Domain Name Brokers

CurryCee

Hey everyone,

I've been looking to create an online portfolio of work, but the domain name I'd like is taken. (I'd only be interested in a .com or .co.uk, but both have been snapped up).

I've been looking at using a domain name broker such as Sedo or GoDaddy's own domain brokering service in order to get the domain I want.

Has anyone has had any experience with using one before?

Thanks in advance!

googler

I've used names.co.uk in the past. I would call them a good, reliable, UK-based company, with UK customer support.

GoDaddy are American. Never heard of Sedo

Tropez

I've not used Sedo's brokerage services, but I have purchased a domain from a third-party who was selling it through the Sedo marketplace.

Sedo were very professional handling the transaction and transfer.

However, I have heard some reports that when it comes to brokerage they will sometimes just jump in with the highest possible offer.

-pete-_2

I've not done it personally but I had a client buy a domain name through GoDaddy's domain brokering service, he wasn't the most technical guy but he managed to go it sorted without too much hassle.

It did cost him quite a bit of money from what I recall but if it was good value or not I couldn't say.

bingo_bango

Why not approach the site owner first and see if they are up for selling the domain and get an idea of price from them?

If you approach a broker they will only do the same thing, then add on 20-30% for their commission.

If the owner agrees to sell for a particular price, then the responsible body (e.g. Nominet) will need to be party to the transfer and will also charge a fee. Worth finding a decent escrow service for the actual transfer of funds.

Some more info on the Out-Law website and Nominet will I'm sure have more detail as well.

paddyrg

You know the domain you want, so presumably you know the contact details of the owner (or you can find it with a whois), so just ask. A broker will stand in the middle of the transaction but not add anything. You're looking at at least 4 figures if they get involved.

If you want microsoft.co.uk you may find the asking fee is bigger than vzsgnhfhzosojdfjjjsa.org.uk ;-) Reality is unless a domain is completely unused, it's been worth something to someone in the past 2 years in order to pay the registration fees, so you will have to bargain.

CurryCee

Thanks for the replies!

The .com domain displays this page, which doesn't appear to be in use (unless those ads are accruing revenue). A who.is search redirects me to bigrock.com, but they've been unable to disclose any useful information after numerous contact attempts.

The .co.uk is owned by someone with the same surname, but different first name. I've tried writing them a letter, and have rang them numerous times but to no avail.

CurryCee

-pete- wrote: »

It did cost him quite a bit of money from what I recall but if it was good value or not I couldn't say.

Can you recall how much it cost him overall? I don't really know the going rate for domain names. I suppose it depends on the domain itself, but I literally don't even know if I'm looking at <£100 or >£1000...

relaxsoon

CurryCee wrote: »

Can you recall how much it cost him overall? I don't really know the going rate for domain names. I suppose it depends on the domain itself, but I literally don't even know if I'm looking at <£100 or >£1000...

I know this is a old post but i wanted to let you know we purchased our rebrand name for our company.

We ended up paying a £xxx,xxx for the .com and a £xx,xxx for the .co.uk so we had the pair that we needed as .com and .co.uk since having these our company could rebrand which has worked well.

We used these domain brokers which were very good with any domain related questions you have.