I am very new to this forum so apologies if this is out of turn or a dumb question. I have a certain .com that I wanted to purchase but it's already been purchased. When I go to the .com it says 404 There isn't a GitHub Pages site here. If you're trying to publish one, read the full documentation to learn how to set upGitHub Pages for your repository, organization, or user account. Any idea on how I find out who has this domain name and how I go about negotiating to buy it from them? many thanks! Paula
You can go to a site like whois.com or who.is and type in the domain name (whatever.com, etc) and it will show who the name is registered to. There will be ways to contact the owner there like an email, telephone, etc. so you can try to get a hold of them that way. Sometimes though, the information is outdated or inaccurate so you can't always get a hold of them. It's worth a shot though. Many registrars have a service where they will try to acquire the name from the owner for you for a fee so you can try that as well. It will probably cost more though that way over trying to contact them yourself.
As the previous person mentioned, your best bet is to visit a whois website and perform a lookup on the domain. If there is no "privacy" added then you should be able to see their name and email. Contacting them that way is probably the best. Your next step would be to visit some of the Auction websites (such as Sedo and Afternic) and perform a lookup for the domain there. The person may have it listed for sale in those aftermarket auctions even though the domain isn't parked (or pointed) to them.
One of the most common mistakes of people not familiar with the domain industry is to seriously underestimate the value of domains and thereby either, start off a negotiation by insulting the owner or have the owner just ignore you. Here are some recent sales with dates to give you an idea of domain value (I don't own any of these): designgraphics.com $3,999 3/11/2015 digitalgraphic.com $1,499 4/9/2015 designstars.com $1,121 6/1/2015 web-design.com $38,402 11/20/2013 designers.com $118,000 8/2/2012 Take a look at sites like Namebio and search recent domain sales by keyword. Offer something close to what you find there. Be prepared to pay $500+ for a typical personal domain and $1000-$10,000+ for a domain in an in-demand and popular market, frequently searched keyword, or a great brand name. And whatever you do don't say "I see you're not using the domain website.com...." Don't assume that because you don't see an active website that the owner of the domain doesn't think that it's valuable.