Acro.net is for sale – as long as you post “sold” in the next 1/2 seconds.
By the time you finished reading this headline, my offer would be over – null and void of any obligation to sell.
Time’s up!
So what is the point of this obviously ridiculous invitation?
Time and again, I have seen buyers in forums posting offers in a thread where domains are listed for sale.
While it’s a good idea to accompany an offer with a timeframe that the offer is valid for, some offers are clearly not serious:
- “Offer is good for an hour”
- “My offer of $x,xxx is valid for 8 hours”
- “If you accept my offer in the next 3 hours I will buy the domain.”
Etc.
Such conditional responses usually indicate a vague interest in the sale, but by introducing terms that can’t possibly be met – particularly when seller and buyer are several time zones apart – one is simply appearing to be a “high roller”, never actually intending to buy the domain in question.
In general, offers should arrive with a minimum of 48 hours, to allow for the response of the seller, and a maximum of seven days; the latter depends on the willingness of the buyer to commit to the purchase, as cashflow is often dependent on various parameters.
To recap: if you seriously want to place an offer, don’t submit it with a ridiculous window of validity.
I have been seeing one large domain company doing this more often in the forums, they know who they are… as you stated they never do end up closing the deal in most cases, and yes it is very annoying, as the forums are not manned by a 24/7 receptionist…
@Ron
There is also a large domain company (quite possibly the same one that you mentioned) that frequently does this – and frequently buys domains.
I agree, it can be annoying at times, but with a 24 hour window I think it’s fair. True, not everyone is manning their thread 24/7, but it makes sense for certain companies to limit their offers so that they aren’t spread too thin.
Just my 2 cents.