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Originally Posted by Tango
I see your point - but I've been able to turn deals in person that I've never would have been able to turn via phone, email, or IM
Its worth a shot - whats the worst that can happen a couple of wasted days for the effort   |
but sometimes meeting in person will help you seal the deal, other times it can backfire... seller may pre-judge you based on too many factors... may think you don't have money (scam?), or that you have too much money (moneybags?), etc... but sometimes it's worth the risk to meet up with them.
one example: PRO
we recently acquired a large blog network of sites + hundreds of targeted blog domains... and it was only because we used a two-prong attack... my partner (in the blog venture) met the seller for dinner and I spent nearly 12 hours on the phone after their meeting negotiating w/ the seller and secured the deal before our competition (M.C.) had a chance to wake up...they were planning on signing a deal at Noon. It was grueling but exciting. I do not think we could've closed the deal without first meeting the seller to show we were serious with contracts & money in hand. Our competitors have more funding then us because they are backed by a billionaire, but we took the extra step of meeting with seller the night before they were signing contracts and we made the seller an offer he could not refuse: win/win. And considering the value of blog domains right now, we're very happy with the deal. They were quite a few 5-6 figure domains in that portfolio. Funny part is we contacted him about 1 domain and was trying to beg him to separate it from his portfolio, but after seeing his whole portfolio and seeing who we were up against, we ended up acquiring the whole thing because we did not want our competitors to own these domains.
another example: PRO
Another time, I refused to sell a domain name to a buyer from Iceland and then I got a phone call from the buyer saying he really had to have the domain and was going to personally bring me a contract+check... I laughed at him... but when I received a local phone call from him later that week and met with him (I brought a bodyguard just in case. LOL), we both got what we wanted. I signed the contract and he gave me the check. I was impressed by his persistence, determination and could see & feel that the offer was real.
last example: CON
Another time, I sent an email offer for a domain. I did not know the seller, or anything about him, but he had a domain I had to have to complement another domain I just acquired. After negotiating with seller over the phone and via email, I had no idea the seller knew exactly who I was, had seen me clubbing with my friends many times, met me before, possibly partied with us, etc... he judged me and re-priced his domain accordingly based on what he believed I was willing to spend taken many factors into account and other bullshit assumptions (most were true
). A domain that should've cost me 1X cost me 5X because the seller had me pegged and met me before. LOL. He made it very clear he knew who I was and that my offer was generous but way too low considering it was coming from me and he was charging much more BECAUSE he met me. In the end, I still bought the domain but learned my lesson... always remain in stealth mode... always... even if meeting them in person.
...I've got a few more stories, but I'm saving them for my blog/book.