1) Know your budget and determine if the likely asking price for
the domain name you want to own is within that budget(there are several websites that list historical sales of similar domain names
for you to use as a guide)
2) Once you have determined that the domain name you want to
buy is within your price range contact the owner with an offer to buy the domain
name using a price 20% below your max budget.
(If the current owner accepts your offer you save money.
If not you have room for negotiation to improve your offer in order to complete
the purchase. If they reply with an enormous asking price you have the
historical sales data to defend and support your offer and remind them of the
true fair market value of the domain name)
3) If the buyer accepts your offer or when price negotiations
are complete and both parties have agreed to the deal insist on using a
reputable escrow company to complete the transaction. The Escrow fee can
be buyer paid (normally), seller paid, or can be mutually shared if both parties
agree,
(Failure to use an escrow service can compromise the security
of the transaction and may end with you losing money without getting the domain
name.)
4) IMPORTANT: If you are not knowledgeable about
domain name value or experienced in purchase negotiations and you don't wish to
spend the time and effort in researching historical sales or finding the
true owner of a domain, or you wish to avoid the negotiations process, you should hire a professional domain name broker like BrandsTek.com to
represent you in the domain buying process.