[kwlug-disc] Go Daddy Backorder?

[Insurance Squared Inc.]

This is all true, including that Richard knows a good lawyer :).

Just be careful.   Prying a domain out of someone can be a tricky 
business.  I've bought a number of domains through the years and in many 
cases folks are reasonable.  One phone call, offer an amount, send the 
paypal out, and done.  I bought two fabulous domains last month from a 
domain-squatter for $200 just for asking.

Once in a while you'll get either a real low life that will cybersquat 
on a trademark and demand 10k but a phone call doesn't change that 
situation anyway.  If they're going to be sane about it then lawyering 
up first can turn them sour.  So I much prefer starting with a call.  
And actually a call, not an email. You want this personal.

In this case they've let the domain drop so I'd approach it thusly - 
call them tonite and tell them you want the domain, and for what 
reason.  Be open.  Then explain that if they wait until it drops then it 
goes to auction and you risk not getting the domain. So you'll offer 
them $500 today plus the cost of the re-registration to go and get the 
domain again, then transfer it to you.  Otherwise, for any more than 
$500 you'll risk either the auction or that they reregister and squat, 
and you'll find another domain name.

You can change the $500 to whatever your tolerance is but as I noted, 
I'd recommend going with a strong offer upfront. Any less and you don't 
look serious.  Much more and you're starting to look desperate and they 
may try fishing.  I've always liked the $500 amount because I think it 
puts them in the frame of mind '$500 bucks, easy, let's not screw around 
and lose the deal'.  Offer them $1000 and they may be more apt to ask 
for $2000.

That's been my experience to date.  Throw out a strong offer and if 
they're serious they'll bite.






On 12/05/10 02:04 PM, Richard Weait wrote:
> On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 11:10 AM, Joe Wennechuk
> <youcanreachmehere at hotmail.com>  wrote:
>    
>> Does anyone know what to do about backorder on domain names?
>>      
> Previous suggestions to contact the domain owner and negotiate a
> purchase are absolutely the best way to go.  Even at a couple of
> hundred bucks, or a couple of thousand bucks, getting a good domain
> name can be worth it.  Obviously this depends on your goals, needs and
> resources.
>
> On the other hand, if you have a legitimate claim on a domain name
> that somebody else holds, you can hire lawyers to try to get it back
> for you.  This will not be less expensive than negotiating, it will be
> much more.  But if you have to _have_ that domain, going the lawyer
> route is possible as well.  And that is more certain than losing the
> race for a dropped domain and having to try and extract the domain
> from a legal entity in another jurisdiction.
>
> The hybrid method is to hire a lawyer to do the negotiation for you
> first, rather than doing the negotiation yourself.  This can
> transition to the more-expensive legal approach if simple negotiation
> does not work.
>
> If you want to go the legal route, I can recommend a fantastic lawyer
> in this business.
>
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