Questions
Straight answers, including the ones that cost me work.
Most of what follows is what I would tell you on a call. If your question is not here, ask it directly — a short conversation is usually faster than a longer page.
The owner has ignored me for two years. Is it actually available?
Usually, yes. Silence is rarely refusal. It is more often a busy person who does not know how to price the asset, has been worn down by lowball inquiries, or does not believe your email describes a real transaction.
An approach that arrives with market data, a credible structure, and a professional on the line gets answered at a rate that surprises most buyers. The domains that are genuinely not for sale are a far smaller category than the ones that appear not to be.
What will it cost?
That is what step three answers, and guessing before the diagnosis is done would not help you. Premium one-word .com names range from the high five figures into the eight figures depending on the category, the owner, and how many companies could credibly use the name.
What I can usually tell you in the first conversation is whether the number is likely to land inside your range — before you have spent time or leverage finding out the expensive way.
How are you paid?
A success fee. If the acquisition does not close, you owe nothing — no retainer, no hourly billing, no charge for the research or the outreach that did not land.
The fee and the structure are agreed in writing before any approach is made, so there is never a surprise between the handshake and the wire. It also means I have no incentive to run a long process on an asset that was never going to close.
How long does an acquisition take?
Two to eight weeks is typical, measured from first approach to funds clearing escrow.
The outliers run long for one reason: the owner's window has not opened yet. That is a business decision on their side — a funding event, a rebrand, a tax year — and no amount of pressure from ours will accelerate it. You will know where the deal actually stands throughout. What I will not do is manufacture urgency to make the process feel faster than it is.
Can I not just approach the owner myself?
You can, and it is often the most expensive email a company ever sends. Once the owner knows who you are and that you want it, the valuation drifts from what the asset is worth toward what your company can pay.
If you have already reached out, that is recoverable. Tell me exactly what was said and to whom, and we work from the position that actually exists rather than the one we would have preferred.
Is hiding my identity legitimate?
Withholding the buyer's name is standard practice in asset acquisition and is not deception. The owner knows a genuine transaction is on the table, knows the terms, and knows exactly what they are agreeing to. What they do not get is the name on the wire until disclosing it serves the deal rather than the price.
The line I do not cross: the nature of the transaction is always transparent. I will conceal who is buying. I will not misrepresent what is being bought or why.
What if we cannot afford the number?
Then we look at whether a structure works — a down payment with scheduled instalments, or a lease with a locked buy-out price — usually tied to a funding event or a growth milestone. Many owners prefer a structured deal at a strong price to a cash deal at a weak one.
And if the asset is genuinely out of range, I will say so rather than run a process that ends in the same place six months later.
What happens if the owner simply refuses?
Some do, and it is worth knowing why before deciding what to do next. An owner using the domain for a live business is a different problem from an investor who thinks the timing is wrong.
In the first case we usually stop and look at alternatives. In the second, the answer is often not "no" but "not yet" — and a professional approach that leaves the door open is worth considerably more in eighteen months than a hard push is today.
Do you work on extensions other than .com?
Yes. The .com is usually the asset worth fighting for, and most of this work is .com acquisition, but not always — a category-defining name on another extension can be the correct target, particularly where the .com is locked behind an owner who will genuinely never sell.
That is a step-one decision. The right target is whichever asset actually solves the business problem, not whichever one fits a rule.
Could you end up representing the seller against me?
Not on your transaction. On an acquisition I work one side of the table, and it is yours.
Most of my work overall is representing owners of premium domains, and that is precisely why this is worth saying plainly: on your deal, my duty runs to you, the fee is contingent on your acquisition closing, and I will not take a position on the other side of the same asset.
What if the deal falls apart at transfer?
Funds and the asset move simultaneously through licensed escrow, and the contract transfers all rights, title, and interest. You take full operational control before money releases. That structure is not negotiable, on either side.
The failure modes in the last ten feet are well known — transfer locks, registrar verification, a seller who goes quiet between signature and push — and they are managed rather than discovered.
What do you need from me to start?
The domain, a sense of what it would be used for, and an honest range. Prior contact with the owner matters too — if there has been any, I need to know exactly what was said.
You do not need internal approval before the first conversation. Establishing whether the asset is reachable and roughly what it costs is usually what makes the internal conversation possible.