How Not to Negotiate

Published: May 7, 2021

Recently, I received an email from someone who wanted something from me. This person has the same name as I have and she wanted my URL aka my feliciawilliams.com web address.

The Negotiation Begins

The subject of the email was: I’d like my name back

Hmmm, with a subject like that sent to me on an email address that never receives email, I was intrigued and had to read it. The subject implied that this person had either lost her name or is intimating that I took the name from her.

The Back Story

The email goes on to explain that due to a vicious incident, she felt it necessary to change her name for her own protection. Reading about the incident garnered some sympathy from me in a, “OMG, that’s horrible” type of way.

She then went on to say that she is now ready to reclaim her name and tell her story. She took a look at my website and incorrectly told me that I had not updated it since early 2020 and she wanted to purchase it from me (If she had clicked once or twice on the site, she would have seen it had been updated since 2020).

Her statement reminded me of the old, ‘you have what I want, you’re not using it as I would, you don’t deserve to have it, so give/sell it to me’ thought process.

The Art of Negotiation

Recently, I wrote about the win-win negotiation mindset. In a successful negation, both parties are whole and happy with the results. In this situation, she employed the ‘all about me’ negotiation mindset. Her final statement of “It would literally mean the world to me” if I sold her my domain is a tell-tale sign of the mindset. This request not only didn’t make me whole, but it put me off.

Enough to Go Around

In this abundant world, there is enough to go around. With one quick Whois search, I found there were a plethora of options for this person. She could choose a different extension such as .net, .org, .co, .art, .me and the list goes on.

In my response to her, I explained that the site is not for sale and shared with her the other extensions she could use.

I wish her well and I do hope she gets to tell her story. However, her telling her story should come at the cost of me losing my domain.

About the Author: I am Felicia A. Williams, a wife, mom, grandma, writer and eternal student.

Last Modified: 7 May 2021