How Do I Buy a Domain Name?

Economics books talk about pricing strategies where you charge “what the market
will bear”, and you can see where in domain names, well, that’s almost impossible to
figure out without a specific buyer involved.

I believe that the best domains change hands in private transactions, however, and
that if you’ve a third-party involved, it will unquestionably complicate the situation.

Any recommended approach to bid for the domain?

There’s no third party, no standards organization, no reference point for what
domains are worth. I’ve bought domains from others for $200 and I’ve paid $8000
for one domain. My most recent domain purchase, BLOGSMART.COM, was about
$500.

Unsurprisingly, the closing bids for “tiny-treasures.com”, “yourbetterhalf.com”,
“onenet.us” and “2EB.com” aren’t very impressive, but there are a few that shine as
particularly good domains: “america.org” (sold for $20,000), “maple.net” ($5,000),
“x360.com” ($5,000), “itoldyouso.com” ($15,000) and “searchme.com” ($15,500).
Based on that, “baby.net” should certainly be worth at least $20,000, don’t you
think?

A: This is a tough one because domain names, unless you have a legal claim on
them, exist in a pure commodity marketplace. What I mean is: the value of a domain
is defined solely by its perceived value to the buyer.

I should note that I have never bought a domain from a scalper (some people call
them “squatters”, or “domain squatters”) or domain resale agency, however: My
impression is that domain resellers encourage domain owners to set unrealistic
prices and hold out. For the individual domain owner who doesn’t know any better,
it seems like a good deal and if offers at lower price-points roll in, well, they’re
easily ignored.

How Do I Buy a Domain Name?

A few tips on valuation, before we get there, though: ‘.com’ are worth more than
other top level domains, dictionary words are worth more than multiple word
amalgamations (think ‘car.com’ versus ‘myfavoritecartodrive.com’), and that domain
names with hyphens are worth less than those without. Further, remember that if
you get a singular name, you need the plural, if you get a hyphenated name you
need the unhyphenated too, and so on.

Good luck to you!

But even without that disconnect, domains aren’t typically worth what you may think
they are. To see what I mean, pop over to AfterNIC, one of the top resellers in this
space, and browse their ‘recently sold’ and ‘featured’ domains lists.

Do you know how much these companies charge in average for a domain? Or are
they focused on the traffic and clicks and will not let it go?

How Do I Buy a Domain Name?

If you wanted to buy one of my unused domains (for example, “BABY.NET” which is
for sale, actually) then I might ask $20 for it, or I might ask $200,000 for it, or, who
knows, $2mil. What’s it worth? Well, that depends. If you’re a huge company with a
massive marketing budget and are passionate about obtaining this exact domain
then $500,000 might be a fair market price for it. But then again, maybe $100
would be more than it’s worth.

Anyway, back to your specific situation, I would try one more email message to the
domain owner, and if they don’t respond, well, it’s probably time to do some
creative synonym brainstorming and come up with a different name entirely. If they
respond, but are asking for far more than you’re willing to pay, keep dickering: I’ve
been surprised how quickly potential buyers vanish, when I’m just negotiating a
price.

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