When I’m told to “go f***” myself and “dude u go to hell” on the same weekend, I know I’m doing something right.
Of course, none of these high school level insults were told in my face, but there is plenty of keyboard bravado from those that believe talk is cheap.
The first one came through a domain inquiry at Domain Name Sales, from a guy whose grammar and nonsensical sentences matched his first name of “Donovon.” That’s like a redneck Donovan, I suppose.
Making an offer of $75 on a financial/mathematical term, single word .com registered in 1996 was responded to with a mid five-figure number from me. That didn’t sit well with our friend Donovon, who supposedly runs some obscure forex/futures trading business.
Note to those on the go: if you must use your blackberry/iphone to place offers via email, please turn that lame automatic signature off. To me, it’s as if you’re texting back and forth. Sit your butt down at a laptop or desktop, and take the time and effort to think what to respond with; this guy Donovon didn’t.
Donovon’s response was typical of a lowballing douche: he talked down on the very domain he wanted to acquire. He upped his offer to “$500 tops” and then “$1000 max” – by then, I knew I was dealing with a time-waster that has no idea how to negotiate.
I let Donovon know that the domain won’t drop from five figures, particularly when he snubs it. That didn’t sit too well with our “futures trading” friend, who told me to “go fuck” myself.
I hope he doesn’t kiss his mother with that mouth, on Mother’s Day.
Onto my prompt to visit hell.
Someone listed a stolen domain, 2-P.com, on DNForum; the domain has been documented to be part of a group of domains stolen from a Norwegian professional, last year. Most of them were returned, but two or three were left at GoDaddy’s bureaucratic mercy, as the thief had transferred them from Moniker using an alias that remained unchanged at GoDaddy. I guess the geniuses at GoDaddy could not figure out that a guy named ‘Martin’ rarely comes from an IP in Algeria.
Upon my notification of the seller that the domain is stolen, I received a side-splitting “dude u go to hell!” response. Now, I know that it’s hard to hear that the $$$ that one has spent on TDNAM to buy a stolen domain must be treated as a business loss, but I would expect that prompts to visit hell are reserved for the thief, not the messenger.
At any rate, it’s been a great weekend, knowing that I’m doing the right thing: sticking to my guns regarding the quotation of premium domain names in my portfolio, and assisting to reclaim stolen domain names, as I’ve done many times in the past.
Is it Monday yet?
I have been getting a slew of $30, $50, $100 opening offers as well, and people are insulted if you come back at 4-5 figures, they are asking for premium industry category keyword .com’s, which have function within their industries, they seem to have a sense of entitlement, that they are paying you a finders fee for keeping their domain warm, and waiting for them for the past 15 years… Not sure if these type just end up registering lesser extensions, or extra keyword domains, and try to build off them, but there seems to be a whole bunch of uneducated people out there, in the value of a strong domain, in regards to getting a great headstart online… really a shame, it has to come to name calling, when someone can’t have what they want for their expected price range.
Ron – The side-splitting ‘threat” that he will register the .me or .us for $10 unless I accepted his offer, is indicative of the rampant stupidity those people engage in. While I don’t expect everyone to accept my asking price, when they make an inquiry they need to remain professional in their responses.
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Whenever I received a lowball offer, I simply email the back and say, “I’m afraid we’re too far apart on price, but I wish you well.”
That either shuts them up or drags them back to reality.
But I agree that we shouldn’t put up with such rudeness during a negotiation–probably just best to block them.
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I do not mind when I make a offer on the lower side, to start the negotiations off, if the seller comes back higher than I feel was justified for the domain name.
However, what I really dislike is when I make an offer that is 60% of the sellers asking price and they come back at 200% of asking price, immediately. As if they are warning me, they mean business.
To my chagrin, this has been happening a lot more lately.
How does that make any business sense?
It shows me they have no spirit of negotiation, are stubborn, unlikely to make a deal, unprofessional and a poor business person.
I always walk, no matter how good a domain is. Who needs to waste time, when there is little chance of a successful deal.
Just my 2 cents.
Laurence – On the other hand, no seller is obligated to sell at a discount, even if you think that 60% of what they’re asking is ‘justified’.
There are many ways to break a deal, and 90% of the time that route is led by making an offer the seller would never consider.
The 200% up-pricing is usually a knee-jerk reaction by the seller, to let you know that your offer deserves all the scorn that it’s getting.
I had many potential buyers walk, then come back later with a decent counter-offer, thus leading to a sale. A potential buyer that tells me to ‘fuck off’ gets written off as a buyer permanently. I hope this makes sense.
Haven’t had that from a buyer prospect yet, more of a ping – ping – ping and then deathly silence. Does get me when end user corps make offers knowingly under the sellers purchase price for top of the range dn. General rule is within 60% of asking price. I do find some playing both sides though with domainers jacking the prices up when selling and lowballing when buying. At least domainers lowballs are a bit more considered and commercially minded!