If you would like to make a suitable offer

Posted by Scott on August 27th, 2008 .

March 2007 bought a .co.uk domain that I first saw posted on Acorn, the domain in question can be seen here. Bought for around $700.

There was a famous Scottish footballer called this and around March last year I was less focused, buying any .co.uk domain names that seemed good value rather than one’s I can develop out, so I bought it.

Just completed the sale of the domain through Escrow with the buyer paying the fees.

The buyer sent me a UPS letter from America to enquire if it was for sale and my asking price, I did a bit of research and the buyer seemed genuine, I also checked and confirmed they owned the .com version of the domain, that was good news confirming for me their interest was genuine.

Next was to do some research and I found the .com version previously listed for sale on DNForum, I contacted the previous owner to see what he sold it for, he was kind enough to let me know he sold it for $20k, nice sale. Still not sure how this would compare to the value of a .co.uk

I replied to the registered letter to say I wasn’t actively looking to sell the domain however if a suitable offer was made I would give it due consideration, if I had to put a price I’m not sure what I would have went with, no matter, a few hours later he got back and offered $10,000.

Now there’s a time to haggle and a time to deal, sure I could have countered and got more or countered and lost out completely, I decided to deal and Escrow has just been completed, $10,000 …kerching

The lesson I learnt here was for once it was a much better strategy to let the prospective buyer come with a suitable offer as a starting point, it may just be higher than your target price.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 and is filed under Domains . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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23 Comments »

Comment by kelvin newman Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 14:13:07

nice one scott milky bars are on you then ;)

kelvin newman’s last blog post..Why I Hate Social Bookmarklets & Proof They Don’t Work

 
Comment by Mikael from Internet Markedsføring Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 14:18:58

Congratulations Scott. Yet another great sale from you. Can I ask you how many domains you currently own? Are we talking hundreds or even thousands?

Mikael
http://www.antphilosophy.com

Mikael’s last blog post..Is Yaro Starak Following The Wrong Track?

Comment by Scott from Scott
2008-08-27 14:38:42

I think I have around 150 domains, not looking to drastically increase that, trying to weed out some and build quality and build sites.

 
 
Comment by Tom from PaMidstate MEDIA Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 14:47:41

I took a look and searched for that term in Google - and as I thought (maybe) the user intends to use that name for the weight loss product (from the list of related terms…) which would be profitable.

I know that developing every domain doesn’t happen (I am sitting on a bunch too)

Great sale though! I don’t have too many domains with that kind of pull.

Comment by Scott from Scott
2008-08-27 15:06:04

You may be right, we don’t get any adverts for the term in Google.co.uk but I do see them in .com

 
 
Comment by Justin Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 15:01:50

nice sale out of the blue eh?

same thing happened to me earlier this year, had littlemermaid.co.uk and a guy contacted me from the states and offered me $2500 for it straight away. like you, instead of trying to push him a bit further on price, I just accepted and escrow took care of the rest…………..

Comment by Scott from Scott
2008-08-27 15:07:56

Cheers Justin, sometimes you just have to say yes and not be greedy about it, everyone’s happy.

 
 
Comment by anand from hi scott Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 16:25:54

hi scott

are .orgs domain worth anything ?

I have skirts.org

Comment by Scott from Scott
2008-08-27 17:12:53

Do you mean .org or .org.uk
.org has some very high documented sales, .org.uk not so much and are better suited ot be developed to add value.

 
 
Comment by anand from hi scott Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-27 18:46:16

I mean .org not .org.uk

Comment by Scott from Scott
2008-08-27 18:53:32

Then yes that would certainly have value, a bit focused on one area of clothing but certainly worth something.

 
 
Comment by anand
2008-08-27 18:58:48

thanks :) .

I love your blog and i visit it every day.

 
Comment by Siberia from Quality Avatars
2008-08-27 22:10:48

Wow, I wouldnt even have spotted ally as a word lol

 
Comment by Amit Bhawani from Tech Blog
2008-08-28 05:49:09

Here moves 700$ to 10000$ which is huge profits for low risks :) Congrats Scott!

Amit Bhawani’s last blog post..How to Blog Create Blogs & Make Money Blogging

 
Comment by James from Discount Codes Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-28 09:52:55

Nice deal. Beers are on you.

James’s last blog post..Mesh Back to School Deals

 
Comment by John Essex from Loft Conversions Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-28 12:41:03

Nice sale, well done! Highlights just how difficult it is to value a domain, I guess its a bit like houses in that its worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. Nice deal, especially that everyone wins - you get a good price and profit, the buyer gets a domain that will go on to make money for him as well.

 
Comment by Kevin
2008-08-28 12:54:59

Awesome sale. It’s been a while since I sold a domain but I’ve never sold anything as expensive as that. Nice bit of business :)

Kevin’s last blog post..I aquired System0.com

 
Comment by bill perry Subscribed to comments via email
2008-08-29 01:17:20

One of the “hard” rules of negotiation is to NEVER be the first to name a figure. At least that’s what I hear. I’m not into domaining really, my web partner has gotten bitten by that bug.

But anyway you look at it, that is a kickass payoff for buying the domain and flipping it, even if it’s not immediate.

Kudos!

bill perry’s last blog post..Journaling 30-day-trial, day 30

Comment by John Essex from Loft Conversions Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-02 11:34:15

Car salesmen always seem to use that approach - they ask you how much you would like to pay for the car.

 
 
Comment by Frank Spiele from http://spiele.hitmeister.de/ Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-02 16:31:40

It´s a good approach for the seller, not so much for the buyer… What a profit on the domain name! SCORE! You´re right… the offer from the prospective buyer could always end up being more than your original GUESSTIMATE :-)

 
Comment by Justin Cook from SEO Toronto Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-03 20:34:27

Well, let’s just hope he’s not reading this blog, otherwise I’m sure he’d be disappointed to learn that you would have settled for less. Great flip though!

Justin Cook’s last blog post..What to do when you’re dropped from Google’s index

 
Comment by Daniel Ryan from Matched Betting Subscribed to comments via email
2008-10-03 20:58:04

I’ve attempted to buy a few domains but often find the website owner to be unrealistic in their valuation. I’ll put in a lot of research to come up with a realistic valuation only to be told that they want triple the price (or even more). I’m glad for you that you let this domain go as it was very profitable - enjoy your rewards!!

 
2011-03-10 20:30:11

Ally.com is a hugemongous banks site now. Too bad we can’t have crystal balls, eh?

 
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