As domainers, we receive them all the time: the much-dreaded, despicable, nerve-wracking offers that don’t even take into account the cost of renewing the domain.
The Lowball Offers.
They arrive via emails, phonecalls or via online venues such as Sedo, GoDaddy, Network Solutions or Afternic.
Lowball offers are several zeros short of a full price, they are like middle fingers in the face of every serious domain investor; although the so-called “domain flippers” are often quite willing to consider them.
How should you respond to a lowball offer?
Here are our Top 10 ways, so pick one at random:
- This domain is older than you, can I buy you for the same price?
- I would not even fill up my SUV with gas for that price
- Finish school, get a job then call me back (said when the offer comes from an alleged “student” with no budget.)
- If your sister wants this domain for her business, tell her to call me herself.
- This is a business, not a charity organization (said when a “charity” wants a domain for free.)
- For the $10 that you offer, visit GoDaddy.com and get the .net/.org/biz
- If the price is right, I will let you know (when emails don’t include a monetary offer.)
- I know you own the .FR, so vive la France. This is the .COM and this is America, b!at3h!
- How about “No”?
- Welcome to my Lowballers Roster – send me your pic to be included in the yearbook!
Hopefully these statements will now be part of your valuable lowball offer response ammunition. Feel free to submit your own favorite one-line responses to lowball offers. 😀
“Finish school, get a job then call me back …”
I love it!
“Feel free to submit your own favorite one-line responses to lowball offers.”
—
Offer: “We don’t really need ‘keyworddomain.com’ but are willing to offer you $60.”
Response: “It is a relief to me that you don’t need ‘keyworddomain.com. You’ll be equally relieved to know that I don’t need the $60 you offered.”
Most often I simply tell them to f&ck off 🙂 Nothing hits a nerve better.
… And just becouse it’s you, I’ll even throw in a logo and complete Website for a buck more!
I enjoyed that list and will certainly use some of them. Thanks for that!
I sent them my Bullshit!!
All comments aboard are perfect for furthering the “professional” appearance of domain investors. I got contrite with a lowball offer only once a few years ago. The guy turned out to be real, a professor at a University who, along with his students, discovered a new substance that won the state’s Science Fair. I made a deal with him, bartered it around…
Now I just have a cut and paste response “If you’re serious about the domain, let’s talk. Write back here.”
Simple, doesn’t lose a potential big buyer, and doesn’t make me look like a petulant assw*pe.
some time we need to tell a price margin because all end users may not aware of domain prices and it may e first buy for them. but i like these 10 ways 🙂
“Finish school, get a job then call me back” is a nice one.
My favorite response to $60 offers is “Stupid offers deserve stupid counter offers – how about $5 million”.
Some clever, wonderful and simply *outstanding* responses from y’all 😀
It’s great seeing how everyone finds lowballers to be frustrating and obnoxious.
I prefer to negociate with respect!!!
byDomainers – respect is a two way street. Lowball offers are disrespectful when they are not simply the result of ignorance 😉
We consider all offers respectfully!
Welcome to my Lowballers Roster – send me your pic to be included in the yearbook! ~~~ Whooo! HOOOO!!!
Sorry, but that offer doesn’t even register on my scale. I’m only replying because I think you might have left out a couple of noughts by mistake. [In response to $10 offer for nice, catchy domain name]
Awesome list! I’ll use one of these next time 😀
Great article. It made me laugh as I just yesterday received a fairly low-ball offer on sedo (it was $100 for the domain cyborg.co). I invested in about 150 .co domains recently when we were allowed to register. So far I have sold quite a few (about 10 or so), and I hope to have 75% sold off before registration time comes again.
What I have found though, is that it often pays to be as respectful and nice as possible, even if the person is knowingly trying to lowball. Often times, an end-user may not realize the expenses we face selling domains (registration fees, domain brokerage fees, taxes, etc.). Or maybe they are a domainer themselves, and just want to try to get it cheap to flip it.
In either case, I have found that if you are polite, your chances of selling are much higher than if you respond in a negative or rude way. For example, I had a domainer offer me too low of an offer on one of my .co domains, but I replied that “I really don’t want to go that low right now, but I will consider if I haven’t sold it in a few months. If you are interested in any of my other domains, please let me know.” The domainer ended up passing on that particular domain, but then, actually made several very reasonable offers on some of my .co’s, and I sold a few to him.
This article got a good laugh out of me though, because I think we all think those replies in the back of our minds. But as I said, I think the better approach is to probably just think it, or say it out loud, and avoid actually telling the person that. Instead, kindness is always the best approach. Just think about it, are you going to buy a domain if a person offended you? Probably not, even if you really want the domain. You would probably think, “what a jerk, I don’t need this domain anyway.” But if you replied nicely, the person may soften up and offer higher.
Great article though, and it was fun to read the other comments.