Hi, I have an ‘etsy’ store, and I want to buy the domain that matches it, but it’s already taken, and up for sale. I’ve not approached the person selling it yet - but I have a feeling they want a lot of money for it because they have a LOT of domains for sale. There are no trademarks associated with the name. If all goes well, I intend to trademark the name and keep growing my business. If I do, does that give me any rights? I’m not trying to squeeze the person for their name, but I don’t think I’m going to get an affordable offer, and I’m trying to plan out the best way to approach them. What’s the best way to handle this that is fair to everybody involved? I don’t have a few thousand to pay.
The .net and .us versions are available, but overall I think the .com is the best option. I think return customers are most likely going to type the .com address in the bar, and get diverted, which isn’t good for business.
If .com is available then buy it otherwise .biz or country-specific TLD will be better.
But must by before 14 Jan. as prices are going up from 14th Jan.
good luck
I told you wrong! I’m sorry - the .net is NOT available. It’s being used by an unrelated business to mine. So my possibilities are .us and .biz - also found out that they are asking $3500 for the .com - So that’s out of the question!
Is the .biz more ‘legit’ sounding than it was in the past? I read old threads yesterday and saw a lot of people that for unexplainable reasons, they just felt the .biz looked more shady, or too much of a sales pitch.
I really don’t like .biz at all - sites with that extension just look cheap and are used by a lot of the low value websites on the net (such as autoblogs) due to their low cost.
.us would be my preference to be honest. It doesn’t have the same cache as other country told like .co.uk and .de due to .com being the de facto US domain since the internet went mainstream - but it doesn’t look such like a scam to me…
I think the only people that are going to tell you that the “dot biz” option would be fine are people with the “dot biz” in their own address…
Seriously, though. I just had a clent that went throughout the same thing. They ended up biting the bullet and purchasing the “dot com” version and heir traffic went through the roof!
First of all, that price tag is negotiable. Haggle with them and get the price down if it’s worth it. Figure out how much you stand to gain with the increased traffic and figure that into your bid.
Google is always going to show the “dot com” options first, so that’ll help you with ranking…
Thanks for the advice! I decided I’ll buy the .US and then I’ll see if I can haggle on the .com . At least then I’ve got something to fall back on without fear that they buy the .US once they know I’m interested in the .com.
I don’t really know of any .US websites that I visit (e-commerce, that is), except for Saltworks.us and they seem to be phenomenally successful. But the lack of .us sites that I go to is what was concerning. But I can make it work - I can just make that part of my branding process.
Firstly, I would recommend approaching them with a number in mind. (How much you are willing to offer)
If they accept it, perfect.
If they do not, then you should just get the .net extension.
anyone that is offering 3500 for a domain is a great value. I do lots of branding and to tell you the truth dont waste your time with anything else other then the .com or a domain hack. try using http://domai.nr/ otherwise i would agree i would counter offer. If you just get the .us you never know if the seller may change his mind and ask for more if you are successful.
I would secure the trademark, purchase all the other domains (within reason) that match and then offer $1000 for the domain explaining that you own the trademark so they or know one else can sell products under that name and you have all the other meaningful domains so 'Who else will even consider buying"? The Domain seller must understand that given all that and the fact if you make your other domain successful then you don’t care if you get the .com so you are better off making the $1000 now rather than getting less for it in the future.
I did this recently and whittled a domain seller down from $5000 to $1500 using similar logic. May seem to expensive but it will pay for itself in less than a year and now I have all the domains, and the trademarks for the company/products… it has been worth it.
@steve that sounds like horrible advise. Just because you get the trademark doesnt mean you can get the domain. Cause if you try to challenge it, it’s called reverse Hi-Jacking and is a liability if you take that approach with the wrong domain owner. Not to mention it would just show how much more you are willing to invest if you have a TM as well as your investment with all of the other possible domains. What i would do is present a slightly lower offer then what you can afford and then present a last offer.
I was not suggesting that just because you trademark the product you will automatically get the .com domain. I don’t know where you read that. I suggested that if you take the domain owner’s leverage away then the price will come down. This being done by buying the other .ca, .biz, .info, .tv… versions of the domain so you can begin to operate your online presence that matches your already existing business - what veggiemelt said
Thanks for the advice! I decided I’ll buy the .US and then I’ll see if I can haggle on the .com .
So veggiemelt is going to try to use the .us to build their business and then go after the .com. If veggiemelt has the trademark then they can rightfully sell and brand their products with this name, know one else can legally do this. The owner of the .com has leverage because they know that someone that wants the [COLOR=#464646]etsy.com will pay their asking price. However if the ability for people to brand their product and services around the etsy brand is limited by veggiemelt being granted the trademark, it reduces the domain sellers leverage somewhat. Further taking away the other domains and positioning like 'Hey i’ve already got the .us domain plus all other important variants and so I am either going to put my marketing dollars and efforts into the .us domain - which I will make a success and won’t need the .com - or I can put it into the .com and you will still make magnitudes of profit at $1000.
If the current owner doesn’t at this point think that they want to take the $1000 then they can say no and try to sell it to someone else. You in know way are forcing them to sell it, you are simply tipping more in your favour, maybe making it easier to ‘haggle’.
Veggiemelt will need to get the trademarks to ensure greater exclusivity on the products or services. So the cost of that is needed either way. The other domains is a small investment for one year if you can shave $2500 off the price. Yes you are showing the domain owner that you are investing in your brand, but big deal it supports your argument for them to sell it too you at a fair but more reasonable price.
I have had success twice by doing this, and in both cases I did not steal or force the domain owners to sell to me, I gave them the option to sell at a price I was willing to pay and presented the other things that support why I believed this would make the most business sense as they can still make a profit based on what I was offering. Veggiemelt was asking for advise of what others would do so I related my ‘good’ experiences using this technique. Please relate your good/bad experiences doing this so Veggiemelt has a balanced point of view.
Your best bet in this situation is to go buy the .co
How cool is that?
It sure looks like the .CO is be received very well and i’m seeing big companies using it because it’s shor it it really saying .CO reads like company.
