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Last updated: 2026-11-13
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# How you answer a buyer decides the sale

Many names sell at a fixed price, but the sales that start with an inquiry, often the larger ones, are decided by your reply. Never name a price first, answer every inquiry the same day, and keep the buyer talking until the deal takes shape.

Course: Buy names that sell
Chapter 12 of 13, 13 min read
Published 2026-11-10, reviewed 2026-11-11.

A message arrives through the for-sale page of a name you hold. It gives a first name, a free email address and one line: what would you take for it? You do not know who wrote it or what that person can pay. You do not know how many other names the same person is weighing this week. Your reply shapes the rest of the deal.

By the end of this chapter, you can answer the same day without naming a price first. You can find out who is asking, and decide which offers deserve a negotiation. You can set your price and your floor, which is the lowest figure you would take, from the sales we track. And you can follow up once, without pressure, and tell when a stalled deal belongs with a broker.

## What you will be able to do

- You can answer an inquiry the same day, warmly, without naming a price first.
- You can look up who is asking, and tell a buyer with a budget from a curious visitor.
- You can set your price and your floor from Est. value, Similar sales and the word's sales.
- You can follow up once, with your price in the message, and know when a broker should take over.

## Answer while the buyer is still choosing

Answer the day the message arrives. Elliot Silver replies very quickly, and gave the reasons on DomainInvesting on 26 August 2014. A buyer may be weighing several names, and may pick another one while waiting for a price. A project can also be dropped, and the money a buyer has set aside today can be spent elsewhere.

Writing about speed again (DomainInvesting, 23 February 2022), Silver felt that many buyers keep a short list, and that a price given slowly can send them to the next name on it. Even about the most valuable names Silver replies quickly, but does not usually price them in the first reply. Usually that reply cordially says an offer is far too low, or asks why the person wants the name.

Someone who replies fast can still fall behind. Konstantinos Zournas wrote on OnlineDomain on 4 September 2019 of answering every inquiry within 24 hours through the year, weekends and holidays included. After time off in August 2019, Zournas found that three weeks of inquiries had gone unanswered. Both outcomes were possible, Zournas allowed: a lost sale, or slightly higher prices on a couple of names for having seemed indifferent.

## Find out who is asking before you price

The searches Silver runs before replying, listed in a DomainInvesting post of 20 February 2017, cover the person's name and email address, the other names the person owns, and the company on LinkedIn. Silver also checks whether the person holds the same word on .net or .co. Some of the people who write cannot be found, the post added, and some write on behalf of someone else.

What you find should not set the whole price, though. A friend of Silver's who works in finance asked about names for side projects, and was quoted absurd prices (DomainInvesting, 28 June 2016). Silver's bet was that the owners had looked the friend up and assumed that a big buyer was asking. Owners who price only on who is asking are likely losing some deals, the post concluded.

Some inquiries do not earn a negotiation. Silver's post on DomainInvesting on 10 August 2020 quoted an investor's list of messages to ignore: offers of $100, messages saying "just curious" or "reasonable", and messages from other investors. On that last item Silver disagreed, having done substantial deals with several investors. Silver's own additions were students, and anyone who opens with a small budget, mainly for the more valuable names.

A curt answer to your price rarely needs a reply. Andrew Allemann quoted $35,000 for CandyCorn.com to a very small business, and the answer was "good luck with that" (Domain Name Wire, 14 January 2019). Arguing would waste both sides' time, Allemann wrote. But a buyer who seems qualified and opened with a decent offer, $10,000 in Allemann's own example of 2019, might be worth a conversation.

## The first reply, the same day

Send this to a buyer who asked about your name without naming a figure, the day the message arrives.

> Hello [first name],
>
> Thank you for your message about [name]. Yes, it is for sale.
>
> Could you tell me a little about your project, and how you would use the name? If you already have a budget in mind, knowing it helps me give you a useful answer.
>
> If a call is easier, you can reach me at [phone number].
>
> Best regards,
>
> [your name]

This reply names no price yet. If the buyer names a figure far below your floor, answer with the next script.

## Case: A $5,000 offer, held out for $10,000

- Paid at auction, shortly before: under $100
- Opening offer, end of 2011: $5,000
- Silver's counter: around $10,000
- Sale: none: the buyer chose another name

In a DomainInvesting post of 16 January 2012, Elliot Silver told the story of a lost sale. At the end of 2011, a buyer made an opening offer of $5,000 for a one-word, aged .com name. Silver had recently bought it at auction for under $100.

Silver researched the name and the buyer, and the two traded a few emails. Taking the $5,000 as an opening move, Silver asked for the buyer's best offer. The buyer had answered quickly until then, but this time gave no answer within a day or two. Silver then quoted around $10,000, expecting to sell at that price or at least at the $5,000.

The buyer then stayed quiet for a few weeks. When Silver followed up, the buyer had chosen a different name. The arithmetic is ours: $5,000 was at least 50 times what the name had cost, and Silver's counter-offer asked for about twice what the buyer had offered.

The lesson Silver drew is that a solid first offer is not always followed by a higher one, and that turning it down is a gamble. The reason for taking that gamble was that 2011 had been one of Silver's best years. Across the registrars we price, the median yearly renewal of .com is $13.40, and that is the cost of each year spent waiting for another offer.

Source: Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Think Twice About Not Accepting First Offer", 2012-01-16, https://domaininvesting.com/think-twice-about-not-accepting-first-offer/

## Quote late, and with evidence

In our reading, there is a reason to keep your price out of the first reply. A buyer who names a figure first shows you a budget. A seller who names a figure first sets the top of the deal, and every step after that moves down.

A visible price also changes who writes. After adding a current value to the for-sale pages, Silver reported a major drop in inquiries (DomainInvesting, 8 October 2025). Silver accepts that drop for one-of-a-kind one- and two-word .coms, but does not want it where the price is flexible. Afternic's price request form hides the buy-now price, the post noted, so a buyer put off by a high figure may still ask.

Check what the buyer can see. Silver's advice on DomainInvesting on 16 May 2014 was to search the major marketplaces before quoting a price, and to look for old listings too. One buyer had seen a Sedo listing for a name Silver had recently bought. That listing was someone else's, and its price was considerably lower than the price Silver quoted.

Then answer with evidence. In Unique Domains, a name's drawer shows Est. value, which is the model's estimate. It also shows Similar sales: the count and median of past sales of names like it, among the sales we track. A past sale is a fact, while a claim that a price is fair is an opinion.

Evidence means true evidence. Silver never claims a higher past offer that was not made, or traffic that a name does not get, and said so in a DomainInvesting post of 11 December 2025. Claims like these could be proven untrue.

## Reply to an offer far below your floor

Send this within the day to a buyer whose first offer sits far below your floor.

> Hello [first name],
>
> Thank you for your offer of [offer] for [name]. It is below what I can accept.
>
> Names like it have sold at a median of [median] over [count] sales, and the word itself sold [number] times in the last twelve months. My price is [price].
>
> If that is above your budget, tell me the most you can do. We can also talk about paying over [number] months.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> [your name]

Give ground in steps, never all at once.

## Follow up once, without pressure

A buyer who goes quiet is not always lost. Afternic, the marketplace, wrote on its blog on 15 July 2025 that 36% of its 2024 sales came from leads over 30 days old. A lead is a buyer who has written in. Buyers balk at a price, the post said, then raise money or change priorities and come back, while Afternic's brokers follow up. The figure is Afternic's own.

The way you reach the buyer can matter too. Allemann wrote that leads tend to slow down after the first reply by email, and that a text message sent after that reply worked amazingly well (Domain Name Wire, 5 March 2020).

The wording counts as well. Konstantinos Zournas inquired as a buyer and, on OnlineDomain on 24 May 2016, reviewed the follow-ups that came back. Zournas liked one that asked for a maximum budget to keep on file and one that offered payment over time, but did not like "What is holding you back?", which came after a $90,000 quote in 2016.

The follow-up Zournas liked best said that another qualified buyer had shown interest. Whether that was true, Zournas had no way to know. Zournas also wanted the asking price to be in every follow-up. Put your price in yours, and mention another buyer only when there is one.

Silver's follow-up, described in a DomainInvesting post of 12 December 2022, was a single email to each chosen stalled lead, sent in reply on the thread of the earlier talks. The email asked whether the buyer wanted the name at the price discussed, before the year ended. The week of that post was probably December's best for following up, Silver judged, since time off makes approvals harder on larger deals.

## One follow-up, on the same thread

Send this weeks later to a buyer who went quiet after your price, as a reply on the thread where you talked.

> Hello [first name],
>
> In [month] we discussed [name] at [price]. It is still for sale at that price.
>
> If your timing or budget has changed, send me the figure you could work with, and I will keep it on file. Paying over [number] months is possible too.
>
> A one-line reply either way would help me plan.
>
> Best regards,
>
> [your name]

Send it once. Never mention another buyer or a deadline that does not exist.

## Case: A floor price, a broker and a sale at $6,300

- Buy-now price, 2025: $9,999
- Opening offer: $4,750
- Floor price set by Silver: $6,300
- Sold at: $6,300, 63% of the buy-now price

On DomainInvesting on 5 February 2025, Elliot Silver described a negotiation that an Afternic broker was running. The name was one of Silver's, a two-word .com listed with a buy-now price of $9,999. On a Saturday evening, a buyer submitted the minimum offer the listing allowed, which was $4,750.

Silver had a figure in mind for the name, and added a floor price of $6,300. The floor price gave the broker permission to sell at that figure, if the broker judged that the buyer would go no higher. The broker followed up with the buyer and posted updates in the lead's thread, and the buyer's offer reached $6,000.

In an update to the post, Silver reported that the buyer had agreed to the $6,300 floor and that the name was sold. The arithmetic is ours: $6,300 is 63% of the buy-now price, and it is $1,550, or about 33%, above the opening offer. The broker brought the buyer up by $1,250 first, and the last $300 came when the buyer agreed to the floor.

The lesson is that a floor price, set as soon as the offer arrives, lets a broker close the sale without asking you at each step. In Silver's experience, most leads are not qualified buyers, and many are confused.

Source: Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "A Good Afternic Broker Negotiation (Updated)", 2025-02-05, https://domaininvesting.com/a-good-afternic-broker-negotiation/

## When a broker should take over

A broker is a negotiator paid by commission. When neither side will move and progress has stopped, Silver hands the negotiation to a broker, though rarely and only when needed (DomainInvesting, 1 November 2017). A broker may be able to change the tone and raise options nobody considered. A buyer may prefer dealing with someone new. If the broker closes the deal, the commission is well spent, in Silver's view.

Size is the other test. A very large lead that comes in can go to a top broker for that one deal, with the broker's pay agreed at the start, Silver suggested on DomainInvesting on 22 April 2024. In the post's example of 2024, a broker might ask for 25% of the part of the price that is above a $500,000 opening offer.

Unique Domains holds no listing, no inbox for inquiries, no escrow and no portfolio of the names you own. The talks run in your mail, or through a venue such as Afternic or Sedo. The payment runs through that venue, or through an escrow service such as Escrow.com, the subject of the next lesson. What the product gives you is the evidence for your figure.

## The rule

Answer every inquiry the same day, find out who is asking, and let the buyer name the first figure while you keep back your own, set from the sales we track. Then follow up once, with the price and nothing invented. The reason is that a buyer may be weighing other names, and may come back weeks later.

## Before you answer a buyer

- Reply the same day: thank the buyer and ask what the name is for.
- Look the buyer up: search the email address, the company and the other names the buyer owns.
- Search the major marketplaces for old listings of your name at another price.
- Write down your price and your floor before you quote.
- Let the buyer name a figure first, and answer it with past sales.
- Give ground in steps, never all at once.
- Follow up once, on the same thread, with the price in the message.
- Hand a stalled or very large deal to a broker, and give the broker a floor price.

## Try it in Browse

1. Search your name's word in Browse, because the full name opens the availability checker, an Investor-plan page. Browse lists Available, Premium and For sale names: if yours has no site, tick Dormant under Status. Your name's row opens the drawer free. If it has none, run it through Analyse, where the full analysis, counted once against your month, opens that drawer.
2. Under Value, note Est. value and the Similar sales count and median. Under Price and cost, note Renewal and Five years. Open the word's page from The word; note its last twelve months' sales.
3. Run the full analysis, counted once against your month. Other endings shows the word on each ending with sales we track in the last year. Note which read Available: the buyer's alternatives.
4. Write your price and floor from those figures, then adapt the first reply.

Do this in Unique Domains: Open Browse. The public page: https://unique.domains/domains

## Sources

- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Why I Respond Quickly to Inquiries and Offers", 2014-08-26, https://domaininvesting.com/respond-quickly-inquiries-offers/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "How Quickly I Respond to an Offer", 2022-02-23, https://domaininvesting.com/how-quickly-i-respond-to-an-offer/
- Konstantinos Zournas, OnlineDomain, "3 weeks without replying to domain inquiries", 2019-09-04, https://onlinedomain.com/2019/09/04/domain-name-news/3-weeks-without-replying-to-domain-inquiries/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Ways I Identify a Prospect Inquiry", 2017-02-20, https://domaininvesting.com/ways-i-identify-a-prospect-inquiry/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Sometimes It’s Just a Regular Person Inquiring", 2016-06-28, https://domaininvesting.com/sometimes-its-just-a-regular-person-inquiring/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "I Don’t Respond to Unqualified Prospects", 2020-08-10, https://domaininvesting.com/dont-respond-to-unqualified-prospects/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "Don’t respond to “Good luck with that”", 2019-01-14, https://domainnamewire.com/2019/01/14/dont-respond-to-good-luck-with-that/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Think Twice About Not Accepting First Offer", 2012-01-16, https://domaininvesting.com/think-twice-about-not-accepting-first-offer/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Moonshot BIN Pricing, but Invite a Negotiation", 2025-10-08, https://domaininvesting.com/moonshot-bin-pricing-but-invite-a-negotiation/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Know Your Asking Prices", 2014-05-16, https://domaininvesting.com/know-asking-prices/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Be Honest in a Negotiation", 2025-12-11, https://domaininvesting.com/be-honest-in-a-negotiation/
- Afternic, "Why Your Lead Says “Stalled” (And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing)", 2025-07-15, https://blog.afternic.com/why-your-lead-says-stalled/
- Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire, "No response to an inquiry? Try a text.", 2020-03-05, https://domainnamewire.com/2020/03/05/text-message-sales/
- Konstantinos Zournas, OnlineDomain, "Domain Inquiry Follow Up Emails I Like & Don’t Like", 2016-05-24, https://onlinedomain.com/2016/05/24/opinions/follow-emails-like-dont-like/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Follow Up on 2022 Sales Leads Before EOY", 2022-12-12, https://domaininvesting.com/follow-up-on-2022-sales-leads-before-eoy/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "A Good Afternic Broker Negotiation (Updated)", 2025-02-05, https://domaininvesting.com/a-good-afternic-broker-negotiation/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Step Away from a Negotiation", 2017-11-01, https://domaininvesting.com/step-away-negotiation/
- Elliot Silver, DomainInvesting, "Negotiate an Inbound Lead via Broker", 2024-04-22, https://domaininvesting.com/negotiate-an-inbound-lead-via-broker/

This course explains how the trade works. It is not legal or financial advice.

## Related pages

- Explore the public one-word Domains Database: https://unique.domains/domains
- See how investors find names worth holding: https://unique.domains/solutions/investors
- Read every domain word in plain English: https://unique.domains/glossary