Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#1

Post by fprct » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 8:34 AM UTC

Strange (or maybe not so strange?) thing happened.

I'm looking for a good name & .com domain for a product for some time now. Just tried a new guess and the .com is available. I was quite enthusiastic about this option. Or so I thought...

It just so happens that the previous owner was a person that died from cancer couple of years ago and hosted some semi personal stuff there - judging from a quick read on web.archive.org, mostly promoted their books, but the topic of disease was present and books were somewhat related.

Apparently there was no one around them who would take care of the site and pay for the domain (or maybe there was, but they decided it was better not to). Related Facebook account is deleted, too. OTOH books are available on Amazon.

Now I don't feel like taking this domain would be the right move. Both emotionally and business wise.

Curious if you have any thoughts or maybe have seen some similar situations.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#2

Post by pacifika » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 8:43 AM UTC

Maybe add a banner to point to the web archive of the previous site? Life moves on and domains are ultimately rented much like our time here. Having a new business doesn’t stop you from honouring that, in my view.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#3

Post by fprct » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 8:58 AM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #2

Maybe add a banner to point to the web archive of the previous site? Life moves on and domains are ultimately rented much like our time here. Having a new business doesn’t stop you from honouring that, in my view.

Yes, some way of remembrance somewhere came to my mind. But ultimately it felt somewhat intrusive to me and not particularly fitting the new character of the site.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#4

Post by pacifika » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:09 AM UTC

fprct wrote: post #3

pacifika wrote: post #2

Maybe add a banner to point to the web archive of the previous site? Life moves on and domains are ultimately rented much like our time here. Having a new business doesn’t stop you from honouring that, in my view.

Yes, some way of remembrance somewhere came to my mind. But ultimately it felt somewhat intrusive to me and not particularly fitting the new character of the site.

Another option migth be to explain the history of the domain as part of the About page, if that suits better?

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#5

Post by notRobot » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:13 AM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #4

fprct wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, some way of remembrance somewhere came to my mind. But ultimately it felt somewhat intrusive to me and not particularly fitting the new character of the site.

Another option migth be to explain the history of the domain as part of the About page, if that suits better?

This is what I would do!

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#6

Post by fprct » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:15 AM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #4

fprct wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, some way of remembrance somewhere came to my mind. But ultimately it felt somewhat intrusive to me and not particularly fitting the new character of the site.

Another option migth be to explain the history of the domain as part of the About page, if that suits better?

Yes, like some small annotation at the bottom. That's the maximum I could imagine.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#7

Post by corobo » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:18 AM UTC

I don't think this is any concern beyond natural intrigue. The internet comes and goes.

It sucks someone died of course, but if we switched to a house analogy you wouldn't worry about preserving the former owner's claim on the house you just bought would you? Assuming like in this case you have no connection to the deceased.

Maybe I'm a bit too heartless, I dunno, but I feel like you've got no worries here at all. A domain expired, a domain was registered. They share a name solely through coincidence.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#8

Post by mcv » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:21 AM UTC

pacifika wrote: post #2

Maybe add a banner to point to the web archive of the previous site? Life moves on and domains are ultimately rented much like our time here. Having a new business doesn’t stop you from honouring that, in my view.

Pointing to the original content on web.archive.org is a really nice idea. That keeps the original content accessible and gives people the opportunity to remember the deceased person.

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#9

Post by weird-eye-issue » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:24 AM UTC

I saw a gardening-related site being sold for several thousand dollars by an expired domain reseller after the owner died. This happens a lot.

From a SEO perspective, you should be fine as long as it wasn't previously a malicious or spammy site.

From ethical/emotional well that's your decision. Personally I'd be fine with it

Re: Ask HN: Buying a domain previously owned by a now deceased person

#10

Post by toyg » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 9:25 AM UTC

I mean, at some point surely the host will take it down anyway, once the registration expires. At which point it will likely be squatted on, automatically. At least you'd be making productive use of this little patch of web land.