Hi,

Anyone have a ballpark on what I should tell this guy (owns rights to the phone number) who wants to buy 888laptops.com from me?

-Brendan

Tell him about 10,000.00 :)

He offered me $200... its worth nothing to me really but it seems like its worth more than that to him, and ill gladly take what I can get for it ; ) Any other suggestions?

-Brendan

I'd sell. It wouldn't be worth anything to be either. Not really that great of a domain.

Not worth it, if I were you, I would sell it at least $500

The reason it might be good is because it matches up with the phone number and laptops is 7 digits.

-Brendan

Brendan, it's all relative .. really, if it's not in use by you, and you don't thunk you will ever need it, 200.00 it is, you still make a little profit

if you think he can go higher, then try to get 500, otherwise just settle .. (I dont think you will see million dolla offers if you hold to it ;) )

Buddy's probably lowballing you just to see if you'll bite. If it's that worth it to him, he'll fork over. And if worse comes to worst, you can always offer to meet him halfway ($350 still ain't bad.) I wouldn't go much lower than that though.

800laptops.com would seem to be a cooler domain. If he wants it, it's one thing....if he needs it.....
Is he a small co. or on the bigger size?

Solicit some offers from other sites that may like to have it for some reason and see what they might give you...nothing like a good ol fashion bidding war to drive the price up!

The guy owns the phone number so probably not alot of other people want it. he owns another laptop site as well, like laptopsusa.com or something

-Brendan

Originally posted by Brendan at HostRocket
The guy owns the phone number so probably not alot of other people want it. he owns another laptop site as well, like laptopsusa.com or something

-Brendan

You can get a TON of different combinations of names from phone #'s. My guess is that he would love to have it.
If you weren't going to do anything with it, more than $70 would be a "profit"

Happy New Year,

If he already has the phone number then he is more likely to fork over the $$$ for the domain, I would. Ask what you want, he'll either laugh and then you can try again or he will bargain with you. I would ask $1k but would expect 400-500 but only becuase he already has the phone number to match.

Sounds like the guy really does want it...personally
I think he would pay more ..the thing is..if you are abit higher you CAN lower your price if you see you will have to bargain with him..
Good Luck...Let us know what happens will ya?
:D

I actually already did that.. i wrote him asking for 1k. I'll let ya know what I get.

-Brendan

Ahhh.....the joys of negotiation.

If you are like, ooh, this is fun, let's see what I can get, then you should counter with a higher offer, backed and documented by a domain name evaluation.

Another thing to think about is what do you want out of the transaction. Is it cash? Or something else?

Because I am thinking is that if he owns a computer equipment business, that you could get a higher trade value in merchandise than dineros.

I am also thinking that I would be really impressed if you could also get him to switch his hosting business to hostrocket as well.

On the other hand, if you are like, ooh, this sucks, or this is stressful, then make a half-hearted counter of $500 and just take the money and run.

Don't forget to give us $100 for giving you advices if you sell it for $1,000 :D, good luck.

I think I'd see about getting some professional aid in assessing the real market value of that domain name... to me, it seems as though it would be potentially fairly highly valued, especially to someone who already had the phone number that mates with it.

I'd be careful. If he owns a trademark on the name 888 laptops, and you hit him up for too high of a price, he
may take you to court for cybersquatting.

I'd agree with the general assesment here, ask for $1000, but settle for $400-$500.

allan

He'd have a hard time with that I think as I have a registered and legit corporation in deleware under that name -- i sold laptops for a while through it.

-Brendan

haaa .. then you are covered there ;)

good

Obviously, not a legal opinion -- but "prior use" and a certificate of incorporation are hard to beat...

I could probably sue him for the phone number ; )

-Brendan

That's a hard call... I doubt you could sue for the phone number, really -- unless you could show, perhaps, an intention on the part of the telephone number owner to usurp trade from an ongoing business of yours.

This whole issue generally is going to get more and more interesting as the newer domain name extensions come into play, too -- even in cases where it is clear that a name is taken purely for the purpose of obtaining the recognition or good will that goes with it.

What will happen, for instance, when a Ford dealership in Minnesota decides to register under http://www.GeneralMotors.ws?

I know for a fact he was stealing sales from me because i called the # one day for kicks and he answered it "888 laptops" even though thats not his business name, and i asked "is this 888laptops.com" and he said yes.

-Brendan

Do it again and tape it with a reliable witness present. In fact, do a straight-frame video tape including a clear view of the number being dialed.

That, my friend, might quite readily be construed as fraud.

[Edited by etLux on 01-04-2001 at 02:48 AM]

Well i dont really sell laptops anymore and dont feel like screwing the guy over for no reason other than to make myself money at his expense... But its nice to think about hehe : )

I agree with the general premise of staying the hell outta court whenever humanly possible.

On the other hand, it'd be a helluva lotta fun yanking his chain about it, though... lol.

So what happened? Did he reply??

There's a rumor going around that Brendan has acquired sudden wealth from a mysterious source...lol.

I was just about give the CIA and The Income Tax Bureau a call. Some sources say, Iraq had was and Bin Laden were involved in the pay offs.

This is completely untrue.

Here's what really happened:

George W. found out that Brendan, in addition to having a valuable domain name, also had bags full of chads from a certain precinct in Florida...

In a not-very-clever ruse (remember, this is George W.), the domain name was transferred to George W. -- at an exhorbitantly large sum. Shortly thereafter, those chads mysteriously vanished.

Obviously, George W. wouldn't know a laptop from a tire jack for a Jeep -- so you just know this was a pay-off.

Originally posted by etLux
This is completely untrue.

Here's what really happened:

George W. found out that Brendan, in addition to having a valuable domain name, also had bags full of chads from a certain precinct in Florida...

In a not-very-clever ruse (remember, this is George W.), the domain name was transferred to George W. -- at an exhorbitantly large sum. Shortly thereafter, those chads mysteriously vanished.

Obviously, George W. wouldn't know a laptop from a tire jack for a Jeep -- so you just know this was a pay-off.



I dun buy it. I will let the CIA and DOD do the investigation. I dun have time for it. I am busy investigating the KennyD Assassination!