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The FUTURE of Domain Name Brokers and The Long Tail

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What do you think about the arrival of a vast number of domain brokers into the industry?

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  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

Rob Monster

Founder of EpikTop Member
Epik Founder
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Some of you will be familiar with the term "The Long Tail". It is perhaps one of the most famous articles ever written in Wired Magazine back in its hey-day. Chris Anderson is the visionary author. The old classic can be found here: https://www.wired.com/2004/10/tail/

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What exactly do I mean by "Long Tail" Domains

There is a finite but knowable universe of people who will value the domain name TampaGolfLessons.com. If you can find them and engage them good chance that they value them for some price that allows them to earn a return from switching from what they use now to something better.

To illustrate, these are classic :"long tail" domains:

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The Barrier to entry to become a Domain Broker is effectively zero

Why I think it matters to domainers is this: the super-brokers might not have any interest in brokering a 3 figure domain or a 4 figure domain because of the size of prize is too low, even at a 20% commission. Some brokers won't even take on a domain for less than 6 figures, again due to small size of prize.

On the other hand, in some parts of the world, notably in emerging markets, many people have more time and intellect, than they have money or domains. Nevertheless, they absolutely do have much to offer the domain industry by using their time and talent to connect supply with demand.

As we look ahead to the next phase of domaining, I foresee an explosion of Domain Name Brokers. The long-time brokers might perhaps dreading this day because they will up against a dual squeeze:

1. Godaddy, the aspiring monopolist, now has 1 million owned and operated domain names that they will be eager to sell through their channel to a vast retail customer base with a brokerage team who will be under pressure to add value and have access to a large proprietary data set about who buys what domains.

2. Emerging markets are about to serve up an absolute explosion of independent Name Brokers, who can make use of a fast-expanding array of free tools for finding who owns what domains, and can use secure ways to clear those transactions, e.g. through marketplaces and escrow services.


So what is a Boostrapping Domain Broker to do?

The good news is that brokering domains is a capital-efficient way for emerging market participants to bootstrap their way into an industry, even with little or no capital.

One way to get started might be to leverage a domain liquidation service - go find a domain that is newly listed, and try to find a buyer for that domain before the reverse auction ends. After all, the price keeps coming down while your prospective buyers can be bid up.

Many people might look at domain liquidation services on the last day, looking for expiring auctions to find the bargains. However, the contrarian move is a bit different and that is to look at the new arrivals, and not just for the mispriced domains but I think more importantly for the bootstrapper, the arbitrage opportunities.

Examples:

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We plan to add a "Escrow" feature right inside of our domain liquidation service so that domain flippers can essentially send a domain into escrow, cover the transfer fee, and then have a short window to make good on their purchase. If they fail to make good, the auction resumes and the broker is out their transfer fee.

Looking ahead, we have larger ideas for how a fast-expanding pool of domain brokers could leverage a domain brokerage platform. Will share more on that if folks are interested in the topic.


Why a massive increase in the number of brokers is good news for (almost) everyone


The really great news for domain owners is that there will be a vast supply of highly energetic people who will be able to help connect supply with demand, and to get more supply into the hands of end-users. The end result of this is more liquidity in the domain economy, and higher retail prices for quality inventory.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Here is the thing:

If you have skills to do outbound for this kind of names, you are way better off buying your own inventory at $5 to $20 apiece and selling 10% to 20% of them at $300 to $500 each than working for commission on other people's stuff while also competing for the same inventory and end users.

How many domains does a disadvantaged but talented person in one of the emerging economies needs to buy in order to do as you say. The lack of capital in some of these places is what makes it difficult for people to get started as domainers and I believe is the issue that Rob is trying to address here, although as I have already said I am not that much of a fan for arbitrage specially if it is being done without the domain owner's permission or even knowledge.

IMO
 
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Here is the thing:

If you have skills to do outbound for this kind of names, you are way better off buying your own inventory at $5 to $20 apiece and selling 10% to 20% of them at $300 to $500 each than working for commission on other people's stuff while also competing for the same inventory and end users.

This is not quite what I meant here.

The brokers in this example will be practicing what we refer to as a "broker spread". They are securing a domain for $X and selling for $Y. They are banking the spread.

So this is not about earning 10-20% commission on a sub $1000 domain. This is about arbitraging one man's rotting trash into someone's else's recycled treasure.

I hope to make that more clear in this thread as that is the essence of what NameLiquidate is about. The missing ingredient has been scalable, viral demand that pushes sell prices much higher for sellers.
 
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How many domains does a disadvantaged but talented person in one of the emerging economies needs to buy in order to do as you say. The lack of capital in some of these places is what makes it difficult for people to get started as domainers and I believe is the issue that Rob is trying to address here, although as I have already said I am not that much of a fan for arbitrage specially if it is being done without the domain owner's permission or even knowledge.

IMO

The scenario being discussed is limited to perishable inventory where the seller would have otherwise gotten zero if sent through the registrar's expiry stream.

So, we are talking 100% upside. The operative question is whether we can get the seller a sale at $1000 or at $9. If there is a retail flip on the other side of the trade, the $1000 liquidates will be frequent.
 
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The scenario being discussed is limited to NameLiquidate.com or similar perishable inventory where the seller would have otherwise gotten zero if sent through the registrar's expiry stream.

So, we are talking 100% upside. The operative question is whether we can get the seller a sale at $1000 or at $9. If there is a retail flip on the other side of the trade, the $1000 liquidates will be frequent.

that sounds good as long as it's being done with the domain owners permission, and as long as the domains are being promoted to end users properly (to avoid mass emails and spamming).

Perhaps you need to have a training course for those who want to become brokers.

IMO
 
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How many domains does a disadvantaged but talented person in one of the emerging economies needs to buy in order to do as you say. The lack of capital in some of these places is what makes it difficult for people to get started as domainers and I believe is the issue that Rob is trying to address here, although as I have already said I am not that much of a fan for arbitrage specially if it is being done without the domain owner's permission or even knowledge.

IMO

Come on now!

1. If you have skills to do outbound and get around 10% of sell through, you need just 10 domains for 1 sale or invest as little as $50 and earn $300. And now, you have $300 to buy 50 names, sell 5 etc.

2. You are focusing on much smaller problem of having $50 to start a business for a "disadvantaged but talented person", while forgetting that this person will have to overcome much bigger problems of a) language barrier; b) buyers being in the rich countries where they will distrust anyone from a developing country; c) other disadvantages like not being able to provide a phone number or make a call etc.

There is a reason brokers focus on top names and that is that selling names involve considerable effort. It makes more sense to spend 5x more time and effort and sell $xx,xxx name for 15% than work for 20% or even 50% commission for a $500 name.

It also doesn't make sense of working for 20% when you are doing the 80% of the effort/investment, as the owner invests only his $5-20, while you might need to spend hours.
 
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This is not quite what I meant here.

The brokers in this example will be practicing what we refer to as a "broker spread". They are securing a domain for $X and selling for $Y. They are banking the spread.

So this is not about earning 10-20% commission on a sub $1000 domain. This is about arbitraging one man's rotting trash into someone's else's recycled treasure.

I hope to make that more clear in this thread as that is the essence of what NameLiquidate is about. The missing ingredient has been scalable, viral demand that pushes sell prices much higher for sellers.

Thanks for clarifying. So he is effectively buying the name at $x. That wouldn't be brokering though. That would be selling your own name?
 
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In the general discussion again promoting Epik, Name Liquidate, Name Brokers, etc.

In the future please remove "This thread is stupid" as an option and replace it with "This thread is self promotion".

Brad
 
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Come on now!

1. If you have skills to do outbound and get around 10% of sell through, you need just 10 domains for 1 sale or invest as little as $50 and earn $300. And now, you have $300 to buy 50 names, sell 5 etc.

2. You are focusing on much smaller problem of having $50 to start a business for a "disadvantaged but talented person", while forgetting that this person will have to overcome much bigger problems of a) language barrier; b) buyers being in the rich countries where they will distrust anyone from a developing country; c) other disadvantages like not being able to provide a phone number or make a call etc.

There is a reason brokers focus on top names and that is that selling names involve considerable effort. It makes more sense to spend 5x more time and effort and sell $xx,xxx name for 15% than work for 20% or even 50% commission for a $500 name.

It also doesn't make sense of working for 20% when you are doing the 80% of the effort/investment, as the owner invests only his $5-20, while you might need to spend hours.

According to Rob there are people who already have become successful in selling domains once they have been able to overcome the $50 or $100 dollar barrier that they needed to get started, and yes $50 dollars could be a big barrier to a lot of the people who live in some of the more disadvantaged places around the World.

As far as lack of communication skills and not having proper contact credentials, keep in mind that they can get started by selling domains in their local areas and then move up from there.

IMO
 
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Come on now!

1. If you have skills to do outbound and get around 10% of sell through, you need just 10 domains for 1 sale or invest as little as $50 and earn $300. And now, you have $300 to buy 50 names, sell 5 etc.

2. You are focusing on much smaller problem of having $50 to start a business for a "disadvantaged but talented person", while forgetting that this person will have to overcome much bigger problems of a) language barrier; b) buyers being in the rich countries where they will distrust anyone from a developing country; c) other disadvantages like not being able to provide a phone number or make a call etc.

There is a reason brokers focus on top names and that is that selling names involve considerable effort. It makes more sense to spend 5x more time and effort and sell $xx,xxx name for 15% than work for 20% or even 50% commission for a $500 name.

It also doesn't make sense of working for 20% when you are doing the 80% of the effort/investment, as the owner invests only his $5-20, while you might need to spend hours.

Well said.
 
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According to Rob there are people who already have become successful in selling domains once they have been able to overcome the $50 or $100 dollar barrier that they needed to get started, and yes $50 dollars could be a big barrier to a lot of the people who live in some of the more disadvantaged places around the World.

As far as lack of communication skills and not having proper contact credentials, keep in mind that they can get started by selling domains in their local areas and then move up from there.

If you are struggling to get $50 you are likely from a country with a weak economy.

In that type of country where people are struggling to pay for basic necessities, how big is the pool of potential domain buyers you can deal with locally? Not very big.

There is really nothing new in this thread. There have been spam farms for years sending out endless emails selling domain names that they don't actually own, using labor from developing countries.

Brad
 
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If you are struggling to get $50 you are likely from a country with a weak economy.

In that type of country where people are struggling to pay for basic necessities, how big is the pool of potential domain buyers you can deal with locally? Not very big.

There is really nothing new in this thread. There have been spam farms for years sending out endless emails selling domain names that they don't actually own, using labor from developing countries.

Brad

https://www.thedomains.com/2013/01/...hy-do-they-keep-sending-offers-never-respond/

https://www.sweetmantra.com/2013/05/how-to-deal-with-alex-the-domain-sales-spammer.html
 
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Firstly, dont sell something that you dont own.

Secondly, to broker a domain you need verbal or written authorization from the domain owner and you must be transparent with the domain owner about selling price and commission!


Thirdly, This idea is simply what some frontrunners do in auctions, front running is not permitted in all auction platforms, Epik is the first to allow and encourage it in their nameLiquidate platform!

You can search about front running in this forum, and you will learn that it is a disrespectable practice
Negotiating with Front runners

Finally, front running is not brokerage, so I think the title of this thread is misleading.
 
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you must be transparent with the domain owner
Why? There is no reason for such "must", Escrow.com runs confidential transactions and non-transparent to either buyer or seller transactions, as these are pretty common. If you are strictly against such practice you might be losing some sales.
 
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Why? There is no reason for such "must", Escrow.com runs confidential transactions and non-transparent to either buyer or seller transactions, as these are pretty common. If you are strictly against such practice you might be losing some sales.

Well, policy aside, I personally would not be working with a broker who was not willing to be transparent.

I guess it depends how you define "transparent" though.

Brad
 
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For those who missed it, the plan is to introduce "Broker" feature right inside of the name liquidation service.

What this means is a 3rd button for "Escrow":


upload_2020-2-20_9-49-30.png


So, there are 3 buttons:

- Buy Now
- Place Bid
- Broker

If you press the Broker button, then the following:

- Broker is reserving the domain for 7 days
- Broker pays the transfer fee with a deposit fee sufficient to cover the transfer fee

If Broker does not complete the sale within 7 days, the lose their deposit and the liquidation auction can resume unless the seller cancels the auction having just gotten a free domain renewal for their trouble.

It seems to be full of win. I agree that the broker representation should be EXCLUSIVE and TRANSPARENT. All in favor?
 
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For those who missed it, the plan here is to introduce "Broker" feature right inside of the NameLiquidate dialog.

What this means for NameLiquidate is a 3rd button for "Escrow":


Show attachment 145312

So, there are 3 buttons:

- Buy Now
- Place Bid
- Broker

If you press the Broker button, then the following:

- Broker is reserving the domain for 7 days
- Broker pays the transfer fee with a deposit fee sufficient to cover the transfer fee

If Broker does not complete the sale within 7 days, the lose their deposit and the liquidation auction can resume unless the seller cancels the auction having just gotten a free domain renewal for their trouble.

It seems to be full of win. I agree that the broker representation should be EXCLUSIVE and TRANSPARENT. All in favor?

come on, Rob
is that a non-promotional post????

"just helping other domainers
in leading them somewhere" ????
who knows where.

time = money

mad ideas = time and money spent

welcome in the Adam Dicker's "lets create webpages and sell them to local business owners
buy them from me for only 1.495 USD" club of scammers.
 
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Rob, as i told you in DM...

Dont be like other Uni “brokers”

still get “another part interest” since 2014 :ROFL:,
don't appreciate their tactics, doubt party exists

Samer
 
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It seems to be full of win. I agree that the broker representation should be EXCLUSIVE and TRANSPARENT. All in favor?
This may be discussed in connection with a regular marketplace. Not NameLiquidate. NameLiquidate is exclusively domainer-2-domainer platform (at least by original design). So, there is no space for brokers (even legitimate brokers with owners approval), saying nothing about frontrunners...
 
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This may be discussed in connection with a regular marketplace. Not NameLiquidate. NameLiquidate is exclusively domainer-2-domainer platform (at least by original design). So, there is no space for brokers (even legitimate brokers with owners approval), saying nothing about frontrunners...

Let's think about this for a second.

Domainers are liquidating domains. They bidding starts at $1000.

Now, a broker comes along and has an idea who should buy it. Why would you deny a broker the opportunity to put skin in the game to go close a deal with a retail buyer within 7 days and bank the spread?

I can see why buyers just want the inventory to fall to $9, but from a seller's perspective, is there really any downside to having risk-free help to sell your domain?

Perhaps we need to add an optional "Broker" button to marketplace listings generally to allow domain owners to secure the assistance of brokers on mutually agreed terms.

My thinking was to start with NameLiquidate because we are talking about inventory that the seller is LIQUIDATING and presumably will appreciate ROI of some kind.

So, thinking with your SELLER hat on, what is wrong with free help to sell a domain you are dropping?
 
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Why would you deny a broker the opportunity to put skin in the game to go close a deal with a retail buyer within 7 days and bank the spread?
As a buyer, I want the full inventory with decreasing prices. So, on this stage, I cannot appreciate an inventory disappearing or becoming otherwise limited. NameLiquidate customers are both buyers and sellers, equally, just on different domains. By introducing brokers to NameLiquidate, Epik is punishing regular buyers - its customers base, domainers, who are expected to make money naturally - by purchasing the liquidation domains first, and selling or otherwise monetizing them only after the purchase.
 
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As a buyer, I want the full inventory with decreasing prices. So, on this stage, I cannot appreciate an inventory disappearing or becoming otherwise limited. NameLiquidate customers are both buyers and sellers, equally, just on different domains. By introducing brokers to NameLiquidate, Epik is punishing regular buyers - its customers base, domainers, who are expected to make money naturally - by purchasing the liquidation domains first, and selling or otherwise monetizing them only after the purchase.

Now, try once more with your SELLER hat on.

I know it's hard but role-play for a second.
 
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Now, try once more with your SELLER hat on
What for? I consider myself as a buyer of some domains. And as a seller of other domains. The platform should equally care. Brokerage is good, but on a regular marketplace. Not on a liquidation one!
 
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More wishful thinking from Rob. Yeah suddenly all these poor souls that probably lack a decent education to boot (not their fault) are suddenly going to become experts in identifying good domains, identifying good prospects, have good financial and business skills to supplement their already great negotiating skills.

Dream on

This reads like another promised land thread, for those gullible enough to believe Yeah I too can become a millionaire overnight if I'm willing to believe.

Praise the ROB and you too will be rewarded
 
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It seems to be full of win. I agree that the broker representation should be EXCLUSIVE and TRANSPARENT. All in favor?

That is not brokerage, a broker is just a mediator between seller and buyer with a fixed commission, what your describing here is more like drop shipping in e-commerce, in auctions it is called front running. It is not suitable for nameLiquidate IMO, you may need to make separate name broker platform but should come with clear guidlines and transparent agreeable commissions.
 
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