So a posted on Namepros @MapleDots, made an interesting post about NDA’s and sales confidentiality.
The initial post:
Confidentiality Sucks
I have had 3 big sales at 75k each and in each case I signed a confidentiality clause which prohibited me from talking about the domain.
In retrospect I find this really hampers my domaining business because I cannot give examples of my big sales to prospective client. Since I specialize in a unique targeted part of the market I rely on sales statistics to justify prices.
So here is my dilema…
I am in the midst of closing my biggest sale to date and it is well over the 200k mark. The problem is they want me to sign a confidentiality clause. I swore I would never sign another one and I am sticking to my guns. I turned them down flat and said no deal.
Now I know you are all thinking that was pretty stupid but I don’t think so. First off, I don’t think I will lose the deal and secondly I need my sales stats to target other sales.
The biggest players in the business regularly publish their sales statistics and they become like gods in the industry. They sell a domain based on the fact they got huge money for previous sales.
Looking for some feedback here from anyone who has had some larger sales.
George Kirikos has the best reply so far imo:
Have the NDA expire after a certain time period, e.g. 1 year, as a middle ground. After that, you can spill the beans.
P.S. Being a “god” in the domain name industry, plus $5, will get you a Big Mac at McDonald’s.
In the past I have told a few buyers that confidentiality costs money and a 5% sweetener added to the deal. To be honest the sales were not that big and I saw no reason for an NDA.
Mann, Schwartz and Berkens have managed to announce sales and they make many for big numbers.
Agree it wo7ld be difficult to turn down a five figure deal due to NDA requested by buyer. But as you say there is a cost to not being able to publish sales history. Best of luck on your pending deal.
Seems this fellow hasn’t been doing too badly in sales so far with NDAs. Several 75k and now a 200k sale? I like the +5% and expiry clause ideas.
Nope
It partly depends on what kind of domain is being sold.
If it’s of a type poorly represented in the public sales charts, then insisting on transparency may help raise the perceived market value for that category once the sale is reported.
On the other hand, if the domain belongs to market niche that’s already well represented in the charts by other people’s sales, then reporting one’s own sale will make negligible difference.
We can always cite somebody else’s sale, as long as it’s a relevant comparison. So I wouldn’t risk losing a sale over an NDA in this 2nd scenario. But in the first case maybe.
Great answer from George Kirikos, IMHO