A portion of my domain portfolio consists of last name .com domains, some of which are common in Europe and North/South America. I don’t do Asian names by choice.
Some of these domains have a secondary meaning; in some cases they also match first names. It’s how languages work in different cultures.
I receive inquiries on occasion, and the ongoing argument seems to be: I want to use it for my family, or as a personal web site etc.
Upon quoting a price matching the fair market value of the domain, I often receive the response that they won’t pay that price as it’s for personal or family use and their budget won’t stretch into the $x,xxx range. Some even question the value of domains that were registered in the mid to late 90’s: if they haven’t sold yet, they’ll never will.
Sour grapes.
At that point, I direct them to the following alternatives:
- Register a different TLD
- If they are all taken, register LastNameFamily.com
- Get a Facebook page instead
The benefit of being selective with such domain registrations offers me the luxury of turning down lowball offers until the right one arrives. There is nothing wrong with waiting for the right offer; the power of “no” is a strong element of negotiations in life.
I agree with the last name thing. You can’t expect them cheap as there are always lots of people that could possibly be interested in it.
I feel I got lucky with a my lastname.net for $2500, and especially lucky with my firstnamelastname.com that I got at reg fee in ’08.
Smart move. I own my last name in many gTLDs and ccTLDs for 10+ years…
Unfortunately, the .com of my surname is a sought-after vcvc which also happens to be a popular French word.
It recently sold for $10k. I was in until mid $x,xxx but after that, I had to make the decision to stop bidding.
I’ve told this story elsewhere, but, its relevant here…
The owner of my Lastname.com didn’t respond to my approach & $x,xxx offer TWICE – each offer a year apart…
Two years later, they let the doamin drop, and I snagged my Lastname.com for $69… 🙂
I like that one… 🙂