Rick Schwartz. So don’t try to emulate him. — You’re not
Your own circumstances probably don’t align with the most successful domain name investors.
This isn’t an article picking on domain name investor Rick Schwartz. I’m just going to use him as an example.
Rick has made a lot of money investing in domain names. He got in early, kept the faith, and has a negotiating style that leads to chart-topping sales.
Assuming you did not get in early and don’t have millions in the bank, you shouldn’t try to emulate everything he does.
I bring this up since I sometimes hear people say “Play hard to get” with domain buyers. String them along. If they really want the domain they will find a way to reach out to you and make it known.
This strategy makes a lot of sense for Rick. He’s not going to have to skip dinner if he doesn’t make that $250,000 domain sale.
When you have money you can pass on deals that other people would accept. It puts you in a great negotiating position. Your BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) is to just skip the deal and move on.
When I’m feeling flush, I often ask for more when selling domains. I’m not going to bother with modest sales. It’s not worth my time.
The converse is true when I’m not feeling flush.
I recall a conversation with Frank Schilling* in which we discussed a huge sale, something like $16 million.
Frank pointed out that in order to get $16 million, the seller had to reject $15 million.
Imagine that…being willing to leave $15 million on the table for a domain name!
If $50,000 is a lot of money to you, you’re not in a position to turn down a $50,000 bird-in-hand to pursue a $75,000 offer that might not materialize. (You can substitute the numbers in this example, of course.)
You can learn a lot from people like Rick Schwartz, Frank Schilling and other successful domain name owners. Just keep in mind that what makes sense for them might not make sense for you.
* I believe this discussion was on one of my podcasts. I’ve had Frank on so often that I don’t recall which one.
