Arguments with Domain Brokers (2.Viewing)

I have a policy that ANY potential client for a domain I value above 10k has to fill out my form at: inquiry.mapledots.ca

The form specifically specifies the information provided must be that of the end user, yet broker after broker fills it out with their information.

I respond by telling the broker they are welcome to negotiate on behalf of their client but I will not be engaging until both parties understand who is at the negotiating table.

I had an inquiry from Dubai and the broker said the client wants to remain anonymous and is willing to pay 10k over asking price to stay anonymous. I responded that it does not work that way and some of my domains are targeted at larger corporations who would have to pay according to their global reach and net worth.

I do the same for my higher value .ca's and recently had an inquiry from a new startup who refused to identify themselves. I had the exact match domain and told them to add a second word to their name until they were confident to negotiate in good faith. The broker kept pushing me until I quoted a higher price because it was a blind negotiation. I was then told it was too high a number and I should consider a lower price to which I responded that I will not consider the conversation the start of a legitimate negotiation until I know who the end user is.

Even on platforms like SAW and DomainEasy I ask the seller to fill in my form once they want to start negotiating price.

Domains I value under 10k will usually get a BIN so its not a problem, but I find it difficult to deal with brokers, and almost everyone says they are a broker trying to keep the client confidential. Well I really don't care that the client wants to be confidential and I tell the brokers straight out that I do not do blind negotiations on my higher value domains.

I figure the broker wants to keep their client confidential for 2 obvious reasons (may be more)

1. they are representing a Whale and don't want you to know how deep their clients pockets are (we all know we would increase the price if we knew; Elon, Mark, etc wanted the name)

2. the broker doesn't want the seller and buyer to connect directly and the broker looses out on his commission

anyways, good strategy Maple, keep it going

I am not the broker in the scenario outlined, and I understand and respect MapleDots position here on brokers, however (as a buyer broker) I will note here that the (full-time and professional) broker community is small, and I know of many examples where buyer brokers have been told by a domainer (not only .CA domainers but domainers of all stripes) that they would need to ID their buyer clients in order to get a deal done, and those buyers have ended up buying a different domain, and sometimes those buyers had very deep pockets. I also know of many examples where buyer brokers will dissuade their buyer clients from shortlisting (to buy) a domain owned by a domainer that does not collaborate (does not play well) with buyer brokers, leading to untold potential deals being killed before they even were on the table. I am not saying I condone this behaviour by brokers, just that I know it happens, and there are a handful of domainers who some buyer brokers have given up trying to get deals done with because of this, and those were potentially six- or seven- figure deals.

Once again, I understand why a domainer may take this 'you have to ID your client' approach, and I will always do my part to respect it and find a path forward, but I suggest the domainer consider that such an approach might have consequences far beyond the specific potential deal that is on the table.

(Also, hello again, have not been active much due to some stuff on the homefront.)