Help Negotiating Domain Purchase

I found a domain name I am interested in, and I'm attempting to negotiate the purchase of the domain right now.

The owner of the domain responded to my initial email with:

I sent back an offer for about ~$250, and didn't hear any response for a week, so I emailed him again asking him if he was still considering my offer.

It's been a few days again, and I still have not heard a response. Any recomendations on how to proceed? I'd be willing to negotiate up a little bit, but I'm surprised I haven't heard any response back yet.

 

Well,
If that person is still alive and in good health, and does not answer, perhaps the idea was $999.00 instead of $250.00 ...
Also, some people just don't bother answering to offers too far away from what they have in mind.
Some people have more patience and money than You, and it is their strategy to make You impatient to have You lowering Your offer.
If it was me, I would not contact that person any more and leave him/her for what they are.
The more interest You show, the higher the price becomes, usually.

Why do You want just that domain?
There are probably perhaps better alternatives.
And cheaper.

 

Just let him/her/it sit on it, then, if you feel you offered a reasonable sum. You might find they come back to you after a couple of weeks saying yes or "this is what I want". Due to their poor communication, I wouldn't try any further. For your needs, is it really better than others on the domain market (or unregistered)?

 

First of all, thanks for the replies! - by the way, the XXX was inserted by me to remove the actual amount. The actual amount was just over $700.

Honestly, my offer was a bit of a low ball offer, as I was hoping to not spend $700 on the domain (in hindsight, lowballing might have been a bad idea). In terms of my budget, $700 is the very upper limit of what I'm willing to spend. I'm exploring other domain options, but this one is honestly the closest to what I am looking for.

 

What about the .net, .org, or .co alternatives (assuming its a .com, and at those prices, it should be )? What about a small word in front or after the domain like "the". Unless It's a perfect match and I absolutely had to have it, I wouldn't spend on the upper limit of my budget.

 

That was a bit low-ball, but I'm also cheap. More like $350-375 (I'm assuming the domain is worth it) to start.

Anyway, explore other options, mate. You might be surprised what you come up with. Does the domain need to be memorable (word of mouth, type-in), or is it just to be descriptive? Other domain extensions might work, if it's just descriptive. (They won't make a difference in terms of SEO.)

Good luck, mate.

 

I was reminded of the experience when I tried to purchase a domain name from another Asian seller not long ago, man insisted on charging $7,500 although the domain was only valued for $140, registered in 2007 and never developed to a website.
Then, my question is how the guys dare to ask so much?

 

I currently have a domain that I am using for the site, but the domain isn't very memorable (I've asked a few friends that have used the site 1 or 2 times, and the can't remember the site's name. Also, from search results, I can tell people can't remember the exact name for the site). For that reason, I am looking for a 2 word .com domain that is relevant to the site (and search results), and relatively easy to remember.

I've been looking around for other domains, but they are either totally out of my price range, or aren't as good. Would it be a bad idea for me to email the person back in a few days, and offer ~$500?

 

Sometimes it's greed. It can be a false economy as the longer someone sits on a domain, the more money they are losing (in fees). If the domain is so valuable, offers would be flooding in close to the mark. Just my $0.02.

It would be closer to the mark, so might get a reaction. If you're not keen on spending $700 you could tell them $500 is your final offer (or whatever you value it at).

 

Thanks for your support ryan_uk, I already made up my mind, gave up the joking quotation and hope to find a better alternative.

 

Yes, you can find better domain at reg. fee, you just need to be a little creative and nothing more than this, I would say.

 

What are people's thoughts on using a domain where the extension is part of the name, like delicio.us?

 

I like hack domains, but they can be bad for memorability and type-ins. Sometimes they can be useful as a personalised URL shortener, for example. That's not to say it isn't possible to have a successful site with such a domain, though. You already mentioned people have difficulty with the current domain, so I don't think a hack domain would help with your situation.

 

The .net, .org, .tv .co (and any new ones that have been created recently) are totally useless if some one else has the same domain in .com which is the only true TLD, (Top Level Domain).
The visitors will automatically go to the .com.

If you already have the .com domain, then it may be prudent to buy at least the two Second Level Domains, which are .net, .org.

If you really want to, you may also buy some of the other - and growing number of MLDs (Minor Level Domain) out there, just to stop all of the shady characters who would like to try and blackmail you into buying the "alternative versions" of your domain.

 

I want to sell my domain as well. What's the procedure? I have domain of 5 letter i.e. funhp dot com.

 

Male a new thread in the appraisal's section and ask people what they think it's worth, etc, then list it on DP, Sedo or wherever you prefer.

 

Thank you so much your help (reply). I didn't know about Sedo. I'll do that.

 

May be he is not interested in your offer, sometimes people generally don't respond misjudging that he/she is spammer or just a time waster.
Make sure you properly mention it in your email that you are keen on buying it. May be then you can be able to negotiate

 

Sorry, I haven't had any updates on this in a while. I finally got in contact with the owner, and he accepted an offer for about $100 under his initial offer. A little higher than I was hoping to spend, but everything is done, and the domain is in my possession now.