Advice About The Selling Process...

[TeeDot]

Hello good people,

I recently got into domaining 2 weeks ago after being in internet marketing and sales for a few years. I've also been a blogger and have known about many areas concerning the interwebz.

So I have built a 'portfolio' of about 60 domains this week. I had them all checked by 3 domain auto appraisers.

100% have an average value of 350 and over. About 40% of those are quoted $500-$1000 and over. I have about $1,000 and over.

I've been researching and rolling domains about 6 hours a day. They're not crap, I researched keywords for years so I'm not a noob, just to this model.


I want to either sell them or develop them. Many are niche though, good niches.

Anywyas, to cut to the chase, which are the best places to sell them?

Sedo? (just as domains)

Flippa? (as developed sites)

DM Forum?

Are there any others I should know about? I want to dump most of the portfolio and reinvest.

I'll figure out the HOW part of it just need the 'where' part.

 

[Erdy]

You can't make a crappy domain better. There is no such thing. You just need to forget about those and let them drop. Then buy better domains the next time.

Here is one strategy:
Park your domains at sedo. Then login to your sedo account and
1. click my sedo/my domains
2. change the view to "update sales settings"
3. On the right side it will show "Views of Offer"

This gives the number of people who opened your domain and then clicked on the link that says "this domain may be for sale". Just keep an eye on those numbers and let crappy domains drop.

When I first started I registered 30 totally rubbish domains and didn't make any money at all from any of them. But the following years I bought many expired domains for less than $100 and sold for up to $2000. I find this more profitable than any other strategy.

 

[TeeDot]

You can't make a crappy domain better. There is no such thing. You just need to forget about those and let them drop. Then buy better domains the next time.

Here is one strategy:
Park your domains at sedo. Then login to your sedo account and
1. click my sedo/my domains
2. change the view to "update sales settings"
3. On the right side it will show "Views of Offer"

This gives the number of people who opened your domain and then clicked on the link that says "this domain may be for sale". Just keep an eye on those numbers and let crappy domains drop.

Thank you for being specific.

You said ""good luck" with GEO + BIZ sites for end users. Are they bad ideas?

And BTW, I don't pickup sites that aren't getting at least 500 and above local exact phrase and 1200 global searches monthly...organically....out the box.

I just thought I heard that developing them would make them "better" but I think I confused SEDO with FLIPPA.

As in, they would gain value for FLIPPA, as a full site. Do you suggest me putting a shiny suit on some domains and heading on over to flip them as sites?

Thanks for the answers.

 

[Erdy]

As far as I know flippa is not a place you can just sell some average site to a clueless buyer based on questionable data.

They do check your monthly income and traffic carefully. I don't buy or sell any developed websites but I think they value sites between 60 to 100 times of their monthly net profit.

So if your site makes $10 a month you could sell it for $600 to $1000. However this is not what I can do because I'm a domainer, not a developer. I don't have time to spend on such sites. I spend my time searching for domains.

In my opinion developing websites is not a domainers job. Domainers have better things to do, like finding good domains.

 

[NLP]

P.S. I will NEVER post in the NEWBIE section again. I've learned my lesson.LOL

Well, you posted here for a reason. You're looking for input, and you have fewer than 15 posts. That makes you a newbie.

I'm not sure if you read my post, because you haven't commented at all.

People are giving you valuable information and to your credit, you seem to be headed in the right direction, and are asking the right questions. Nobody doubts your sales/marketing experience (which you have reminded us of *several times*), but the fact remains you're asking questions of people who have just a tad more experience in domain investing and developing than you do.

I'm sure your names are well-researched, but just the fact that you're mentioning Flippa as a main way to sell to endusers shows that you have a bit more reading to do, IMHO.

If you want to sell to endusers and not other resellers, you'll need to focus more on Sedo and similar marketplaces, and shop the names to potential buyers yourself. There are excellent threads on other parts of this board with advice on how to do that (although I'm pretty sure your response will be "No offense, but I already know all that").

Erdinc's advice about Sedo is excellent. You'll be able to gauge the interest on your names by seeing what offers come in (or don't come in, as the case may be).

 

[thoughtwrong]

A few weeks ago I hand registered a domain and sold it the same day.

This may be getting a little off topic, but I read this whole thread and this statement confused me.

I am new to domaining and have been reading a lot, but I was under the impression that whenever a new domain is registered or transferred it has a 60 day lock on it from ICANN.

I may be wrong or confused, but if this is the case, then how would you sell a domain name that you registered and sell it the same day?

 

[NLP]

If this is the case, then how would you sell a domain name that you registered and sell it the same day?

Most likely, the buyer had an account with the same registrar, so the domain was able to be "pushed" to their account. A push is much easier to do internally within the registrar vs. a transfer. The 60-day transfer lock for newly registered names is a security measure.

 

[TeeDot]

NLP,

I have thanked everyone for their advice numerous times, but that is probably looked over.

I did read your posts.

I was told by others that Flippa was the place for selling sites, or flipping them. I just found out about it recently.

I DID NOT or DO NOT think it's a "main way" to sell yo end users. That would be absurd. There are tons of ways which are more direct and efficient.


About SEDO..I am now getting that Sedo is a good place to sell and gauge response.


These are the things I came here to learn and I am thankful for all the input, I've said it time and time again.

It's frustrating because while I'm not new, I'm new at THIS.

It's like a painter whos painted for years, whos never decided to sell his paintings. He tries to learn the process of selling them, but the gallery people are giving him tips on painting, when he just wants to know the best way to SELL them for the best price and the widest audience.


What you see is my frustration because this thread turned into something different than I intended and I feel I've had to go on the defensive which happens to EVERY newcomer into a forum....

And again, I appreciate ALL INPUT from people. It takes time to bother to write a response to someone asking question. I am grateful and this is the last time I'm going to make that clear.

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:43 AM ----------

I am new to domaining and have been reading a lot, but I was under the impression that whenever a new domain is registered or transferred it has a 60 day lock on it from ICANN.

*RECORD SKIPS*

Come again? I have to wait 60 days to sell a domain?

 

[Erdy]

There is a new thread here about transferring:
http://www.namepros.com/domain-newbies/682368-transfering-new-domain.html#post3958859

Basically you need to push the domain within the same registrar if it is locked for transferring. Transfer means moving to another registrar. For instance from Godaddy to Namecheap.

TeeDot,
1. Login to your namecheap account
2. Click My account/manage domains
3. Click on the domain you want to sell
4. Now on the left menu click "list domain for sale" and then click the "list domain" button that appears
5. Give the domain a price and chose 90 days and and click "add".
6. your domain will appear here:
http://www.namecheap.com/marketplace/index.asp

What you can do is, you can copy the domain's listing page URL and forward the domain to that page. Namecheap has a video that explains how to forward:
http://namecheap.simplekb.com/kb.show?show=article&articleid=552&categoryid=2

Here is another video for listing domains for sale:
http://namecheap.simplekb.com/kb.show?show=article&articleid=477&categoryid=2

On the left menu click "Interactive Demos" for all their videos.

When your domain sells at namecheap you don't do anything at any stage. The transfer is automated.

Let's say you started your namecheap account with $50 USD and kept selling and buying new domains at namecheap. The funds that are coming from domain sales will be added to your account balance. So you have a closed system where you know that you have not spend more money then the initial $50. Of course you can also transfer out to your paypal account if you want.

Recently I suggested namecheap to rise their price limit for the domain listings and they listened. Now you can list domains for up to $1000 instead the usual $250 which was the old limit. I think namecheap marketplace is undervalued. It is 10 times better then godaddy marketplace.

On godaddy I pushed the domain to Godaddy's account and they are still trying to make the buyer accept the domain to his Godaddy account. Everything is done manually with emails. It has been a week and we still didn't manage to get the domain from my account to buyers godaddy account after the buyer made the payment.

At namecheap this would be done automatically in seconds.

 

[TeeDot]

Thanks Erdinc,

I am printing your posts for reference.

I knew about the 60 day transfer rule but I did NOT know that I couldn't sell within 60 days...if the end buyer has a different registrar.

So here's my issues.

1) I have multiple domains at namecheap and Goddady. LOVE namecheap, hate Godaddy but Godaddy had a discount and namecheap ran out of good coupon codes. My names at Goddady are newer, the names at namecheap have passed the 60 day mark.

2) I wanted to put my domains up at Sedo like you said. "Park" them there. Can I push my Namecheap and Godaddy ones there?

3) Will I be able to sell them on SEDO if the buyer uses the same registrars as my domains are at?

4) I also remembered all my namecheap domains are hosted at HostGator.Now that I'm in domaining I should let Name Cheap self host because having a third party in the process is inefficient.

Finally, I don't really want to use Godaddy and Namecheap marketplace because I feel my names are worthy of a huge marketplace and need bigger exposure....thoughts?


And I thought your method of SEDO to quick flip these was on the right track, so I want to stick with that, but now I'm floored by the thought that I can't SELL them yet?


ARRGGGGGGG.....no way.

Meaning I can't put my newer Godaddy ones on SEDO market and have a buy for 60 days?

 

[NLP]

Parking is different than pushing. Pushing refers to transferring ownership of the domain to a different person's account. Parking is just wherever you have your nameservers pointed - you don't necessarily have to have hosting for this.

To list & park at Sedo, all you have to do is add the domains to your Sedo account and point the nameservers (at your registrar) to Sedo's nameservers - NS1.SEDOPARKING.COM and NS2.SEDOPARKING.COM.

You can list domains on sedo as soon as you register them - if they were to sell immediately (not likely) there would be some delay in transferring to a new registrar. There's no delay in pushing to someone who also has an account with your registrar.

The first thing I usually do with my domains is point them and list them on Sedo.

 

[Erdy]

... namecheap ran out of good coupon codes.

When you have 50 domains in your namecheap account contact them and ask for a permanent discount code. The code is called golddeal and your account will be activated for that code to work if you have 50 domains.

2) I wanted to put my domains up at Sedo like you said. "Park" them there. Can I push my Namecheap and Godaddy ones there?

Yes you can list both your namecheap and your godaddy domains for sale at sedo. To do this,
1. change the nameservers of your doamin to ns1.sedoparking.com and ns2.sedoparking.com
2. Wait a few hours for the nameservers to be activated. If you don't like waiting do the nameserver change the night before. When you open the domain you should see a sedo page. If you don't then wait until you see it.
3. Go to your sedo account and click my sedo/add domains and the domains will be added to your account. Then you can set the prices.

3) Will I be able to sell them on SEDO if the buyer uses the same registrars as my domains are at?

Don't worry about that. When the buyer makes and offer you can not know what registrar they are using. If they use a different registrar than godaddy, sedo will ask you for epp code (transfer code). Instead providing the code you will post a message in the transfer dialog page explaining the domain is locked.

4) I also remembered all my namecheap domains are hosted at HostGator.Now that I'm in domaining I should let Name Cheap self host because having a third party in the process is inefficient.

If you are listing at sedo you should park at sedo meaning the nameservers will not be namecheap or hostgator but it will be ns1.sedoparking.com and ns2.sedoparking.com

Finally, I don't really want to use Godaddy and Namecheap marketplace because I feel my names are worthy of a huge marketplace and need bigger exposure....thoughts?

Be prepared to let domains drop after one year if they are not getting much attention by potential buyers at sedo. In an earlier message I explained the "views of offer" feature. You might think your domains are great but you might find out people won't pay even $5 USD for them. So what do you do? You let them drop.

There was a guy a here who tried to sell all his portfolio. I think he had over 30 domains. He said he can't stand the stress anymore and domaining caused family problems. So he listed all his domains as a package here at namepros and he was getting a very low offer, a few dollars if I remember correctly.

...I'm floored by the thought that I can't SELL them yet?

You can sell them now. What you can't do is to transfer out from godaddy.

Meaning I can't put my newer Godaddy ones on SEDO market and have a buy for 60 days?

You can.

 

[TeeDot]

Okay thanks, I think I get it now. Great advice.

I'll point both neamecheap and Godaddy domains to SEDO'S nameservers. I have been reading around SEDO's FAQ page, a lot easier than me asking here.

I'll watch the views on the names to weed out the dudds.

Don't you find that most buyers have accounts in GoDaddy and Namecheap? I would assume they would...or should.

Anyways, I'm relieved that I can start selling them.


NLP,

You said 'not likely'. I've heard that a few times on different forums. Is there a reason? Like, are new domains sorta 'taboo' to buyers?

And thanks for clearing up "push" vs. "park". I'm seeing the bigger picture now.

 

[NLP]

I said not likely because there is a very small statistical probability of your domains selling within days, or even weeks, of being added to Sedo. It's all about eyeballs and exposure, and the names will be a few among thousands of listed domains - so your exposure will be limited to people who are specifically searching for those terms, and doing WhoIS lookups (something domainers do daily, but that sometimes even sophisticated endusers don't even know exists).

We've seen it too many times. The reason people are skeptical of hand regs because all too often, the names were available for a reason. They were either dropped by someone else, or were never registered in the first place. Can you still find decent examples? Sure. But it's hit and miss.

Getting expired domains that were at least being used ensures that somebody saw some value in the name. Typically the names purchased in the aftermarket have more resale value than hand regs.

New names don't necessarily suffer from stigma, but older domains that have been "aged" and are already indexed in Google are more valuable. Also, people can check the WhoIS and see that you recently registered them, which kind hurts your case if you're trying to sell them for 10-100x the reg fee.

There's so much that goes into selling besides listing on Sedo. The names that sell are most likely being sold by people that are listing their names multiple places, networking with other domainers, shopping the names to clients via email, and promoting their business via Twitter, the forums, and their websites.

Yes, people do search for the names they want, and sometimes you get offers that way. But it usually doesn't happen immediately.

 

[Erdy]

I said not likely because ... the names will be a few among thousands of listed domains

Not thousands but millions. There are 16 millions domains listed at sedo according this page:
https://www.sedo.co.uk/uk/about-us/overview/?tracked=&partnerid=&language=e

When I contacted them a few months ago they said their for sale list has millions of domains and therefore they can not give me list because it is too big.

I just made a search on this page:
https://www.sedo.co.uk/search/searchresult.php4?language=e

According search results there are 6.925.203 dot com domains listed for sale, excluding other extensions. That is a lot of domains. You could list all your domains at sedo and keep renewing them for a few years and still not get any offers at all.

I think if you have 1000 average quality domains you could get one offer every month.

Edit:
I made some more tests at sedo. Among these 6.925.203 dot com domains that are listed there for sale, the number of domains that received any offer is 102.600. This is 1.5%. There is less than 2 percent chance a random domain will get any offers at sedo.

 

[TeeDot]

I disagree about hand regs though.

If someone has the imagination and knowledge to make them dig a certain niche to death for high value keyword rich domains, then the fact that the never were reg'd before is moot.

That's like saying because you were smart enough to find a gem in the ground, by default it's not worthy of being a gem because nobody found it before...?

Almost every name I am scooping has DEFINITIVE keyword value and SPECIFIC searches for those terms in the mid hundreds to thousands locally.

And with the sheer numbers of URLS registered that are, what's the word, "pigeon poop" I've seen the lists at Sedo...and most SUCK.

I can fully understand why a small percentage get bids....I wouldn't bid on 99% of the names there either. It's like wading through an ocean of dung.

So yeah....perfectly makes sense.

 

[Corey]

just out of interest what extension are these names in?

Cheers
Corey

 

[NLP]

I disagree about hand regs though.

If someone has the imagination and knowledge to make them dig a certain niche to death for high value keyword rich domains, then the fact that the never were reg'd before is moot.

No. In my post on the previous page, I stated that I've had success with .DE handregs, and a few .coms. It can certainly be done, despite what people tell you. It's just that with limited information about the names at hand, we can only advise you based on what the majority of people do, and most people's hand regs they acquire in the first 3-6 months of domaining aren't great.

Ask anybody on the board whether they'd rather have a domain from 2001 that's been indexed in Google and Alexa and has changed hands a few times for $200, or a hand-reg that was picked up last week.

Is that saying that ALL hand-regs are crap? No. But the probability of them being "gold nuggets" that were recently uncovered is slim.

 

[Name Trader]

... And of the 1.5% which get offers, how many are accepted? Rhetorical question. It just justifies what Erdinc is saying. It's hard to sell anything but premium quality domains at Sedo, or in fact anywhere else.

A domain with an Estibot value (taken with a pinch of salt) for $500-$1000 with low searches and/or $0.05 CPC, probably isn't worth buying or selling (sweeping generalization). And probably won't sell on Sedo either. If only the .com is registered, that's also a warning sign that it won't sell.

 

[TeeDot]

just out of interest what extension are these names in?

Cheers
Corey

I only deal in .coms right now....all .coms

---------- Post added at 11:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:07 AM ----------

and most people's hand regs they acquire in the first 3-6 months of domaining aren't great.

I agree...but I'm not 'new' to this...just selling them.

Is that saying that ALL hand-regs are crap? No. But the probability of them being "gold nuggets" that were recently uncovered is slim.

Slim for a lot, but I believe people aren't using the right methods or looking in the right places. Sorry I'll say it over and over and over.

Like I said, I am new to SELLING DOMAINS. I have been in sales and online marketing for nearly 5 years and have done collectively thousands of hours of keyword research BEFORE I got into this.

I literally had my own system of research YEARS before I came here. Just because some domaining newbie before me has had troubles does not mean I am in the same boat.

I understand your skepticism, but it's unwarranted with me personally.

I find keyword domians valued at 1,200 or higher at least two times a day. With EXACT search terms, local and global traffic, and very able to be monetized for niches or general 'other' categories.

When I do research I am FLOORED by the missed nuggets out there. Everytime I open my browser and my hunting spots, it's like open season on ducks.

But if some want to say 'bah humbug' or "nahhhhhh", by all means, do so. LOL

More for me.

---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ----------

A domain with an Estibot value (taken with a pinch of salt) for $500-$1000 with low searches and/or $0.05 CPC, probably isn't worth buying or selling (sweeping generalization). And probably won't sell on Sedo either. If only the .com is registered, that's also a warning sign that it won't sell.

And what if the majority of your finds are mostly estimated $800 value with .50 and above CPC or mostly estimated as $1000-1500 with $1.25 -2.50 CPC?

Jus sayin....:sold:

 

[NLP]

I'm done responding to this guy.

Most of the people who post on this board aren't nearly as defensive and full of themselves with 25 posts to their name. If you think what I'm saying is a crock of horses***, by all means contact some of the people with 2500+ posts and ask them what they think of your names, then tell them you already know everything.

If your names are fantastic, that's great! You shouldn't be here posting and ripping on people who actually have domain sales (note that I specified domains) under their belts.

If you have all the answers already, don't waste your time posting here - get to work and sell lots of names! I've spent an inordinate amount of time already replying to your posts and PMs, and all I get is attitude. It's not worth it.

Peace out, and best of luck to you! May your name get written up in DNJournal several times over.