Ever reject an offer that you wish you would have accepted?
Have you ever turned down an offer on one of your domain names only to kick yourself later?
Domain investors often talk about “domain sales regret“, when you sell a domain that ends up selling for more later.
But I think the opposite is more often the case. You turn down an offer on a domain, only to wish later that you would have accepted it.
I can think of a couple cases off the top of my head. One in particular was MusicPhones.com.
Back in 2007 I got a nice offer for the domain name. But back then the term “music phone” was hot. Samsung had a commercial promoting its newest music phone and used the exact term in its commercial.
Given all the hoopla over phones that doubled as mp3 players, I turned down the offer.
Fast forward five years, and the term music phones doesn’t really mean much. Most phones are smartphones, and most smartphones play music.
In that case it was a change in technology and terminology trends that let to a drop in the value of my domain.
Another example is when you overpaid for a domain, realize it later, but are reluctant to take a loss.
I bought a domain name in an auction in 2007. A lot of people overpaid for domains in 2007, and this domain was no exception.
A couple years later I got an offer for close — but not quite — my purchase price. I turned it down.
Will it ever recover in value? Perhaps.
But I was talking to someone else the other day who has regretted turning down offers on domains because it would have resulted in a small loss. The person later sold the domains for an even greater loss.
It’s hard to take a loss, but sometimes our psyche makes us lose more money.
Oh, and that post I linked to earlier was about the domain camroulette.com. Talk about a domain that’s seen its value swing wildly!
michael berkens says
Andrew
I can say both happen.
I turned down six figures for fashionmodels.com years ago and never got another offers, on the other hand I accepted an offer for $75K on a domain and while the domain was still at escrow got an another insistent buyer that went as high as $200K, I tried to broker a deal with the buyer but he said no
Andrew Allemann says
@ Michael – that’s true, it can go either way. For many of the smaller domainers I suspect they don’t get to see both sides.
rob sequin says
I see it all the time as a domain buyer broker.
I have a qualified buyer who can close quickly without contingencies and I put a good offer on the table and MOST domain owners are very greedy and will most likely never get as good of an offer.
If the domain is fantastic and obviously has value to many potential buyers then of course more offers will come.
If the domain gets no traffic and you’ve never gotten an offer before? SELL IT.
Acro says
Baloney. Offers come and go, and while one should examine each offer independently (that’s why I don’t list domains with a BIN) there is always a market for quality domains. Unless you suggest that investors should let go of their assets in a panic.
Adam says
Right on. That offer you just got from me is the highest you’ll ever get. I promise. Keep telling ’em that for me Andrew.
LA says
That offer you got will most certainly NOT be the last offer. Trust me.
Last many of you, I’ve been in the domain name game for a long time. Since the mid 90’s in fact.
While there have been periods of lull between offers, I’ve noticed the unsolicited offers picking up within the last two years.
Since my portfolio is “handpicked”, it is much better for me to stay in a holding pattern if the right offer doesn’t come along.
As the BILLIONS of people on this planet all start getting connected to the internets, they’ll all soon be knocking on your door.
Don’t listen to incorrect advice. Believe in the inherent value of your domain portfolio. Always bargain from a position of strength.
Winning! (apologies to Charlie Sheen)
Richard says
I guess the lesson hear is don’t pay too much speculating on search terms that come and go (music phones,cloud,3d,etc.) I try to stick to the “domaining 6.0” with short brandables, hehe
I’ve noticed a lot of greedy noobs filling the forums, I say take a nice profit and move on or you’ll just go broke.
Ron says
Don’t let the brokers shake you out, they don’t get paid unless they get their buyers good cheap buys in most cases.
They will always come back to the table with more, I have turned down $1000 to get $10,000 many times, forget them.
wake up says
I sold a two character .tv for $15K back in April of this year. First offer was $2K, then $6K, then $9K, then $12K; we finally settled at $15K.
The domain launched this month, and is a joint venture between two multi-billion-dollar companies. I had no idea who the buyer was at the time; they used a third party. I probably could have gotten $100K, minimum. I regret selling for $15K.
Andrew Allemann says
@ wake up – or they had an alternative they would have gone with, and this big buyer would have never returned.
M. Menius says
There is no one formula that works in all situations. If a domain is priced right, chances are there will be several buyers, but their offers may be spread over time (months or years). Lowering price is not bad if there’s true wiggle room, and there usually is. The other side of this argument is you are only looking for one buyer, so holding out for your price works unless you just have to sell a domain. Then, you must compromise.
Francois says
This is simply called “bad luck” and unfortunately it looks I have lot of this lately…
LA says
The key is to not put yourself in a position to have to accept an otherwise unacceptable offer.
In other words, make sure your finances are stable irrespective of your domain holdings. Have enough to pay the rent, put food on the table, etc. and thus you’re be able to say “no” until you get an offer you can’t refuse.
Like I tell all my buyers when then get all crazy thinking my pricing is lunacy: “It’s Not Personal. It’s Business.”
I know they’ll come around again. They always do.
rob sequin says
Let me clarify what I meant above…
I mean when someone is interested in your dommain and you’ve never had any interest before, get the highest price from this person because it will probably be the highest price you will ever get.
I’m not suggesting to take the first offer because there is usually more budget than the first offer.
So, when this buyer is gone, there may never be another buyer.
Also, after doing this for MANY years, MOST of the domains acquired have always been parked and never used.
What does this mean?
It means most buyers buy on the passion of their idea but then never execute.
So, buyers should sell into that passion because no one may never have the same passion for that one domain ever again.
Martyn says
All well and good holding onto domains for a better price, but how about if the domain industry fizzles out due to changes in the way in which we find websites through smartphones and new search technologies?
Steve Jones says
I had a case brokering a name for a seller where I had THE perfect buyer, someone I had already done business with. The seller wanted $250,000 and the buyer was willing to pay it over a year or $150,000 immediately. The seller wouldn’t budge at all. This is 4 years ago and the seller still owns it and would be lucky to get $50,000 for it given how domain’s related industry is doing.
That said, I’ve also had plenty of cases where I’ve sold names and either found out about quick resales or actually received interest from buyers who thought I still owned it willing to pay more.
There’s no way to make the “hindsight right” move every single time.
LA says
It’s not always about the money ($$$). If you are savvy, you may make out well for yourself through bartering/saving.
As an example: I acquired a domain that happens to be the name of a bunch of hotels throughout America.
So guess what? If you approach these hotels about setting up a link exchange or throwing up a simple webpage, about half of them will jump at the chance in exchange for giving you a few free night’s stay. I’ve gotten a lot of “f-ck off!”‘s also outright offers to buy the domain as well.
But the moral of the story here is that I’ve stayed in a lot of cities in my travels for FREE by virtue of being in the domain name game.
So you see, it’s not always about the money.
Cha-Ching!
(I know I’m revealing secrets that those “in the know” may not want me to reveal…but hey, my domain portfolio is pretty well padded so I don’t mind. Good luck to all you late comers. There’s still gold in dem dar hills.)
domain guy says
I own an excellant brandable domain and received a high offer recently…and I rejected it. The domain can be combined with other domains I own and expand the brand. also there was no website, videos or content on the domain..if i was to sell the one domain it would devalue the brand.the analogy i used was if you owned a 20 acre plot of land and you sold off the corner the rest of the land is now devalued…
Frank S says
The truth is in all these responses