Regarding .com names...

[snoopy]

Thanks Tim.

Will do.

So, does anyone disagree that godaddy, Sedo are a good option, considering their recent partnership that apparently has a lot of domainers receiving a tonne of lowball 60 dollar offers? I've heard this has become an issue for many.

Zach

Most domains are worth far less than $60. Most domainers think their domains that are no better than average are worth more than $60. Careful when people use the term lowball because in most cases they want way too much.

Having said that most people think very valuable domains are worth $50 etc when they are trying to buy so it goes both way, but mainly it is domainers want more than market value.

Eg I just sold a domain today for $6500 that in the past I'd asked $70,000 for. I paid about $5000 for it.

Here is one guys email, (an enduser) from a few years ago,

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 10:38 PM,:Message
-------

Hi, im interested in buying your site if its for sale.
www.xxxxxxx.com

john

MY REPLY

Hi John,

The asking price is $70,000 USD. We also offer direct leasing which may work out well if you are already buying traffic on the page through Yahoo,

Best regards,

Paul


HIS REPLY

hi Paul,

thanks for the quick responce you must get lots of queries. Just a heads up, if you are interested in selling I think your way off target.


best wishes, thanks again.

john a

Guess what? He was right.

But anyway, about "lowball" offers, $10, $20, $60 offers are normal. It is not Godaddy or Sedo's fault.

 

[Zachorazor]

Great stuff!

Thanks so much, Snoopy.

That is exactly the kind of experiential, reality-based knowledge that can benefit me and, no doubt, so many others. It's the real domainers' perspective you just don't hear, out in public cyber land.

It's great to hear about pricing from both sides of the deal like that. That was an awesome post.

Zach.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Thanks Tim.

Will do.

So, does anyone disagree that godaddy, Sedo are a good option, considering their recent partnership that apparently has a lot of domainers receiving a tonne of lowball 60 dollar offers? I've heard this has become an issue for many.

Zach

I would worry about getting offers first. Getting 'low-ball offers' is a good problem to have when you're starting out.

I've seen many low-ball offers turn into decent sales, I've had a few myself.

Everyone wants to pay less, plus some people genuinely don't realise the value of a quality domain - sometimes you can can educate them and get a sale in the process.

Yes there are rude, time wasting *#@%s out there, but it's still worth responding to most offers.

Last year I had a string of frustrating emails (rude, time wasting *#@%s) - and it prompted me to change the landing page on my site (I point most of my undeveloped domains to one page). I've since had less issues, but I've also had less offers and less sales - so maybe I need to re-examine it!

 

[johno69]

Everyone wants to pay less, plus some people genuinely don't realise the value of a quality domain

On the flip side, many people (including domainers) don't realise the true value of a domain, and want buyers to pay much more.

I have seen this many times. Remember, anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

It is all just natural in any market.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Most domains are worth far less than $60. Most domainers think their domains that are no better than average are worth more than $60. Careful when people use the term lowball because in most cases they want way too much.

Having said that most people think very valuable domains are worth $50 etc when they are trying to buy so it goes both way, but mainly it is domainers want more than market value.

On the flip side, many people (including domainers) don't realise the true value of a domain, and want buyers to pay much more.

I'm in furious agreement with both of you.

I've been guilty of it myself, probably still am at times.

I'll often ask my partner what she thinks of an offer, she's pretty good at providing a more objective opinion. She's also usually horrified when I turn down offers that could put some pretty good coin in the bank.

My problem seems to be getting all the great offers on the handful of domains I don't want to sell!

 

[Zachorazor]

Thanks for that perspective, Demonoid. It is a great insight into the need to constantly re-evaluate and alter your strategies. I'm learning a lot today. So, have you created your own sales page, that you sell your unhosted domains from?

Zach.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Thanks for that perspective, Demonoid. It is a great insight into the need to constantly re-evaluate and alter your strategies. I'm learning a lot today. So, have you created your own sales page, that you sell your unhosted domains from?

Zach.

Zach, I forward all my undeveloped domains to a page on my website. It's a simple site with a contact form etc. The site is only there for this purpose, I don't use it for anything else.

I use the site, which is a very basic one, for three reasons:

1. I can track the stats of unused domains (type-in traffic)
2. People can make offers on my undeveloped domains
3. It's really easy/quick to forward domains to one page - I've got about 700 domains and I don't have the time or patience to create hundreds of separate landing pages.

I had some domains parked with Sedo previously, but the tiny payouts made it not worth bothering with in my opinion. I've had enough offers/sales this way to justify not going back to parking.

Keep in mind that this is just what I do, there are other approaches, many probably more effective than mine.

My solution is arguably a pretty lazy one, but I'm not time rich. 'Domaining' is not my core source of income, it's a very small portion of it in fact, so I allocate my time accordingly.

 

[Zachorazor]

Sounds like it makes good sense, for your chosen model. Thanks for sharing that.

Out of interest, do some domainers make primary incomes, with roughly that many domains in their portfolios?

Zach.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Sounds like it makes good sense, for your chosen model. Thanks for sharing that.

Out of interest, do some domainers make primary incomes, with roughly that many domains in their portfolios?

Zach.

Yes, I know that some do, with less than that.

It's the age old 'quality over quantity' that determines income. Well, along with hard work and knowing what you're doing of course!

I'll be dropping about half of the 700. That's the learning curve/early mistakes I mentioned earlier.

It's unlikely I'll ever derive my core income from buying and selling domains. From my online businesses, much more likely (but some way off yet).

Despite now having quite a few domains, I don't intend to pursue 'domaining' as my main income stream.

I've come to the conclusion that I much prefer building brands/businesses over buying and selling domains.

 

[Zachorazor]

A great insight for me. Thanks Demonoid. Are there some general tips out there that would help rookies like me avoid early mistakes (to some degree anyway). As every pearl of wisdom from you and your contemporaries helps immensely.

Zach.

 

[snoopy]

A great insight for me. Thanks Demonoid. Are there some general tips out there that would help rookies like me avoid early mistakes (to some degree anyway). As every pearl of wisdom from you and your contemporaries helps immensely.

Zach.

Restrict the amount you spend, treat it all as a likely expense.

 

[Zachorazor]

Ta.

I'm on to those ones.

Any naming faux pas, beyond the obvious newbie errors?

Or, what are the biggest domain naming or selling mistakes that even smart guys make?

Thanks for answering all these questions, by the way. Have you noticed how quiet It's become in here? Kind of spooky. Probably would be scared if it wasn't for the presence of Demonoi- Hang on, that's a pretty scary name, now that I think about it.

Forgive the 'humour', It's been kind of a long week, and It's only Wednesday.

Zach.

 

[Zachorazor]

Sorry. Snoopy. I meant to thank you for all your time and thoughts too (and for your much more calming username).

Zach.

 

[eBranding.com.au]

Thanks for answering all these questions, by the way. Have you noticed how quiet It's become in here? Kind of spooky. Probably would be scared if it wasn't for the presence of Demonoi- Hang on, that's a pretty scary name, now that I think about it.

Forgive the 'humour', It's been kind of a long week, and It's only Wednesday.

Zach.

It has been a bit quiet here of late and yes it's been a very long week!

I posted a reply in another thread a while ago which may have some useful info:
https://www.dntrade.com.au/domain-appraisals/6733-no-more-keyboard-cowboys-all-i-need-1-realist.html#post49027

I would also add to the points in that post:

Exact searches on GAKT isn't the 'silver bullet', while it can be a very helpful tool, it's not the only determinant of value.

Also, 3000 exact global (searches per month) would probably be a better minimum to start with - raise the bar a little higher I think.

Once you've got a feel for the domains that are worth buying despite the 'bad stats', then you can place less reliance on stats alone.

For example, I've turned down some four figure offers on these in the last 6 months (both.com):
Smokery - 210 exact match (global) according to GAKT
WorldWhisky - 58 exact

The stats say they should be terrible, but the stats don't paint the full picture.

I should also add that if you're buying .com.au domains, you need to be looking at local search (Australia) rather than global.

Incidentally, if all this 'GAKT' talk makes no sense, I'm talking about this tool from Google:
https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool

It shows the number of searches for a term (E.g. 'whisky bar'), and you can determine the number of 'broad' (E.g. whisky bar in Melbourne') or 'exact' (E.g. whisky bar) searches for the term per month (you can also find out a heap of other info such as CPC etc). Generally 'exact' searches paints a more accurate picture for domaining purposes.

Anyway, that's enough ranting from me! I'll leave it to other more experienced members to provide further advice.

 

[Zachorazor]

That is all fantastic for me to absorb.

And if that's ranting, Demonoid, then I must be losing a few screws, because - unlike a lot of what I read on public posts and sites- THAT all actually made a lot of sense to me.

I own five, yes that's five (marvel at my formidable empire), sites fit for resale (hopefully - time and efforts will tell), so, although this aspect of my endeavours is new and tiny, I work hard to make things happen in the long run, and your suggestions and shared experiences will, and already have, help me a great deal.

Thanks.

I did own 7 sites, until I found out that sites with celeb names, even fansites, are a big no-no if you make so much as a penny from them. Deregistration process began the next day.

I also am working on some online business sites for future substantive income; again, if I've got the stuff to make it happen. And knowing others have boldly gone where- okay there's some geek showing there, from my youth, but I hope you hear me when I say, it means a lot to have mentors of any form.

Zach.

 

[snoopy]

Or, what are the biggest domain naming or selling mistakes that even smart guys make?

I would say registering "trend" names, terms that people think may in the future be popular but very rarely make it.

 

[Data Glasses]

Just go and visit 'that other forum' to read about 'pope domains and pot domains

 

[snoopy]

Just go and visit 'that other forum' to read about 'pope domains and pot domains

Great example of how money gets wasted so easily.

 

[Zachorazor]

So, basically people should avoid names like gangnamstylechicken.com.

Done.

No, that's good advice and taken to heart.

Thanks.

Any other views out there on naming faux pas?

 

[Data Glasses]

So, basically people should avoid names like gangnamstylechicken.com.

Done.

No, that's good advice and taken to heart.

Thanks.

Any other views out there on naming faux pas?

gangnamstyle4chickens.com

Notice the number ........nough said