CantBarsed.com Blog

Category: Shopping

  • Domain Name Haggling How to (or not) Haggle

    Like many affiliates we “own” hundreds of domain names but we’re not “domainers” and I find domain name haggling entertaining for domains that I really, really want but don’t need.
    I particularly enjoyed this conversation and haven’t yet decided whether to continue the “negotiation” or not, perhaps your comments will help…

    Dear Joe,
    Thank you for contacting us about [domain.name]. The domain is priced at £5,000 or above.
    [snip]
    The price bracket indicated is based on a previous brief initial search of related websites and businesses using the term “[snip]”, statistics such as Internet Traffic and advertising revenue and takes into account previous interest and offers on the domain name as well as the value of the term as a potential brand and Internet keyword.
    We don’t keep an exact price for any of our domain names on file… [snip] …exact sale prices fluctuate over time so we research these on a case by case basis as and when required when we receive serious interest in a domain name.
    If you do think this will be of further interest given the indication above and you would like us to look into this further for you and investigate a definite current asking price, or if you have any other questions or comments please let us know.
    Best regards, ???

    Hi ???, Thanks for your reply.
    The domain has been for sale for ages (years) with no takers so I feel my £1000 offer is realistic irrespective of your estimated valuation. I don’t need it, it’s just a nicer fit for [snip]
    Our main business is affiliate marketing through other websites.
    As I stated in the initial form I have no plans to resell it for profit so you wouldn’t be missing out and £1000 has to be better than it being parked for another year.
    Regards, Joe Connor

    Sorry Joe but that’s not how it works, Regards, ???

    Hi ???,
    > Sorry Joe but that’s not how it works.
    I recently bought a domain where the initial asking price was 18k for 3.7k through Sedo so I know that’s exactly how it is.
    A domain is worth what someone will pay for it and given it’s been sat there for years unused it’s clearly not worth what you value it at.
    I’ll email you again next year 😉
    Regards, Joe

    Hi Joe,
    “Sat there for years unused”? you make it sound like an old washing machine! Like I say that is not the way it works and you clearly have no concept of my businesses model in this area, something which has nothing at all to do with whatever a bunch of jokers on Sedo may get up to.
    I am not going to enter into a debate with you on this and explain the situation because I get hundreds of people come out with similar nonsense to me every year and I never normally reply.
    But to put you straight though on this on this occasion it is suffice to say whilst your thoughts on this are a nice idea for you and your desire to try and secure this domain name; and a good attempt at an angle for you to try and bargain a lower price on it, they are fundamentally incorrect.
    An asset in this instance a domain name like this one that is firstly appreciating in value and secondly generating revenue does not fit with your description, as someone who makes money out of parked domains with advertising on them you must surely be aware of this second point. If it were like an old washing machine and becoming out of date, obsolete and depreciating and something I had to pay storage and rent on and was falling into disrepair then, yes, you may have a point, and yes I would then be wise to look at trying to secure a deal, but the situation bears no comparison to that and your reasoning is clearly flawed.
    So nice try, but regardless of your past experiences in buying domain names there is no way I will be selling this domain name for any less than the price indicated whether now or even if I still have it in 10 years time. If I were in a hurry to get rid of it and needed the money I know two places where I could sell it for more than three times your offer, immediately, today guaranteed.
    If however you are in the future in the position to make a genuinely “realistic” offer if say your business grows for example and you have more money to spend feel free to let me know.
    Best regards, ???

    So the domain probably has a true value somewhere around £3000 and I could probably get it for £5000. Domain name haggling suggestions welcomed…

    UPDATE 2017

    The domain I wanted (and would still quite like but don’t need) is still up for sale and the ownership hasn’t changed since my original 2007 post. It’s now up for sale now for £1000 🙂 I’m tempted to start the domain name haggling again but can I be arsed?

    So the domain probably has a true value somewhere around £3000 and I could probably get it for £5000. Domain name haggling suggestions welcomed…

    UPDATE 2025

    The domain I wanted and would still quite like but definitely don’t need is still up for sale but I’m not tempted to start the domain name haggling again because I definitely cantBarsed 🙂

  • Shields Up! Discount Code Websites Under Attack…

    Discount code websites like our DiscountCodes.tv and cantBarsed.com are now so popular we’re coming under ever closer scrutiny from merchants. Most are happy for us to promote their codes, which they see as a symbiotic relationship, others are ambivalent or turn a blind eye but increasingly we’re being asked to remove valid codes which is definitely bad for YOU and makes our sites less relevant.

    What’s worse is that some of the merchants who have asked us to remove codes still give them away to newsletter subscribers (read our money saving tips about newsletters) and via their other advertising channels which leaves our regular visitors out in the cold.

    If their aim is to get rid of code sites they’re unlikely to succeed – a quick look at the US experience shows code sites are not going to go away so pulling codes is just going to drive the perceived problem underground.

    We’ve always approached merchants to organise exclusive promotional codes for cantBarsed visitors so we’ve ramped up this activity which in the long run will hurt the stores not offering codes as their coverage shrinks at the expense of our exclusive promo code partners.

    The challenge for merchants is to learn to work with discount code websites, not against us, and manage promotional codes intelligently so everyone is a winner.

  • Happy New Years Resolutions

    Here’s a chance to announce your New Years Resolutions online – which might just help you keep them – there’s even a prize for the best entry – a NavLight – it’s a lavatory nightlight, a visual targeting system featuring state of the art seat of pants technology.

    The most popular resolutions so far involve going on a diet and giving up smoking and you’ve got until the end of January to come up with the winning entry.

    If you’ve still got any cash to spend check out our January Sales page which has some seriously tempting offers.

    Thanks to all our regular visitors and newsletter subscribers for supporting CantBarsed.com during 2005, we wish you all a prosperous 2006.

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  • I Was Busy! RPL Buys BuyAnExperience.co.uk

    Apart from holidays I’ve sent the cantBarsed.com newsletter out regularly every week for years but this week I really was too busy!

    Our company Renegade Publishing Ltd has recently bought BuyAnExperience.co.uk (and a bunch of other niche sites) we’ve been busy getting to grips with how everything works. If you’re looking for an Activity Day we’ve got most of the experiences available from all the popular gift experience suppliers in the UK on the site and it’s a lot easier to find what you’re looking for and compare prices, using the nifty wishlist function, than it is to trawl around dozens of other sites.

    So I’d just like to apologise to regular readers, I was busy but normal service will be resumed this Tuesday.

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  • I’ve Got a New SONY k750i Mobile Phone Review

    I’ve never been into mobile phones but I have always been into photography and cameras so when I spotted the new Sony k750i has a 2 megapixel digital camera – the same resolution as my Sony DSC P51 but about four times smaller AND it’s a mobile phone, with built-in FM radio and MP3 Player I had to take a closer look.

    Mobile phone cameras have always been near useless, but the Sony k750i camera looks like a proper digital camera and the picture quality is good enough to be useful. Instead of a flash with the dreaded red-eye it offers a bright light feature which doubles up as a torch, it’s even really useful as a torch.

    The camera take Sony memory sticks so if you upgrade the bundled 64Mb memory stick to a 1Gb memory stick you could store around 120 songs and still take 250 photos which is pretty cool.

    Another feature I’m finding surprisingly useful is the organiser, if you’re used to keeping track of your daily appointments using Outlook you can synchronise your contacts and appointments easily by connecting the phone to your PC using the USB cable and bundled software provided.

    The Sony k750i is the first mobile phone I’ve actually enjoyed using so if you’re in the market for a new mobile phone check it out, visit our mobile phones page to compare contacts and PAYG mobile phone options across the UK networks…

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