question Got price request from Afternic. Should I move BIN over to them now?

Skyvisum said:

What about when you tell the sales to accept an offer of $2k and he went ahead trying to get $2,500?Thereby ruining a sale that should have been. Do you reprimand them? I set my BIN at $2,500 and floor at $2000 and he kept insisting on $2500 and when I kept corresponding with him to accept the $2000 he didn't respond but only when his greed didn't go through did he respond back after telling me buyer backed out. I think there should be some form of discipline whatsoever when they mess up one's investment and sale. Afterall, they get their 20% commission after a sale.

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If you pm me the domain I can take a look at it.

pokainc said:

Joe usually you've been very helpful when there's any issue and I appreciate it, but if you read what I wrote and not just chosen parts out of context, you wouldn't have said that. I said it's my right for my personal files to know what offers come in for my domains even if it's not close to the asking. Random situation could be that 5 offers that came in at $500 each in a short span of time is $2500 which if cash flow is low.. might decide to accept in an exceptional circumstance. Also it would help to assess which names to renew vs not renew.

This is just an example.. and again not interested in the floor price situation.. Although I believe in the integrity of the Reps, especially 2 that I regularly work with, I'm not a fan of floor pricing as it anchors the sale to go towards it.

FYI, Nowhere did I say I would accept that $500 offer. Thanks

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I understand what you are saying. I was trying to give you a way to work within the way things are set up to allow you to achieve your sales goals.

Joe Styler said:

If you pm me the domain I can take a look at it.

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Pm sent.

anantj said:

Hi Joe,

If you get an inquiry with a price, why is that offer price not disclosed in the e-mail or on the afternic dashboard to the sellers? Why do we need to jump through the hoop of calling the

ETA: Afternic support to get this offered price? What's worse is that Afternic support is not available for all of my daytime hour (I'm in nearly 11 hours ahead in the timezone) which means I can almost always never set a bin price during the hot first 24 hours because I need to and want to know the offered price before setting a bin (technically, of course, I can)

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We are working towards 24-7 coverage. Right now we have several people working in Europe as well as on the East and West Coast of the U.S. which covers almost all of the 24 hours in a day the way the shifts are set up.
You don't need to respond with a price if you have a floor setup already. If you don't and we have a buyer who says I want to buy this domain - How much is it is invariably the next question they have and we have no answer until you price your domain.

well in that case, the buyer should be told "the seller hasn't set up a price meaning they want to entertain offers and make a decision based on the offer. That being said, what would be your offer (or best offer) so I can contact the buyer and see if we can close the deal". How hard is that.

We would do that if we know the seller and have worked with them before and know their sales style. If it is someone we are not familiar with we will not because it will likely hurt the negotiations.

Joe Styler said:

We are working towards 24-7 coverage. Right now we have several people working in Europe as well as on the East and West Coast of the U.S. which covers almost all of the 24 hours in a day the way the shifts are set up.

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When I've called at say 10 or 11 PM Arizona time, I've been connected to GD reps who have no idea about Afternic (their statement). So perhaps more training is required?

Joe Styler said:

You don't need to respond with a price if you have a floor setup already. If you don't and we have a buyer who says I want to buy this domain - How much is it is invariably the next question they have and we have no answer until you price your domain.

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No. That's not what I mean. I meant when an offer comes in for a domain (via the DLS channel I guess), the "buyer" usually makes an offer. Why can that not be included in the e-mail that is sent asking the seller that is sent with the following format. Now, for this domain, the buyer did make an offer (I had to call the Afternic support line to get the offer amount). Why can't this be simply included in the email below?

Subject: Price Requested on your AfternicDLS Domain
Body:

*******************************************
ATTENTION anantj,

ACTION NEEDED: Set a price for example.com

*******************************************

Dear anantj,


You have received a sales lead on example.com through Afternic's network.


A lead indicates that someone is interested in the domain, but is not prepared to buy it yet.
In order to proceed with this buyer, please take the following steps now:


1. Set a Floor Price and Buy Now price in the next 48 hours.
To remain a robust marketplace of premium domain names for both buyers and sellers, we require
that every domain have a Floor Price and Buy Now Price within 48 hours of receiving a sales lead.
The Buy Now Price is the price you want for your domain and at which it is promoted.
Your domain sells immediately when a buyer meets the buy now price.
The Floor Price is the absolute minimum price at which you are willing to sell your domain.
It is a binding price.

To set your Floor and Buy Now prices please log into My Afternic at:
https://www.afternic.com/dashboard


2. Contact your Afternic Sales Executive: Afternic Sales Team at xxx-xxx-7902 or t********@afternic.com
If you need assistance, your Afternic Sales Executive is available to help you develop
a winning pricing strategy and to negotiate with buyers to maximize your likelihood of a
quick, profitable sale.


3. Not sure how to price your domain? Get a domain appraisal. Studies show that domain
listings with appraisals sell 10 TIMES faster than those without an appraisal.
Show your potential buyers that your domain is appraised. Request an appraisal.

http://www.afternic.com/domain-name-appraisal

If you have any questions, our customer service team is available to help you develop a winning pricing strategy. You can reach our service team
at 866-351-9586 (Toll Free) or +1 781-839-7990 (Worldwide).

Best wishes for a successful sale,

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Btw, the email also contradicts what you said earlier:

Joe Styler said:

You don't need to respond with a price if you have a floor setup already.

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The email asks for a BIN price to be set and the language does not indicate that this is optional! So what is it? Optional or mandatory?

They need to know what you want to sell the domain for. BIN. You can also set a floor which would allow them to negotiate without having to go back and forth with you every time. The more friction that is involved in a sale the less likely it is to complete. Meaning if I do not have a price from you and have an interested buyer and need to tell them they cant buy the domain name now but need to wait for a price, that is friction. You then set a BIN price, we go talk to them hours later, they say no to the BIN price and counter offer. You have no floor set. We have to go back to you with a counter offer and see what you say. More friction more time elapsed. The more time and more friction introduced in a sale the less likely it is to close.
I could give you more details but it would take a long time you are best served by watching some videos we have on best practices.

Joe Styler said:

They need to know what you want to sell the domain for. BIN. You can also set a floor which would allow them to negotiate without having to go back and forth with you every time. The more friction that is involved in a sale the less likely it is to complete. Meaning if I do not have a price from you and have an interested buyer and need to tell them they cant buy the domain name now but need to wait for a price, that is friction. You then set a BIN price, we go talk to them hours later, they say no to the BIN price and counter offer. You have no floor set. We have to go back to you with a counter offer and see what you say. More friction more time elapsed. The more time and more friction introduced in a sale the less likely it is to close.
I could give you more details but it would take a long time you are best served by watching some videos we have on best practices.

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I understand and I promise that I will set a BIN, a Floor, a Reserve and a min offer the next time. But only if you answer the question that I asked that that you're so studiously ignoring. I'm talking about the absolute initial offer. What you're talking about is later in the sales cycle. Please note the bolded part in the sentence before the last. Please respond to why the absolute initial offer, before any negotiations, before any bin price or anything else, cannot be included in the e-mail notifying the seller about an interested party who's already made an offer!

I answered you I think. There isn't always an offer. If you want to know if there is you can ask the sales agents via [email protected]. Almost all opening offers where a domain has no price wind up being very low and not very helpful in the overall sales process. If you see something you want to buy with no price on it and are asked to make an offer are you going to make a big offer or a small offer not knowing what the other party values it at? Most people will offer on the low end. In most cases the opening offer is very low as a result. It's not very helpful for us to tell you there is a hundred dollar offer on a $5k domain. But if you want to know all you have to do is ask if there is an offer.

Joe Styler said:

I answered you I think. There isn't always an offer. If you want to know if there is you can ask the sales agents via [email protected]. Almost all opening offers where a domain has no price wind up being very low and not very helpful in the overall sales process. If you see something you want to buy with no price on it and are asked to make an offer are you going to make a big offer or a small offer not knowing what the other party values it at? Most people will offer on the low end. In most cases the opening offer is very low as a result. It's not very helpful for us to tell you there is a hundred dollar offer on a $5k domain. But if you want to know all you have to do is ask if there is an offer.

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@Joe Styler
Hey Joe I respect you
and you have always been very helpfull
thank you

but this answer is very week

the idea is to automate the email that is send
telling us that there is an interested party
and include an ( eventually existing ) offer in that email

if no offer = no offer in email
if offer = offer in email

Thank you for the pm @Joe Styler .It was good hearing from you .Now I know what to do next time.

Joe Styler said:

They need to know what you want to sell the domain for. BIN. You can also set a floor which would allow them to negotiate without having to go back and forth with you every time. The more friction that is involved in a sale the less likely it is to complete. Meaning if I do not have a price from you and have an interested buyer and need to tell them they cant buy the domain name now but need to wait for a price, that is friction. You then set a BIN price, we go talk to them hours later, they say no to the BIN price and counter offer. You have no floor set. We have to go back to you with a counter offer and see what you say. More friction more time elapsed. The more time and more friction introduced in a sale the less likely it is to close.

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The buyer brought a lot of that friction on themselves by not following the request for them to Make Offer in the first place. What you are effectively saying is Make Offer listings, aren't even worth entertaining because, your reaction, instead of insisting they make an offer, is to scuttle back to the seller and ask them for BIN and FLOOR prices. Whilst I understand you need this info for the urgency of a negotiation. Buyers must understand also that, a Make Offer listing is going to take time to negotiate, BECAUSE, the seller hasn't yet decided on the price. The Seller might need several offers before deciding on a price. Which is why I agree that every request for a BIN/FLOOR price MUST include the buyer's Offer Price. Because it's part of the negotiation you are not informing the seller of, on their Make Offer pricing. How can the Seller make an informed decision about the BIN/FLOOR pricing with no evidence of what buyers are prepared to pay.

Afternic are basically, not fulfilling their responsibilities as our broker, if they don't present us with the offers made on our Make Offer names. In fact. They are circumventing the entire raison d'etre of having Make Offer prices. AT ALL.

@Joe Styler - Prospective buyers should be told from the outset, that the Make Offer domain they are interested in, cannot be concluded in 1 phonecall/email because there is a process. First you make an offer. The offer will be presented to the seller. The seller will then consider their offer. And the seller will then make a decision as to whether to accept, reject, or counter offer. This is a process which takes time. A reasonable time-frame for this whole process would be 3-7 days. Put the buyers expectations of a purchase of a Make Offer domain in context with the reality. If they cannot spare that time. They should go find another domain with a Buy Now price. IMHO.

Joe Styler said:

I answered you I think. There isn't always an offer. If you want to know if there is you can ask the sales agents via [email protected]. Almost all opening offers where a domain has no price wind up being very low and not very helpful in the overall sales process. If you see something you want to buy with no price on it and are asked to make an offer are you going to make a big offer or a small offer not knowing what the other party values it at? Most people will offer on the low end. In most cases the opening offer is very low as a result. It's not very helpful for us to tell you there is a hundred dollar offer on a $5k domain. But if you want to know all you have to do is ask if there is an offer.

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Sure but not all offers are necessary super low! I did receive an offer once which was at a level I'd have possibly accepted. I set a floor and bin that was much higher than the offer and likely lost the sale as a result. I only found out the offer amount later! Had I known it ahead of time, I'd have set the floor around that level to ensure that the sale had a higher chance of success!

Edit: Also, based on your comment above (and earlier comments), I guess we should interpret it as /pure/ make offers are worthless and that a floor (which is basically a non-public BIN (largely) and a reserve are mandatory.

stub said:

The buyer brought a lot of that friction on themselves by not following the request for them to Make Offer in the first place. What you are effectively saying is Make Offer listings, aren't even worth entertaining because, your reaction, instead of insisting they make an offer, is to scuttle back to the seller and ask them for BIN and FLOOR prices. Whilst I understand you need this info for the urgency of a negotiation. Buyers must understand also that, a Make Offer listing is going to take time to negotiate, BECAUSE, the seller hasn't yet decided on the price. The Seller might need several offers before deciding on a price. Which is why I agree that every request for a BIN/FLOOR price MUST include the buyer's Offer Price. Because it's part of the negotiation you are not informing the seller of, on their Make Offer pricing. How can the Seller make an informed decision about the BIN/FLOOR pricing with no evidence of what buyers are prepared to pay.

Afternic are basically, not fulfilling their responsibilities as our broker, if they don't present us with the offers made on our Make Offer names. In fact. They are circumventing the entire raison d'etre of having Make Offer prices. AT ALL.

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100% agree

one rep of afternic once told me
"we are not a 'make offer' platform"

I thought of this as a fact
and didn't use afternic so much

If there is an offer you can ask and we will tell you. If you want us to ask for an offer we typically do in most cases but if you want to sell all your names on make offer you are missing out on a lot of sales. Our data shows this in the above videos.
That is still your choice. If that is the path you choose we will still work very hard to close a deal for everyone. We don't make any money unless we sell your domains so believe me we try hard to do that.
If you have certain criteria you can easily help speed up the process which will help your overall sales by either setting a floor price for your domains or by contacting the sales broker on our side and letting them know what you expect from names in your portfolio. The more they know about you and your domains the easier and faster they can help sell them.
If you want to list the domains without pricing that is fine we still work hard to get the sales closed and we get very wide exposure for the domains on our network of sellers on major websites so prospective buyers can see your domain is for sale.
If you want to sell the most domains you should watch the best practices keynote I included above from my boss which talks about how we sell our own portfolio of over 700k names and what we do to sell the most domains which is based on millions of sales and various other data points brought up in the video.

@Joe Styler - So now you are telling us you are making your very best efforts to sell our Make Offer domains, whereas above, you were practically begging, because of the urgency, that you needed the BIN/Floor pricing, whilst the inquiry was still hot, within 24hrs. I think you should recognize, that if you have a situation where, the domain is listed at Make Offer, and a buyer is "hot". That you should have a strategy in place, to deal with that, by lowering the buyer's expectations, because it's a Make Offer listing. So. What strategy are you employing in these situations? (Please re-read my previous post for a suggested strategy. If you need one).

I think I can speak for all of us here. WE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO ASK WHAT THE OFFER WAS. It should be included in your eMail approach to us. FROM THE OUTSET. As our right. Not including that when you are asking for BIN/Floor pricing, is a degradation of your responsibilities, as our Broker. And will slow the process down even further. Please make that change, at least, to your communications with us. This is a serious omission from the current system.

If you don't want to sell domains with Make Offer pricing. You should remove it as an option. At least then we know for a fact, what appears to be in your heart. That you don't want to sell domains with Make Offer pricing.

If you do want to sell domains with Make Offer pricing. I think you need to develop a strategy for lowing the expectations of 'hot' buyers, who want to make a deal in 24hrs. Because it ain't going to happen. You should also treat us fairly. By always revealing the offer received, from the outset.

'Nuff said.

The first to talk, loses. Simple as that.

When we market domain names using "make offer", it is expected we receive an offer. Low offers are politely dismissed.

stub said:

within 24hrs

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For the sake of truth, it's 48hrs.

(Not that it changes a lot)

golan said:

For the sake of truth, it's 48hrs.

(Not that it changes a lot)

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I think he was quoting Joe's comment as reproduced below:

Joe Styler said:

If you do not have a price set we need you to tell us what you would accept, and we want you to tell us fast. There's a 20% higher close rate if we can get the buyer a price within the first 24 hours.

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anantj said:

I think he was quoting Joe's comment as reproduced below:

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Correct

OK sorry ))

golan said:

OK sorry ))

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No problem

I think you are misunderstanding me - and not watching the videos I posted. I am not saying we won't help close deals. I said emphatically we will on any listing and said if you do not sell we do not get paid I am not sure how much more important your sales can be than that to us.
What I am trying to lay out is the best practices for a sale from our data based on literally millions of domain sales. You can sell a domain any way you want any listing type you want. What I am suggesting is what we have seen as best practices.
If you don't have a price or a floor set we have no idea what your expectation is and cannot speak to it. We can ask for an offer, many times people don't want to make one they want a price or they offer very little. This is a fact based on data from many sales transactions. It helps you to set an expectation of the price as a best practice. If not while I understand you would like to get a price on each sale request many do not have offers they just say they want to buy and want a price. On the ones that do have a price we do not have an easy way to send you that price automatically, we do have an easy way for you to contact us when asked about a price and discuss it with the broker who is working the sale.
That is really your best option if you are serious about selling your domain. If you sell a lot of domains, even several a month chances are we already know you and your pricing and negotiation style and can use it to speak to the buyer and get them to line up with your price expectation.
If you are not selling a lot of domains your best bet is to contact us talk with the broker see what they know about the seller discuss what you want out of the domain, a quick sale, a high price, etc and have them work on it. Those are your best options for successfully selling the domain.