Making an offer for a domain

jonnywright

So there is a domain I am after but it is already taken. I want the domain as it works nicely with my name. I ran a whois on the domain and based on the registrant details they want it for the same reason. There is no website for the domain so I guess its used for email addresses.

It expires in about 6months. As I see it I have two options;
Wait and hope it expires and register it myself. The risk I run here is that the owner doesn't let it expire and they may expect more £$ if i try to buy frombthem as they will have just paid the reregistration fee.
Or I go in with an offer now. This way I pretty much guarantee they won't miss reregistration (once they know someone else is interested they will likely keep an eye on the renewal date) but they may ask for less £$ (unlikely I think).

I think I will be lucky to bag the domain regardless but on the off chance they are willing to negotiate, does anyone have any tips/advice on negotiations?

Also how would you suggest (assuming it gets that far) that the financial exchange takes place? How can I guarantee the goods are delivered once payment has been made?

Thanks

stator

Most people will renew the domains automatically, they cost about £10 so I don't think it's worth waiting for it to expire.
Contact them and you'll see whether they are interesting.
You would need a domain escrow service. I know that SEDO offer an escrow only service for about 3% ? You have to contact their customer services department directly to use it.

Ant555

How long has the current registrant owned it? - the whois should tell you when first registered.

I had a domain that someone was interested in and I immediately saw £££ signs when someone showed an interest - however it was purely speculative enquiry and the person (an individual not a company) wasn't really prepared to pay much so I still pay the few £ every couple of years to keep it.

If its a .co.uk then the .uk will be up for grabs very soon as I think there was a 2 year grace period in which existing .co.uk domain owners had first dibs.

Hope this helps.

benje302

Ant555 wrote: »

If its a .co.uk then the .uk will be up for grabs very soon as I think there was a 2 year grace period in which existing .co.uk domain owners had first dibs.

Hope this helps.

I own a .co.uk and I was informed that the .uk has been reserved for a period of 5 years (From 2014)

More info here

http://www.nsuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/FAQs.pdf

Regards

Ben

Ant555

Ah yes, 5 years and not 2 so my suggestion of the the .uk option is not realistic unless the existing .co.uk lapses.

benje302

Just a thought, there are so many new extensions available these days so why dont you pick a differnet one ?

Here are some other examples that are not country specific :-

.golf
.ninja
.life
.vodka
.trade

The list is big

Hope this helps

Ben