There’s no place like home for the holidays – or wherever your computer happens to be!
The domain market is a global market and anyone not living in a cave somewhere for the last year has been aware of how much and how quickly things can change due to this fact. The Chinese market has exploded, and as a result, there are many more domain purchases taking place that would not have happened a year ago. The global nature of the Internet is extremely important when understanding the potential of a domain’s impact to one’s business.
Keeping this in mind and knowing that different countries have different major holidays is something that can work to your advantage when buying domains. There may be offers that you made before that were close to the price point where they should have closed or maybe a bit lower than normal and the seller said no. When it is a major holiday, people are often looking for some extra cash flow to buy gifts or take a holiday. Many times, making the offer at the right time can be the difference between a sale or hearing a “no” from the seller. I hand registered a domain this year for $2 and got an offer of $500 that I turned down a month ago. I said I wouldn’t take less than $1,500 on the name. This month with Christmas coming, I might have considered $500 but next month, I am probably not going to accept anything like that. I’d rather just keep the name for a bit and get other offers. Timing on names is often very important. It doesn’t hurt to revisit some previous offers you made on domains and make them again before a holiday.
It is also important to think about the competition on the auctions. If there are major holidays, there are less people watching the auctions. I am one of these guys. Each year for the last decade, I have told myself, “This year at Christmas, I’ll jump on for a bit and make some bids!” but I never do. I enjoy the time with my family too much and never make it to the computer. I know some people who have gotten some really good deals this way. Most people are not watching the auctions on a major holiday, so if you are, it can work to your advantage. There is more competition on holidays than there was years ago, but it's still less than a normal day, and you may be able to stretch your purchases a little more if you save some money for holiday domain buying. Anything you can do to help you gain an advantage over the competition is a help in today’s market.
To do this correctly think about who the main users are on the platform you want to use and what their holidays are. In the U.S., it is Christmas, but on 4.cn you may want to be there on Chinese New Year and maybe you want to watch another site on Diwali, etc. The main thing is to keep this in mind and budget accordingly so you have some money in hand to be in these auctions with less competition.
There is one last thing to keep in mind when looking for a deal that also involves seasonality. I have tried this and found that it has worked for me. If you are dealing with a company you want to buy a domain name from or a salesperson, remember they have goals to hit. They normally have monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. Waiting until the end of the month or quarter or year and making a call to a salesperson saying, "I have cash to spend right now if you can make a deal happen at a really good price on this name" will work sometimes much better than trying that same offer at the beginning of the month or year. This works on other things besides domains as well.
I hope this helps and if you have any tips for getting domain deals you want to share in the comments below, I am sure everyone would appreciate it.
The domain market is a global market and anyone not living in a cave somewhere for the last year has been aware of how much and how quickly things can change due to this fact. The Chinese market has exploded, and as a result, there are many more domain purchases taking place that would not have happened a year ago. The global nature of the Internet is extremely important when understanding the potential of a domain’s impact to one’s business.
Keeping this in mind and knowing that different countries have different major holidays is something that can work to your advantage when buying domains. There may be offers that you made before that were close to the price point where they should have closed or maybe a bit lower than normal and the seller said no. When it is a major holiday, people are often looking for some extra cash flow to buy gifts or take a holiday. Many times, making the offer at the right time can be the difference between a sale or hearing a “no” from the seller. I hand registered a domain this year for $2 and got an offer of $500 that I turned down a month ago. I said I wouldn’t take less than $1,500 on the name. This month with Christmas coming, I might have considered $500 but next month, I am probably not going to accept anything like that. I’d rather just keep the name for a bit and get other offers. Timing on names is often very important. It doesn’t hurt to revisit some previous offers you made on domains and make them again before a holiday.
It is also important to think about the competition on the auctions. If there are major holidays, there are less people watching the auctions. I am one of these guys. Each year for the last decade, I have told myself, “This year at Christmas, I’ll jump on for a bit and make some bids!” but I never do. I enjoy the time with my family too much and never make it to the computer. I know some people who have gotten some really good deals this way. Most people are not watching the auctions on a major holiday, so if you are, it can work to your advantage. There is more competition on holidays than there was years ago, but it's still less than a normal day, and you may be able to stretch your purchases a little more if you save some money for holiday domain buying. Anything you can do to help you gain an advantage over the competition is a help in today’s market.
To do this correctly think about who the main users are on the platform you want to use and what their holidays are. In the U.S., it is Christmas, but on 4.cn you may want to be there on Chinese New Year and maybe you want to watch another site on Diwali, etc. The main thing is to keep this in mind and budget accordingly so you have some money in hand to be in these auctions with less competition.
There is one last thing to keep in mind when looking for a deal that also involves seasonality. I have tried this and found that it has worked for me. If you are dealing with a company you want to buy a domain name from or a salesperson, remember they have goals to hit. They normally have monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. Waiting until the end of the month or quarter or year and making a call to a salesperson saying, "I have cash to spend right now if you can make a deal happen at a really good price on this name" will work sometimes much better than trying that same offer at the beginning of the month or year. This works on other things besides domains as well.
I hope this helps and if you have any tips for getting domain deals you want to share in the comments below, I am sure everyone would appreciate it.
