If you have ever bought a domain name before, you are likely to know of Godaddy and a few other domain registrars who also act as a domain aftermarkets. It is unlikely that you would have heard of Epik, unless you are a domain name investor or an independent domain name broker or work in the domain name industry in some capacity.

There are dozens of such domain name aftermarket companies competing to get a piece of the domain name market pie.

Most domain name aftermarket companies offer the following options to the sellers and buyers of domain names:

• Buy Now Price
• Offer and counter-offers
• Auction
• Brokered sale.

All the above options require you to fork out the full amount of the purchase price upfront at the time of purchase. This is where Epik differentiates itself from the rest of the flock. It offers some very interesting and flexible options for buyers and sellers that no other domain aftermarket companies offer, at least for now. These flexible options are so flexible that you can now develop your online business with a new domain name without the worry of setting aside upfront a large sum for the domain purchase by paying monthly installments or rents, which you could have never thought of doing before.

Besides Epik there are one or more other aftermarket(s) where rental / purchase options are offered but in terms of flexibility, in my opinion, Epik stands out.

Epik stands out because besides their standard templates for sales / rentals, that we discuss below, Epik also allows the sellers to offer their own sales / rental terms as variations of the standard templates.

Further, whatever the domain owner offers through the Sales / Rental page, is not necessarily cast in stone. Through the "Contact Domain Owner" button that is present on every sales / rental page, the buyers can contact the sellers and renegotiate the offered terms and conditions until they reach terms and conditions that are acceptable to both the parties. Although it is not a given that all sellers will agree to renegotiate, it is worth a try, and if your terms and conditions are reasonable, in practice, most sellers do agree to the revised terms and conditions. The flexibility to re-negotiate is subject only to certain obvious and necessary limits imposed by Epik, like the limit on the number of months for monthly installments or rentals.

The Standard Templates That Epik Offers

1. Buy Now

Buy outright at the Buy Now price and own the domain immediately upon payment.

2. Make offer and counter-offer

Make offer and counter-offer. Negotiate with the seller by making offers and counter-offers until a suitable price is reached.

3. Financing

Buy in 12 months.

Under this plan, the Purchase price divided into twelve (12) equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner once the final installment is paid. One hundred percent (100%) of each installment payment accrues toward the purchase price.

Buy in 12 months with 33% down payment

Under this plan, the buyer puts down a down payment equal to one-third (1/3) of the total purchase price. The remaining two-third (2/3) is divided into eleven (11) equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner, once the final installment is paid. One hundred percent (100%) of each monthly payment accrues toward the purchase price.

Buy in 5 years

Purchase price is divided into 60 equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner once the final installment is paid. 100% of each payment accrues toward the purchase price.

Buy in 5 years with 33% down payment

Requires the buyer to put a down payment equal to one-third (1/3) of the total purchase price. The remaining two-third (2/3) is divided into fifty nine (59) equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner once the final installment is paid. One hundred percent (100%) of each payment accrues toward the purchase price.

Buy in 5 years with interest

Purchase price is divided into 60 equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner once the final installment is paid. 66.7% of each payment accrues toward the purchase price. The renter pays 50% interest in total for the five (5) year period.

Buy in 5 years with 25% down payment and with interest

This plan requires a down payment equal to one-fourth (1/4) of the total purchase price. The remaining three-fourth (3/4) is divided into equal monthly installment payments. The renter becomes the domain owner once the final installment is paid. 66.7% of each payment accrues toward the purchase price. The renter pays 50% interest over the five (5) year period.

4. Rental

a) Rent for 1 year

This is purely a rental option where the renter, rents the domain for one (1) year. There is no option to buy. One month after the final installment is paid, the domain is returned to the owner.

b) Rent for 1 year plus Set up Fee

This is exactly the same as above except that a high first installment (setup fee) is charged to show the renter is serious.

c) Rent for 10 years with 5% annual increase

The renter, rents the domain for ten (10) years. There is no option to buy. One month after the final installment is paid, the domain is returned to the owner. Annual rent increase is meant to offset inflation & domain market appreciation.

d) Pay Just $1 for the 1st month rental and Rent for 10 years.

Test drive the domain for just $1 rental for the first month, to see if the domain helps! Rent goes up after the first month. There is no option to buy the domain. One month after the final installment is paid, the domain is returned to the owner. Annual rent increase is meant to offset domain market appreciation & inflation.

5. Optioning

Think it over 6 months

Take the domain for a test drive by renting it for 6 months. Think it over during this period. Lock down the exclusive right to buy at a known price. Installment payments do NOT count toward any purchase. If right to buy is not exercised during the 6 months period, the domain will be returned to owner. Purchase option is no longer valid after that.

Rent or Buy - 10 years

This plan offers long-term rental. The buyer locks down the exclusive right to buy the domain at a known price at any time during the 10 years rental period. The monthly installment payments do NOT count toward the purchase price. If no purchase is made during the 10 year period, one month after the final installment is paid, the domain returned to the owner. The Purchase Option is no longer valid after that. Annual rent increase is meant to offset inflation & domain market appreciation.

Rent or Buy - 3 years

The same terms as above except that the rental is for a shorter period of 3 years and there is no increase in rental during the 3 years rental period.

Sink or Swim - Rent doubles every year

Starts of with low rental. Suitable for startups with low funds. Rent doubles every year on assumption that growing business can afford more. Buyer locks down the exclusive right to buy at a known price. Monthly installment payments do NOT count toward any purchase price. Startup buys the domain if it succeeds. Otherwise, domain is returned to the owner.

Options available to the buyer

As explained above, the sellers are not required to stick to the above templates when designing their sales / rental pages.

However, sellers usually select a combination of one to four of the above templates in their sales / rental page. That doesn't mean the other options are off the table. Even if the seller has chosen only one template, say the "BUY NOW" template, the prospective buyer may click on the "Contact Owner" button to clarify matters or to renegotiates the terms. Like we said earlier, although it is not a given that the seller will agree to renegotiate in all circumstances, it will usually be so provided the prospective buyer is reasonable and sincere.

For example, let us consider the example of the sales page for the domain Assure.Flights

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On the sales / rental page for Assure.Flights, you see three boxes.

The first box, provides the BUY NOW option and also the option to make a counter-offer.

The second box provides for rental option and also the option of purchasing the domain at a specified price at any time during the rental period. This is variation of template 4 b) above with the additional option of the exclusive right to buy the domain at a later date at a fixed price.

Supposing you are really keen to purchase this domain but lack the necessary finances now, you can opt for this rental option. By doing so, you get to use the domain to develop your business immediately and at the same time retain the exclusive right to buy the domain later. This prevents others from acquiring the domain whilst you are arranging your finances to buy the domain.

The third box, provides you the opportunity to contact the domain owner in case, for example, you wish to:
a) renegotiate any of the above terms or
b) renegotiate entirely new options such as the financing option, where you pay the purchase price in monthly instalments for a specified period and in the meanwhile get to use the domain for your business.

In fact this sales page offers, five options: 1. Buy Now, 2. Offer and Counter-offer 3. Rental 4. Purchase during rental period and 5. Contact Domain Owner to renegotiate.

Renegotiating the terms of the Sales Page

Offer and Counter-offer

• Suppose you wish to purchase the domain outright, but wish to renegotiate it, then you could renegotiate the Buy Now price by making a counter-offer.

Rental

• If you wish to renegotiate a longer rental period than 36 months, you may do so. The Epik system allows for a maximum of 50 years rental period subject to the consent of the domain owner.
• For businesses that do not believe in investing in domain names, the 50 year option would be appealing. For businesses whose self-life by design is short, say, 10, 20 or 30 years, may also opt for this option by renegotiating for the appropriate rental period.

Renegotiate entirely new options

• In the case of "Assure.Flights", the sale / rental page does not provide for the plans under the Template 3 (Financing) or Template 5 (Optioning) or variations of them.
• Thus you could contact the owner for any of those options or variation of them.
• For example, in case you wish to purchase the domain name in instalments, you may then contact the domain owner and communicate your preferred terms. For example, you could ask for 6, 12, 18, 24 or 36 months instalment payments.
• The seller may renegotiate a higher purchase price to take into account the appreciation in value of the domain and inflation. If you are lucky enough, the seller may even consider the original purchase price without taking into account the appreciation in value or inflation.

Let us now look at another example, "Robotics.Ac."

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This is a perfect domain name for any academia specializing in robotics.

The seller has chosen only one template, i.e Template No: 4 c) above, which is rental for 10 years with yearly increase in rentals at 6% per annum. This is an indication that the seller is not keen on selling the domain as yet, because this domain is likely to become a highly-sought after domain name in years to come. Yet, an interested buyer can still make an offer to purchase the domain by simply clicking the "Contact Domain Owner" button and make his offer known to the seller. If the offer price is reasonably attractive enough, the seller may accept the offer or make a counter-offer. The trick here is to make an offer that is attractive enough, for the seller to respond.

Conclusion

Hopefully the above explanations of the options available to the seller and buyer under the Epik.com have given you some insight into the usefulness of them. As far as I know, no other domain aftermarkets offer the kinds of flexibility Epik.com does. If you know of any, please let me know in the comment section below.

If you have any doubts or queries you may raise them in the comments section below. I will try to answer them to the best of my ability as possible.

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