Domain Acquisition Services - Any good?

[Keir_Mc]

Are domain acquisition services offered by the likes of Sedo, Afternic, etc. any good? ie. do they get results? are they worth the money? Is it better to just contact registrant yourself?

Keir

 

[Anthony Ng]

It really depends on:

a) how comfortable you feel negotiating a sale with a total stranger;

b) and how you perceive that people (sellers) would think about YOU (buyer): how do THEY know that you are trustworthy (many end-users would prefer dealing with larger companies like GreatDomains or Network Solutions)

Personally, I would approach the owner (registrant) myself: the seller KNOWS that you will be paying a commission and therefore taking that into the final sale price.

 

[Keir_Mc]

Thanks.

I don't mind contacting sellers direct. The biggest problem is getting in contact with them. I send emails to their WHOIS email address and they get ignored. Sometimes I call tel no. but usually get Voice Mail. I leave a message but still no response. Would an email from someone like Network Solutions have more chance of getting a reply? Do companies like that have any other means of getting in contact other than public WHOIS contact details?

 

[smub]

well it depend on wat kind of person is that guy .. if he is nice then he wud reply after ur 1st email

 

[Keir_Mc]

The domains I am interested in are typically owed not by individuals. I can tell from WHOIS that they are domain name brokers and domain parking services are in use on domains. If they don't reply could it be they are simply not interested? Or more likely they are not getting email? Any other tips for getting in contact?

 

[Keir_Mc]

I have signed up for both Sedo Domain Acquisition & Network Solutions Certified Offer programs to make offers to 2 different domains. Will report back how I find each service

 

[Keir_Mc]

Update for you. I was very unimpressed with Network Solutions' Certified Offer service. All the service did was send an automated email every day for 7 days to the email address on WHOIS record. No attempt was made to contact the domain owner by any other means. I can easily do this myself and I wouldn't have to pay a 5% commission if the owner did indeed want to sell. Yes, the service is only $19 but is a bit of a waste of time in my opinion.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks for the update KM.

In general, I think it is best to approach individuals yourself.

You are then able to establish communication and negotiate directly.

Many individuals who are not interested in selling the domain do not reply to any e-mails, whether they are from an individual, agent or acquisition service.

 

[Keir_Mc]

Reporting back with appraisal of Sedo's Domain Acquisition Service.

This service costs $49. As part of this you initially receive a 6 page report giving an estimation of the current market value of the domain. This report is professional and accurate in its valuation in my opinion. After you have received the report, you are asked if you wish to make an unsolicited offer. Sedo ask for the MAXIMUM you are willing to pay. They then attempt to negotiate with the seller by initially making an offer at about half of your max price. (They do stipulate a minimum offer price in order to deter timewasters)

Rather than simply sending emails to the email address on WHOIS, they actually contact the seller by telephone. They will try for about 2 weeks to get a reponse.

On the whole, I was very impressed with this service. In the end, my offer was not accepted for the particular domain I was interested in. But they achieved the objective of obtaining a response from the seller (I had previously telephoned the owner and left a message but received no response).

In my opinion it is good value at $49 and I would use the service again.

Keir

 

[mole]

Yeah, Sedo is good.

 

[fatter]

one of the problems with contacting directly, many like myself are leary of responding to offers, if you include your phone and name you may get better response, i respond to very few because i get bombarded with junk mail when i do, however if name and number and good email contact are included i respond. also some have used direct correspondence in an attempt to hijack, I forget how they did it was quite a while ago