

Ask Hn:  How can I buy a parked domain if they have private registration? - slindstr

I'm trying to buy a domain name from someone that's just kind of squatting on it.  They bought it back in 1997 and using http://www.archive.org I was able to determine that they were trying to start a web hosting company.  Since 2001 the domain has been parked and it's registered until September 2012.<p>The way I see it I can do 2 things:<p>1. Try to contact the person using the contact info in the whois records<p>2. Wait until it expires and do what Mike Davidson did to buy newsvine.com (see below for link)<p>The domain is registered with private registration (of course), so I shot an e-mail off a couple of weeks ago to the contact person at the registrar to see if they could put me into contact with the owner.  No answer as of yet.<p>What would you do?<p>Article Link From Above: http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/03/how-to-snatch-an-expiring-domain<p>[Edit: Fixed formatting.  I'll get the hang of it yet!]
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AlexC04
Well you could try getting a DomainTools domain history report as well. If
they've not dropped it since 2001 they're probably not going to drop it in
2012.

Go to domaintools and do a whois on the site there. They can tell you things
like how many other domains this registrant holds. How many times the whois
information has changed (if it's ever _NOT_ been private this is where you can
look)

Maybe try and get in touch with a domain broker. I know the people who work
for domainadvisors.com are very well connected in the "domaining" industry and
she might be able to help you out. (look up T.R.A.F.F.I.C for a window into
the world of domaining)

Services are not cheap though - you'd better _really_ want the domain if
you're planning on going that route.

I might have some more tips if you want to get in touch with me privately -
alex dot chesser at gmail. (I don't know exactly how much help I can be - but
I can help you hash out the ideas a bit more).

~~~
slindstr
Thanks for your insight! I'm going to start by looking into DomainTools (never
heard of that before, but sounds super helpful). If I had to guess, the person
that bought it back in the day bought it for a long period of time because
he/she thought the idea would work - at least that's what I'm hoping.

I might end up sending you an e-mail too. I really appreciate that you'd be
willing to give up some of your time to help me out with this. I think the
majority of us here on HN really value our time very highly (myself included),
and it speaks worlds about your generosity to be willing to give some of it
up. Thanks again!

~~~
AlexC04
No worries. It'd honestly be a pleasure to help out. Domains are a bit of a
murky world - but - as the other comment says, the parking provider might be
happy to broker a sale as well.

Take a look at sedo.com, afternic.com & namejet.com to get an idea of what
premium domains 'go for' in the aftermarket.

<http://domainnews.com/> <http://www.domainnamenews.com/>
<http://www.dnjournal.com/>

Are some industry references that I've got in my RSS feeds. Unless you're
prepared for the sorts of costs that domains go for, you might find yourself a
little shocked by how much this person might want for the name alone.

Quite often it's worth it - but depending on the scope of your project - you
might also want to consider looking for alternative names for your project.
Someone recently posted <http://impossibility.org/> to HN and I thought it was
absoloutely brilliant. A domain name generator. It's bloody fantastic.

------
cd34
A guy that purchased a domain in 2001, tried to make it work, has it
registered through 2012 is likely to turn down offers if he will even respond
in the first place. There is a bit of pride he's got to swallow because the
sale would mean that he failed at his idea. He'll want to keep the domain
because one day he's going to revisit that idea and make it work.

I've had a domain backordered since 1999 - it has had a parking page since it
was purchased, and every year, about 7-10 days before it expires, it gets
renewed. The domain isn't special, just one that meant something to me - and
obviously him. Every year, about 60 days before renewal, I send an offer
letter, he's responded a few times but has never asked for more money, just
that he isn't interested in selling.

That said, a domain broker might be able to get a response. I wish you luck.

~~~
slindstr
Looks like you're right. He did get my e-mail and said they didn't think they
were interested in selling it, but he did ask me why I want to buy it. I'm
guessing that if I say it's for my business he'll try to gouge me on the price
(if he decides to sell it), but then again I think he might do that anyways.

How would you respond to him?

~~~
cd34
First question is, how valuable is the domain to you?

Any offer will have to be enough to allow him to make some profit from the
domain registration, possibly hosting, and perhaps a small incentive during
the holidays for profiting on an unused domain. If the name is an actual word,
he's going to assign some inherent value which might make the domain more
valuable to him. The fact that you have some back and forth dialog means he's
at least considered it enough to respond.

In cases like this, I generally let them suggest a price and use the 73% rule.
Generally, they won't accept less than 73% of their initial offer. Once you
have a number to work from, you can start to negotiate the purchase. If the
answer exceeds what it is worth to you, you could try a hail mary and say,
well, we really only had $x budgeted, thanks for your time. If you ever
reconsider, please let us know.

Money today sometimes exceeds the possibility that he could sell the domain in
the next year and make more than that, especially if you're the first offer
he's had in a while. Until you get some starting point, it'll be difficult.

As for what you want the domain for, I would just say that you were
considering a project and thought the domain would be a good fit. There are
other domains you're looking at including another you have registered, but,
you thought this domain had a slightly better fit.

Good luck with it.

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ryanto
most private registrations will auto forward emails to the actual owner. try
emailing the address the comes up in the whois.

example: domain.com@private-register.com will forward to the actual owner.

~~~
slindstr
Yep! Spot on! I just got a response from him today. Looks bleak though...

------
gromy
You might try contacting the parking company.

