purchasing a name

[websaway]

Can I suggest that when a name is put under "offers invited" the potential purchaser should make an offer, this then gives the seller an opportunity to accept the offer, reject the offer, or tell the potential purchaser what he wants or expects for the domain name.
It's often the case that a request is made for the price of the domain and the seller can't tell if the enquirer is a potential buyer or is just trying to establish values for purposes other than purchasing the name advertised.

 

[bensd]

I think it works both ways.

If a purchaser makes an offer of £200 for a domain, the seller may have actually taken £100, alternatively he may be holding out for xx,xxx - in which case an offer of £200 is pointless.

 

[retired_member13]

Similarly, I think most buyers prefer the seller to have at least a vague idea of price / guide price / ballpark up front, rather than the buyer taking the stance of "I have no guide price, but I'll tell you if your offer is high enough".

Given that a domain valuation is quite a subjective thing, I think that buyer and seller need to at least be on the same page when it comes to formulating a deal, and this is impossible if the seller plays their cards so close to their chest that there's no real feedback.

Another factor for me is - if I approach someone out of the blue to buy a domain name, then fair enough, the ball is in my court when it comes to making an offer, whereas if a seller is actively trying to sell a name on a forum or elsewhere it seems fair that they have an idea of what they are trying to achieve with the sale if they wish to establish a dialogue.

Would anyone go to view a house with a view to buying within a budget if the seller refused to state the price? I think that this approach only works for the very top end of a market, where "money is no object" or the value is self evident.

 

[domainseller200]

Can I suggest that when a name is put under "offers invited" the potential purchaser should make an offer, this then gives the seller an opportunity to accept the offer, reject the offer, or tell the potential purchaser what he wants or expects for the domain name.
It's often the case that a request is made for the price of the domain and the seller can't tell if the enquirer is a potential buyer or is just trying to establish values for purposes other than purchasing the name advertised.

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-offers-invited/63445-vehicle-loans.html

Khalid made a £100 / £200 offer here, yet it didn't bring any further visibility on the asking price in the thread as you didn't reply to the offer, so what you have asked in this thread is obviously not correct.

 

[retired_member13]

@websaway:

Actually, thinking about it, I did also make a (low) offer to you via PM for a name you advertised on Acorn recently in an effort to get a response / price from you and you ignored it.

How does that work?

 

[websaway]

I think it works both ways.

If a purchaser makes an offer of £200 for a domain, the seller may have actually taken £100, alternatively he may be holding out for xx,xxx - in which case an offer of £200 is pointless.

OK theres two options here, offer what you want to pay ie. £1000 or offer low at £100 to get the discussion going. Either way the seller knows the buyer is serious, the higher the offer is the more seriously the buyer can be taken.

 

[websaway]

Similarly, I think most buyers prefer the seller to have at least a vague idea of price / guide price / ballpark up front, rather than the buyer taking the stance of "I have no guide price, but I'll tell you if your offer is high enough".

Given that a domain valuation is quite a subjective thing, I think that buyer and seller need to at least be on the same page when it comes to formulating a deal, and this is impossible if the seller plays their cards so close to their chest that there's no real feedback.

Another factor for me is - if I approach someone out of the blue to buy a domain name, then fair enough, the ball is in my court when it comes to making an offer, whereas if a seller is actively trying to sell a name on a forum or elsewhere it seems fair that they have an idea of what they are trying to achieve with the sale if they wish to establish a dialogue.

Would anyone go to view a house with a view to buying within a budget if the seller refused to state the price? I think that this approach only works for the very top end of a market, where "money is no object" or the value is self evident.

on your first point the seller will have a price in mind and will feel more comfortable communicating with someone who has at least made an offer and is therefore a serious enquirer.

on your second point an initial offer overcomes your reservation.

on your third point, again the only thing missing is an offer to show intent and initiate dialogue.

on your fourth point houses can't be compared because price is a science and not so subjective.

 

[websaway]

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-offers-invited/63445-vehicle-loans.html

Khalid made a £100 / £200 offer here, yet it didn't bring any further visibility on the asking price in the thread as you didn't reply to the offer, so what you have asked in this thread is obviously not correct.

I see what you are saying but Khalid had already had a £200 offer rejected on sedo and new what the counter offer was so he was aware of what would have been an acceptable offer, to offer £100 was just causing mischief, so I think that negates your arguement on that point.

 

[websaway]

@websaway:

Actually, thinking about it, I did also make a (low) offer to you via PM for a name you advertised on Acorn recently in an effort to get a response / price from you and you ignored it.

How does that work?

that's a fair point but you can't say we didn't have enormous dialogue after you made the low offer.

 

[domainseller200]

I see what you are saying but Khalid had already had a £200 offer rejected on sedo and new what the counter offer was so he was aware of what would have been an acceptable offer, to offer £100 was just causing mischief, so I think that negates your arguement on that point.

That is fair enough, but only yourself and Khalid knew what the counter offer was in this instance, so everyone is still in the dark.

I can see that Khalid offering £100 (after you had countered via SEDO a larger amount) as a bit daft, but still doesn't bring transparency to the thread and actually muddied the waters further.

I understand people want as high price as possible for their domains, but realistically on a domain reseller forum, it is very rare that a fellow domainer will offer an amount alot higher than the seller wants, so why not cut to the chase and find common ground and offer some transparency - Kev (systreg) has the right idea - offers in thread only - this cuts out any problems everytime, and also gives the seller the opportunity to get a price in the ball park figure they are after.

Here is another example : http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-offers-invited/62526-gran-canaria-holidays.html (the original poster went back and editted his first thread after some small offers had been received)

 

[websaway]

Can I suggest that when a name is put under "offers invited" the potential purchaser should make an offer, this then gives the seller an opportunity to accept the offer, reject the offer, or tell the potential purchaser what he wants or expects for the domain name.
It's often the case that a request is made for the price of the domain and the seller can't tell if the enquirer is a potential buyer or is just trying to establish values for purposes other than purchasing the name advertised.

If happened what I'm suggesting above I think there would be no problems with this thread and if the seller wants to give a selling price for any reason in the thread then that's perfectly acceptable.

 

[dotNetFreak]

Following on from Ty's points above, I think that any domains posted in the "Offers Invited" section should have a ballpark figure attached to them.

A lot of potential buyers won't make a blind offer in a public forum in case they're offering £50 for what might be a £1k domain, therefore they prefer to enquire as to the price to gauge a ballpark or to make offers by pm to keep it private.

Post a guide price initially (low £xxx etc.) and I think you'll find more people put offers in the thread, a lot less will enquire about the price, and more than likely more names would be sold.

The sales threads rules do currently say:

Where possible please set an asking price or place a ballpark price guide.

Perhaps a ballpark should be mandatory?

Just my 2p worth.

 

[retired_member13]

I see what you are saying but Khalid had already had a £200 offer rejected on sedo and new what the counter offer was so he was aware of what would have been an acceptable offer.

So if, as you said in your reply above, you had a price in mind before you even posted the thread (ie you had countered to Khalid on Sedo before posting it on Acorn), what was the problem with putting the same counter up as a ballpark in your thread as a guide price?

that's a fair point but you can't say we didn't have enormous dialogue after you made the low offer.

I've just looked at my mail, we exchanged a total of 3 further PMs after I made the offer (2 from you and 1 from me), which amounted to you explaining to me why you wouldn't give me a price and how "it wasn't an auction", although I had previously repeatedly asked you for some sort of guide. I then made an initial offer as you requested via PM, which you then ignored in the dialogue you refer to above and you still wouldn't give me a counter offer / guide price / asking price / ballpark price.

At that point I gave up.

BTW: Given the number of domains I buy / have bought on Acorn, I don't think that there's any question about whether I was a "serious buyer" or not, so from my perspective the only thing stopping a potential transaction was the lack of any sort of meaningful response.

 

[websaway]

So if, as you said in your reply above, you had a price in mind before you even posted the thread (ie you had countered to Khalid on Sedo before posting it on Acorn), what was the problem with putting the same counter up as a ballpark in your thread as a guide price?



I've just looked at my mail, we exchanged a total of 3 further PMs after I made the offer (2 from you and 1 from me), which amounted to you explaining to me why you wouldn't give me a price and how "it wasn't an auction", although I had previously repeatedly asked you for some sort of guide. I then made an initial offer as you requested via PM, which you then ignored in the dialogue you refer to above and you still wouldn't give me a counter offer / guide price / asking price / ballpark price.

At that point I gave up.

BTW: Given the number of domains I buy / have bought on Acorn, I don't think that there's any question about whether I was a "serious buyer" or not, so from my perspective the only thing stopping a potential transaction was the lack of any sort of meaningful response.

I'm not going to take issue on your points above heaven knows lifes too short.
However I will say a person might not want to give a ballpark figure because it can scare potential buyers away, the negotiation process may never get off the ground, the seller doesn't get chance to sell the benefits of the name to the buyer and the buyer doesn't get the chance to argue the reasons why he should not pay any more than he is offering. I'm not saying anyone should be restricted to what they do when they open the thread, I'm merely saying that if someone is serious about buying the domain they should make an initial offer by PM or in the thread if they wish, simple as that.

 

[retired_member13]

I'm not going to take issue on your points above heaven knows lifes too short.

Me neither, all good at my end.

Some sales work, some don't, just thought I'd say why since you raised the thread.

Regards