Looking to buy an expiring domain ... but ...

[bingowings]

Hey all,

I have bought quite a few expiring domains in the past. This one has got me stumped though.

• So I have spotted a domain I really want.
• There is no page at the domain
• I do a whois, and see that the reg is public, with a work email
• I google who he is, and works for
• It is not a web company - their business is unrelated to the domain
• He is an academic, so I also get several papers he has written
• As the subject is interesting, I quickly scan through the first papers
• Paper number three is an industry review, dated 2005.
• With a special announcement; the guy died in August.

I could just hope to pick it up on the drop - but I hate going through that system. The expiry date is the end of May, and +75 days after that is a long way away.

So what is the best way to proceed here?

Should I contact the company and ask them if it is their property?
Would it be inappropriate to try and contact his family?

We are not talking huge money here - I think the domain is worth low $$$.

 

[nmwando]

Contact the family thats the best route. Tell them you are a researcher with the particular topic and would be interested in acquiring the site. Dont be slimy and cheap, if the domain is worth something at least give them 60 % of whats its worth. Honestly, try to slimeball the family and they could own a shitload more domains and close the window on you hitting a jackpot with a domain portofolio of a dead man.
Slimy, sure but its harsh reality. Approach the family with dignity on why you want the domain and if the dude was some professor know she didnt marry some tramp.
Be classy and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

[bingowings]

Contact the family thats the best route. Tell them you are a researcher with the particular topic and would be interested in acquiring the site. Dont be slimy and cheap, if the domain is worth something at least give them 60 % of whats its worth. Honestly, try to slimeball the family and they could own a shitload more domains and close the window on you hitting a jackpot with a domain portofolio of a dead man.
Slimy, sure but its harsh reality. Approach the family with dignity on why you want the domain and if the dude was some professor know she didnt marry some tramp.
Be classy and laugh all the way to the bank.

Thank you.

I was planning on contacting the family, and I'd always have been fair and honest. [I always consider that I might be able to get more domains from whoever I buy from and offer fair prices accordingly].

My main concern is that the family may be non-technical and think that the research I have done is creepy. I guess I'll just have to word the mail carefully and explain whois.

Just an update - the email I sent to his account bounced. So it looks like I am going to have to contact the company he worked for in the first instance. Whether they pass on his family's information I don't know. I doubt they will.

This is getting messy. I want to be above board and fair here, and I'd like to give his family what I expect will be some unexpected money. It still feels a bit creepy.

I normally wouldnt go to all this trouble but I have a site ready to deploy and this domain is perfect. Nothing - even a one word .com - comes close.

 

[vsl.online]

My Suggestion

Better contact the company for that one. They may also have forgotten about it and might just give it to you for free. Who knows right?

But if they don't they you have a lot of convincing to do. But it's worth it if the domain really speaks what you want to say.

 

[fholmes]

Just do a reverse address lookup on whitepages.com and see if you can find his family that way. Or do a reverse phone lookup on his registered phone number. Shouldn't be that hard to find info on him. You can also do a Social Security Death Index lookup and see if you can find other information on him that way as well.