It's an all too familiar story. You're about to launch your new website, and finally get round to registering your chosen domain name. The obvious way to find out if the name is for sale is to email the owner. But before you even consider contacting the owner, read the following very carefully. It could save you a lot of money.
Domain names are an abstract intellectual property, they have no fixed price.
The sale price is arrived at purely as a result of negotiations between the seller and buyer. As in all negotiations, the winner is likely to be the party with the most meaningful information about the other side. Use an alias instead. OK, now we've got that over with, let's get back to the plot. You need to find out if the web site is for sale.