In this situation, since it sounds like the guy doesn't know much about domains or perhaps even this domain's worth, I wouldn't start by giving him an offer...Instead, I'd contact him and say something like this:

"I'm interested in using your domain when it expires to develop my own site. I figure, instead of you letting it expire and making nothing off of it and me having to wait 60 days to buy it, I'd go ahead and pick it up off of you now. That way you can make some money off of this instead of just letting it expire!

Are you willing to do that? If so, what would you like for the domain?"

Just see what he says - It definitely won't hurt...and it sounds to me like he plans right now to just let the domain expire, in which case, he won't get anything for it. If that is the case, he should be happy with any amount of money (ie: 5 bucks)

and if that happens, you =

__________________
...some super-sweet signature

Thats great advice Ryan.. I sent him an email earlier simply asking him if he has a price in mind but now I wish I had held off and used your post as a template. But if he does name a price I don't expect it to be very high. If he insists on me giving an offer... I'd have to think about it, because my impression is that he isn't experienced in buying and selling domains, but I would hate to give a lowball offer and offend him. Hopefully he'll get back with me soon (with his own offer ).

__________________
World of Warcraft Forums - Your #1 place to discuss all things World of Warcraft.

Are you planning on using his content? If not, I would say start at $50.

__________________



TheBiggestBoards - See where your forum ranks - Size Matters!

I concur with others... try to buy it now if you want it. Waiting periods notwithstanding, the domain business has some hard core players that are always watching to see what's where. If there's something with traffic and value, they'll see it and they'll look and they can probably move faster than you on the open market.

I'm seeing on Whois right now that the domain is on renewal hold until Nov. 18th. You can try to backorder it, but that could mean nothing. If others have tagged it up, you could end up in a bidding war or just lose to others who have better fully automated processes for trying to snag what they want.

See How to Snatch an Expiring Domain Name.

The guy's letting it go. Start with a few hundred and see what happens. But if you want it, don't wait. The domain after market business can be rough.

Scott