George Kirikos posted a thread on Namepros about what not to say in a domain inquiry.
Here are some words and phrases I see all too often, that folks should avoid putting into their domain name inquiries:
1. student
2. non-profit
3. reasonable
4. I’m a broker
5. we have a client
6. starting a blog
7. we don’t have a large budget
8. I’m a serious buyer
9. if you have a list of other domains
10. this email is not spamWhich other words and phrases are a turn-off, if you’re a domain name owner receiving an inquiry?
And I agree with George that domain investors start to get either suspicious or dismissive when getting those kinds of offers.
I got one offer last week that was just classic,
“I know all you so called investors are just scumbags so just give me a reasonable price.”
My reply was you had me at scumbags.
He replied back with ???
Usually the conversation is over when one side calls the other side a scumbag.
Nice post. “You had me at scumbag” – now as blog post titles go, that’s a classic. Not only did I derive health-benefiting merriment from it, but I couldn’t wait to get to the article. 😉
I just came across a basher who wrote an article in which selling some of the most valuable domain names at good prices was characterized with some variation of “scum.” Needless to say, he got a potent earful out of the blue from me which I’ll bet he was not expecting and I was apparently the only domain guy to show up. I’d post the link but sorry I have some biz reasons not right now.
Well then… if you are the one holding the domain, and he sees you as scum… that makes him lower than scum, doesn’t it?
Glad you liked it John, Happy Holidays.
Some folks are very classy when inquiring, and leave the door open to doing business in the future if a deal can’t be done at present.
Unfortunately they’re greatly outnumbered by those who become verbally abusive and are very resentful at not being able to get what they want.
i like also when it comes in Chinese only or starting with “Dear Sir/Medam”. or when the name of the email address does not match the signature on the email. or even “Dear Whois privacy”…
@George Kirikos, yes there are a few. what i always love however is to play the role of the buyer and reaching owners and get their replies that their domains are worth a lot more (most of them got stuck on the hype of late 2015 inquiries and on estibot valuations). oddly, if they are buying a likewise priced domain they usually shed away because it is too much, because “I can get a domain for 10 bucks”, etc…
bottom line, i love this business and its inefficiencies and for being a small market. after 20 years we are still bellow radar and general public understanding the value of a domain name.
A lot of these types of responses come from the sense of entitlement buyers. There is no amount of logic or reason you can introduce to persuade someone with an overwhelming sense of entitlement. I just ignore rude aholes at this point.
Also, many of these same potential buyers don’t realize they are not the only person in the world. There are likely other potential buyers with a superior usage and budget.
Brad
IKR
Don’t forget the customer is always right. I would have tried to ignore the insult and just given him a reasonable price with a link to DNJournal.com so he could see how much domains are generally selling for, pointing out that he could possibly sell the domain, if he stopped using it, for more than I was asking.
Not sure I would have succeeded, though. Might have called him a ******* *******…
“Is your domain for sale?”
when the domain resolves to a sale page.
Outlines whois spam.
…
Is your domain “transferable”
generally Chinese spam
I don’t see the problem with #4 (broker) and #5 (broker again); not every buyer wants to be exposed in negotiations. The others indeed are not good signs.
I agree. Maybe depending on context.
I had a lawyer announced her name, title ,company and location, then went on to say “I have a client…” and It turned into a 5 figure sale. So maybe if the offer came without a real company or a person, then it is a spam.
“You’re not using it.”
“I want to give the domain to my girlfriend for her birthday.”
“I already bought a domain, but…”
“I have to use the domain for a school project.”
“I’m an investor.”
“Your not using it”
Tied in with
“You should be grateful that I did my homework to determine how much the domain cost you (regular purchase price depending on extension) and am willing to offer you twice that”
Some classics here. I get these and mostly ignore like Brad. Once in a while I am feeling playful though. I always get a lot of the “its for my school project” emails. Someone offered me $50 recently and told me it was for a school project. I told them they could rent it for $50, that I would forward it wherever they liked the day of the school project. Then I told them to stay in school so they can afford to buy my domain one day. 🙂
Love this from Jon Schultz, ” just given him a reasonable price with a link to DNJournal.com so he could see how much domains are generally selling for”
I am gonna use that one day. Short and sweet. Classy and gets the point across without saying anything but the price. Very cool.
then there are the folks who try to claim intellectual property rights, disregarding the fact that you’ve owned the domain for 10 years and they just recently filed for a trademark…
‘cyber-squatter’
‘we own the rights to this name’
‘my attorney said..’
‘amicable resolve’
‘please respond asap’
What’s wrong with “We have a client…” ?
That’s a legit opening for legit inquiries.
This article inspired me to write a post called, “You had me at ‘You put your capital at risk…'”. You can read the email I received from a happy buyer of a domain that understood a domain investors work and risk. Link: http://www.developed.nyc/domain-capital-at-risk/
That was an enjoyable read. No, you don’t have to feel guilty about any of that. Just feel guilty that you have NYC nexus while guys like me don’t. 😀
Thanks John!
I had forgotten exactly how nice the buyer was until I reread the email. I’ll have to do a follow up post about some of the mean, aggressive, bizarre and even perverted responses I’ve had too. I think that this is definitely one of the risks of doing outbound.