In a previous post, I reported that I acquired the domain DesignDragon.com. As most of you will know, most domains like this, that are short and easy to remember, are often taken, not available for immediate registration. The same applied to this domain, so for the first time ever, I had to acquire a taken domain. I'll hereby share some experiences, should you ever need to do the same thing. This is by no means a complete guide, only a transcript of steps I took for my situation.

Is it for sale?

First, you have to find out if the domain you want is for sale by the current user. A good thing to do is to simply open the site in a browser. If the page is empty, shows a registrar site, or one of those obnoxious portal ad sites, there is a good chance the owner is willing to sell it. If no such page opens up, check the WHOIS record of the domain and get in touch with the owner directly.

In my case I was lucky, the site itself contained a "For Sale" page with a form to contact the owner.

The price

This is something I really cannot help with. It will depend on your own budget and sense of value for the domain what amount you are willing to pay for the domain. In my case, the owner listed a minimum bid price which I found reasonable. If no such information is available, always start with low bids, but not so low as to not be taken serious. In some cases, the domain bidding itself is happening in a tool, completely outside email contact.

I think there are domain value tools online somewhere, to get you a start point in the bid race. I have not used them myself.

The transaction

Once you found out that the domain is for sale, have contacted the owner and agreed upon the price, it is time to make the transaction. There are two ways to go here:

• The buyer and seller trust each other and you handle things informally
• A mediator coordinates the transaction

The trust scenario can work for low price domains, let's say less than 300 USD. The main risk here is that you might never get your domain after you paid the fee. Or, as a seller, you might have transferred the domain but never get your money. The only benefit of this scenario is that you will have little or no transaction costs.

The mediator scenario guarantees a risk free transaction for both parties, for which you pay a fee. There are different mediator services available, often called Escrow services. Some of these services include both the transaction and the domain transfer, whilst others only handle the transaction for you.

In my case, we used Escrow.com. This is a mediator service that only handles the transaction. Here is how it worked from a buyer's perspective:

• Seller registers transaction and going price in Escrow.com
• Buyer registers at Escrow.com
• Buyer approves counter price or makes a counter bid in the system
• After an approved price, buyer is asked to provide the funds, these are paid to the the mediator, not to the seller yet. As part of the payment, you must authorize your transaction using a combination of your credit card and a copy of your ID with the same signature as your credit card. This is an extra security check. Do block everything but the last 4 digits of your credit card!
• Once the payment is authorized by Escrow, which can take a day, the seller is notified of the buyer having paid. Next, he is asked by Escrow to start the domain transfer. The next steps will take place outside of Escrow's system, since Escrow does not transfer the domain.
• The seller uses the registrar of the domain in question to:
  • Set the WHOIS data of the domain to your contact details. Your email address is very important here since that will be used to approve the transfer later on.
  • Provide you with a EPP code, which is a transfer authorization code
• The buyer uses the registrar of this own choice to transfer the domain to. Typically, there is a transfer request form where you can enter the domain. Next you need to enter the EPP code that was given. Finally, the email address specified in the WHOIS of the domain will get a transfer authorization approval email.
• The buyer approves the transfer. Next, you wait. Within 24 hours the domain should be under your complete control at your own registrar. You may want to directly edit the name servers now, although this is not required for the transfer.
• The buyer goes back into the Escrow system and signals the successful transfer.
• The Escrow service will provide the funds to the seller.
• Case closed. Well, in reality there is now an inspection period of two days in which things can be undone.

Don't forget to research your seller!

Perhaps the most important advise I can give is to be paranoid and to always research your seller or mediator. If you are dealing with a fraud, there's a big chance you are not the first victim. Try various targetted Google queries and go beyond the first page of search results. I spend hours researching Escrow.com on the net and by phone, only because they are asking for both my ID and credit card information. Not getting your domain is one problem, identity theft is a much bigger problem. Be careful out there.

For me this was a first, so I hope this helps anyone else!

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