My company's current domain name is lengthy and cumbersome for a lot of folks that we give our email address out to to spell. With that in mind, we've attempted to obtain another domain; one that is much less difficult.

I have made contact with one company that owns one of the options that we're exploring but, the problem is I don't know what it's worth or what we should offer.

The domain is a very simple one (only three letters) and is a .net domain. I don't think it really bears great value elsewhere on the market but, even knowing that, I don't know what type of money we should lay on the table.

Obviously, this isn't a domain name with the power of 'nike.com' or one that would demand attention like 'movies.net' but, to us, it's worth a bit. We're trying to buy simplicity because it wasn't available when we registered but, I just don't have a clue what simplicity is worth in this case.

Thoughts???

 

Rock,
This is a really tough question. I think the short answer is that the domain name is worth whatever you are willing to pay. If you really think that the domain will help with sales, I say go for it. However, I'd probably pass if the increase in sales won't quickly cover the cost of the domain. It all depends on you and your organization's budget. (that's a lame answer, but it is the best I can do)

The key here is to pick a domain name that people will easily remember. There are tons of web sites out there that never get looked at unless it is tied with a link from another web site. Google is working on a better way of sorting their data to offer better results when people do searches, but they aren't there yet.

These things are very negotiable, so I'd do my best to get a great price. In the end, the company who owns the domain has it just "sitting there" and may not have anyone else interested. Talk to them, get a price, then counter.

Good luck.

 

I'll agree with plester on this comments and add that you should not waste your time with a so-called "domain appraisal" company.

Think about a domain purchase as something similar to the purchase of a business. Do your research on the domain you want to buy. What type of business is it attached to? How easy it is to find the domain using search engines and directories. (ie how much online equity and visibility does the current owner have in it?) When was the domain registered by the current owner? Is it attached to an active business? And, what is the tanglble value to your company?

If you want to contact me offline, I would be willing to do some research for you...the days of a domain name being directly tied to online success are long, long gone...

 

WOW......couldn't have said it better myself plester

 

Don't worry, we wouldn't expect you to.

 

Thanks guys... I appreciate it.

I'm not sure we're even going to move on this honestly. This has all come about because one of the owners got a wild hair about the way our site was showing up on google searches (yes, that's the ONLY reason).

None the less, I do see value in having a simplistic domain name for our clientèle but, even now, we're not having 'great' difficulties with our current domain.

I've put several hours into researching this option for us and I see both pros and cons as to this decision (beyond the hassle of repointing a bunch of servers). Who knows? This might just be an off the wall, passing thought from one of the owners here. I don't know if they're even really all that serious. I mean hell, this all came about because of a google search.

Albeit, I need to have a plan of action in case they say jump. Thanks again for the insight guys.

RP

 

My limited knowledge of domains is this:

Your outta luck if your looking for a cheap buy off. The exact reason why you want the domain is what makes it expensive. Its three lettes, and easy to remember. The problem here is the guy/company who got it didn't pay too much for it, but now that you are trying to buy it, they are going to raise the price.

Id say figure out how much your willing to spend on it and offer it to them. If they accept sweet, if not, go get a different one from godaddy.com for 5 bucks. Im sure there has to be something simple left you can register.

31C

 

You may want to consider purchasing what you like with an alternate extentsion.

rockpick.biz or .info etc. Just have that domain and MX record point to your main domain and the customers can email

RP@rockpick.biz instead of Rockpickisameanoleadminwhoalwayswasheshistruckandm akesourslookback.com



Jim

 

Can you tell us what it is so I can check my stash and see if I own it? If I do, let's say......$50K

 

That was going to be my sugestion too. Unless there is some strange paticular reason that they are stuck on having a .net!

 

OUCH !

 

You can blame the woman for my attitude problem.

 

Ohh Cowboy up already...

Just kidding you.