interest in selling your domain.


    Regards, ________
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  • Profile picture of the author anwayne
    I think you should look for another good name for your domain if they will not sell it. You did all you could, maybe you can get it like .org and not .com just a thought. Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author Preben Frenning
    You're right.
    If he's not trying to sell it, it will need a lot of cash and convincing for him to do it.

    I just thought it was strange that it was absolutely nothing on it, when he's had it since march 1999.

    But when it's a domain with only 3 letters in it, and it's a .com it will probably be extremely expensive.

    I'll try to get .net or .org of that domain in that case.
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    • Profile picture of the author jasdon
      Originally Posted by Preben Frenning View Post

      You're right.
      If he's not trying to sell it, it will need a lot of cash and convincing for him to do it.

      I just thought it was strange that it was absolutely nothing on it, when he's had it since march 1999.

      But when it's a domain with only 3 letters in it, and it's a .com it will probably be extremely expensive.

      I'll try to get .net or .org of that domain in that case.

      A LLL.com (three letter .com) is minimum $3,500 at the moment, and that's if it's got all lower value letters. Good letters and we're talking $7k plus all the way upto six figures. Any owner of a LLL.com has been contacted many times about selling the domain.

      The advice below relates to domains in general - not the afore mentioned LLL.com

      Generally, when searching for ownership of a name, use domaintools.com - this will tell you how many other names the owner has; anything over 300 and the guys probably a domainer. Look to see if the name is listed for sale on sedo.com tdnam.com afternic.com - it could be listed on one of these for less than the owner would ask from a buyer that approaches them. Also check to see when the domain expires; it may be that they are going to drop the name instead of renewing it, in which case you can get it for very little.

      If you really want the name, expect to have to pay for it. I regularly reject three and four figure offers on names, even ones that get little or no traffic, because to me they are worth more, and sooner or later I'll get the price I want for them, or use them in the way I intended when I bought them. That said, I've also bought names for much less than I expected to - just keep all emails upbeat and polite.

      One last thing I'd say; once you reach your $ limit, if the buyer's not selling, leave it for a couple of weeks and then get back to them with something like;
      "I know you said you couldn't sell the name for $xxxx when we last spoke, but before I go ahead and buy another name, I just thought I'd try one last time..."

      Hope this helps.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
        Originally Posted by jasdon View Post

        If you really want the name, expect to have to pay for it. I regularly reject three and four figure offers on names, even ones that get little or no traffic, because to me they are worth more, and sooner or later I'll get the price I want for them, or use them in the way I intended when I bought them.
        Ditto. Well, except that I haven't gotten any four figure offers for any of my domains.

        I get ones that'll offer $50 or $100. I don't even respond to those. Most of my domains have cost me more than that in domain name registrations and renewals, so I'm not going to let them go for some low-ball amount.

        I buy domain names with the intention of one day building a site on them, so I don't consider myself a domain flipper. So, I would likely only give serious consideration to a minimum offer in 4 figures, but preferably 5. My thinking is that, if someone has such a great idea for one of my specific domain names, then they should be able to recoup that payout in short order, right?

        On the other side of the coin, there was another domain name & website that I wanted. I sent them a letter offering to buy the site from them, or trade one of my other sites (which seemed more in line with the other sites they ran). I don't remember what I offered. I think it was under $500.

        I never heard anything from them. But, I grabbed the domain when it expired and became available a few months later.

        People have a different mentality when buying versus selling things. I think someone here posted a link to an article on that a couple weeks ago. Anyway, so what you're up against is this... Someone may think that their domain name is worth a couple thousand dollars if they were to sell it, but that same person might think the domain name isn't worth keeping if they need to spend another $10 to hold on to it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Preben Frenning
    Good idea about calling him. I've been a phone seller for 2 months, and a salesman for 2 years, so that might work ;o)

    I haven't spoken english in my salespitches though, but I'm quite good at convincing anyways.

    I might try that out for the other domains.
    And I finally got contact with one of the guys, and offered him $4,000 for his domain. Exciting to see how that ends!

    Thank you for good replies folks!
    - Preben
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  • Profile picture of the author Derek Pankaew
    Oh ... Dude, a 3 character is a different story. If it's all letters, you're looking at $10,000 to $40,000 at least.

    If it's numbers and letters the value is a lot lower. (Low hundreds.) But 3 letter domains are definitely five figures.
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  • Profile picture of the author dennishardy
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Derek Pankaew
      Originally Posted by dennishardy View Post

      Derek,

      I've had 21g.com sitting around for years doing very little. It's sort of a mirror site of some others.

      What do you think it would be worth?

      Dennis
      $150-$250 for reseller. (ie. Selling on eBay, NamePros, DNforum, etc.)

      Low thousands for end user. $1K-5K. By end user, I mean someone who'll actually use your domain. Sites like these:

      www.21-grams.com
      21grams

      Otherwise, less than $300.
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  • Profile picture of the author Preben Frenning
    Doh!
    Then I'll wait for the other site to make a lot of money to get it. But it will probably be a lot more expensive when I have an established website on the same domain, except it's .org or .net.

    It needs to be a premium extension for it to be successful.
    It's not just some niche site, but a website like digg.com etc.(Different concept than digg, but a social media site)

    Looks like I have a better chance for the other ones - 9 letter .com with nothing on it yet.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anna Johnson
    Hi Preben,

    I started replying to you... and then it became an essay... and then it became a rather long, 1,485 word essay! And in the meantime you already got a ton of good replies!

    So... rather than overstay my welcome in this thread, you can read my reply (now in the form of two articles on my blog) here: Tips For Making an Offer On a Domain Name (Part 2 will be published tomorrow).

    Otherwise, here are my thoughts on your particular question:

    1. Avoid generic emails! Write emails that are sincere and shows that you are legitimate, and that you are genuinely interested in the domain name holder's domain name. But... don't sound too eager. Say something like 'this is one of a few domains I'm interested in for a new business idea'.

    2. Do your research. Don't just work out what the domain is worth to you, but also what you think it's worth to the domain name holder. You want to get an understanding of what they may be willing to accept.

    3. If you get 'stonewalled' via email, call them up on the telephone.

    Anna
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