A Frustrating Canceled Domain Negotiation

Have you received an offer via one of the mainstream domain aftermarket platforms? If you list domains on such platforms then you likely have received offers. Some offers are ridiculously low that don’t even cover the commission. Others are smarter, they do some research and make an offer within the generic appraisal range. But unless you are in need of immediate cash, you don’t want to sell your best domains according to the results of generic, and automated, appraisal engines.

I had an interesting and frustrating experience recently on Sedo with an offer for a domain. Not the only instance of such but this one stood out because of the initial offer. The starting offer was 3K US. Which was a serious offer. The domain was a Spanish language health name that was a pure generic. Because of the worldwide potential of the name that includes Latin America, United States, Canada, Caribbean, Spain and other parts of Europe, I countered with 10K. When there was no response in 2 days, I reduced the counter to 7K expecting a counter offer. However, the prospective buyer canceled negotiations after a few days. Likely because he felt insulted that his first offer was rejected, maybe, or bought a weaker domain name. He could have countered with 3K and say that was his final offer. My bottom price was 5K, which is very low in my opinion. Now the domain is for sale at BIN for 25K. It currently is a developed site which I will likely develop into a business. It is a genuinely great domain name.

This illustrates the frustration of doing negotiations on platforms like Sedo. You see, you are extremely limited to your counter offer and comments. If you write anything outside the canned comments, Sedo will censor or moderate it. Both the buyer and seller are left to their imaginations as to what the other is thinking. If you would be able to deal directly with the other party, you can use sales skills and have an open conversation that can more likely lead to a deal. For example, you can offer split payments via escrow. Or perhaps a partnership in the business. Also the buyer likely does not understand that you are taking into account Sedo´s large commission rate.

This shows how much more productive and lucrative it is to deal directly with buyers through your own landing pages and domain shop.