I was raised to win the deal. My father didn’t feel good buying a car unless he felt the guy selling it to him felt like he got the bad end of the deal. He got joy out of getting a good price. Or at least feeling like he did. If he was willing to pay $100 and the guy said he would do it for $90 then my Dad wasn’t going to buy it unless the guy came down to $80. I watched it time and time again. He sure got some good deals.
But then I learned that there were professionals that negotiate for a living. They were used to dealing with people just like my father. They knew exactly what he was looking for. They played the “you are killing me” role incredibly well. I never knew it until I saw my Dad negotiating with a man and the guy looked overwhelmed. It helps that my Dad is 6’6′, 350lbs when he’s anorexic. A huge man. He’s intimidating without saying a word. And this man looked it. They finished the deal and my Dad walked out happy. The other guy looked rough. Like anyone who went against my Dad. A few minutes later I went back toward the office where they talked and I saw the same man smiling and laughing and shaking the hands with one of the other sales people. In 2 minutes he went from scared looking to happy as a clam. I knew what had happened but no way in Hell I was telling my Dad. He was happy, they were happy, everyone wins.
Negotiation is an art. Watching a good negotiator is like watching a good golfer lay it on the green. You can see the art, the skill, and the hours of practice in play. Negotiation is nothing more than a game. A game that takes basic accounting and then shaves off the numeric edges using emotions. There are numbers that have to be met but the fluff is adjusted through a mind game. Great negotiators know how to play. Where you negotiate greatly changes the game. An in person negotiation is incredibly different than an email which is different than the phone. There are people that are good in one of them but not the others. There are those that are good at all three. There are just as many that think they are good at one or all, but aren’t. Its merely their perception because they don’t have anyone that tells them differently. They usually make sure to keep it that way. Working alone because a partner puts too much reality into their results.
In the plant world I’m very good. I know my products, my customers, and my margins as well as anyone in the business. I know when to give and when to take. If its a one time deal I squeeze hard. If its someone I need to do business with again I make sure its fair. With domains I am not that good. I have trouble squeezing out top dollar when someone gives me $4K for a domain I paid $100. I don’t want to lose the deal over $500. I have definitely left money on the table. I do it all the time. But I am extremely happy with my returns so I haven’t lost one minute of sleep over my results. And to me its all that matters. The reality is I should have never sold at all. If I would have kept all my domains I would have a million dollars more than I do now just for my 30 NNNN.coms that I had. I got roughly 90K for them when I sold them. That’s not negotiation, that’s timing. It’s how life works. There are thousands of times when we sold and look back and see how cheap I sold it for.
I’m not going to go into more detail about how to negotiate. Everyone has their style. But I can tell you this. There is nothing more powerful than “no thank you” when you are selling. It often leads to no sale but it also gives you a 100% chance of getting no less than your asking price. When you control the asset then you get whatever you want. There are no other words necessary other than “Sorry but the price is X. If you want it you know where to find me” Anything more than that is that is pure emotion that shows that the seller is too emotionally involved. Of course I take the price and cave like the last guy hired for a bank robbery during an investigation. So didn’t listen to me Here are today’s names. Make sure to click on the names to see the current price and to help DSAD continue writing each day.
Quote of the Day: “We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.” – C. S. Lewis
Domain of the Day: FundCrowd.com It’s not crowd fund but its pretty darn close and a few hundred thousand cheaper
Namejet, Sedo, and other Names Up for Auction
The Namejet/NamesCon Auction ends today. There are some fantastic domains but they have fantastic reserves so I’ll leave that up to the people that really want them. Here are a few that I think could sell.
Race.info I’m a bit biased as a runner but this is as good of use of a dot info as you get. There are race signup sites galore
Plunged.com Met reserve at $400. Good polar plunge name
Greed.com Love this one. Not going to make reserve but my favorite name on the entire NamesCon afterparty list
Haz.com If the reserve is closer to the left side of the range
Slowly.com Looks to be getting close to reserve. So many good uses for this.
Remarried.com Not sure I love it but was one of the few names that has a reserve that could be hit
Godaddy Domains With Multiple Bids
OutletDeals.com Everyone is always looking for deals
85a.com Love seeing a NNL.com getting some good action
75i.com This one is not doing nearly as well
SeeUs.com See us what?
OffTheEatenPath.com Even the play on words are getting good bids
BrewList.com I love buurrr
Tuvaro.com I feel like if I had a whole portfolio of these at $100 each I could make money.
ExtraFancy.com I like this because its silly but still gets the point across
Wildd.com Brandbucket type name
CannaHappy.com Another one of those names I would much rather have backwards, HappyCanna, but not too bad if the price is cheap enough
Xoren.com I think you get good value on 5L pronounceable with X at the front. Everyone knows they make the Z sound but people are still scared of them
Kopod.com This one is getting a few bids itself
Erotiks.com Not a ton of value but the K thing works for me. But don’t love the S at the end
ARadio.com Godaddy loves it. It’s definitely memorable and it doesn’t get better than A radio.
Angelink.com I had the L in link capitalized at first but looks better this way. Like it much better now
WRRA.com I haven’t sold a regular acronym LLLL.com in a while so I haven’t bought any lately. I usually reinvest it back into LLLL.coms and have been able to buy 8 or 10 for each sale. But if I sold one and looking to replenish, this would be one I would buy
Createra.com It’s ok. I see create in here and that’s a good thing to build a name on
Godaddy Domains With One or No Bids
Hovida.com Godaddy has this valued at $2700. Oh yeah that doesn’t matter. I like it and THAT does matter
SharePatents.com It’s Elon Musk’s new push. Opening up all his patents
Clearvo.com Another made up name that sounds like a real brand. No bids at $10
RubyLion.com Color animal under $50 is a no brainer. Has to be a real color. This is borderline color but adjectives work too with animals
22666.com Coming up in a few days. Take a guess at price. Whatever you guessed its higher
ToneRoom.com Another workout place in the making. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out of my membership in March
HashRoad.com I know hash is not the used nomenclature but I still like it as a store name, or canna ice cream
SurfaceKings.com Upgrade name for several companies that share the name. And most do exactly what you think a surface king would. Flooring
LiteOrganics.com Lite AND organic for only $10
Other Domains with Bids
223178.com
332198.com
555207.com
76818.com
AdventureAmigos.net
AkaConfirmance.com
Alsud.com
annuairemorbihan.com
AtGay.com
BestBetting-Sites.com
BhabyaHomeInspection.com
BlogLobal.net
BucksPlumbingSupply.com
Cardiellofitness.com
CDMEConsultores.com
Chish.com
Chocpi.com
ChooBoo.com
Christian-klien.com
Co-errances.org
CookForYourHealth.com
Diveinkauai.com
DNSPad.com
DvdActive.com
EasternCTDrafthorse.com
Ekomp.com
FastBrains.com
FoodOfChefs.com
Gardner-Austin.com
govkinex.com
Habib.net
hg3366.com
Homestructions.com
HostellingTremblant.com
HotFreeLayouts.com
I-gloo.net
IAVCUSA.com
ItsConceivableNow.com
jfltheatricals.com
Kepri7.com
LMSSA.com
Lombs.com
Lostzk.com
Mac247.com
MagneticsMagazine.com
MoreInstagramFollowers.com
MyBestFriendPetTreats.com
NetiCinema.com
NightLook.com
O60.com
OdicOn.com
p-3.com
Pashu8.com
PlantRelief.com
PlayDot.com
Podlas.com
Pot-Stocks.com
Pranaa.com
Preceda.com
Rezzie.com
ScreenPrintServices.com
SharingClinicalReports.org
SoftRole.com
Starandmicey.com
Sun71.com
SuwanneeSpringFest.com
System-Tray-Cleaner.com
TheCasinoLand.com
Thueoto.com
TimsNepal.com
UMTZ.com
UsMountainProperties.com
vCollective.com
VideoPornCollection.com
Voxeljs.com
VXMC.com
WhiteLotusDesign.com
WhyCloud.com
WorkPays.com
X-Spine.com
“A game that takes basic accounting and then shaves off the numeric edges using emotions.” Great way to put it, Shane!
I’ve suggested that Domain Sherpa dedicate a show on negotiations. Giving real examples of deals made, showing actual conversations so those with less experience can learn how it’s done.
Great idea Chris
Agreed. It would really help lift the industry as a whole if people understood how to negotiate in general, especially assets like domain names.