A couple of decades in this business and I still get prospects who make me want to throw my laptop across the room. You know the type—lowballing you with a ridiculous, insulting number for a domain worth 100 X that amount, demanding three months of traffic stats before they’ll even tell you their budget, or lecturing you about the quality of domain names like they are an expert....
Yesterday, I had a prospect accuse me of being a domain squatter . Then he had the nerve to tell me I was “part of the problem” when I declined his low ball insult. These people exist, they’ve always existed, and they’re not going anywhere. Here’s how I deal with them without losing my mind—or my reputation.
Stop Taking It Personally (Easier Said Than Done)
When someone calls you a parasite for owning YellowWidgets.com, they’re not really mad at you. They’re mad because their boss told them to “just get the domain” and they thought it would cost $12. Or worse, they thought that themselves. I had a corporate buyer lose his mind on me last year—yelling, name-calling, the works—because I wouldn’t take $15K for a $200K domain. Three months later? He came back with a real offer and we closed. His meltdown wasn’t about me; it was about covering his ass.
Set Your Rules and Stick to Them
I wasted years letting tire-kickers burn my time. Not anymore. You want traffic stats? Great—send me an LOI first. Want me to “hold” the domain while you check with your team? Put down a deposit. Want to know my “best price”? It’s the number listed. Some buyers hate this, but the serious ones respect it. I’d rather lose a deal than get dragged into a three-month due diligence circus that goes nowhere.
Keep the Poker Face
When someone opens with, “Your domain isn’t worth anywhere near that much,” my response is simple: “Okay. What do you think it’s worth?” Then I shut up. More often than not, they argue themselves upward. Same with skeptics. I had one guy spend an entire call ranting about how domain investing is a scam. I just listened. At the end I asked, “So what price works for your business?” We closed two weeks later.
Know When You’re Beat
Some prospects are impossible. They want seller financing, trademark guarantees, traffic numbers carved in stone, and your firstborn. I keep a quiet mental list of buyers I’ll never deal with again. One lawyer wanted twelve separate trademark opinions before he’d even make an offer. I told him to find another domain. Six months later he paid double for a worse name. Not my problem.
The Referral Factor
Here’s the funny part: even the worst prospects know people. That jerk who wasted your time might send you to his buddy who becomes your best buyer. It’s happened to me more than once. That’s why—even when someone lobs me a $500 offer for PremiumKeyword.com—I keep it professional. It's good business.
Reality Check
This business isn’t customer service. We don’t sell shoes on Amazon. We own unique digital assets that can make or break companies. Some people get it. Some don’t. The market eventually educates the clueless.
So keep your cool. Stick to your numbers. And remember—every time you hang up on a dick, there’s a serious buyer out there who knows value when they see it. Those are the people worth your time.