Domain name bartering
I’ve been to tourist markets in India, Central America, and the Dominican Republic and I quite enjoy the negotiating process. It usually goes like this:
- I look at a bunch of the same product, showing no particular interest in any one item (if you show interest in any one item, they won’t lower the price on it because they know you want it no matter what)
- vendor quotes some outrageous price
- I start at half what they start at, they balk/scoff/are incredulous
- I refuse to budge, they come down a little
- I refuse to budge, or maybe go up 10%
- they say something about their hungry family and kids and the high cost of gasoline
- sometimes, vendors will get out a calculator and punch in some numbers to arrive at a totally arbitrary new price point — I play along, grab their calculator and punch in some totally arbitrary calculations until I arrive at a price I like; this maneuver usually throws them off, as they’re not used to other people playing this game
- they’re still not low enough, and I start to walk away from their booth, this means I’ll agree to their next offer
- they offer something about half their original price
Now let’s take this into the wild world of domain name speculation. I’ve been trying to purchase the domain redpost.com for quite awhile:
- 8/29/06: I email “P_Y Kim” to inquire about the domain redpost.com
- 8/30/06: P_Y Kim quotes EU4900 (“special offer only valid until Aug. 31 2006!”)
- I balk/scoff/am incredulous
- 12/21/06: I check in with P_Y Kim, thinking the price may have gone down
- 12/22/06: P_Y Kim quotes EU5900 (“special offer only valid until Dec. 23 2006!”)
- I balk/scoff/am incredulous more, the price should go down over time, not up
- I email P_Y Kim back, say I’m willing to pay US$250
- P_Y Kim says that their client will take no less than EU5900 (she must have forgot her earlier quote)
- 10/15/07: I check into redpost.com again, thinking it may have gone down in price, it’s now listed through sedo.com, a domain name brokerage site, bidding ensues
- 10/15/07 Your Offer: 100 USD
- 10/16/07 Seller´s Counter Offer: 7,800 USD
- 10/16/07 Your Offer: 250 USD My comment: “please justify your price”
- 10/16/07 Seller´s Counter Offer: 7,500 USD (no reply to comment)
- 10/16/07 Your Offer: 500 USD My comment: “final offer”
- 10/16/07 Seller cancelled negotiations
So, they go down $300? What kind of marketplace is this? Have they never bartered in the third world??? I’m pretty sure no one else is interested in redpost.com. But they’re not going to get $7,500 out of me for it. So theredpost.com it remains.
