One-Person Company (OPC) · 5 / 16

Lock Down the Domains: How a ¥100,000 Ask Became ¥5,000

miyang.cn once sat on a marketplace at a ¥102,222 buy-it-now price. We closed near ¥5,000. No negotiation magic—just one thing done three years earlier: almost every usable extension for the brand was already registered in our name.

Full-suffix registrationNegotiation leverageReal closing price
Start with the numbers
¥102,222
Buy-it-now on the marketplace; the broker also pitched several “alternatives”—the priciest near ¥200,000
~¥5,000
Actual close. A second similar domain listed at 5888 closed at 5100—“let’s be friends”
A row of extensions
Already registered before talks: .ai .tech .fun .games .cc and more, plus a batch of Chinese domains
Domain negotiation is scarcity pricing. Whether their extension is your only option decides whether it’s worth ¥100,000 or ¥5,000—and that was settled before you sat down.
Interactive Demo · How this negotiation played out

Click “Next” to replay the negotiation. Watch step four—that’s when the price fell from ¥100,000 to ¥5,000.

Ready
Click “Next” to start
The story starts with a broker’s sales DM.
Full-suffix registration strategy: four extensions’ roles

The right move for brand domains is Get Them All. Each extension has a role.

.com

Global default—irreplaceable. Overseas users’ mental default.

.cn

China core—solid footing. The base for domestic ICP filing and trust.

.net

Backup and expansion. Hold it so others lose a sniping lane.

.ai

The trend TLD for AI. For AI products it can rival .com.

Beyond these four mains, industry TLDs like .tech / .fun / .games and Chinese domains (e.g. the Chinese form of “brand.com”) cost only tens to a few hundred yuan a year. Day to day they’re defense; at the table they’re leverage. What actually moved this deal were those quiet extensions: they saw that every other mouth that could block you was already yours.

Why the broker dared list ¥100,000

They’re betting you have no choice. Brand is live, the extension is theirs, the company needs it—three conditions met, and they set the price. Broker scripts come ready-made: “fits your brand culture,” “a good domain halves the work.”

Why we only offered ¥5,000

Because for us it was nice-to-have, not must-have. Core business already ran on extensions we owned; theirs was “better if we have it, fine if we don’t.” Whoever is less urgent wins. That calm was bought three years earlier when we registered the row.

OPC Angle
Lock domains the day you name
  • Once candidates are set, check domains before you lock the name: if the main extension is taken and in use, be careful.
  • The day you decide, register .com / .cn / .net plus industry TLDs together. A few hundred yuan a year total.
  • Register Chinese domains too. Unused is fine—if you don’t, someone who’ll bill you later will.
If you must buy, three rules
  • Show your alternatives before talking price. Once they know they’re not the only option, pricing rebuilds.
  • Offer a price that’s “reachable but not painful.” Both our closes sat near ¥5,000—annual fees, redemption costs, and a mental ceiling, laid out.
  • Close on a proper marketplace—money and transfer clear with an invoice. Private transfers bet on character; not worth it.
Hands-on · Registration & holding checklist

Strategy’s done; five operational details remain at the keyboard. Each has cost someone real money—open them one by one and follow on registration day.

1How to pick a registrar
Stick to major registrars: in China Alibaba Cloud / Tencent Cloud (domains needing ICP filing are easiest there); overseas Cloudflare, Namecheap. Don’t take the first-year ¥1 bait from tiny registrars: the real price is year-two renewal and transfer-out policy—some can stall a transfer for a month.
2Turn on privacy (WHOIS proxy)
Without privacy, your name, email, and phone hit the public WHOIS the day you register—sales calls and phishing follow. Most majors now offer it free: tick WHOIS Privacy when you see it. Note: .cn real-name data is managed by the registry; public scope differs from Latin TLDs.
3Transfer lock and auth code
Turn on Registrar Lock in the panel so the domain can’t be moved maliciously. The Auth Code is the domain’s key—only fetch it when you initiate a registrar change. Any “send the auth code for verification” email is a scam.
4Auto-renew and redemption
The most common domain death is forgetting renewal. After expiry: grace (still list price), then redemption (often ~10× annual fee), then release into the drop pool—pros snatch in seconds. Triple insurance: auto-renew everything, bind a long-lived payment method, and use an email you actually read for registrar notices.
5Centralize multi-TLD management
Full-suffix registration’s side effect: domains scattered across accounts, renewals missed. Move every extension under one primary account, keep a ledger (domain, registrar, expiry, auto-renew), audit yearly. Losing negotiation leverage to a missed renewal is the worst loss this lesson names.
Five done—registration-day moves are complete. From “bought” to “held,” it’s these quiet switches. How domains help people find you: the bonus part “Get Found: SEO & GEO” covers a full chapter.
Key Takeaways
✓

Domain price is scarcity; scarcity is set by registrations you made early. The table outcome was decided before you sat down.

✓

At minimum lock .com .cn .net plus industry TLDs for the main brand. A few hundred yuan a year buys never paying ransom.

✓

Show alternatives before you buy. Once they know you have a way out, a ¥100,000 list is just a list.

✓

Domains and trademarks are a pair. Once the name clears trademark search, lock the full domain set the same day.

Case source: 米羊科技’s two domain purchases in 2023; amounts are real closing prices; counterparty details omitted. List-price screenshots and negotiation notes are in our files; registration and ownership are publicly queryable via WHOIS. Registration prices vary by registrar and TLD; “tens to a few hundred yuan a year” reflects mainstream registrars as of August 2026—check live prices.