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.com domain for a million-dollar company/brand

Discussion in 'Domain Names' started by thesickearth, Oct 14, 2013.

  1. #1
    Guys please help me figure this one out, i am really getting too many grey hairs on this one.
    I have a .com domain that is an exact match to an internet company /brand that is worth about $1-1.5 mln imho. About 2.5-3 years ago it was bought by a very big media company for 0.5 mln, and I think they spend quite a bit of money on propping this thing up, advertising, etc.
    Recently they sold it to a small company that was a competitor of that brand in its niche, I don't know what was the price but it's likely i'll know it in a few weeks through their stock report.
    The owner/ceo of a small company contacted me and wants to buy it, but didn't offer very much money so far. Low 4 digits. The CEO of course says that the .com name is " not critical" and ''they can accomplish what they want without it'' , and it is possible that its true, i think they bought it just to cut down a competitor, and they have 2 other brands ( at least one of them is not suitable for international business due to language ) but i doubt they are ready to throw it away.

    So, how much do I ask for it? The domain is neatly sounding 1 word+3 letter ending
     
    thesickearth, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  2. Alin Alex

    Alin Alex Active Member

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    #2
    In my opinion if the business itself was worth 0.5 mil and you were contacted directly by the CEO of that company it may be that thats what they can afford to spend for that name.If you think that you can't find any end-users for that name i suggest you sell it and move on.

    Take the money and invest it in some other good name/s
    Good luck with your sale!

    Oh and a side note, but i think its a bit tricky, you can contact their competitors and offer to sell to them if they offer more.Just saying..
     
    Alin Alex, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  3. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #3
    i am trying to contact competitors but apparently can't get through the gate-keepers.. The name is ok, it is probably sell able for high $$$ (3 digits) or even low 4 digits to other people. Is it realistic to ask and get 10-20k from someone who wants it most? I mean they bought the whole damn company a few weeks ago.
     
    thesickearth, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  4. Alin Alex

    Alin Alex Active Member

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    #4
    Yes it can be done.But if they don't need such a big presence online they will not buy it.Not all companies need to be on the internet you know.My opinion, close the deal on it move on and invest.Cheers!
     
    Alin Alex, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  5. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #5
    But that's an internet company. An internet brand. With no online presence, the brand will be dead in months. Without .com, they cant expand. by the way they refused a very low xx xxx already.
     
    thesickearth, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  6. Alin Alex

    Alin Alex Active Member

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    #6
    Then go ahead and secure all the other extensions of the name and try again.Have you done any background check on the CEO?Is he really him e-mailing you.Its strange that the CEO contact someone for the domain.They usually have staff for that.I don't know what else to say man.
    My opinion is that if you didn't had any other offers on that name until now, and you can't sell it to another end-user, just take the money and move on. $x.xxx is better than $0
    Good luck and let me know how it all went!
    Cheers!
     
    Alin Alex, Oct 14, 2013 IP
  7. tattoos

    tattoos Prominent Member

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    #7
    The owner of the business you have the domain for?

    It sounds like you have been talking with this guy. Be careful what you say in any email correspondence with him or anyone acting on their behalf. They may be fishing for grounds to file a UDRP
    If they can show that you or anybody else has no legitimate use for the domain and that you are trying to squeeze (extort) as much money as you can out of them because you own their brands domain (bad faith), they may file a UDRP and take it off you.

    The Complaint
    If you have a website up on the domain, make sure it has absolutely nothing on it related to their business.

    Without knowing what the domain is, no one can tell you what its worth.

    Cheers
    James
     
    tattoos, Oct 18, 2013 IP
    ryan_uk and thesickearth like this.
  8. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #8

    thank you. just in case if i already said something wrong, should i transfer this domain to another person that i trust? Does it not cost 10-15K to do all that court/udrp thing?




    there is no website, but its parked. I would assume there could be related ads. Should I unpark it?



    [/quote]
     
    thesickearth, Oct 26, 2013 IP
  9. tattoos

    tattoos Prominent Member

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    #9
    No.

    No

    No, just make sure that any category/keywords you have chosen are not related.

    Cheers
    James
     
    tattoos, Oct 26, 2013 IP
  10. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #10
    James, thank you for your knowledgeable answers. I understand that I might be overstepping my welcome here, but, could you elaborate? Why shouldn't I transfer the name to my grandma/friend/ corporation? Since i did ask for more money than he/they are willing to spare, and let's assume the worst, how do I protect it? Won't they have to prove bad faith/no legitimate interests all over again if the domain owned by another person with some photography blog on it or something?
    Besides, the trademark is registered in their country only, there is no Madrid protocol/world protection . Can't I trademark it in the USA myself?
     
    thesickearth, Oct 27, 2013 IP
  11. tattoos

    tattoos Prominent Member

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    #11
    Because you're in the middle of negotiations for the domain. If you transfer the domain, negotiations end.

    Nothing wrong with asking for more than you expect to get, That's just part of the negotiation. You think their offer is too low, they think you want too much. So long as what you want is realistic, you should end up settling somewhere within those two offers. But if you try and demand too much, they may end up walking away leaving you with a parked domain that's not worth much to anybody else but them.

    So you're going to tell them that someone offered you more than they did, so you sold it to them and they are using it for a photography blog?
    Is it even a photography related domain? Would it be worth more to a photographer than what they offered you?
    How much demand would there be for the domain if their business didn't exist and how much do you realistically think you could get for it?

    Yeah I guess. But how much would that cost you and what would you end up with? A trademark and a parked domain? pfft
    Unless final offers have already been made, I'd just wait and see what offer they come back with. If you haven't heard back within a couple of months, you probably never will. Maybe then try again with a more realistic price.

    Cheers
    James
     
    tattoos, Oct 27, 2013 IP
  12. gene438

    gene438 Active Member

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    #12
    Reminds me of the old "dog and bone" story. Dog holding a bone looks down at pool of water to get a drink. He sees his reflection in water and wants the other bone. When he opens his mouth to grab the other bone so that he can have 2, he drops his bone in the water and now has none.......don't be a dog!
     
    gene438, Oct 27, 2013 IP
  13. hashif

    hashif Well-Known Member

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    #13
    My opinion is to hold the Domain name and then wait for the great offer, park it on sedo with "Makeoffer" .
     
    hashif, Oct 28, 2013 IP
  14. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #14
    sounds a little bit too desperate, don't you think
     
    thesickearth, Oct 29, 2013 IP
  15. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #15
    No, i will tell them nothing at all. I will let them to make up a story for themselves.

    of course not. But realistically I think I could get mid $$$ to low $$$$. Eventually, that is. I regged the name to develop it later on.
     
    thesickearth, Oct 29, 2013 IP
  16. tattoos

    tattoos Prominent Member

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    #16
    I don't get it. You think you will "eventually" be able to get mid three to low four digits? But weren't you already offered low 4 digits? Why not just accept that offer?

    Cheers
    James
     
    tattoos, Oct 30, 2013 IP
  17. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #17
    Because I think that a company that dropped 6-7 digits to buy another company can and should pay more than a chap who simply liked the domain. At least, for the domain that they need a lot more than that chap. I like the name myself after all. So what's the best way to protect oneself from UDRP? You did scare me with that one.
     
    thesickearth, Oct 30, 2013 IP
  18. tattoos

    tattoos Prominent Member

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    #18
    lol. Yeah OK.
    I wonder why successful businesses don't charge different prices for the same thing based on what they think a person can afford. (Pull up to the drive thru in a Mercedes, "that'll be $15 for the fries sir"). Maybe because then they wouldn't be successful? Who knows. Anyway, good luck with domaining.

    Cheers
    James
     
    tattoos, Oct 30, 2013 IP
  19. alex06295

    alex06295 Well-Known Member

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    #19
    I would suggest, email to those who need this domain name, wait for few months, if not sold then use Sedo or Godaddy Auctions to sell the domain name.
     
    alex06295, Oct 31, 2013 IP
  20. thesickearth

    thesickearth Active Member

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    #20
    They will be successful if they will be the only place that sells fries. Or, better yet, potatoes. Or, better yet, carbohydrates. There is only 1 place that exists where you can buy a specific .com.
     
    thesickearth, Oct 31, 2013 IP