The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

I Received a $4,000 Offer for a Domain Name - Newbie Looking for Advice Please

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14
Hello! I hope this is the right spot to post this.

I purchased a domain name for $50 and just received an offer for $4,000 USD.

It's a marketable domain (single word, meaningful & relevant term) in a profitable niche.

I have plans to use the domain in the future. I'm trying to see how much they will offer. Any negotiation tactics are appreciated.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

spreng

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
138%
Jul 1, 2019
105
145
do you know why they want it?

There are several things that will affect your negotiating power:
-Their need: is this domain their brand name? Is it a well-funded business
-what plans do they have for it?
-could they just choose a different domain name for 8.99?

I'd probably just take it if you don't know anything about them.
 

Jake

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
148%
May 15, 2011
1,801
2,669
41
Bangkok
From past experience it may be wise just to take the money..

But as spreng said you should understand why they want it. Most likely it is replaceable. A bird in the hand sort of thing.
 

c4n

Full throttle
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
265%
May 30, 2017
379
1,003

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14
do you know why they want it?

There are several things that will affect your negotiating power:
-Their need: is this domain their brand name? Is it a well-funded business
-what plans do they have for it?
-could they just choose a different domain name for 8.99?

I'd probably just take it if you don't know anything about them.

I don't know what they want it.

They're using a broker through a private service.

I could make assumptions on why they'd want it but don't know for sure. Domain name would be perfect for the supplement space.

I suppose they could get another domain. Not sure if there are other domains close to mine that would be suitable for them though... or at what price those could be had.
 

SD Entrepreneur

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
226%
Jul 12, 2019
86
194
San Diego, CA
Hello! I hope this is the right spot to post this.

I purchased a domain name for $50 and just received an offer for $4,000 USD.

It's a marketable domain (single word, meaningful & relevant term) in a profitable niche.

I have plans to use the domain in the future. I'm trying to see how much they will offer. Any negotiation tactics are appreciated.
Turning $50 to $4000 is a great return. Even if you ask them how they are using it or what it is for you might not get a truthful answer. I would throw out a higher price and see if they are willing to go up (that was just their starting offer). If they seem very firm then you can make the decision but they might have a higher budget than the 4k. As other poster mentioned, if you could use that 4k for your idea and can go with a different domain I would sell!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14
Turning $50 to $4000 is a great return. Even if you ask them how they are using it or what it is for you might not get a truthful answer. I would throw out a higher price and see if they are willing to go up (that was just their starting offer). If they seem very firm then you can make the decision but they might have a higher budget than the 4k. As other poster mentioned, if you could use that 4k for your idea and can go with a different domain I would sell!
I'm thinking they have a higher budget for sure. Also, I have a hunch I know the company making the offer. If I'm right, they registered the trade mark which happens to be exactly the same term as my domain.
 

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14
From past experience it may be wise just to take the money..

But as spreng said you should understand why they want it. Most likely it is replaceable. A bird in the hand sort of thing.
I think I know why they want it now. They have a supplement with the exact name as my domain and filed a trade mark with the same.

Edit: that is if my hunch is correct about the company making the offer.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Charnell

Block me if you're a quack
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
276%
Oct 12, 2014
1,091
3,009
Kansas City
exact name as my domain and filed a trade mark with the same.
Not really knowing ALL the details, I would sell it after negotiations. If you're not doing anything with it they could try to just take it on grounds of cybersquatting.
 

SteveO

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
456%
Jul 24, 2007
4,228
19,294
Just throw out a number.... like 10-12 grand or something... see how they respond. You could still use it in the future if they head another direction and don't take your counter.

It really depends on your desperation level. But you could sell the same product as them while perhaps drawing some of their traffic.

My negotiation tactic..... Whoever wants it the most loses...

+1 for the score!
 

SEBASTlAN

Marketing Wizard
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
149%
Dec 22, 2014
1,888
2,813
Los Angeles
I would counter with 7K and take whatever they come back with. That's a great ROI for zero effort...
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Jaden Jones

Igloo Builder
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
143%
Aug 22, 2018
244
350
Canada
What happened with this? How much did you get?
 

ChiEntrepreneur

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
113%
Jul 21, 2019
16
18
I agree with the advice to throw out a higher number and see how they respond.

A few years ago, I bought a domain name for like $12 and GoDaddy reached out and said someone was offering $100 for it.

I countered with $585, only because that was my rent at the time and I thought it'd be cool to pay my rent with a domain name sale. I went back and forth with the buyer and sold it for $425.

Neither of you know how much the domain name is actually worth. It's worth only what someone else will pay. But if you have conviction in the value of the domain, and you convey that conviction, you can get a higher price for it.

That starts with asking for a higher price for the domain. If nothing else, you're planting in their mind that another person sees the domain as very valuable.
 

ChiEntrepreneur

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
113%
Jul 21, 2019
16
18
Also I would say definitely sell the domain. There's more value in building up a brand/SEO around whatever domain you go with. The recognizable one you have may lend some authority, but that authority won't mean much until you've proven yourself in other ways.

Don't worry about that until you've built a strong business in all the other ways. Especially if worrying about it could mean you missing out on $10,000+
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Kid

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
98%
Mar 1, 2016
1,736
1,707
3-4K is pretty much standard nowaday.
If they have trademark filled then i would go for their price than have nothing based on trademark infringement.

As far as i know trademarks are granted for some (bigger or smaller) niches. So if not selling domain to them you could use it for different type of product, only (like they have supplements and you'd sell car parts).
 

Hozzyj

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
88%
Jun 15, 2018
16
14
Just throw out a number.... like 10-12 grand or something... see how they respond. You could still use it in the future if they head another direction and don't take your counter.

It really depends on your desperation level. But you could sell the same product as them while perhaps drawing some of their traffic.

My negotiation tactic..... Whoever wants it the most loses...

+1 for the score!
Great advice!
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Entre Eyes

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
97%
Sep 7, 2019
389
378
Traveling to Higher Conciousness
Thanks high 5 for that update!

Yea it can be little crazy both ways sometimes.

I had one Domain that was just the title of a Book I wrote that made money and still had a few sales trickling in.

So I registered the title of book as Domain. Went to Flippa and on a 3 or 5 day Domain Only Auction with Free Master Rights to a proven great selling eBook I had my Buy It Now Price of $2500. No hassles smooth transaction.

They mentioned they would sell if as PLR which was also pretty smart.

Then I had a Blog I sold on Flippa.

The Buyer sent the money.

Asked me for Positive Feedback...then complained to PayPal that he never received his PLAYSTATION! And was wanting full refund which PayPal was about to issue!

Which is crazy because Paypal can see all the Flippa information and exact matching amount paid and dates.

Luckily on top of that I had all his conversations including when he was gloating about his scam! :)

Like I said it can be crazy both ways sometimes. Lucrative and Nerve wrecking ha.
 
Last edited:

daniel_m

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
260%
Feb 26, 2019
67
174
I know this thread is old now and you didn't sell, but this might be useful info for other readers.

*Actually* good domains that are truly worth $4,000 are very, very, very rarely available to picked up for $50, unless you bought it like 10 years ago and/or got really lucky. If you get a random email offering you good money for a domain that you picked up cheaply, you should assume 99% of the time its a scam. Only use escrow if you wanna go through with it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Entre Eyes

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
97%
Sep 7, 2019
389
378
Traveling to Higher Conciousness
I was crazy enough to put in a domain on public domain site valuator that gave you a estimate and for the whole world to see but I had the GoDaddy account open and ready to buy. I think it was Boobs.Me I typed it in saw couple thousand dollars and boom...it was already registered hahaha.

That was a lonnnnnnng time ago OK. :)
 
Last edited:

Jaden Jones

Igloo Builder
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
143%
Aug 22, 2018
244
350
Canada
Most succesful domain flips are bought for at least a few hundred and might be sold for double or triple. The most success is in ones you pay a couple thousand for, and then hold for a while and flip for 10 times what you paid. In general, anything you register yourself or you bought for under $100 is worthless.
 

ChrisV

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
225%
May 10, 2015
3,141
7,055
Islands of Calleja
For future reference, this would have been my advice had you not been desperate to sell:

Counter them for $42,500 (or some not-too-round number in the 10x range of what they offered). They will almost surely say no, but you've now anchored that much-higher value in their mind.

Wait a few weeks, then approach them against and let them know you're willing to negotiate on price -- ask them what they'd be willing to pay.

There's an excellent chance that whatever number they come back with will be MUCH closer to their highest offer than the original offer of $4000 (or maybe it will be $4000 again, which will tell you that that's their highest offer).

This way, if their highest offer is really around $4000, you'll be confident in that fact. But, if their highest offer is much higher, you'll know you won't have left anything on the table. Also, there's a good chance that the couple weeks they spent absorbing the anchor you created will change their perceived value of the domain.

You win two ways with this strategy -- you increase the perceived value in their minds by anchoring and you figure out what their high-point is for they'll spend.

Of course, the risk is that they walk and find another alternative (thereby reducing the perceived value), but that's why you only do this if you're willing to accept that risk.
Good ol' Anchor Bias trick
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Ing

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
102%
Jun 8, 2019
1,621
1,651
58
Bavaria

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top