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What to Do If Someone Owns the Domain You Want?

You’ve spent hours trying to come up with a memorable name for your business. You finally think of a fantastic name, but when you look it up online, you find out the domain already belongs to someone else. This is an incredibly frustrating occurrence. However, this does not mean you should give up. Here are a few steps you can take after discovering someone else owns your perfect domain.

Make Small Alterations

Though you may not want to hear this, the first thing you should do is decide whether or not you really need that domain. You can try to come up with a totally different name for your business and domain. You can also make small adjustments to your domain name. Check alternative suffixes to the standard .com like .net, .org, or .me. You can also try adding words to your domain. Instead of buying Name.com, you can buy TheName.com. Just make sure your new domain is easy to remember and spell.

Determine Who Owns the Domain

If you are really determined to buy your original name, you can buy it from the current owner. To do this, you will need to check the domain registration to find the name and contact information of the owner. There are plenty of online services you can use to check the domain owner.

Make an Offer

After fining the name and email address of the owner, you should contact them. There are a few different methods you can use to try to obtain the domain. Even if there isn’t a website at the address you want, you can still reach out to the owner via email and ask them to sell. You can make a fair offer outright or you can send a friendly email and ask if they would be willing to sell. Be sure not to come off as desperate or they may try to get you to pay more than you want to. You can probably expect a high initial asking price; people tend to overvalue their domain names. Don’t be afraid to make a counteroffer and haggle to get a better price. Keep in mind that they probably will not come down too much from their original price.

Even if someone else owns the domain you want, there are still things you can do to purchase it. First, decide if buying the domain is really necessary. Then, check the domain registration and reach out to the owner to make an offer. If all goes well, the domain will be yours in no time.

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