Should I: a) wait to see if they drop it, and then try to buy it b) make an offer now c) if b, how much should I expect to pay?
Any thoughts are appreciated
Most domains that 'expire' are set to auto renew, but if you can wait until 22nd of April you might find that someone else snaps it up before you do. Expired domains are quite frequently back-ordered somewhere.
As for what it's worth, I can understand that you don't want to post the name but it's hard to say what it is worth without knowing the domain. If it is prlxz.com then I figure 200 bucks would do it, if it is light.com then I think it should sell for considerably more.
So without more information that part of the question is unanswerable.
price varies widely based on what the word is.
try estibot and valuate.com and domain score to get an idea of what it's worth.
email and don't specify a price. just ask what price he'd like for it. first person to name a figure loses.
if it's much less than valuate and estibot then go for it. right now is NOT a good time for domain names because of the recession.
Have you already been in touch with the owner? I ask because from my experience - they typically already have a price in mind. So, if you get that from them you will have a starting point.
I wouldn't wait for it to drop either. Take some action up front, to at least find out what they would sell it for.
Here's a good post, if a bit old, on best ways to grab domains. It's changed a bit as domain sipping is no longer allowed. But it'll give you a good idea of one guy's attempt.
http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/03/how-to-sn...