I imagine this is the kind of question that HN sees a lot. I don't spend tons of time here, but considering the responses so far, I think my input is will be not be redundant. I am a domainer with ~$500,000 in purchases under my belt, which means I am experienced but not one of the "big guys."<p>First of all, there is no single best way to get a domain that you want. There are techniques that tend to work better in some situations than others, but it's good to think of these as tools in your toolbelt rather than the ultimate domain-buying dogma. Unfortunately, confirmation bias can skew less experienced hackers toward confusing the story of how <i>they</i> got <i>their</i> domain with real advice.<p>Like any negotiation, the first place to start is by assessing all info about both parties. Can you answer the following?<p>- Does the seller have true WHOIS visible or is the WHOIS obfuscated by a privacy service?
a. If visible, what can you figure out about the seller?<p>- Do the domain's nameservers point to anything that could help you identify the owner?<p>- Is the domain name a generic dictionary word .com or .net? That is, is your gut feeling that it's worth >$10,000?<p>- Is the domain listed for sale at any major venues (sedo, godaddy, afternic, snapnames, ect)?<p>- Do you have alternatives or do you absolutely need to have this domain?<p>- What is your timeline to acquire either this domain or one of your alternatives?<p>If you feel comfortable emailing me the domain, I can give you a report of the WHOIS history from <a href="http://whois.domaintools.com/" rel="nofollow">http://whois.domaintools.com/</a> along with my personal opinion.<p>Lastly, I would specifically recommend you ignore advice from tuscon and johnmurch. Absolutely no domainer takes estibot seriously and feigning legal threats will not help your situation at all.