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Is buying domain names of established companies a legitimate way to go about things

by asc
9 replies
Firstly, I have never done any site or domain flipping and know very little of it, but it is something I am considering investing some time in looking into.

My question is - is this an acceptable method, both legally and morally. Find a company, go and register their domain...something quite specific like 'whitfield flooring and co', something that I have obviously bought just to try and tout to them specifically. So buy the .com domain, then get in touch asking if they would like to make me an offer for the domain.

This is sort of the top of my head, but maybe this is already a bone-fide technique? Or wrong on lots of levels.

Any thoughts or guidance would be appreciated

A.
#buying #companies #domain #established #legitimate #names #things
  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    ethically nope :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author asc
      Originally Posted by Danny Cutts View Post

      ethically nope :-)
      Yes I think I have to agree. Just thinking of a method and this came to mind. Checked out some new businesses and the .coms were available...but yes it doesn't ethically seem like a good way to do business. But on the other hand there is potential to get some sales....
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      • Profile picture of the author Shane N
        Originally Posted by asc View Post

        ...but yes it doesn't ethically seem like a good way to do business. But on the other hand there is potential to get some sales....
        While you might get some sales, you're more likely to have people looking at you as though you are some sort of fly-by-night scam artist, even though you'd actually own the domain names.

        This sounds an awful lot like "Cybersquatting" and it's generally frowned upon in this industry.

        What if you were putting together an ebook called "The Domain Stealing Method" and I were to go register TheDomainStealingMethod.com and then came and offered it to you for sale? After you know I just registered it for $10 (or less) for the sole purpose of selling it to you... Would you "happily" do business with me?

        Best,
        Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
    I would advise against that plan. I tried it myself in my earlier days of domaining, and not only is it a gamble that will leave you with a lot of useless domains (not many companies, if any, will buy from you), but you risk having a company file legal action against you as well.

    Basically, it will make you look like a scoundrel to a lot of companies.

    Now, let's say you purchased a domain that was obviously related to what a company offers as a product or service, and geo targeted, and developed that website to get it ranked high on Google search results...you could do a lot with that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shane N
      Originally Posted by Joan Altz View Post

      ...
      Now, let's say you purchased a domain that was obviously related to what a company offers as a product or service, and geo targeted, and developed that website to get it ranked high on Google search results...you could do a lot with that.
      Now we're talking! That's a whole different story and perhaps a much better idea if the OP is still intending to approach this type of method.

      For example, "Company ABC" sells roof tiles at wholesale prices:

      Instead of purchasing "CompanyABC.com" and trying to sell them their own name...

      You could purchase a domain name such as "WholesaleRoofTiles.com" and see if they would be interesting in owning some valuable "online real estate." Then, they might actually take you seriously and consider your opportunity, as opposed to getting very angry and possibly even suing you.

      You could even go on to build a basic site on the domain name and populate it with some content (a couple articles) and try to sell the website to them instead of just the domain name... For more money of course. If they're not interested, now you have a [generic] website in that niche that you could offer to ANY business that offers the same (or similar) thing that they do.

      I still don't think it's the best business model, but this version is a lot better than the original "idea."

      Best,
      Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author asc
    Agreed, shake that thought away then. Thanks for the input!
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  • Profile picture of the author asc
    No, not considering pursuing! But I am glad that someone else at least considered it (Joan, you say you gave it a shot when you started 'domaining', and nice to know why it didn't work also). Yes I did consider the fact that many might not buy and I would be stuck with a lot of useless domains, but that the buyers might have outweighed that concern.

    I do like the idea of getting some similar named ones, ranking them for local terms, adding some content on a wp theme so it has more value - then approaching somebody, and the thought of keeping it more generic so there is much more scope to play with.

    Thanks

    A.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    Yep I do that for example you could buy Newyorklawyers.com and then rent it out to teh highest bidder once it is ranking :-)

    I have a couple of sites that I do this to :-) Although I cant be bothered to deal with clients these days so I dont see it as a business :-)

    Danny
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