Q: I’d like to purchase a domain, but I found that it’s already registered by a bulk domain purchasing business (just examine negres.com). I tried to contact them but I have received no solution.

Do you know how a lot these businesses cost in typical for a domain? Or are they centered on the visitors and clicks and will not let it go?

Any recommended approach to bid for the domain?

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

If you wanted to purchase one of my unused domains (for instance, “Child.NET” which is for sale, really) then I might ask $20 for it, or I might ask $200,000 for it, or, who understands, $2mil. What’s it worth? Well, that is dependent. If you are a huge business with a enormous marketing spending budget and are passionate about acquiring this precise domain then $500,000 might be a honest market price for it. But then again, perhaps $one hundred would be much more than it’s worth.

Economics books speak about pricing strategies where you cost “what the market will bear”, and you can see where in domain names, well, that’s nearly impossible to figure out without a particular purchaser involved.

There’s no 3rd celebration, no standards organization, no reference stage for what domains are worth. I’ve bought domains from others for $200 and I’ve compensated $8000 for one domain. My most recent domain buy, BLOGSMART.COM, was about $500.

I ought to note that I have by no means bought a domain from a scalper (some individuals contact them “squatters”, or “domain squatters”) or domain resale company, nevertheless: My impression is that domain resellers encourage domain proprietors to set unrealistic costs and maintain out. For the person domain owner who does not know any better, it seems like a great deal and if provides at lower price-factors roll in, well, they’re effortlessly ignored.

Then, three, four or even five years later, the domain proprietors with dozens or even hundreds of domains all of a sudden understand that they truly aren’t worth a lot following all because it’s obvious at that stage that the market is not valuing the domain the way that the reseller is.

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

A few suggestions on valuation, before we get there, though: ‘.com’ are worth much more than other top level domains, dictionary phrases are worth much more than multiple word amalgamations (think ‘car.com’ versus ‘myfavoritecartodrive.com’), and that domain names with hyphens are worth less than those without. Further, keep in mind that if you get a singular title, you require the plural, if you get a hyphenated title you require the unhyphenated as well, and so on.

Unsurprisingly, the closing bids for “very small-treasures.com”, “yourbetterhalf.com”, “onenet.us” and “2EB.com” aren’t very impressive, but there are a few that shine as particularly great domains: “america.org” (offered 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” ought to definitely be worth at least $20,000, do not you think?

I think that the greatest domains alter hands in private transactions, nevertheless, and that if you have a 3rd-celebration involved, it will unquestionably complicate the situation.

Anyway, back to your particular situation, I would attempt one much more e-mail message to the domain owner, and if they do not respond, well, it’s most likely time to do some inventive synonym brainstorming and arrive up with a different title completely. If they respond, but are asking for far much more than you are willing to spend, maintain dickering: I’ve been surprised how quickly potential purchasers vanish, when I’m just negotiating a price.

Great luck to you!

Dave Taylor is an internationally acknowledged professional on business and technical topics and is the writer of 18 different books and thousands of journal articles. His Q&#038A Internet site is http://www.askdavetaylor.com/