advice Got some interested parties for selling a domain

[nish20111]

Hey, so I need some advice, usually I always wait for an offer to come in for my domains as it gives me a better sale price, however this time, as there where at-least two big end users for a domain I own, I thought I will email a couple of companies to see if they are interested, so one has gotten back to me, and other big one I think should hopefully get back to me aswell, and maybe a couple of other smaller companies will also.

So this is my first time dealing with negotiations that I started, for strategy, I was thinking of either getting both companies to make their offers and I would act as an intermediate going back and forth, but not sure if they would find this annoying, and maybe it will lack transparency so they might doubt my integrity and question whether this other offer actually exists, or

I could go with asking both companies to make the absolute maximum offer that they would be willing to buy the domain for

or

do you think if there are multiple clients who are interested it would be better running an auction, I was thinking if running an auction, ebay would be cheapest and payment via escrow, as I believe ebay has a max fee of £75, as I don't want to pay excessive fee's to flippa or sedo, when I found the end users, or do is there any other cheap auction platform.

So what would be the best method of approach, or do you guys have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance, all advice will be appreciated.

 

[infosec3]

Hi,

On your initial paragraph, you indicate that you received a response, but then assume that several others will respond too. I am not sure why you reach this conclussion.

In any event, I think quoting a price is your best option. Just make an educated valuation that takes into consideration the following factors:

1. How much is this name really worth based on similar sales reported?
2. How much could the company that responded pay for a name like this?
3. Do I need to make a sale, even if it is not for the best amount, because I need the money right now or because I would like to boost my confidence in my ability to close a deal?

And so forth...

 

[Vinod R]

I would suggest that you start an auction in sites like ebay,gd,sedo, flippa etc of your choice, and inform both the companies that its for auction and they can bid for the name, you may email many other companies in the same niche and ask them to join the auction. This would make sure that the parties competes and you would get a better price.

 

[Domainace]

Assuming more than one serious response, you could:

1- Simply tell each party that others are interested and see who can make the best offer. Give them a chance to top the highest offer. The drawback here is that they may think you are bluffing.

2- Put it up for public auction, and tell them to go to it. The drawback here is that they might get annoyed by this tactic and lose interest altogether.

3- Tell them there are others interested, accept their bids and counter above everyone. See who moves the closest to your desired price.

I wouldn't advise the auction route. It might work, but I would be annoyed by someone inviting me to buy a name and then shifting it to an auction. People often walk away from otherwise attractive deals if they feel they are being played with.

 

[nish20111]

The domain is a generic word in another language, and there are two global companies who own "word" in many cctld extensions, and many companies who own "wordxxxxx".com, and I own "word".com, so for global presence the domain is kind of key to a lot of them, and I think most of them would be prepared to buy it, i got a call back from another company who emailed aswell, just waiting for the other big one to get back to me, but I might just phone them directly, I am not really too fussed about making money, as its more of a hobby, and the domain is good enough that I don't mind keeping it for myself. I think 3 seems like the best option, and I will simply ask them all to make an offer, and then if there are offers that are close, i will just ask them to make the maxmium offer they can, and they domain will be given to whomever makes the largest offer, and that way, I think i would get max price for domain.

 

[DomainVP]

I think 3 seems like the best option, and I will simply ask them all to make an offer, and then if there are offers that are close, i will just ask them to make the maxmium offer they can, and they domain will be given to whomever makes the largest offer, and that way, I think i would get max price for domain.

and what happens when they both play coy and offer you $400?

Tell them your price, if they don't like it then suggest a counter offer (if they haven't made one).

Nobody is just going to offer you up large sums of money. Contacting end users is a battle, you have to quickly get them interested and then close the deal at a price you are okay with.

If they don't counter with something you are okay with, then just politely thank them for their time, add another year onto the domain registration, and then move onto the next name.

I got a 500 EUR offer for a short name that is used by multiple companies in the .com and cc.TLD namespace. I replied with, "Thank you for your time, but I am not interested in selling it at this point since we are actively using this site." Now they know my sale price "if" they are interested in the future; and they will be. They've got a whole new year of registration to sit through while they hope I drop the name.

 

[nish20111]

and what happens when they both play coy and offer you $400?

Tell them your price, if they don't like it then suggest a counter offer (if they haven't made one).

Nobody is just going to offer you up large sums of money. Contacting end users is a battle, you have to quickly get them interested and then close the deal at a price you are okay with.

If they don't counter with something you are okay with, then just politely thank them for their time, add another year onto the domain registration, and then move onto the next name.

I got a 500 EUR offer for a short name that is used by multiple companies in the .com and cc.TLD namespace. I replied with, "Thank you for your time, but I am not interested in selling it at this point since we are actively using this site." Now they know my sale price "if" they are interested in the future; and they will be. They've got a whole new year of registration to sit through while they hope I drop the name.

Ah i see, what I did is, I just called back one of the companies that called me, and the assistant asked, what sort of prices that people usually pay for these domains etc, I said it was a generic and that we are expecting prices in the 5 digits USD, and she asked for some other details etc, and said she let her boss know, yeah I do understand the large amount of money thing, i forgot to mention, I do always mention a range I am expecting. She did also ask for a time frame, as I said we are getting offers from multiple companies, and will select the best offer in like a weeks time.

 

[DomainVP]

That's a pretty decent way to handle it; talking to the assistant is a new one for me. I make it a point to only communicate with decision makers of companies, and I try not to play the 'x figure range' game with them. Their time is important, and so is mine. I usually give them a price point, they haggle, we come to an agreement... escrow... done.

Good luck, I hope it comes through for you - great way to start off 2015!

Cheers!

 

[nish20111]

I usually do that, but this is the first time I have more than one client who wants to buy the domain, so I thought the best way to maximize profits and be fair, would be to ask them all to make offers, as if they all want the domain, and I set a bin which two of the companies could afford, it wouldn't be right for one company to miss out an the opportunity to have the domain, just because they were later to reply (+ I would miss out on profit), which is also why I said in a weeks time, as I do think it would take them some time to asses if they need this domain and what they are prepared to pay.

and usually I prefer to talk directly to the business decision makers, but sometimes these people can be very busy, though for me as long the decision maker gets the message, it should be okay.

Thanks