Do you put a time limit on your offer to purchase? (1.Viewing)

I'm working with a Broker from Uniregistry and he is trying to procure a domain name for me. It's a good .ca and I came in at 15k USD with the owner coming back at 25k USD.

The broker knew the client was asking way too much but he pressed me to make an offer in the middle at 20k.

I decided to stick firm because I felt it was absurd to be dealing in USD from one Canadian to another.

Anyways the broker seemed very surprised when I said my offer was only good for 7 days and then I would close the file on the purchase. I actually think I caught him off guard.

I used to run a Mercedes-Benz franchise and I often put time limits on big transactions. It got deals done, the client asked for a sweet deal, I occasionally gave it to them but they had to commit within 48 hours. When the potential client missed the deadline I stayed true to my terms. A few months later they come back on another car, same process but this time they stick to the time frame. If you are going to negotiate on a transaction and you are serious then I don't think a time frame is so unusual.

Like I said, the uniregistry broker seemed genuinely surprised by my response but I don't have the time to keep beating a dead horse.

I usually phrase it like this...

There is a specific window of opportunity (7 days) before I tie up my funds on other domains and my offer is null and void.


[h]So when you make an offer on a domain purchase do you let the person know there is a time frame or do you just let it drag out indefinitely?[/h]

After an offer, I usually find a seller comes back quickly with something (a yes, no or a counter) so I haven't noticed it to be too much of an issue. But I have to say its probably not a bad idea to always do that for good measure.

However, the bigger question I think might be is, should you reveal that you're buying other domains (and are sounding like a domain investor)? If the seller thinks your a domainer, it tips them off that maybe this domain is much more valuable than even they think and thus they want to jack the price or be hesitant to sell at all?

And if the broker is working for you, shouldn't he be convincing the seller to reduce his ask rather than you to increase your offer?

I’ve never left time limits when I purchase.

The reason I would never do it is when I’m buying there has been many times I’ve made an offer and months or even years later they come back and we close deal. I find when I put time limit it may annoy the other person.

Now if I’m the seller it’s a different story.