-
iteratingfun posted this
Hostage negotiation (aka Buying a domain)
TL;DR - Domain squatters are smart. Be patient & plan well.
In the movies, hostage negotiation always seems glamorous.
Cool negotiator in shades. Panicky terrorist. An easy dance into submission.
I thought acquiring a domain name from a squatter would be similar.
I was wrong, totally.
While planning our new 3d mobile games, we had decided we needed a new brandname separate from .
After naming our first game beta Dress Me Girl (as generic as it gets, I know) we decided we actually quite liked the sound of Me Girl. Easy to spell, catchy in a “Me Tarzan and You Jane” way and surprisingly warm and personal. Bingo!
Of course, was already taken.
By a pro squatter with over 10k .
Ok, time to roll up the sleeves.
I studiously read Fred Wilson’s “” post, dusted off an old yahoo account and shot off the first mail, copied and pasted from another article I found at the top of Google search:
Hi,
I saw that this .com domain “megirl" is parked. I wondered what are your plans for it. If you don’t have plans are you interested in selling? If yes, what would be your starting price?
Thanks
The reply within two minutes gave me a shock:
$75,000.
, buyer pays fees.
This offer expires 3/27/12.
Thanks.
Wooah….$75k? For 6 measly characters? Let’s try something more reasonable…
Appreciate the reply.
Unfortunately that’s above my budget.
I could offer $12,000
A heartening reply…
Thanks for the offer. Can’t accept, sorry.
How about $45,000.
Alright, just a matter of a few more emails and we’d down to something reasonable. I progressively raised my offer to 20k, which I told him was my final limit.
Over the next days, he refused to budge. So I even went for a hail mary:
ok so we can’t agree on up front cost, but how about one last alternative:
Rent for 3 years for $16k total (paid up front) with the option for us to buy the domain for $30k at any time during the 3 years
ie- you’d get your $US 46k price
either way, you make an easy 16k while you’re waiting for someone who will buy it from you, either us or someone else
Surely this would appeal to his greed, a deal he couldn’t refuse?
I appreciate the offer. Can’t accept. Sorry.
At this point I had gone through the 7 stages of grief except acceptance. Anger at this guy, denial, you name it.
I seriously considered splashing down the $45k (not that I could ever justify it, even with fresh ). Luckily a friend pulled me back to reality and I ended up walking away and reluctantly buying the corresponding .me alternative.
I thought that would be the end of the story.
But sure enough, a week later:
$30,000.
, buyer pays fees.
This offer expires 4/9/12
This time it would be my turn to go hardball, and it felt good!
$20k was my final offer. No budget to go higher.
Finally:
Okay, that’s a go
Awesome! A brilliant name for a fair, perhaps even good price.
was purchased and put to good use:
Looking back though I realized why he was sticking to $45k for some time. Why? Because it was just under the $50k Fred Wilson had recommended to spend on a great domain name. I nearly fell for it.
I had to admit how unprepared I was and how I should have approached it in hindsight.
Negotiating with domain terrorists: Lessons learned:
- Give yourself plenty of time for the negotiation (weeks or preferably months). If your deadline is short, you WILL get fleeced
- Have a few different alternatives so you don’t get emotionally attached to just one
- Read all the blogs about domain names, then know that domain squatters know that you’re also reading them - adapt appropriately
- Don’t reveal your real identity or use their name for your product before the domain is yours - if they know you have funding, expect the price to go up orders of magnitude
- Don’t disclose your real maximum budget as your budget to them, unless you’re weeks in and it’s not going anywhere (I ended up paying exactly what I stated earlier was my maximum budget - he knew that)
- Don’t be eager and play a little hardball…
Startup founders vs domain terrorists, unite.