As the CMO of your organization, if there is a domain listed as Make Offer which you have an allocated budget of $100,000 to acquire and an additional $100,000 available to tap into after team discussion,
what would be your initial offer to the seller and why? To avoid being viewed as unserious or overpaying, I would begin with an offer of $5,000.

There are too many variables to give a definite answer. It depends on the situation. If given a budget to acquire a must-have domain, I wouldn't waste time. Instead, I would ask the seller for a rough estimate and consider purchasing it if it falls within our budget. Since we represent an organization with $100k available and an additional $100k if needed, it's a significant deal.

However, it would be helpful to know the domain involved, as the example mentioned sounds vital. In conclusion, I would take the matter seriously without delay.

Initially, I would attempt to contact the owner of the domain. If their contact information is unavailable, my first offer will be $10,000 to evoke a response from the owner. Afterward, I would continuously make low ball offers such as $15k and $17k while discussing other similar sold domain names with them.

I would eventually present the owner with a final offer of $50k and inform them that I must know their decision soon as I have another option to purchase a similar domain for $40k. I would also mention this similar domain name to ensure that the owner knows I am considering other options.

Assuming the owner comes back with a counteroffer of $60k, I would offer to meet in the middle at $55k. At this point, we should come to an agreement on the price.

If the domain seller has not set a minimum price, I would initiate with a modest offer of a few thousand dollars.
But, if they have established a minimum price, let's say $100k, I would offer $25k as an initial bid and then commence negotiations from there.