How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com • Hacker News Board

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#61

Post by rahimnathwani » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:28 AM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #55

yid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why this isn't the way real estate agents work.

Unless the US market is very different, I thought it was pretty obvious that the sellers/landlords are the real estate agent's customers and the stream of prospective buyers are the product...

It's different in the US. Buyers and sellers both have agents. They split the commission when a sale goes through. In some cases they end up being the same person (e.g. if an individual approaches the buyer's agent directly).

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#62

Post by rahimnathwani » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:28 AM UTC

pyoung wrote: post #42

yid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why this isn't the way real estate agents work.

There are some complications to the implementation of this system. If you choose to incentivize the Realtor to stay below a specific budget, the Realtor might start steering you to cheaper units (re: smaller, shabbier, poor neighborhoods) in order to get a bigger commission. If you base the commission on the discount negotiated off the list price of a home, you may push the Realtor into low balling offers and not clo…

It might make more sense when negotiating with a selling agent rather than a buying agent.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#63

Post by mwsherman » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:36 AM UTC

avalaunch wrote: post #18

Am I the only one that likes the name Ryza more than Experiment? Experiment just sounds so bland to me and will be harder to rank high with.

I’m with you. It’s a better name and can really be called a brand name in that it only denotes the company and otherwise has no other meaning. That uniqueness means no competition in search results, as you point out.

Unique-er, shorter, has a cultural history with the company, evokes “Rise”.

Keep in mind that brands really become signifiers of the company, and have little meaning of their own over time. Beatles, Google, Radiohead, Amazon. All either bad or meaningless on their own.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#64

Post by larrys » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:23 AM UTC

simonw wrote: post #7

"The broker would help them find the owners of domain names, negotiate the price, and handle the transaction in exchange for a 10-15% commission of the price of the domain." The incentives there seem misaligned to me. The person negotiating the price for them gets paid a higher commission if the price ends up being higher?

I do this for a living. You are correct. The way I work is a fixed fee in advanced based on rough estimates of the final value of the domain. Consequently I get paid the same but I'm incentivized to purchase as cheaply as possible in order to get referral business (but not at the expense of making money).

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#65

Post by larrys » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:26 AM UTC

kkwok wrote: post #36

simonw wrote: post #7

"The broker would help them find the owners of domain names, negotiate the price, and handle the transaction in exchange for a 10-15% commission of the price of the domain." The incentives there seem misaligned to me. The person negotiating the price for them gets paid a higher commission if the price ends up being higher?

Good system I've seen for domain buying is this: You set price you'll pay. Broker decides to take job. They negotiate a price that equal to or lower than your cap. They get fixed fee plus X% of difference between price paid and max price you'd be willing to pay.

(I do this and work buying domains for people.)

There is a problem with that.

That system only works in the case of names that you don't care if you get or not. In the case of a domain that you really need (and most buyers that I've dealt with really want the name or names they have decided on) you run the risk of pissing off the seller and having him play all sorts of games that can result in paying more or deciding to not sell at all. The broker stands less to lose than the buyer does. They only lose their commission but a deal screwed up means you don't get your domain name.

But most importantly an incentive like that assumes that every seller is the same and can be manipulated with effort. I can assure you that is not the case.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#66

Post by larrys » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:30 AM UTC

sheetjs wrote: post #3

> Sure, they got a little lucky because they connected with a domain owner that shared their vision for science. The fact that the domain wasn't sold since 1996, even when there were better offers from domain flippers during the time, suggests that luck played a much larger role than the statement implies

"even when there were better offers from domain flippers during the time"

It's quite common in the domain business to claim that you have offers that you have turned down. I would take that with a grain of salt. By the way while it is possible that the seller was telling the truth I have been in this business for a long long time. Most likely it was merely posturing. And for the record nobody flips domains quickly. It can take years and years.

(Also I strongly agree with the luck assessment..)

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#67

Post by larrys » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:32 AM UTC

keerthiko wrote: post #27

uptown wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a strong-enough name to be considered an asset. Worst-case ... just resell it.

I doubt anyone with a semblance of a conscience in their shoes could do that, except back to the benefactor, for cheaper (which would also be pretty lame)...the man turned down 6 figure offers and gave it to them because he believed in their mission. That they would go "whoops, it cost too much, gonna sell it to whoever offers me the most while we bail from our failed startup" would make the benefactor feel like tota…

"the man turned down 6 figure offers"

I'm in this business. It's quite common to claim things like that. And being offered a sum of money and actually closing a deal are two different things anyway.

That said they did get a good number on the domain and it is possible that the seller did get offers for 6 figures. But the fact that he said that really means nothing as there is no way to verify that. It's a negotiating technique.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#68

Post by eru » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:52 AM UTC

pyoung wrote: post #42

yid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why this isn't the way real estate agents work.

There are some complications to the implementation of this system. If you choose to incentivize the Realtor to stay below a specific budget, the Realtor might start steering you to cheaper units (re: smaller, shabbier, poor neighborhoods) in order to get a bigger commission. If you base the commission on the discount negotiated off the list price of a home, you may push the Realtor into low balling offers and not clo…

> If you base the commission on the discount negotiated off the list price of a home, you may push the Realtor into low balling offers and not closing deals [...].

That's not too bad an incentive, because all other incentives lead to them closing more often than you'd like.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#69

Post by ohashi » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:53 AM UTC

dchuk wrote: post #8

I'm actually just about to go through the process of acquiring a somewhat recently dropped domain from BuyDomains.com for my new project. The current asking price for the domain is around $4,000 on their site. Anyone worked with them before? I'm prepared to negotiate with them but also want to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot and cause them to raise the price on me. I would ideally like to not spend more th…

Timing with them also can matter. Their sales people have quotas and goals for the month. You may get a better price towards the end of the month vs the beginning.

Re: How Microryza Acquired the Domain Experiment.com

#70

Post by eru » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 4:53 AM UTC

stillsut wrote: post #25

eli wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like buying a house, no?

For a house it's 2-5%. At this Rate, it's usually better for the broker to just close the sale whether it's $400k or $500k. This was an example in Freakanomics Vol 1 I believe.

That's the American housing market, I believe.