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dande

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I think Epik is building the best ever Domain Lander in the history of domaining, and it really needs to be talked about extensively. That's why I am creating this discussion thread. A lot of thought process really goes into the project. And I can see (for the first time) a landing page that is built from the stand point of domainers rather than for just the marketplace itself.

Everything you have ever dreamt of getting or seeing in a professional landing page can be found in the new Epik marketplace landing page design.

Some of my Favorites Features:


1. The ability to optimize your "domain for sale" landing page to actually rank on Google, displaying your sales pitch/domain description. I just did that with few of my generic domain names such as ASAP.TV, targeting certain keywords, and they are showing pretty well on Google. That's a huge plus in my marketing effort.

2. Being able to change background image is another huge one for me. If you are good with pictures and images, you will surely find this very useful. I did that with Nagasaki.org and the result was truly amazing, showing the city of Nagasaki right at the background.

There are too many positive features and I don't want to mention all of them, all alone :xf.grin::xf.grin:

So I am leaving you guys to share and discuss what you loves most or dislike about the new Epik marketplace and the landing pages.


The only negative for me is the checkout process. There are too many terms and conditions buttons to tick before checking out. It will be nice if they can streamline those into one beautiful big button :xf.cool:

They also need to place the checkout button directly under the payment options. Right now it is awkwardly place somewhere below at the sidebar, which I don't find cool at all.

Sales experience is also welcomed in this discussion. I haven't had any sells so far at Epik because I started using the marketplace just recently, but the future is looking so bright.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
not sure if it's a right place to ask but anyway...

Epik has 25+ representatives here on NP (excluding @Rob Monster) proudly wearing this badge:
Source: this section of NP Member directory


Most of them though are freshly regged in 2019 accounts with 0-20 posts.
None has their role at Epik clearly indicated, if any.

Who are these random people from random countries?


Show attachment 138684

just curious..
A few joined Epik recently; And others are not too much active on NP but still have a badge since they have an important role at Epik
There are still more Established members than new members

Gube
 
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Every individual joining Epik that wants to join the forum, does so in an attempt to share their personal experience or expertise. They will be adding their talents to help us respond to your questions faster, spread important communications, and improve your overall experience with Epik. I encourage you to get to know them as individuals, not just as another account for Epik.

You won't see an increase in self-promotion, just more value.


not sure if it's a right place to ask but anyway...

Epik has 25+ representatives here on NP (excluding @Rob Monster) proudly wearing this badge:
Source: this section of NP Member directory


Most of them though are freshly regged in 2019 accounts with 0-20 posts.
None has their role at Epik clearly indicated, if any.

Who are these random people from random countries?


Show attachment 138684

just curious..
 
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Every individual joining Epik that wants to join the forum, does so in an attempt to share their personal experience or expertise. They will be adding their talents to help us respond to your questions faster, spread important communications, and improve your overall experience with Epik. I encourage you to get to know them as individuals, not just as another account for Epik.

You won't see an increase in self-promotion, just more value.

that would be a convenient change
 
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How is it possible that payment plans (Lease-to-Buy / Rental Plans) have not been easily available everywhere?
While the payment plans at Epik are masterfully easy to implement, can be customized to a greater degree than others, and do not have limits on size of sale, it is important to realize that payment plans are offered other places as covered in this article.

I realize this is an Epik thread (and I happily have their payment plans implemented with most of the domains I have at Epik), but just wanted not to leave the impression they are the only place. Personally while I have more payment plans at Epik than anywhere else, I do have them easily implemented at two other places as well.

Epik were of course one of the first in the payment plan space, and the first marketplace I believe to implement them. I am surprised that they are not available everywhere, and agree with @Rippa on that sentiment.

Bob
 
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not sure if it's a right place to ask but anyway...

Epik has 25+ representatives here on NP (excluding @Rob Monster) proudly wearing this badge:
Source: this section of NP Member directory


Most of them though are freshly regged in 2019 accounts with 0-20 posts.
None has their role at Epik clearly indicated, if any.

Who are these random people from random countries?


Show attachment 138684

just curious..

Great question and totally appropriate.

They should probably be more methodical about introducing themselves or updating their profile pages so that their Epik roles are more obvious. I will relay that feedback. We can and should make it easier to find the right person within Epik!

As for who they are, ICYMI, we have been hiring 2-3 people per week. This is partly a result of announcing the openings for hiring of staff here:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/hi...ct-managers-and-executive-leadership.1162639/

Last night, we announced internally two more Epik hires who are also NP members:

@DnFolk - Also known as "Vicky", joined as Product Manager from India to work on our next-generated Digital Assets Marketplace where people can sell, lease, finance and manage bundled solutions comprised of any combination of domain, hosting, social handles, and software assets.

@DAMILOLA OYEWALE - Also known as "Paul", joined as Brand Ambassador for Africa. He is based in Nigeria. His emphasis is on social media and market education following the recent relaunch of DomainGraduate.com.

To the casual observer it might seem random, but if you read the hiring plan outlined in the above post, it is not so random.
 
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@Rob Monster The appraisal tool (https://appraise.epik.com/) hasn't been working properly lately. It's appraising some domains while other domains aren't being appraised. It seems totally random. Examples from the last few minutes: I'm checking Busted.com and getting its appraisal. But when I check Busting.com I get no result. When I check Swim.com, I get no result. When I check Prefer.com I get its appraisal. I'm logged into my account while checking. The results can change during different times. So for example, tomorrow morning Busting.com might get a result. I haven't been able to figure out a pattern.

I contacted your support 5 or 6 times already but this matter isn't being fixed. It's been going on for a few weeks now. I hope you guys can solve this bug.

Thanks!
 
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@Rob Monster The appraisal tool (https://appraise.epik.com/) hasn't been working properly lately. It's appraising some domains while other domains aren't being appraised. It seems totally random. Examples from the last few minutes: I'm checking Busted.com and getting its appraisal. But when I check Busting.com I get no result. When I check Swim.com, I get no result. When I check Prefer.com I get its appraisal. I'm logged into my account while checking. The results can change during different times. So for example, tomorrow morning Busting.com might get a result. I haven't been able to figure out a pattern.

I contacted your support 5 or 6 times already but this matter isn't being fixed. It's been going on for a few weeks now. I hope you guys can solve this bug.

Thanks!

Sorry about that -- some API quotas are getting maxed out due to growth in popularity. We'll see if we can bump that capacity up dramatically. Should be solved soon.

I am also considering a pivot in our appraisal engine to make it smarter and relying on expanded data to deliver better appraisals notably for brandables where we know the estimates are low.

We have some really big upgrades coming in the next 30 days. Our dev investment is at an all time high as the development effectiveness is also increasing.
 
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@Rob Monster Thanks a lot! Really hope this will indeed get fixed. Yeah, Estibot's engine is 99.9% of the time clueless when it comes to brandables. So if you guys will come up with something- that'll be awesome. Keep up the great work!
 
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@Rob Monster Thanks a lot! Really hope this will indeed get fixed. Yeah, Estibot's engine is 99.9% of the time clueless when it comes to brandables. So if you guys will come up with something- that'll be awesome. Keep up the great work!

We have indicated the desire to take prices higher in the industry based on what we see happening with retail sales that is not being reported in NameBio so I do believe we can add value there.

With the upcoming launch of WhoQ.com, we should also be looking at tying the appraisals into that UX with the link to the appraisal page. This way retail customers who look up WHOIS will also see retail valuations.

I think you see what I mean. Too often we have retail buyers quoting Estibot as being the basis for why they are not willing to pay market prices. That is a self-fulfilling outcome that we can address.

@vitigo
@Gube
 
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@Rob Monster Tying the appraisals to WHOIS searches will definitely be a smart move, especially when the appraisals will reflect market value for all domains, including brandables. I'm wondering- what data are you going to use in order to analyze brandables correctly?
 
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The appraisal tool has been working great for the last couple of days. Thanks for fixing this problem!
 
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The appraisal tool has been working great for the last couple of days. Thanks for fixing this problem!

Thanks.

That was just a capacity increase due to growing popularity of the service and maxing out certain data quotas for API services.

That said, a lot more upgrades coming, including before year-end, and especially leading up to NameCon. We'll see what we can deploy this week in time for the holidays.

As for the appraisal engine upgrade, that is still in the planning stages and will be part of the retail facing marketplace upgrade outlined here:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/he...he-ultimate-digital-brand-marketplace.1167901
 
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there is no need for another

"appraisal"

tool at all

as the existing have done enough harm to domainers already
 
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there is no need for another

"appraisal"

tool at all

as the existing have done enough harm to domainers already

I hear you on the downside of appraisal tools. Unfortunately, too many people know that these tools exist.

A truly new appraisal engine is not a high priority project but I do see it happening in 2020 and it being especially helpful for undervalued brandables.

Also, I do see this retail-oriented appraisal engine as being a positive for domainers who may need leverage to push bids to a higher level before completing a sale.
 
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@frank-germany Appraisal tools have drawbacks and their output certainly shouldn't be treated as gospel (especially for brandables) but they can serve as pretty good screening tools. In the lower range they're all over the place but once you go above a certain threshold it becomes increasingly rare to find crap. It's a little like aged domains. Not all aged domains are good (in fact most aren't), but chances of a good domain being aged are higher. Also, appraisal tools can be used to your advantage in negotiations in some cases. Since appraisal tools are here to stay, might as well use them to your advantage when possible.
 
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@frank-germany Appraisal tools have drawbacks and their output certainly shouldn't be treated as gospel (especially for brandables) but they can serve as pretty good screening tools. In the lower range they're all over the place but once you go above a certain threshold it becomes increasingly rare to find crap. It's a little like aged domains. Not all aged domains are good (in fact most aren't), but chances of a good domain being aged are higher. Also, appraisal tools can be used to your advantage in negotiations in some cases. Since appraisal tools are here to stay, might as well use them to your advantage when possible.

when finding a high valuated domain using an appraisal tool
there will be a lot of competitions, too

so it might be easier to go for the competition data and bid on domains with high competition


low results of an appraisal tool will be used
against you more often
than you will be able to use it in your favor
 
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I hear you on the downside of appraisal tools. Unfortunately, too many people know that these tools exist.

A truly new appraisal engine is not a high priority project but I do see it happening in 2020 and it being especially helpful for undervalued brandables.

Also, I do see this retail-oriented appraisal engine as being a positive for domainers who may need leverage to push bids to a higher level before completing a sale.

whom do you think will you impress?
the end-user who is savvy about appraisal tools will use godaddy
and not trust your tool.

the end-user who is non-savvy will not trust your tool
as they will smell scam.

the domainer who needs your tool is lost anyway.
 
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Appraisal tools = no. It was discussed a lot of times already... $$$ appraisal cannot help a professional domainer in any aspect. It does not mean that a domainer should not develop (internal) semi-automated screening and pricing tools, but they are specific to a particular portfolio and operational mode (more sales @ lower prices VS less sales @ higher prices). Comparable sales database = yes, but not public. If lets say yellow chair .com was sold for $500 at some point of time, and yellow chairS .com was sold for $5,000 - how these 2 facts can help an enduser to decide what would be a "fair" price for his desired black chair .com? And how should an appraisal tool act trying to appraise black chair .com in light of 2 very different comparable sales?
 
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@tonyk2000 I made a 6 figure income from domains this year and I use appraisal tools all the time, so I have to disagree with- "Appraisal tools = no. It was discussed a lot of times already... $$$ appraisal cannot help a professional domainer in any aspect". What is true is that they're mostly helpful for internal use.
 
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Public apprasal tools:

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION
Lakes Gas Co. v. Domain Administrator, DomainMarket.com
Case No. D2019-0830

<...>

This Panel takes notice that the estimated fair market value for this disputed domain name ranges from about USD 650 to about 2,300

<...>

... the Panel orders that the disputed domain name <lakesgas.com> be transferred to the Complainant

(quote end)
 
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@tonyk2000 Not arguing with you that appraisal tools can be used sometimes against owners, like in the case you quoted. But that's quite rare and doesn't apply to most domains. I'd be fine if these appraisal tools wouldn't be public. But they are public. So I try to make use of them.
 
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Public apprasal tools:

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADMINISTRATIVE PANEL DECISION
Lakes Gas Co. v. Domain Administrator, DomainMarket.com
Case No. D2019-0830

<...>

This Panel takes notice that the estimated fair market value for this disputed domain name ranges from about USD 650 to about 2,300

<...>

... the Panel orders that the disputed domain name <lakesgas.com> be transferred to the Complainant

(quote end)
Looking at the parts of the quote selected, it looks like the decision to accept or deny the complaint was solely based on the appraisal value, when actually it's just a detail
Everyone use these as he likes, but don't base your decision only on the ap value
but on the facts behind that number ;)

Gube
 
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but if it is 100% private... such as marketplace showing "recommended" price to a seller, and only to him, with some basis for such a recommendation (like comparable sales) - why not. This would be fine.
 
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@tonyk2000 I agree with you that having private appraisals would be overall better. But I don't think it's gonna happen. I do think that in some cases, end users can be convinced to pay a higher price if they get an appraisal from a source they trust. There's a reason Godaddy introduced that appraisal tool. At first I didn't like it, but with time it made more sense to me. In some cases it sucks because the appraisal isn't in your favor as an owner, but at other times it can help.
 
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i think some of appraisals should be fixed
similar sale in .net is $x,xxx (namejet) Epik showing $75 for .org
 
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