Hello all. This is my first post, so please be kind and stay on topic. I'm trying to purchase a domain which is my last name, but the owner does not respond to any of my emails regarding whether he/she is willing to sell and what price they would like for it. The domain is currently nothing more then your typical parked page with a bunch of crappy links, which asks you if you want to make firehunt.com your homepage when you leave.

My question is what, if anything, can I do to make it mine as I'd like to develop it and hopefully use it to aid me in landing a job after I get my Computer Science degree in December?

Should I contact GoDaddy, the current registrar? Any other suggestions?

Thanx, Kevin

First, don't let the current owner see how much you really want it. It could go against you. Some people are still trying to make big bucks with any kind of name, but that era has been over for some time.

Second, it may be his name too, and he may not want to let it go. Maybe he's using it for email only (I tried to do that, but a tire company here has the com, net, org, .qc.ca and .ca of my name).

He may have a legitimate reason to have the name, and anyways, I've never heard of a name dispute over a last name. The current registrant would probably get to keep the domain. No need to contact GoDaddy over this, IMO.

I'd say your best bet would be to go for one of the new domain extensions, such as us, info, biz or name, if the com/net/org are all taken. Or ws, bz or cc... But they're a bit more expensive.

prime wrote:
, I've never heard of a name dispute over a last name.

What about Nissan.com?

But I agree with prime. Look at other TLDs or ccTLDs if it's to be developed purely for vanity purposes...

Originally posted by purplexed
... but the owner does not respond to any of my emails regarding whether he/she is willing to sell and what price they would like for it.
My advice is: forget it and move on. Have a nice day! :)

Keep an eye on it in the hope that he decides not to renew it. If it is close to expiry think about putting a snap on it. You might get lucky.

Since you've shown interest in it, the current registrant is very unlikely to let the registration lapse. You could keep trying to contact him, and state your offer right in your e-mail. (I'd suggest at least $100 and maybe much more, depending on how short and how common your name is.) It could be that he just isn't interested in selling -- maybe it's not worth his while to respond unless you're willing to pay several thousand dollars. More likely, he suspects you are trying to gather evidence that he is trying to profit from the name, which could then be used against him in a trademark dispute. (Since he's using the name to link to Firehunt, he's probably making a small amount of revenue from it, and probably from many other domain names, too; he may well be a professional domain name speculator.)

Some other alternatives to consider if smith.com is taken (in order from best to worst -- obviously this is subjective):[list=1] johnsmith.com
jsmith.com
smith.info
smith.net
smith.org
smith.us
smith.biz
johnsmith.info
smith.tv
smithonline.com, smithnet.com, smithweb.com, smithlink.com, etc.
john-smith.com
john.smith.name
smith.nu, smith.cc, smith.ws, smith.st, smith.cn, etc.
[/list=1]

Its probably hopeless if the name is common or it is his name as well. Try coming up with something clever thats available or go for alternative extensions as mentioned above. :)

Get a .NAME http://www.personalnames.com :)

If you win the domain I got a job for you....to win the domain with my last name URS.COM :D

A suggestion: ask him for a subdomain with your name and with some hosting space. Example Kevin.YourLastName.Com [If he is a nice guy he might oblige]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Unfortunately it is a fairly common Portuguese last name, so all the extensions are taken and I, like most everyone else, would prefer the .com

I think I'll eventually, if all else fails, just get my FirstNameLastName.com

Thank you again...

Originally posted by purplexed
... just get my FirstNameLastName.com
THAT itself is not something you can take it for granted, especially when you've got a common last name. I would strongly recommend you do it TODAY or regret it for the rest of your life. ;)