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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?

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

Remember a tiny startup called salesforce that no one had heard of ... and they disrupt the market with a model no one had heard of before. So, let this idea of domain brokers network continue to expand. Pros and Cons are welcome.
 
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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

Even in developing countries and emerging economies there are still a lot of rich people who own businesses and companies, the problem is that all the wealth is concentrated at the top and so there is little to no opportunities for most people to make a decent living.

As I have already mentioned on several occasions in this thread I am not that big of a fan of doing arbitrage specially without the domain owner's permission and knowledge. And I am against people mass emailing and spamming end users.

This project could only work under controlled conditions where the brokers are properly trained and that the domain owners agree to let them promote their domains to end users, and as I have also already mentioned perhaps there has to be a new platform for this that is separate from Name Liquidate.

@Rob Monster , having a broker button for marketplace listing sounds like a good idea as long as there is a fixed commission and that the brokers are trained and approved to make sure that they are both knowledgeable and skillful and also that they adhere to the proper standards of being a broker and that they only promote the domains to end users with the prior consent from the domain owner.

You might want to test your new idea on a smaller scale with a few people before making any major changes in the platforms that most people here already like and use.

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.
I couldn't agree more....my inventory at an "average unit cost" of $8.50 will be coming to an "end user" near you:xf.wink: And best of all, my inventory will be free as long as the "end user" pays shipping, handling and storage(y)
 
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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?

Its not risk free help.Thats the point. At least not to the owner. Lots of names go to auction that the owner decides to keep. Not all names will be dropped or are even dropping right now. I put up names that expire sometime in 2020. The spammers can tarnish your chances of selling the name should you decide to keep it. The spammers wouldn’t get a UDRP the owner would. The owner isn’t getting “help” they are getting charged 9% of 9 dollars. You can sell for a better fixed price here or DAN even.

I wish I knew about the ability to cancel a listing once you’ve listed there as someone bought a name I renewed (for them apparently). $9 (8.20) is not enough. Lesson learned.
 
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For me I am not a fan of the idea of someone trying to sell a domain they don't already own. Imagine if two (or more) "brokers" find a buyer for a name on NL. One or more of them will not get the inventory to deliver. Meanwhile the buyer of the other(s) likely won't be happy and it will reflect bad on the industry as a whole. Not to mention that it will generate alot of emails to end users that will probably be viewed as spam and once again reflect poorly on the industry.
 
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Its not risk free help.Thats the point. At least not to the owner. Lots of names go to auction that the owner decides to keep. Not all names will be dropped or are even dropping right now. I put up names that expire sometime in 2020. The spammers can tarnish your chances of selling the name should you decide to keep it. The spammers wouldn’t get a UDRP the owner would. The owner isn’t getting “help” they are getting charged 9% of 9 dollars. You can sell for a better fixed price here or DAN even.

I wish I knew about the ability to cancel a listing once you’ve listed there as someone bought a name I renewed (for them apparently). $9 (8.20) is not enough. Lesson learned.

The main use-case is EXPIRING DOMAINS.

It is LIQUIDATION.

For people whose alternative revenue scenario is ZERO due to the domain expiring or being liquidated, even $9 is material. There are folks who turn around and buy 4 .CO names this week for $1.99.

That said, we are keen to drive more engagement on Day 1 rather than on Day 7.

Anyway, I hear you but nobody is suggesting to list the crown jewels on NameLiquidate.

I would re-frame the decision to being one of "something better than nothing". What we are talking about now is how to make that something bigger by enlisting help in a timely and effective way.
 
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For me I am not a fan of the idea of someone trying to sell a domain they don't already own. Imagine if two (or more) "brokers" find a buyer for a name on NL. One or more of them will not get the inventory to deliver. Meanwhile the buyer of the other(s) likely won't be happy and it will reflect bad on the industry as a whole. Not to mention that it will generate alot of emails to end users that will probably be viewed as spam and once again reflect poorly on the industry.

Fair point and I think the solution is Broker Exclusives. The first broker to fund the transfer fee gets a 7 day window to try to flip that domain that is trading at $900 for more than $900.
 
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@Rob Monster

Absolutely brilliant idea…if you can make it work, which you probably can’t from my limited understanding. I have been lurking this forum for a while and you have some very innovative ideas and insights, so thanks for all you do for the domaining community. Let me get that out of the way before I criticize your ideas, hahah.

Some thoughts:

Only a part of the domains on NameLiquidate is even optimally outboundable. So you would want to set up a filter that shows optimally outboundable domains to make it easier for the brokers.

The seven day period will generate a lot of spam and desperate, annoying emails, which only serves to harm the public perception of the domain community as a whole. Remember, we are already "hoarders", lets not become obnoxious ones.

No matter where someone lives in the world and how much money they have, lets say your idea works optimally and they can outbound things on NL and get paid for it. Well, once they get good at outbounding, they are just going to do it themselves and buy domains and outbound flip things in a way where they aren’t limited to a 7 day period to broker something. They aren’t going to stick around on NL if they can make more elsewhere and enjoy portfolio appreciation with domains that they personally own. So, unless there was an incentive, your idea would select only the lowest quality domain brokers to be doing this. And since it costs money to reserve a name for 7 days to broker it (which also undercuts your original premise of this being a very low cost to get into domain brokering, since 7 days might not even be enough time to broker something) the lowest quality domain brokers would just lose whatever money they did have and be unable to continue.

Maybe give the domain seller a cut of the broker fee?

Even if this idea doesn’t work out, the key is to think of other ideas on how to get end users involved in NL. Could you advertise NameLiquidate.com to try to get some of BrandBucket/Bpa/SH traffic for brandables? “Don’t get ripped off by a brandable marketplace, find your brand for $9 or more” Just a thought, probably not a good one... This could possibly drive up the prices NL names are liquidating for by getting some end-user interest for the brandables. Maybe have brandable names that are liquidating highlighted or filterable with some autogenerated “logo”, basically just randomly colored unique font? Dropping brandables can’t be easily outbounded as far as I know, so there is still a need to stimulate higher pricing on this front, even if this brokerage idea were to take off.

Like oldtimer said, it seems like this would work much, much, much better if a similar broker option was introduced to all the domains on Epik. Let domain owners opt into the option to let other people outbound their domains. Could set up a “broker score” so that domain name owners could automatically disallow the worst brokers and only allow better brokers who have a track history of success.

I’m not sure why you are trying to mash this very unique and interesting idea of yours into NameLiquidate, which appears to be something for other domainers. Of course, if it is cheap to set up, and can generate revenue, do it. It may have some limited application and some profitability for you.

Finally, what are you thinking would be a fair fee to charge the broker for the 7 day period?
 
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@Rob Monster your energy and creativeness is admirable. Thank you, by the way, for the link to the article. It is a great read.

However, in the same article, it basically lists the necessary attributes for something to be in the long tail. And that is items/products there have to be effort-free, marketing-free etc. What you are proposing, however, runs against that as it involves lots of work and marketing (outbound) for each of those. Those efforts should be reserved for the tower, not long tail. That is why the scheme would never work.
 
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The main use-case is EXPIRING DOMAINS.

It is LIQUIDATION.

For people whose alternative revenue scenario is ZERO due to the domain expiring or being liquidated, even $9 is material. There are folks who turn around and buy 4 .CO names this week for $1.99.

That said, we are keen to drive more engagement on Day 1 rather than on Day 7.

Anyway, I hear you but nobody is suggesting to list the crown jewels on NameLiquidate.

I would re-frame the decision to being one of "something better than nothing". What we are talking about now is how to make that something bigger by enlisting help in a timely and effective way.

its called NameLiquidate. I can liquidate any name for $10, $100 , $1000 whatever. Good to know to only put expiring names there.
 
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In case everyone missed it, it's all about using cheap labor for max profit and using empowerment as a disguise.
 
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Fair point and I think the solution is Broker Exclusives. The first broker to fund the transfer fee gets a 7 day window to try to flip that domain that is trading at $900 for more than $900.

That may address one concern but there are others too. I don't think NL is the right way to accomplish this. But I think there may be a way to accomplish this with a separate platform dedicated solely to this. If I as a domain owner could list domains that I think could have outbound potential but do not wish to do myself Epik could review and rate the opportunity and connect with those who don't have the means to buy their own names but wish to try brokering the names. It would be done with the consent of the domain owner, be exclusive to one "broker" for say 60 days, have a predetermined split between the owner and the broker, and could be processed by Epik escrow (which btw I am hoping will become available in Washington soon).
 
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That may address one concern but there are others too. I don't think NL is the right way to accomplish this. But I think there may be a way to accomplish this with a separate platform dedicated solely to this. If I as a domain owner could list domains that I think could have outbound potential but do not wish to do myself Epik could review and rate the opportunity and connect with those who don't have the means to buy their own names but wish to try brokering the names. It would be done with the consent of the domain owner, be exclusive to one "broker" for say 60 days, have a predetermined split between the owner and the broker, and could be processed by Epik escrow (which btw I am hoping will become available in Washington soon).

Could be cool to have some type of crowd-sourced Epik-affiliated (or totally 3rd party) brokerage that could be offered to other registries as well. Even GoDaddy would have a hard time turning down allowing GoDaddy-registered, Afternic parked domains from being outbounded so long as they are getting a cut of the commission alongside increased liquidity.
 
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Could be cool to have some type of crowd-sourced Epik-affiliated (or totally 3rd party) brokerage that could be offered to other registries as well. Even GoDaddy would have a hard time turning down allowing GoDaddy-registered, Afternic parked domains from being outbounded so long as they are getting a cut of the commission alongside increased liquidity.

GoDaddy is never participating in that, they have their brokers.
 
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I guess to start out, Epik could just give some of their names to the best candidates who are long on intelligence and drive and short on money and see how they do selling Epik's names that are of the might let expire quality.

Test that for 6 months, see how many sales, present the data and then let others join in.
 
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The real opportunity may be in setting up a marketplace for brokering sub $25,000 domains which are too low for established brokers to be interested. The marketplace needs to build up trust like Airbnb and other similar services where both owners and brokers are vetted/rated.
 
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GoDaddy is never participating in that, they have their brokers.
I meant names registered at GoDaddy, not GoDaddy owned portfolios. But you're probably right irregardless. I'm more just saying if there was a competent and organized pool of independent brokers that could sell $1k to $10kish names in a manner worth the broker's time investment, and who shared some of the broker commissions in some way with the registrars who enable them to sell names registered by the public/domain investors at said registrar, it would be difficult for registrars to turn down more liquid income. I would imagine the domain investors would opt part of their portfolio into such a program in order to increase liquidity. I know I would if it was proven to be effective at improving sell through rate without asking too much commissions in return...
 
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Fair point and I think the solution is Broker Exclusives. The first broker to fund the transfer fee gets a 7 day window to try to flip that domain that is trading at $900 for more than $900.

Ok. But why would anyone pay to reserve a domain for short 7 days period?! Someone can find a buyer first then come back and buy the domain from NL and resell it risk free!

I am against this practice and I am afraid some people will like it and start doing at on scale without even waiting for you to add broker button! And again this practice is not brokerage and should not be tolerated in NL as a good thing to do!
 
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Ok. But why would anyone pay to reserve a domain for short 7 days period?! Someone can find a buyer first then come back and buy the domain from NL and resell it risk free!

I am against this practice and I am afraid some people will like it and start doing at on scale without even waiting for you to add broker button! And again this practice is not brokerage and should not be tolerated in NL as a good thing to do!

The amount the broker would have to pay up front is just the transfer fee.

So, for say $8.49 a broker gets a 7 day exclusive to flip a domain for more than it is currently listed at. If they don't complete the sale within 7 days, the seller has gotten their domain renewed for free, and their auction listing resumes.

It seems viable to me. We'll do some design mocks for the concept. However, no debate that this needs to be done as exclusives and sellers should have the ability to opt out of the broker scenario.

Also, brokers should perhaps be screened/approved for this service in order to maintain some standard of quality and code of conduct
 
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@Rob Monster You mentioned that if a broker doesn't get a sale, the seller got a renewal for free and the listing resumes. But if sellers have their domain renewed for free, IMO in many cases, if not most cases, they won't be interested in resuming the auction. They just got another year for the domain to potentially sell. If the point was to liquidate in order not to renew... then now that won't be relevant anymore.
 
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@Rob Monster You mentioned that if a broker doesn't get a sale, the seller got a renewal for free and the listing resumes. But if sellers have their domain renewed for free, IMO in many cases, if not most cases, they won't be interested in resuming the auction. They just got another year for the domain to potentially sell. If the point was to liquidate in order not to renew... then now that won't be relevant anymore.

Exactly. Heads they win. Tails they win.

The point of NameLiquidate is to help registrants with perishable inventory to extract value. If they get another year of runway, that is a win too. The upside for Epik is that the domain came to Epik even if there was no margin on the transfer. We don't monetize the expense anyway. We monetize the exit.
 
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In case everyone missed it, it's all about using cheap labor for max profit and using empowerment as a disguise.

Nah, that is a really cynical view.

Speaking for myself, the goal of empowerment and value-creation is sincerely sincere. The folks that we work with in emerging markets will certainly attest that we have been far from exploitative. To the contrary:

- Help close deals
- Issue empowerment grants
- Issue interest-free domain loans
- Provide a free online course
- Treat with respect.

I could continue but will suffice it to say that your comment is nonsense, Shame on you.
 
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That photo you posted is very empowering. And bible quote. No shame in that.
Mentioning vultures, no shame in that either.
Storage wars term is pooper scoopers. But thats to harsh for this forum. Vultures is more appropriate, and woman getting leftovers is more appropriate.

Why would anyone risk $8.49 for 7 days, when they can register something and have 365 days to sell it for the same price.

Something that does not sell in a year, you know what, I will sell it in 7 days.

I know a guy who can pull that off. And you know him too. He does miracles for a living.
(Hint: bible)
 
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Exactly. Heads they win. Tails they win.

The point of NameLiquidate is to help registrants with perishable inventory to extract value. If they get another year of runway, that is a win too. The upside for Epik is that the domain came to Epik even if there was no margin on the transfer. We don't monetize the expense anyway. We monetize the exit.

You still didn't get my main point which is that if this practice is tolerated it can be easily abused on a large scale, some people will totally ignore the broker button to reserve a domain, and start sending emails randomly and then come back and buy a domain if they get lucky and find a buyer for it, lets say for example someone may pick 20 domains and send 50 emails for each so a total of 1000 spam emails will be sent, multiply this number by N users doing it and your NameLiquidate platform will suddenly become a source of spam lol.

In other words your idea will encourage spamming on large scale, and is very hard to control and regulate.

For this to be done right, you should make it a separate platform for hiring domain brokers, for example sellers can list their domains they want to sell, brokers can pick the domains they are interested in, if both seller and broker agree on brokerage terms then the domain should be hidden/removed from the public list so that no other broker can see it.
 
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For this to be done right, you should make it a separate platform for hiring domain brokers, for example sellers can list their domains they want to sell, brokers can pick the domains they are interested in, if both seller and broker agree on brokerage terms then the domain should be hidden/removed from the public list so that no other broker can see it.

I agree that's exactly how this should be done.
 
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