What would you have done in my place?

Hi, folks - I am a member of this forum - however, so as not to skew the answers to my question, I have logged out and am posting this as "Unregistered".

The Scene:

I run a business; spare time, through a separate company, I do some web design work. I pitched for a job with a neighboring business to supply and design a web site, although detailed negotiations did not take place and no contract was signed.

In the middle of the discussions, I bought two generic domain names for this contract, because I thought it was going to go ahead. The other business owner sat by my side as I registered them and was given the opportunity to pay for them there and then and put their business details on the registration. They chose not to do so at that point, therefore I registered the domains using my details

I set up a demo shopping cart site on one of the domains which was picked up by the search engines and did particularly well for one pertinent search term (No 1. in google).

Several months go by and, at the end of October, one of my employees was informed rather brusquely that their new web site was going live the next day.

So far, I have received no communication, verbal or written, to say that I didn't get the web design contract. However, word has reached me that they still expect me to sell them the generic domain names.

What would you do?

Supply and demand!
If he wants you to sell them to him ... sell them to him.
At a profit.
If the domains are worth more to you than what he will pay ... keep them.
Obviously, there may be more to the question ... like future relationships with the client ... past relationships with the client ... and the client's power to influence other would-be clients in the future.
But with the info you've provided ... I say, Make Him Pay!!
Robert

Your services are still Negotiable with lease options as part of a package of needed Specialized services Right?

Develop and Re-package your business into Specialized Products and Services including upsells & backends with the the right contracts in place...

Just Re-invent your business and your options...

Phil

The couple in question are fighting their corner (as they see it) in a completely obnoxious and aggressive way. My initial inclination to let them have the domain as a simple "push" evaporated weeks ago.

I checked the dates - the domains were paid for by me in March of this year. Their web site went live on 24 October. In that time, we had conversations about other business matters but, as I thought they hadn't decided about the web site, I left that alone. They literally told us about it the evening before their site was switched on.

If I decide to sell to them, I am certainly going to charge sufficient to cover the cost of search-engine optimisation to achieve a top google position. I also like Phil's suggestion of leasing the domain name. My only hesitation about that is that I would have to speak to them on an annual basis

Hmm - of course, charging SEO fee plus annual lease for the domain name would be the best option of all.

That's why Paypal offers you a payment link to service your customers as long as they click and pay...

One more Upsell idea for you... Offer them a Creative ongoing package of Optimized Content for their web business with a Free Google education package...

Included in the deal are the Domain names...

Outsource the content at very affordable rates, let say 3.50-6.00 or so an article...

Mark it up accordingly per Word... Lots of people/businesses do Very well Brokering Content & Articles anywhere from .10 to a $1. per word...

Of course you Do need paying customers so if they're problem customers in this case you may just want to Put up your own web site(s) on Their business with your domain names and Profit as the Competition using the same formula of Great Outsourced content...

There are always Creative ways and ideas to Solve problems and Keep the Cash flow going...

Phil