I get offers on my domain names all the time and I see a very wide range of offer amounts, styles of contacts and the information provided when being contacted.
When you have interest in a specific domain name, you first have to find data to contact the owner. This can be done several way:
- Visit the domain name directly (www.TheDomainName.com) You can likely find contact information or get an idea if the domain name is for sale
- Use the Whois domain name database and simply type in the domain name
- Domain listing services. Domains often for sale will be listed. Sedo.com, Afternic.com and Godaddy.com are the three most popular services.
If you are contacting the domain name owner directly and not through a 3rd party service like Sedo, Afternic or Godaddy, it is important to come across legit.
The majority of time when somebody contacts me, they provide very little information. It is often just a first name and very likely from a free email service type email address (@yahoo.com, @hotmail.com @msn.com) and an offer amount. Now I can understand the need to stay anonymous this if you are a larger company and wish to not have the price automatically skyrocket because the size of your company. I can also understand that giving out your data to "whoever" is not always wise for security reasons but I think you also need to build some accountability to the person you are contacting as well.
When I get contacted, the first thing I look at is the email address. Often times if the email address is a free type email address, with a so/so offer amount, I simply will not even reply. It nearly always turns into a waste of my time.
There is no reason to lie or deceive. Sending a high offer on a domain name to get the domain owners attention when you have no intention to pay that amount will work but it’s not going to get you a deal or the domain name if you are not serious about it. This works the other way around as well. Sending a $10 offer will likely lead the domain owner to simply click the delete button.
Use a full name at least! Unless your mother hated you, you have a full name. When I get contacted and the person goes by "John" or "Tom" or "Paul" it is hard for me to take the contact seriously and again, I often do not reply unless other data provided builds in some accountability.
The offers that I respond to most are the ones where people do not hide who they are. These are also the kinds of contacts that often result in a deal being made, with them purchasing the domain name they wanted.
The vast majority of domain name owners will not simply jack up a price tag just because they know who you are. Yes, if you are a large company and you reveal this, the price will likely go up and this is the reason why lawyers are available, domain buyers and brokers and third party services etc. If you are just an average person, the price going up just because you reveal who you are will not likely happen.
Money talks, BS walks!
I know it sounds silly, but IMO you are much better off making your offer with about the highest you are willing to pay from the start. If you are willing to offer $1,500 for a domain name but figure you can get in for cheap and make $150 offer, you may upset the seller and not get a reply. Do you really want and or need this domain? Why risk it! Domains are one of kind and you can’t go to the store and just buy the same domain. If you do get a reply because of a low-ball offer, they may raise the price higher than if you approached with $1,500 or $1,000 from the start or they flag your email address as a waste of time.
Advice
~ If you have a domain name already for your company YourName@YourCompany.com, I suggest you use that type of email address when contacting the domain seller. It doesn’t have to be your company name as many people own a domain name simply for email reasons. The domain can have real meaning or not but it is going to look more professional than having 1587465JackMehoff@Yahoo.com or Jill.Mehoff@hotmail.com and your contact name used is Sam. If you wish to hide your identity more, then use whois privacy if you wish on that domain or use a 3rd party service for making your offer.
~ Try your very best to understand the value of the domain name you are making an offer on. If the domain name has a general value of $100,000 and you make a $1,000 offer… put yourself in their shoes. If you owned a $100K house and somebody offers you $1K for it, I think it would upset you as well.
~ If your name is John Smith, use that in the email you send or the contact form used. It just looks silly if you contact using "John". We all know you have a surname, and it just looks like you are trying to hide something by not including it.
~ Keep in mind that you are contacting somebody that owns something you want! Come across as nicely as you can because doing the opposite is not going to get you anywhere.
~ Not every domain name is for sale! Clearly Google.com is not for sale but just because a domain is developed, doesn’t mean a respectable offer may make the owner think about it. On the flip side of the coin, just because a domain is not developed doesn’t mean it’s for sale.
~ Not sure what to offer? Keep in mind domain names are one of a kind and hold values based on many things you might not even be aware of. Past sales can help a little based on keywords but this should also just be a guide. NameBio.com offers a searchable index of reported sales. DnJournal.com has archives of weekly and YTD (year to date) reported domain sales as well.
