3-5% of apraisal value in resale and and consider buying anthing over 1000 (unless I think it's especialy good) if it's under 2% of the appraisal value. (assuming I like it)
Any thoughts on estibot strategies? Is that a good strategy (if I need a base line?
Estibot is certainly something to keep in mind when considering a handreg. I use it myself as a fast way to get access to information like Alexa rank, Wordtracker, backlinks,...
I wouldn't buy a name solely on what Estibot says, however it is something to consider. If Estibot values a name considerably more (eg. 50+ times more) than I would, I'll google the name up and see if Wikipedia or acronymfinder.com can shed more light on why that may be.
Thanks, let me give some basic info on the made of two four letter words, .com, 1,700 at estibot, i'm gonna pay 20, 9,720,000 results on google, 3 year old name, (expiring) and it's an actual item. Any thoughts?
Estibot is good for data, but not that accurate for a final value. It is a great tool though.
I have seen names valued at under $1,000 that would easily sell for $10,000+, and names valued at $5000+ that would be be lucky to sell for $50. It works both ways.
You have to know how to understand the data. Something can have a huge amount of Google Results and not be worth much, if it is part of a phrase for example.
Having words that can be monetized makes a domain more valuable. That means Google Results, Word Tracker, PPC Ads, PPC Bids, etc.
I generally try to stay away from "Brandable" names when I can, because they don't hold as much value as terms that can be monetized.
Take estibot for what it is. An automated, appraisal tool, dont buy a name just because it says its worth $10k (Although some actually may be) and dont pass on name because it says its worth $5. Go with your gut, and you will do fine.
I used to think estibot was a good tool for domain appraisal, but really there is no automated tool that can give you a very good estimate. Domain value depends on way too many factors. Sure, having high overture and stuff is good, but I don't think it could ever add that much value to a domain.
What really makes a domain valuable:
1. short, dictionary words
2. traffic
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take estibot as collection of various tools all in one place and a guide someone human will have to decide if they go for it, take into consideration the development effort to be put on the domain as well.
Aftermarket.com sold for $120,000 to Trafficz about 3 weeks ago
With that said, ebot is a great tool to find relevant info all in one spot ( like alexa, wordtracker, bids, overture , google #'s all in one place). And not surprisingly, some of their estimates are bang on. Quite a few names have sold at right around the estibot figure at the last few domain Traffic auctions.
Estibot does not consider all of the factors when valuing a domain name. For example it does not include the 'human element' when valuing. It should be used just for estimation purposes and not be taken as the ACTUAL value of the domain name.
I usually like to consider (1) Estibot estimate, (2) domain age, (3) the number of specific, relevant ads that appear in the sidebar when I Google the name, (4) the number of domains with similar names to the one I'm checking (these are potential prospects), which Yahoo! search does pretty well at yielding, and (5) The monthly traffic the candidate domains in (4) are getting, obtained via compete.com.
I don't really care that much about domain age in general. Unless with age comes PR and backlinks. I have seen some turds that are 10+ years old and still worth reg fee.
Plus to an end user they could care less what the creation date is. Would CreditCards.com go for any less if it dropped and had a 2008 creation date. Nope.
At best age is like a fine wine, it can make an already quality domain look slightly better.
personally ... i don't hold any value in estibot, however it is useful as a tool that brings other site's info into one bot function, but the domain value it spits out means nothing to me.
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Estibot estimated a pr1 dot com domain of mine for 1k.
A pr6 dot com domain of mine was estimated $50???
A 'lame' dot com registered 2 weeks ago was estimated at $960!??? WHATTT???
I'm confused.
poison.me 
