

Ask HN: AOL owns a domain name I could really use. How to get it? - cjbarber

To be honest, the domain is worth more than I can afford. Can anyone offer any sort of strategy suggestion as to how to approach this?<p>They are not using the domain.
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username111
You'll probably never get it without an exorbitant amount of money.

Try looking for a similar name plenty of people use search engines and
bookmarks so a domain like thexxxx.com or getxxxx.com isn't that ridiculous.

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xauronx
Make a PDF/html email (pictures, etc etc) that comes off as a desperate plea
for help with a project that you have a ton of passion for, then email it to
every support email address you can find. If you can make it seem like they're
helping a student, single father, struggling programmer, whatever, it might
get a forward to someone who can help.

That's my only idea other than the negativity that seems to have infected HN
as of late (or maybe it was just a period of positivity when I first showed
up?)

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Casseres
[http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/02/27/how-to-
buy-d...](http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/02/27/how-to-buy-domain-
names-like-a-pro-10-tips-from-the-founder-of-phonetagcom/)

See item 4d in the list. James Siminoff tells how he pleaded for and was given
the domain Noble.com for free.

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beat
What makes the domain name valuable? People stopped looking for services by
domain name about ten seconds after Google was invented. Unless it's a brand
name and trademark-sensitive, there's not much you can do.

If you have a viable money-making idea, build it without the magical domain
name, get rich, buy the domain.

