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?

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

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.

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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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!

i don't see anything saying that it's available for purchase...

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.

ohhhh i get it now. i was looking on the actual site, dumb me...

thanks for clarifying.

It looks like cookie-cutter-creations.com is available. Or you could go with mycookiecuttercreations.com.

Or you can wait until it expires in Feb, 2009 and get it then. HTH

Here's some info on it:
Created on: 10-Feb-08
Expires on: 10-Feb-09

When I started my business, I had to run a ficticious business name statement in the newspaper (I THINK that's what it was called). This was a "fair warning" to any other companies who might have a problem with it, or to make sure there wasn't an "Occasional Cakes" in my town. I know there's at least one other "Occasional Cakes" in California - I think Southern, and I am Northern. There are also a few in other states. I don't think it would be a problem, but you should google search to see what comes up in your area.

As long as she is right there on the clock waiting to buy it before they renew it? I dunno.

I know if I wanted it that bad that's what I would be doing haha

I hope to have a legit business someday, so I bought my domain name through GoDaddy a few months ago for this very reason. There are people who buy up names just to resell.

If you are in love with the name, I would make an offer. It can't hurt to see what they come back with, right?

I'm just wondering if you were so set on this name, why did you wait so long to purchase the domain name? Domain names are cheap.

I highly doubt the people who have it now are going to give it up. It looks like they are a cookie business, and they will probably renew it before it expires - I wouldn't wait on that date.

I would think of a different name and buy the domain name ASAP. You can always work on the web site later.

oh Laura yeah that makes sense, never thought of that as I don't have a site so I'm not sure how those work..I just figured once it expired it was up for grabs.

Thanks to all of you who've replied. You've been very helpful and have enlightened me on a few things.

'mom2spunky..." the reason I haven't bought it after 1 1/2 years in business is sad, yes, but I'm simply not very computer savvy...wouldn't know how to go about creating a web-site in the first place. I don't like the "preformatted" sights very much because I'd want mine to have a very specific look and to hire someone to do a custom website would cost some bucks which I'm not sure I want to spend. I'm also very busy just by word-of-mouth so I don't really "need" one.

I know this sounds crazy but I'm still bummed that someone else has it even though I'm not sure I need it. I like the idea of holding it though just in case. I think I'm going to make an offer so I can just have it...hopefully!! I'll let you know if I get it.

If I can't, though, the "mycookiecuttercreations.com" is long, but I like that too! Thanks again to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you know... mycookiecuttercreations isnt that much longer than cookiecuttercreations- just 2 letters.

Also don't forget that cookie-cutter-creations.com is available, too. Then it's still the exact same name, just with hyphens.

OK - I JUST BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!! Wow, I feel big-time now even though I might not use it, but I bought cookiecuttercreations.net!! Maybe this will spur me on to actually create a web-site. Maybe I'll take a class on making a website! MAYBE I'LL BE SO FAMOUS..........ok, I better stop there. Back to reality...ok, I bought it. Done.

Thanks again to you all....you're great!!!!!!!!!!!!

yay!