How our company bought back its .COM domain name at a third of the price

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]

In the summer of 2017, Solidnames bought back its .COM domain name after more than a year of negotiations. We take a look behind the scenes of this domain name buyback, its twists and turns, and its happy ending despite some badly timed steps.

Since the launch of Solidnames, we’ve deliberately avoided talking about the solidnames.com domain name – and for good reason, it’s been owned by an anonymous third party since 2004! Claiming to be domain name specialists and not owning your domain name in the world’s most popular extension is enough to make you lose credibility. The old adage “shoemakers always wear the worst shoes” can’t stand the test of time, and Solidnames MUST have its own .COM.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2016. My partner Anthony DON and I were thinking about the name of the company we wanted to create. Many hours of brainstorming, a “short list” and our final choice is Solidnames with the emphasis on ID in graphic design for brand IDentity on the internet.

We register our company name with the Registre du Commerce, register the French trademark with the INPI, take over the .FR domain, and then set about buying out the .COM domain.

We are confident. The domain name has been offered for sale on a parking page since its creation in 2004. In our experience, a buyout is much more likely to succeed when its owner is already offering it for sale. We attempt a first approach in September 2016 with a minimum offer, and the seller announces a first price of $9,750. Negotiations continue into October before being called off with a drop to $8,750 from the incumbent and an offer of $1,000 from us.

Domain name buyback negotiations

We feel that our young company with a share capital of €55,000 can’t invest more than 15% of its funds just for its .COM and we decide to try our luck one more time. We invoke the Christmas spirit in December 2016, but the seller remains adamant: $9,750! He doesn’t even lower his initial price as he did in September.

We’re all the more depressed that the dollar’s exchange rate against the euro is 0.96, compared with 0.89 in September 2016. The potential purchase price has risen from €8,677 to €9,360 in the space of a quarter, simply because of the exchange rate.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https://solidnames.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/rachat-nom-domaine-solidnames-point-com-negociations.jpg” _builder_version=”3.0.69″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.69″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.69″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.69″]

We start 2017 with the launch of our .FR website, fearing possible quips about not owning our .COM. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, we are naturally well referenced on search engines and we are learning to live without our beloved .COM.

We hope that the seller will realize that only one buyer is possible for his domain name, but that we cannot overpay for it.

Domain name redemption in dollars and exchange rate in euros

Summer 2017 arrives, our business results are encouraging, we decide to try our luck again and get a first return at $8,000. It’s lower, but still too much for us.

We decided to raise our maximum offer to $2,500 to demonstrate the seriousness of our proposal. A month of back-and-forth, small steps towards each other, enabled us to reach an agreement at $4,000, or €3,320, a reasonable amount for our company.

We also benefited from a spectacular fall in the dollar rate against the euro. A domain name buyback at $4,000 represented €3,840 in December 2016 (rate at 0.96) versus €3,320 in August 2017 (rate at 0.83).

The 13% discount due to the favorable exchange rate definitely convinced us, and Solidnames is now the proud owner of its .COM domain name.

Solidnames wanted to share with its readers the story of the buyout of its .COM domain name. We regularly buy back domain names for our customers, and the negotiations are more or less easy depending on the scenario. The start of 2017 is favorable for buying back domain names in dollars, given the exchange rate. Don’t hesitate to contact Solidnames to buy domain names.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]