Proxy buyers inquire on behalf of companies or wealthy individuals.
Wow, is it December already?
Hopefully, you are all done with Holiday shopping by now, and by that we don’t mean registering domain names to give away as presents!
Just realized there haven’t been any updates on our Domain Name Jargon series, a collection of educational terminology that intends to (re)define domaining as we know it.
With the NamesCon domain conference approaching, you don’t want to have gaps in your domain knowledge – we’re here to help you study efficiently, and become a top domainer. 😀
Proxy Buyer (function) : Often referred to as a “go-between”, a “secret investor” or a “man-in-the-middle”, this particular type of “domain broker” isn’t looking to announce their true identity when they contact domain owners.
Often disguising as a person with a limited budget, a proxy buyer possesses the skills of a psychologist; they will negotiate relentlessly to bring the asking price for a domain down.
Way down!
The intention of such a proxy buyer in the domain negotiation process, is to effectively acquire valuable domain assets from their current owners, on behalf of parties with deep pockets.
Sometimes, proxy buyers reveal their identity, then ostensibly refuse to increase their offer when the domain owner realizes their role. Most of the time, the domain owner is left baffled as to who might really want that particular domain.
When receiving an offer from someone on suspicion that they are a proxy buyer, always ask them to provide as much contact information as possible; do your research before accepting their offer or counter-offering.
Example: “Hey Rick, I see you own Widgets.com, I might want to buy it for my new drone delivery service. No, I’m not a venture capitalist, swear to god, so money is tight.”
I bought SpillVase.com last year, and designed a webpage for my girlfriend to visit on Christmas day which went along with a physical present of a antique spill vase for her dressing table 😉
Just a bit of inhouse fun!