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bakinccc
Regular Member
Joined: Jun 23, 2007
Posts: 187
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:58 pm |
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I don't have a website right now and not sure if I'll ever want one but saw yesterday that my business name is no longer available as a domain name. A site came up that said it's taken and "Under Construction". It also said something about that I can make an offer to buy it. I have a free photo site that works very well for now...my hubby said there are people out there who buy up names just for the purpose of reselling them. My question is, should I make an offer and buy it in case I want a real website someday? How much should I expect to pay for it? When I created my name 1 1/2 years ago it was available as a domain name and has been up until now. What should I do? |
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JoAnnB
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jun 09, 2005
Posts: 7323
Location: Salem, Oregon
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:01 pm |
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I had the same problem. I added 'baking' to my name-
gourmetbydesignbaking.com makes it long, but easy for my clients.
You can also use .net |
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costumeczar
Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 18, 2007
Posts: 647
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:10 pm |
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Try a different extension, as suggested above. .net or .biz might be open. Buy them now even if you don't have a website yet, or they might be gone, too.
There's probably someone else who's using the same business name that you have, it probably isn't someone who's buying baking names for profit. That's usually people who buy names that are similar to big companies who can afford to pay a lot to get them back.
There are a couple of businesses that have domain names that are similar to mine, too. You could put your location into the name to distinguish yourself from them, as well. |
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deanwithana
Frequent Member
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Joined: Jan 13, 2008
Posts: 227
Location: Greater New Orleans Area
Birthday: Apr 08
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:12 pm |
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you can try to make an offer to buy.....but really there is no telling if someone has bought it for personal use.....if the site is "under construction" then there will probably be a website place.....if the site was "unavailable" then it would probably be offered for sale.....
Also, as Joann said......you can try either .net or .org, etc. There are serveral different endings being offered. |
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bakinccc
Regular Member
Joined: Jun 23, 2007
Posts: 187
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:29 pm |
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Thanks for the replies. It just took me off guard when I saw it because I took great care to name my business something that wasn't already out there. I don't have to change MY business name now do I? |
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OCakes
Frequent Member
Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 327
Location: Sonoma, California
Birthday: Jan 28
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:29 pm |
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That is so sad! I was in business as "Occasional Cakes" for a year or so before I obtained a website. My designer offered a variety of options, such as using ".net" instead of ".com", as stated previously in this post... however the ".com" was the absolute most common at the time & I didn't want to go without........ so, I shortened my business name just for the domain. My web address is www.OCakes.com, and it turned-out great because (1) many people spell "occasional" wrong; (2) "www.occasionalcakes.com" is so much longer!; (3) "OCakes" is one of my nicknames now, ha ha... people know my business name, but my frequent customers & a lot of friends/family call me that & I really like being known that way.
If you want help coming-up with a domain name, give us your business name & we can offer suggestions! Also, the main reason I'm writing, is because you can reserve your domain name for about $10/year (I THINK - this was back when I was doing it!)... so that might be the better way to do it. You can pay a LOT to purchase a website name - but it never hurts to ask if it's your *perfect* web address! I've heard they can sell for around $200, but that's of course just one scenario. AND, I think if you purchase it, you should USE it!! =) Good luck with your decision! |
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Erdica
Forum Addict
Joined: May 21, 2006
Posts: 701
Birthday: Nov 09
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:47 pm |
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That stinks. I agree with the what everyone else said. My DH told me once that there are companies that go around buying up domain names so that they can then sell them later. It stinks. |
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costumeczar
Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 18, 2007
Posts: 647
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:53 pm |
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You don't have to change your business name, you just have to get a new web domain name. And keep your eye on the one that you really want, because it might come to be available at some point. I remembered after I first posted that when I started my website someone had my domain name so I had to shorten it, but then it came up as available and I bought it, too. So keep an eye on it and you might be able to get it eventually. |
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OCakes
Frequent Member
Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 327
Location: Sonoma, California
Birthday: Jan 28
Gallery Supporter Member
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:07 pm |
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Sorry if I made it sound like you have to change your business name - I agree with constumeczar that you don't. I just meant that you can alter how the web address spells-out so that you can keep the ".com" if you want. ".net" is REALLY common now too, so you might consider it if it's available, and then purchase the .com address if it becomes available again? I hope it works out for you! |
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bakinccc
Regular Member
Joined: Jun 23, 2007
Posts: 187
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:47 pm |
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Ok then, here's another question...can there be two businesses out there such as cookiecuttercreations.com and cookiecuttercreations.net, both operating as cookie companies with no legal issues? One won't come after the other for some reason? |
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JoAnnB
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: Jun 09, 2005
Posts: 7323
Location: Salem, Oregon
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Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:18 pm |
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If you make your location (state/city) clear on your home page there shouldn't be any problems. If you are in the same state, you have a problem. |
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JenWhitlock
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 226
Location: Zionsville, IN
Birthday: Mar 22
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Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:53 am |
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the domain that I wanted was gone too so I added a dash, i.e. posh-pastries.com
but sometimes people buy a domain and never do anything with it and let it expire.
if you are not in a hurry for the site, keep up with an alternate site and then check back in a year
oh, and I when I was shopping for mine it seemed to disappear and my hubby told me that some times when you inquire about a domain on certain sites they hold the domain so that you can't get it somewhere else -it will show up open after a couple days or something.
good luck! |
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gottabakenow
Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 04, 2008
Posts: 670
Location: Massachusetts
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Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:31 am |
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i don't see anything saying that it's available for purchase...  |
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bakinccc
Regular Member
Joined: Jun 23, 2007
Posts: 187
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Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:26 am |
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cakedecoratingsmything...if you go to register.com and type in cookiecuttercreations.com you'll see that it's taken and I can make an offer to buy it. It also lists the other extension alternatives that I can buy at $35. I'm tempted to make an offer on the .com one. |
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gottabakenow
Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 04, 2008
Posts: 670
Location: Massachusetts
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Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:54 am |
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ohhhh i get it now. i was looking on the actual site, dumb me... 
thanks for clarifying. |
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