Hello everyone, I have a problem which I know that the empeg brain trust can help with. How can I convince someone to sell me their domain name? There's a chance I can make it happen, but I need to push the right buttons.

There's a web/mobile service that I want to create, but its best .com domain name is taken. I own the .net and .org versions and would be happy using them, but how much hassle will it be that I don't own the .com?

I contacted the domain's owner, he promptly stated his selling price, I gladly accepted, then he switched and said it's not for sale. He said he gets occasional offers to buy, but I'm the only one who replied to his selling price. How can I leverage this?

The owner has (or had) an interest in the subject matter of my project, based on archive.org's cache of his site over the years. He has made and remade the rudimentary beginnings of what I want to do, but never wrote more than a handful of code. Can I convince him that I'll fulfill his dream?

Ultimately, the owner is a collector, and I think he's keeping the domain for nostalgic reasons. He's had it for at least 6 years and probably got it from a friend who bought it in 1999 (for the same project I'm doing). I'm familiar with this unreasonable, hoarding level of attachment, and I know it's tough to overcome. Thousands of dollars can't sway the possession of perceived value which he'll "someday get around to using". How can this unreason be overcome?

Thanks for any input you all have. I'm passionate about this project, and having the .com domain is the last thing I need to commit and bring it to life. And you all know how I can get devoted and finish a project. Thanks again.

I don't have an answer but why would the guy offer a price if he didn't want to really sell it? Are they just trying to get you to give them a higher bid?

Offer him the price he proposed (which you have already done) with a "take it or leave it" attitude? How much did he propose? Maybe just state that since he's proposed a price you'll only offer that or lower.

Maybe offer a small share of what you're setting up? There's all sorts of legal and organisational issues with that though.

Domain names don't matter much anymore- don't get hung up on it. It's all about SEO nowawadays. If the guy won't sell after you accepted his price without even bargaining forget it and walk away.