mambooo
New Member
- Impact
- 2
Hi!
I'm starting domain selling after reading lot of content in the topic in the last few months (few years ago I sold one domain for $200, but it was a one time thing).
I can see that even the professionals arguing about strategies and tactics, so I decided to summarize what I learnt so far, how I planning to start and ask you to review it. I have some questions too, it would make me very happy if you can answer them. I hope it can help other rookies out there.
My ongoing and planned process:
I started to register domains on GoDaddy and I already had some domains on Namecheap. Marketplaces have different fees, GoDaddy is quite expensive, but first I thought that they have the largest reach in the world, so probably it's worth to pay more per domains and have more potential buyers thorugh GoDaddy Auction site and Afternic. Then I realize, it's not so simple, because if my strategy is to reach the potential buyers throught direct sales (uniqe emails one by one), I could park the domains in the cheapest place that is still safe and have a good service. After reading more about direct sales and marketplaces, auction solutions I thought the best if I use both the same time.
So now that's the plan:
Of course I have tons of questions but these are the basics. I really appreciate your attention and it would be nice if you could share your opinions about my plans and answer some of the questions.
Thanks,
mambooo
I'm starting domain selling after reading lot of content in the topic in the last few months (few years ago I sold one domain for $200, but it was a one time thing).
I can see that even the professionals arguing about strategies and tactics, so I decided to summarize what I learnt so far, how I planning to start and ask you to review it. I have some questions too, it would make me very happy if you can answer them. I hope it can help other rookies out there.
My ongoing and planned process:
I started to register domains on GoDaddy and I already had some domains on Namecheap. Marketplaces have different fees, GoDaddy is quite expensive, but first I thought that they have the largest reach in the world, so probably it's worth to pay more per domains and have more potential buyers thorugh GoDaddy Auction site and Afternic. Then I realize, it's not so simple, because if my strategy is to reach the potential buyers throught direct sales (uniqe emails one by one), I could park the domains in the cheapest place that is still safe and have a good service. After reading more about direct sales and marketplaces, auction solutions I thought the best if I use both the same time.
So now that's the plan:
- I have a base website (domshine dot com) that branded and I create unique landers myself for all of my domains like this: domshine dot com / domaintomato. In this case I can make potential buyers to contact me directly and I can avoid to pay 15-20% commission on marketplaces. I would send these landers url to the target audience when I direct mail them.
Q: Is it a good idea to put a line next to the BIN price on my landers that says the buyer can nagotiate or is it lower the profit too much? E.g. Have another price in mind? / Do you have other offer? Contact us.
I don't want to lose any potential lead because they think they can not negotiate when they see a relatively higher BIN price.
- I found that Escrow.com can be a trusted solution for those buyers who are not familiar with domain business. But after deeper examination, it seems that the commission level only good there if you sell higher priced domains as it has a $25 additional fee if your bank is not in the US (regarding paypal and credit card payments, I don't count on wire transfer). I know, everybody wants to sell much higher priced domains where this $25 doesn't count too much, but I think it's worth to mention. If you want to sell a domain for $100 with 10% commission and this $25 additional fee added (outside US), its minus 35%. Because of this, the optimal solution can be Sedo.com for lower priced domains where the commission is only 10% for parked, buy now domains (commission rising based on the type of sale).
Q: Would you use Sedo as a main parking place where you can keep your portfolio?
Q: Do you use Escrow.com? What's you opinion?
Q: People using PayPal as payment method without any escrow function. How can they trust this process? It seems very risky.
- I would also list the domains on marketplaces with higher prices than on my own landers so the commission wouldn't eat the profit. I can see experienced domainers say you should list your domains all of the big marketplaces (GoDaddy, Afternic, Sedo, Namejet, Flippa, Namecheap, Namepros, Name.com, Dynadot, Namesilo, etc.) and there are also experienced domainers say that it's unnecessary, you can go with 2-3 marketplaces. Honestly it's hard to imagine that a domainer check Dynadot, Namecheap and Flippa but doesn't care about GoDaddy/Afternic and Sedo. It's also a huge task to manage all the domains, change prices on all the marketplaces.
Q: Is it enough if I use only GoDaddy/Afternic for auctions and maybe Sedo? (parallel with direct email sales as I mentioned before).
Q: I'm not greedy, I'm ok with higher commissions if the service bring me sales. Is it worth playing with different pricing on my own landers and on marketplaces or it's just cause unnecessary risk because the rised prices could be too high for marketplace buyers?
- So unique landers for all domain names set up by myself with BIN price (and maybe mentioning that buyers can negotiate); domains listed on GoDaddy/Afternic and maybe Sedo with 10-12% higher prices than on my landers; and I can start direct mail my target audience. I do market research and lists with potential buyers and contact information, and create a basic template email I can alternate later. I send direct emails one by one with unique subject line (E.g.: xyblahblahxy.com - Domain name offer for Exact Company Name) and necessary changes in email body text.
OPTION A: When they reply my email we can negotiate in emails maybe phone/video calls, and I can tell them, if there are other bids. I assume that not many buyers will accept the BIN immediately, so BIN prices just set the stage for negitations. Finally we use Escrow.com to make the deal, everybody is happy.
OR
OPTION B: Drop original plan. I just make it simpler, don't care about creating own landers and using Escrow.com and in sales emails I forward everybody to an auction site where they can see each other bids and deadlines.
I think Option A keep more profit in your pocket at the end of the day but needed more work to do. Option B seems easier to manage and I also read that seeing auctions can be motivators for buyers (time limit, other bids). Downside: if there are no bids they can see there are nobody to compete with and they keep their own offers low or just lost interest. Also looks more impersonal, because if I don't communicate the leads closer just forwarding them to an auction site, maybe they just leave the whole story behind.
Q: Option A or Option B? Or Option C?
- Bonus question: I read that GEO domains are dead because Google doesn't like them anymore, but I can also see that many domainers still build strategy on them. I really like GEO, so I would be happy if the first part won't be true. What do you think?
Of course I have tons of questions but these are the basics. I really appreciate your attention and it would be nice if you could share your opinions about my plans and answer some of the questions.
Thanks,
mambooo