Afternic - Bad Deal for Buyers?

[tykoblue]

I recently signed up for an Afternic exchange account, posted a few domains for sale, and started a small marketing campaign to promote them, pointing potential buyers to the auction. I foolishly didn't realize until later that there seems to be a pretty high bar for buyers to be able to make offers.

From what I can tell, buyers must 1) must sign up for a buyer account at $1 fee, and then 2) pay $39 per offer! In the first part, the fee is nominal but probably requires credit card information from the buyer, which is a nuisance. The second part seems like a rip off for the buyer, if they do not end up getting the domain.

Is what I gathered above really true? If so, it seems to me a pretty ridiculous system from the buyer's perspective, and a big problem for me because it will turn away potential buyers.

Does anyone else have any thoughts/opinions on this? As I understand it now, I don't think Afternic has the right sales model for me. I'm pretty sure that these barriers will turn away my potential buyers, because they are not domainers and they don't have the time or inclination to set up accounts, pay bunch of fees, etc. Can anyone tell me if Sedo has a better model for low barrier of entry for buyers? Any other options out there?

 

[AWest]

Hello tykoblue,

Thank you taking an interest in Afternic!

It seems that you have some misinformation regarding what is expected of a buyer at Afternic.

Yes, there is a membership fee. A buyer membership allows a buyer to make offers on as many listed domains as they choose at no additional cost. By having the buyers pay a minimal fee with a credit card, it weeds out some buyers who are not serious.

If a domain is NOT listed on Afternic, they can avail themselves of Afternic's Assisted Offer Service, which contacts the owner of the domain of interest, assists with negotations, and handles the escrow. This process is likely the $39 fee that you referred to.

If you have further questions/concerns, please feel free to contact me!

Best regards,

Amber West
Afternic.com
[email protected]

 

[tykoblue]

I apologize, I missed the fact that the $39 fee is only for non listed domains, that certainly does make more sense.

I think its great that you attempt to weed out non-serious buyers by having them sign up... still I wonder how many of my potential buyers actually go through with the process. They are not domainers or even techie types and probably have never heard of Afternic (versus say Ebay), even though you may be well known and trusted among the domainer community. I was concerned that it was just another barrier, and when your in the business of selling stuff I think its important to remove as many unnecessary barriers for buyers as possible.

I do like your service a lot by the way, I only started using it this week so it could be that I'm not really using it in the best way. I'm new to this business so I'm experimenting a lot with different sales/marketing approaches, I'm sure your company will continue to be a part of some of them.

Thanks for the quick response!

 

[AWest]

Tykoblue,

Glad to hear you are enjoying our services so far. If you have ANY questions as you are getting acclimated to our environment, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Best regards,

Amber West
Afternic.com
[email protected]