iReport sold for $750,000

Giode said:

Thank goodness companies like CNN don't buy based off of what they could get in return, if tried to sell tomorrow.

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Well spoken, great posts.

and you are right... it's a shame that most domainers only see the small picture. Does CNN truly care about "flipping" the domain? Why should that be a factor in what the domain is worth? Very short-sighted to only think along those lines. And just because people feel that $750,000 is overpriced doesn't mean that is what an end-user is thinking. Perhaps the $750K is well-below their proposed budget to acquire the name and maybe they are happy they got it "cheap" or "within budget".

I'm negotiating a deal now where I'm asking $10,000,000 for one of my domains. Will I get it? Most likely, people will assume: NO. But this name is the definitive name for an industry, it is a category killer and the main players in that industry all are well-funded or multi-billion dollar companies that many of you have heard of before. Will I sell it tomorrow? Of course not. Even if it takes me several years to find the right "combination", I'll keep trying. In the meantime, I network with people in that industry and keep letting them know I exist and the opportunity I'm offering to only 1 company in that industry. By setting my pricepoint that high I've been able to negotiate many offers of cash only, cash plus equity/stock, etc... I'm just looking for the right combination of cash + eq/stk + revenue share and they can work me down from my starting pricepoint. If I ever close the deal, it'll never make the news because these companies would not allow it.


Most appraisal services say the name is worth under $1,000.
Most offers I receive from other domainers: under $10,000
Highest offer so far from direct contact with that industry: just shy of 7 figures.
My cost for the domain: under $100.

Bottom line:
Don't look at your portfolio with blinders on. Don't sell yourself short. Don't be the one who accepts every offer just because you need the money right now. Some of you look at large sales as "lucky", when sometimes you have to make your own luck: be visionary OR be proactive OR study the art of negotiation...

Either way, good luck to everyone... there's plenty of money out there.

Giode said:

You really think these inflated sales will diminish Snoop?

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Yes, I'm talking about inflated sales diminishing such as $1000 names selling for $100,000 <-people paying far more than the market value of the name, not to be confused with actual rises in values due to greater demand.

snoop said:

Yes, I'm talking about inflated sales diminishing such as $1000 names selling for $100,000 <-people paying far more than the market value of the name, not to be confused with actual rises in values due to greater demand.

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I see. Thanks for clarifying!

I think establishing a "Market Value" for a domain is impossible. There are way too many factors involved. It's not like selling a product or a range of products within a single industry, where the prices are often dictated by production costs and competition. Nor is it like selling a home where the value is based on the general economy, local economy and other houses on the block...

The only place where a general market value exists is with domain sub-types, such as LLL.coms. The value for these are generally based off of supply and demand, comparable sales, etc... But even with these domains there are cases where buyers have spent a lot more than a perceived market value.

When we are talking about other domains, you can't establish a clear market value. You can't put it up against comparable sales because the domain is completely unique. The supply is exactly 1 and the demand is an arbitrary number. In these cases, the demand only has to be 1 person who really wants it.

Sure there may be other comparable domains, such as eReport, uReport, whatever... And I am sure there have been a lot of cases where buyers have shopped around and gone with a cheaper alternative. However, there are buyers who come up with an idea, a brand, a vision and in their minds, there is no alternative.

I think a lot of times we become desensitized to the idea of someone having a groundbreaking vision, because we hear a hundred crackpot ideas everyday. But looking at the world and business in general, it's not so easy to discount these crackpots when they come carrying loads of cash...

Personally, I think the two biggest tools a domainer can have are patience and a clear understanding of the branding process.

i-report for 750000 (my god). The seller is very lucky

A summary of this lengthy post:

EstiBot.com is not at all intended to be used for determining purchase or sale prices for high-end domains or end user sales.

It is meant to be a keyword research tool for domainers who research new registrations and low-end purchases and sales. Additionally, it provides ballpark appraisals for lower-end domains, meant as a starting point for the user's own valuation. All this is said many times on the website.

The appraisals are based on a large database of domain sales, and statistical testing shows that they have a significant predictive value. This means that on an average, EstiBot is quite accurate, but it also means that individual appraisals may be way off, somewhat off, pretty close, or spot on....which one, that's up to the user to find out...

It's hard to please people with appraisals...more often than not, the general opinion is that EstiBot appraisals are "way too high". Especially here on NamePros that's the general sentiment. But I am also in correspondence with many professional domainers who usually complain that they are too low. That's partly because they are looking for end user prices, partly because their domains are often mid-to-high end.

Fortunately there are many respected domainers who actually tell me that the keyword reports and appraisals are actually quite good and many even send me donations to keep the thing going.

Then there are those who are in love with their own domain names (that have had no offers...) and get angry when EstiBot actually gives them a fairly realistic appraisal (IMO), which they feel is way too low...

I have considered taking the appraisals offline altogether and just leaving it as a keyword tool, but I personally use the appraisals as a quick-look measure all the time, and I know many domainers who use them too, and once you get the feel of what they actually mean in relation to the domain name, they can be useful.

Read below for more detail...

dalem said:

estibot values it at $130! BOOYAH!

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No, it doesn't. It appraises it at $4,500 if you use it right. Just read the instructions on the very landing page regarding usage with iDomains and eDomains...there are also plenty of other instructions&explanations on the site, which people rarely bother to read..

Of course, any appraisal is useless for this type of domain. Appraisals are useless for high-end domains anyway (I have always said this) but can be useful for lower-end domains as a quick-look summary of the keyword value.

An automatic system cannot know about end user motivation, and has very limited means of detecting brandability - EstiBot is mainly a keyword research tool and the appraisal is meant as a "quick look" pointer, as mentioned several times ad nauseam on the EstiBot site

EstiBot is meant to help with keyword research, and it more often than not gives you a pretty good ballpark value for generic keyword domains, which helps users to get a starting point for their own appraisal.

A domain is worth whatever the other party is willing to pay - period! CNN doesn't care what Estibot says. If a name YOU own makes sense to a company that can in-turn build it into a 50 million dollar plus business, that is all that matters.

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This is of course true to the point of being a truism.

Charley said:

I agree with you. I have always been a firm believer in it. IMO any appraisal is just non sense & waste of money.

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EstiBot is free of charge. The appraisals are not meant to be taken literally, as said here and on the site, numerous times - they are meant to complement the keyword report and they are based on a large database of known domain sales. The average domain does not sell for $750k. EstiBot is designed for the lower end domains because I agree (and say so on the site) that appraisals are useless for high-end domains.

Giode said:

Unfortunately some of you are missing the most important thing about this. Often we as "domainers" go by our own bible of of what this domain or that domain is worth, and we hurt ourselves. I heard someone in another thread say, "Well, Estibot says it's only $750, so he definitely got a great deal.". Really?? To me this proves the irrelevance of Estibot more than anything (even though the creator did the best job you could do through automated methods).

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Thanks for the statement in the brackets very kind

I agree completely with what you said. I wish people would read the instructions and guides on my site, then they might say this instead: "EstiBot says $4,500, and shows a nice keyword profile, which means it may be an interesting domain and I should look into it and do a thorough, critical evaluation of the domain name", which is the purpose of the appraisal..

Statistically EstiBot is quite good, better than most humans. It often gets large portfolios right within a few % of the true sales prices. I've posted examples in my own thread and on the estibot site, of portfolio appraisals done before the auctions ended, they are very close.

A fresh example: the last 20 DNJournal sales amounted to $562,819 dollars. EstiBot appraisals for those domains amount to $588,290. To me this is a fantastic result for an automated system. However, it seems that people want individual domain accuracy, which is not possible, not consistently, not by any appraisals, automated or human.

Unfortunately, being statistically good is the best that an automated system can do, and being statistically good means that while on an average the appraisals are quite good, individual appraisals can be way off.

Apologies for continuing the off-topic digression.

On-topic: fantastic sale. I agree...Deep pockets both ends...that made this possible. I would have sold for much less....$xx,xxx

snoop said:

Domainers seem to forget that when trying to justify sales that in reality are "outliers"

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"Outliers" are simply high-end domain sales that don't fit your definition of value. Upper echelon domains are in a different category more like rare collectibles. As they are of superior quality, most domainers could not afford them. That doesn't mean their value (eventual end-user price) has to be lowered to match your insistence that all domain sales must fit into some rigid valuation formula. The name was worth it to CNN and what it will flip for is of no consequence.

snoop said:

... market values can be seen in auction figures.

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No, market values can only be partially estimated from a historical review of all known sales. And will be limited in accuracy due to the large number of private, unpublished sales subject to non-disclosure agreements. "Auction figures" tap a very small pool of potential buyers mostly made up of domain resellers, so auction sales are a mere snippet of information and not some universal standard as you suggest.

snoop said:

...not to be confused with actual rises in values due to greater demand.

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Your use of the term "actual rise" again insinuates that all domain sales must fit into some commodity traded format like a 2003 Ford Taurus selling at Kelley Blue Book value. Higher quality domains are acquired for very specific purposes by motivated buyers with considerable budgets. They are acquiring a Van Gogh rare domain, not a 2003 Ford Taurus that can be picked up in any town or city at a used car lot.

And as stated, a Van Gogh will go for what a buyer will pay, and a Ford Taurus will go for close to Kelley Blue Book value everytime ... because it's not a Van Gogh.

P.S. No offense to Ford Taurus owners. That's a fine auto!

Ronald Regging said:

The only place where a general market value exists is with domain sub-types, such as LLL.coms. The value for these are generally based off of supply and demand, comparable sales, etc... But even with these domains there are cases where buyers have spent a lot more than a perceived market value.

When we are talking about other domains, you can't establish a clear market value.

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There is always similar sales, dogs.com can be compared to cats.com, table.com can be compared to chair.com. With lll.com's it is just that it is easier than the keyword names.

estibot.com said:

EstiBot.com is not at all intended to be used for determining purchase or sale prices for high-end domains or end user sales.

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I think esibot is half way there, it is a huge improvement over anything in the past and probably a lot more accurate than a not insignificant % of domainers overall. Keep up the good work with this tool.

snoop said:

There is always similar sales, dogs.com can be compared to cats.com, table.com can be compared to chair.com. With lll.com's it is just that it is easier than the keyword names.



I think esibot is half way there, it is a huge improvement over anything in the past and probably a lot more accurate than a not insignificant % of domainers overall. Keep up the good work with this tool.

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Snoop.... I'm with Ronald Regging on this one.... you cannot always compare dogs with cats... they may look similar, they may have similar markets but for example; Cats may have a much higher Value to Andrew Lloyd Webber than it would to the "cute kitten rescue centre"

Every domain is unique & every end user is unique
Every sale is different from the last sale.....

It is always possible to estimate a value but never possible to define an absolute value...

Chairs may go with tables but tables can be charts, chairs can be in meetings, tables can be water, chairs "CH airlines".........

Just my two cents.

Gary

P.S. Anyone looked into FUSU yet? looks interesting!!!!

newdomainer.mobi said:

It is always possible to estimate a value but never possible to define an absolute value...

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Agree with you on that, I would say the same thing about many markets, property, art etc. Unless the item is a commodity with large numbers of the exact same item selling then valuation can only be rough rather than exact.

I just found this 2 page article about the sale of ireport.com
(from either conceptualist or elliots blog ??)


Domain king's rivers of gold

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/domain-kings-rivers-of-gold/2008/01/28/1201369021193.html





.

whoever owns uReport.com (whois private)- foxnews uses uReport on their site-

betas up and running:

www.ireport.com :sold:

arnie said:

betas up and running:

www.ireport.com :sold:

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Looks good :tu:


Does anyone know how much traffic it was getting prior to been sold ?

I'm not sure how accurate it is but statbrain suggests 2,178 visits per day, is there any other or better places to check traffic ?

Thanks



.

gazzip said:

I'm not sure how accurate it is but statbrain suggests 2,178 visits per day, is there any other or better places to check traffic ?
.

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Check this out.

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/ireport.com

compare with compete also
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/ireport.com/?metric=uv

hope i get an offer for isportreport.com ?????? i'll take $75,000. for a quick sale

........... LOL

Nice to meet you!

moved