opinion Does the industry need another auction place?

AndyM said:

Let me know your thoughts and opinions and then watch this space!

Thanks in advanced
AndyM

Click to expand...

Definitely need. Even not 1, but 2-3 more such places, even paid, as well as more niche/news websites, thematic resources.

Yes a free entry, lightweight, easy to use, membership based platform, built around trade reviews.

Feedbacks should be as important if not more as on NamePros. Where buyers and sellers can build up credibility. Verification would NOT be for data collection and politically incorrect member categorization, but for real verification to make sure that X member is a real person with a real intention to do business. Bidder alias must be transparent, so no shill bidding is possible, and then the platform don't need to pretend that they are of course strictly against it...

A credit score of a certain person could be based on a good number of metrics, if you add your NP profile, one level higher, if you add your facebook profile, one level higher, and so on.
So a platform which is for domain buyers, and domain sellers, not for the management's pockets.

@Trent1000 Membership based is exactly what I'm thinking and so true about verification. I've already researched how long I would need to hold on to ID for purposes of verification and thankfully the result is "no longer than required for intended purpose"

Submit ID -> We verify -> we destroy ID. No need to keep it for any other purpose than verification. My thought was that if seller is verified they will have a badge on their profile.

AndyM said:

@Trent1000 Membership based is exactly what I'm thinking and so true about verification. I've already researched how long I would need to hold on to ID for purposes of verification and thankfully the result is "no longer than required for intended purpose"

Submit ID -> We verify -> we destroy ID. No need to keep it for any other purpose than verification. My thought was that if seller is verified they will have a badge on their profile.

Click to expand...

That's exactly right

The more options we as domainers have will help level the playing field but it will take a lot of work. I would try to do research on failed or struggling auction houses like boxcar, latonas, bido and see where they went wrong, a dedicated staff, customer service and advertising are a must. Trader ratings are helpful in this age of transparency. You have people like me who tend to bid on expired auctions more than p2p, for those you must find prerelease agreements and put auction links on the domain for more eyeballs.

AndyM said:

Just a general query.

Do you think the industry could benefit from another auction/market place.

A site built by domainers for domainers.
A site that wouldn't charge astronomical success fees and listing fee's.
A site that could potentially go into direct competition with Flippa. (eventually)

Let me know your thoughts and opinions and then watch this space!

Thanks in advanced
AndyM

Click to expand...

You got me I'm all ears.

Sure a couple one that caters for adult and another for gTld as well as liking ideas above.

Would like to hear more opinions before I start investing the time and effort in to this.

AndyM said:

Would like to hear more opinions before I start investing the time and effort in to this.

Click to expand...

I think your goals should be much bigger than flippa As should your credibility objectives. From what you have said so far, it sounds great.

I think we need something like Flippa but subscription based.
Flippa fees are way to high due to lack of competition. They get away with it because they basically can.

If I could pay $15/month. or something like that for unlimited submissions, I think that would be good.
To combat junk domains there could be a curator who approves/disproves domains.

Not to discourage you, because I'd love to see more QUALITY options .. but the truth is that we see a thread like this several times a year ... usually one or two sites get started .. but never end up with "the right stuff" and all end up fizzling out.

Yes, we need something new and way better.
I have myself few ideas but not enough time and knowledge to develop that

@dexdn feel free to pm your ideas. I'm making this my mission this year to develop this site. It will take some time as I'm working full time but I've spent the last 3 years back at uni to get my degree in web development and I want to make it work.

Good luck, let me know once it is done or in progress I am interested.

In my opinion it should have a really clean interface, like really simple dummy interface. Most of the marketplaces and such are way overcrowded and you usually do not find what you want, just because of that.

Just a wee update to let you know that development has begun. Once at a slightly more advanced stage I will share the url as it it would be great to have actual domainers test the platform. But here is small snap shot of what the UI will look like.

The new marketplaces that come out are usually bloated with way too many features, with poor usability and difficult for new buyers to sign up and buy listed domains.

I have considered launching a .COM only marketplace, to weed out all the other domain extension trash that I feel has devalued and hurt domaining as a whole.

Ategy.com said:

Not to discourage you, because I'd love to see more QUALITY options .. but the truth is that we see a thread like this several times a year ... usually one or two sites get started .. but never end up with "the right stuff" and all end up fizzling out.

Click to expand...

The main reason for fizzling out I think, is because nobody can build a website with the volumes needed to make it successful. We can't compete with the big boys like GoDaddy, Afternic, Sedo, SnapNames, NameJet. And without the volumes, buyers and sellers won't come. Also, I think the "right stuff" is subjective and differs with different people. But, IMHO, that is not the primary motivation for these new sites failing. But I would never discourage anyone from trying

Here's a small snapshot of how the listing page is looking. The search filter shuffles the panels around based on what button is clicked or what you start typing in the search bar.

I'm still on it...

So far I have an API to fetch your domain details when you add a domain - this includes info such reg/exp dates and registrar so you don't have to crawl through umpteen domains to get this info.

I have created custom email templates that will be sent through AWS (Amazon)

Paypal has been integrated for subscription payments and domain purchases. Escrow is there too for more expensive domains. Will look at other payment gateways such as SagePay and Stripe but this will be later down the line and will possible carry a premium.

Password reset is in, cause... they can be forgotten.

I've got the domain and the branding but that's a secret for just now. Hoping to launch a landing page in the next 2-3 weeks where you can register for launch day.



Gone for a slight re-design and changed colours as I thought it was a little too dark

I agree wholeheartedly with the change of color. Personally, I'd like to see it more monochromal (is that even a word). Most of the big boys are "monchromal" (black on white), probably for a reason. Less painful on the eyes. Less prone to being disliked by somebody.

I think you should also think of having at least POA (Request Price for non-priced domains).

stub said:

I agree wholeheartedly with the change of color. Personally, I'd like to see it more monochromal (is that even a word). Most of the big boys are "monchromal" (black on white), probably for a reason. Less painful on the eyes. Less prone to being disliked by somebody.

Click to expand...

Totally get you there stub. I personally like the yellow-ay/orangey-gold but I know I need to consider other users opinions. Hoping to replace those tiles with logos/images that the user can upload themselves.

stub said:

I think you should also think of having at least POA (Request Price for non-priced domains).

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've noticed that that option is becoming a bit of a trend now. Might just replace make offer with that option. Or add in as an additional list option.

I don’t like the idea. Another auction site means another hoop I have to jump through to get myself verified to participate in an auction. It also means another auction site to watch for. It’s more important to build a platform buyers want than one sellers want.