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This is a kinda of a funny story about a domain name inquiry with a surprise ending!
I always try to be nice with buyers but sometimes I can’t help myself. Sometimes I use some irony to make them think.
I got an inquiry for a very popular, in terms of both traffic and inquiries, 3-letter .org domain name. I have it for 11 years and I am not prepared to sell it cheap. I quoted the buyer €25,000 ($27,421) and I was asked if I am willing to negotiate. I realized (or at least I realized part of it) where this was probably going and I said yes. The buyer said:
My budget is more like €250! Would you be prepared to come down to this level?
I replied:
My price is €25,000. What do you think?
The buyer then replied:
This isn’t my only option, as I’m sure you’re aware. I will confer with my business partners and see if we can increase the budget. Are you prepared to move at all from your stated price?
You are not the only one interested in this domain, as I’m sure you’re aware. You are the 6th person this year alone. Yes we can move from our stated price but we never offer a 99% discount.
The result? The domain name was sold for €20,000 ($21,940) to the buyer above. Funds are in my bank account.
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Dude. Congratulations on calling his bluff out 😀
lol Thanks!
This is a lesson learned for most of us: Never be rude to a potential buyer, even if they don’t have the money or their negotiations are unrealistic. You never know when they are just bluffing to save 20%. We are not like in Real State where they can sell for a fix price, unless you have a Gem. If you don’t have “Location, Location, Location”, then you still have “Negotiations, negotiations, negotiations”.
I think the lesson is (1) respond and (2) be firm.
Although politeness is best, as many domainers can attest, it’s often appropriate – even useful – to be rude. That can lead to sales too.
During negotiations, the important thing is to gauge what the other person needs to hear in order to bring about a successful close. Sometimes what that person (buyer or seller) needs is a bucket of ice water poured over the head.
I remember 1 transaction where not only had we agreed on price but I had set up 2 separate escrow transactions for the guy. He kept failing to submit payment (despite lots of hand holding). English was not his first language. Eventually he was so frustrated by the process that he threatened to sue me and take control of the domain that way. (No, he had no trademark.) At that point, I decided to quit holding his hand and overtly mock him. Not nice. But he didn’t sue me. He paid.
Well done, just in time for Xmas 😉
Bravo!
Well done!
I didn’t expect the story to end that way 😀
Aron
wow thats great konsta and like the way how you dealt
got big bucks to celebrate xmas
Very well done and congrats on this great sale! I am happy for you 😀
Lesson for those who ignore and trash away inquiries which seems insulting but one must communicate and take things further. There are buyers out there who starts with $100 and buy in similar range which you sold for.
Thanks for sharing Konstantinos 🙂
Most of them are just toying around with you.
They will start a low price thinking the seller is ignorant and who knows sometimes they will get lucky, the seller could be ignorant about the latest values of the domains.
BTW, who is the buyer.?.. won’t be surprised someone who is in the domain industry.
Don’t know who the buyer is yet. The domain was purchased through a law office.
And what is the domain name?, at least provide the first three letters as a hint 😉 (if you don’t have a NDA, of course).
It a common non-chinese LLL.org. I will let you know when I found out who bought it.
No need to sell cheap so patience paid off. Congrats!
Awesome sale!
Just goes to show you even a “lower” type inquiry can lead to a very nice sale with a bit of negotiation.
-Omar
Thanks for sharing as I would have ignored a $250 offer if my price expectation was several times the initial offer.
Kostas,
They almost always bluff with initial lowball offers, erroneously thinking that they are the only ones interested in a specific domain … but there are definitely wrong … lol 🙂
Congrats for the sale, great price!
Happen to me too…..a guy offer me $500 for LLLL.com for his small business/start-up….i told him I’m not in charity….to cut a story short…. it sold for over $20,000 plus….
Congrats on your nice sell. Defintiely a lesson in not avoiding the small lowball offer without communicating. The buyer obviously assumed the seller didn’t know the value of his domain! Nice job keeping the line of communication open long enough for smart negotiations!
Thank you all!
Good strategy… creating some sense of competition and urgency.
Congratulations.
most of newbies like me need this kind of tricks to learn. Please share more tricks and sample outbound email etc.,
Respect has to be on both sides. As I read the buyer was a low baller and I think you handled this very well. Always stay in the professional position, both for you and your business turnover. Thanks for sharing.
Reading the article, I’ve never imagined you would finish it with “The domain name was sold for €20,000”.. fantastic sale.
Very nice sale. Congrats man!
Well done Kostas… but it seems quite funny to me saying “…My budget is more like €250! …” and then “… I will confer with my business partners and see if we can increase the budget…”
Who has a 250$ budget has no need of conference with “business partners” ….if he even has one…