Do you have a standard reply to Domain offers?

[aspirin]

How would you reply to a £50 offer but you value it at £1k?

How would you reply to a £1k offer but you value it at £100?

How would you reply to this?
Hi there - just wondering how much you’d be prepared to let this domain name go for? I’m a single Mum, trying to get a business off the ground, post divorce and life-changing surgery. Hence I don’t have stacks of cash - if only! Let me know. Thanks.

 

[RobM]

I wouldn't. That is the kind of email that goes in my trash. She attempted THREE things to tug at your heart strings and then told you she doesn't have any money. This is not a potential buyer and there was no offer in her email.

 

[martin-s]

Disagree slightly with Rob. Not that I believe a word of the story, but the inventiveness suggests he/she wants the name. It's just a negotiation tactic.

Not putting an offer on the table was a mistake as you now get to set the anchor.

Take the two minutes to reply, set the price, send and then forget. If it comes back, stick to your guns. If it doesn't you only wasted two minutes - and are now better placed to control a negotiation

Edit:

• I wouldn't reply to the £50 offer.
• I'd reply to the £1000 offer agreeing that the figure would be acceptable if they could pay promptly, and asking how they'd like to pay.

 

[Murray]

I always just say,

"Hi ___

Thanks for your offer, my asking price is £___ "

It's very rare anyone ever offers me above £50 in the first message, even if they end up buying for £x,xxx

^ I even put on the landing page "please make a reasonable offer if you wish to get a response" but that only has ended up with "what would be a reasonable offer?" emails

I've never had a sale that started from a sob story though, I think Rob is right, this isn't going anywhere.

 

[RobM]

If it doesn't you only wasted two minutes - and are now better placed to control a negotiation

I don't see anything to negotiate. You *might* be able to squeeze low 2 figures out of her but is it really worth the time and effort? If she really wants it she'll come back with a starting price - this is just a tyre kicker/lowballer.

 

[starbird]

How would you reply to a £50 offer but you value it at £1k?

How would you reply to a £1k offer but you value it at £100?

How would you reply to this?
Hi there - just wondering how much you’d be prepared to let this domain name go for? I’m a single Mum, trying to get a business off the ground, post divorce and life-changing surgery. Hence I don’t have stacks of cash - if only! Let me know. Thanks.

If were replying it'd be along these lines

"How would you reply to a £50 offer but you value it at £1k?"

You're looking to start a venture and feel this domain fits the bill. Now you're looking for your venture to make you money right and that's why you'd like this name so the investment of £xxxx (my asking price) you make if your business succeeds will return multiples on this initial investment. A great domain is important these days and they are getting harder to get hold of. Now for £50 you can get a far inferior name which is not a patch on this one, but I'll leave that up to you.


"How would you reply to a £1k offer but you value it at £100?"

I was looking for around £1400 to be honest but I'll meet half way at £1200

"Hi there - just wondering how much you’d be prepared to let this domain name go for? I’m a single Mum, trying to get a business off the ground, post divorce and life-changing surgery. Hence I don’t have stacks of cash - if only! Let me know. Thanks."

To me this is a domainer, I would never personally mention anything personal when looking to buy a domain regardless what I had been through. I don't see it as a timewaster per se but someone who knows what it could be worth and is trying it on. I wouldn't reply on the principal that I am not remotely interested in their personal life nor would it affect the amount I'd want if I happened to own any domain someone wanted !

Not saying I'd reply any of them, but if I did it'd be as above.

 

[Adam H]

I'd either not reply at all or skim over the fluff.

"Hi

Thanks for the offer, looking for offers in the xxxx - xxxx range.

Feel free to make your best offer and we'll go from there "

Short and sweet, not getting caught up in the bollox in the email.

£50 offer i woudnt even reply to. £1000 offer shows intent but again id keep it short to gauge interest.

 

[RobM]

^ I even put on the landing page "please make a reasonable offer if you wish to get a response" but that only has ended up with "what would be a reasonable offer?" emails

Again I would trash that. All sales I have made via landing have been to people who open with a figure and, judging by that figure and a bit of net delving, you can find out what is most likely reasonable *to them*. If that intersects with what is reasonable to you there'll be a sale. The most successful domainers won't respond to any email without an offer or anything lower than multiple figures in a lot of cases - I have found that in the past when trying to get .coms.
I think it's a case of too many people scrabbling to sell their domains for a few pounds when they would be far better waiting until a real offer comes along. Now I don't respond to any offers for anything that aren't at least £300 - my 'negotiation' start. Even if this is too low it shows willing and usually wiggle room. I am happy to only sell a handful a year (and you will) rather than trying to turn over sales every day. If someone wants your domain they will be back. If they have an alternative or a £10 budget good luck to them - they weren't going to make you money anyway.

 

[JMI]

I think the strangest thing is the reason why they never follow up decent offers, and then sometime later firesale on DL for considerably less than the original offer - or even let the domain drop! I can only put this down to seriously over estimating the value at a point in time.

 

[Adam H]

I think the strangest thing is the reason why they never follow up decent offers, and then sometime later firesale on DL for considerably less than the original offer - or even let the domain drop! I can only put this down to seriously over estimating the value.

Greed, to be fair I've turned down a couple of £2500 offers for domains thinking they would come back and they never did, a couple of years down the line letting them drop.

 

[RobM]

Yes it helps to obviously have a 'realistic' expectation. I know that some people (like the insufferable Rick Schwartz) have a lot of courage when it comes to walking away from very large offers where I personally would have let the domain sell but I don't think that means you should snap up every £2500 offer if you think the domain is worth more. I don't see that as greed I see it as either misjudgement or a domain to either let go or sit on for longer. Many people need sales because of the endorphins released on conclusion of a deal and I think letting emotion override patience is a sure path to regret and/or giving up. I no longer regret lost sales or successful sales but at a price less than I wanted. All sales have to be at a level you are comfortable with - therefore if you turn down £2500 and they don't come back you should be content that the domain was worth more in your opinion and happy in your decision. If you took them you'd obviously be upset at letting a domain go for less than you wanted. Turning down those offers will most likely make you more in the long run than desperately trying to jump on every sale for a lot lower.
Of course that's just my opinion but it's always nice to have made your yearly 'salary' by March/April and not lose sight of the fact that next year you might get nothing - you know that over time you will be profitable.

 

[davedevelopment]

I set my minimum offer to 50 on domain manage and respond to most things that come in, even if they've put the bare minimum. Doesn't take me long to type out a quick email.

Just had a follow up offer come in now. Their initial offer of 50 euros came, I responded saying that their offer is way below my expectations and I would be looking for £1500.

I googled the name and decided the brand/company was probably too small to even get back to me at my valuation, but they came back with:

> To be frank I am the owner of the <some nationality> brand <the single word in the domain> so I would be the one valuing this domain the highest and I can only pay you 500 euros maximum. So let me know if you want to sell it or not.

I probably won't respond now, but that 50 euro offer quickly turned into a 500 euro offer, so I'd say it's worth 1 minute of my time to respond to even the paltry offers.

 

[Adam H]

> To be frank I am the owner of the <some nationality> brand <the single word in the domain> so I would be the one valuing this domain the highest and I can only pay you 500 euros maximum. So let me know if you want to sell it or not.

Sell it to him the poor bloke LOL, I've used a similar line when trying to get a domain before, as I really was the only realistic buyer because of trademarks held and it wasnt a business critical purchase.

They still wouldnt budge and 8 years later they are still holding it, they did come back to me last year out of the blue with new counter offer 7 grand lower than their previous asking price.

 

[RobM]

I probably won't respond now, but that 50 euro offer quickly turned into a 500 euro offer, so I'd say it's worth 1 minute of my time to respond to even the paltry offers.

Not really worth 1 minute if you're not going to come to a sale But everyone's different and different methods work for different people. Of course it always depends on the domain as well and the size of the potential market.

 

[WalkinDude]

Just wanted to say this is a brilliant question, given the quality of the responses it's inspired. I know absolutely nothing but threads of this quality should really go into a 'must read' section for the newbies.

I sold a co.uk domain once for uk x,xxx [mid] only to join Acorn about a year later and discover it was likely there were people willing to pay about 30k for it. This some years back. I had others so I was never completely crushed by it but it just isn't professional to not know, as in be utterly clueless, what your own domain is worth yet I think this is a bigger problem than many admit to. If your way over or way under than it can all turn a bit ships sailing thru the fog, so you gotta know at least ball park.

 

[ian]

If you force individuals to make an offer as part of making contact, expect them to enter the minimum. They don't know what it is worth, nor what you think it is worth and whilst yes, you'll get a disproportionate number of time wasters, it only takes a fraction of them having much deeper pockets to make that initial contact worthwhile. No matter what the offer, or their sob story, I always reply with a short "thank you for your offer but no thank you, I'm looking for X" message; ball is then in their court. Never be insulted by someone willing to pay anything for something.

 

[RobM]

Not true. I've had opening offers of 3 and 4 figures when people could offer £1. Of course I get those as well. Serious buyers don't mess about. It's not a case of being insulted it's a case of spending far too much time dealing with messers. In 5 figures worth of domain sales not ONE of those has been to someone opening with a stupid offer or sob story. Maybe I've just been lucky and some of those £1 offers would have turned into 10k. But then if they could afford that they might just come back after not hearing anything with a better offer

 

[JMI]

I've noticed a few Americans who've got on the RoR scene recently got a bit carried away with DL, and are charging their catches like .com's.

Except recently and the odd mega sale, I think most decent .co.uks go under 1k, if not the average/good around mid £££, so unless you have something sooooo special you'll be waiting a long time for the £££££ offer, which begs the question, in a limited market, with limited buyers What are you doing..

(The White Hell of Pitz Palu)

 

[stitchbob]

I just this week sold a co.uk/uk pair for £100 as a result of a cold approach. I'm pretty sure it could have eventually fetched more, but it's all about timing. I personally valued them around the £300 mark, but I'd already auctioned them once with no interest, and having only held them for about 3 months it was a decent enough ROI to be worth the quick sale. It would have been a lucky sale to get my valued price for them.

 

[Sam]

It all depends on the domain we don’t mess around only end user prices best set your reserve to a decent amount stop these low ballers