Afternic experiment of September 2020

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hi everyone,

Before I start sharing last month’s Afternic results, I would like to inform you that this is the last post of the experiment. The main reason I started sharing with you all was to make aware how Afternic landers are performing for my domains so others can gauge and decide accordingly for their portfolios. I believe I’ve shared enough of this experiment and it’s clear how the overall results are. Just to clarify this decision has nothing to do with this. I already made up my mind right at the start of last month about this decision.

Also I’ve no complaints with Afternic and I’m very happy with the overall results as well as the brokers and my rep. I’ll continue using their landers.

So coming back to the point, this is the 9th and last post of the Afternic experiment series after I published January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August results which I believe you’ll like.

The last month started with the blast and surprise. The first sale happened on the very first day of September in the shape of Aumet.com for $29,888. The buyer came in via Afternic lander. This was one of the interesting sales for me and I’ll tell you why. I received an offer of $17,500 GROSS from Afternic senior sales executive Richard Green on 27th August. He informed me that’s the buyer’s maximum offer. Mind you, that 17.5K offer was not the initial and the broker has already worked upon that lead. I responded back with some explanation as to why I would stick with the BIN and the potential of this domain. On 1st September, I received an email about funds secured by Afternic! The best thing in this deal was that the broker was able to convince the buyer to purchase at BIN with no room for him to negotiate. That was the standout thing for me. So kudos to Richard Green for making this deal to happen and he deserves a big applause for his expertise and professionalism.

One of my friends asked me to share the hold time so let me share it. Aumet.com was acquired more than 1 year back.

The next sale happened on 9th September of NewHold.com for $7,500. Initially we received an offer of $5,000 and after the broker went back and forth with the buyer, they raised up to $6,500. I had set a BIN of $9,888. I requested to push the buyer one last time and see if there is room to revise their offer and finally they presented $7,500 which I gleefully accepted. This one happened with GoDaddy.com. Hold time 1+ year.

Third sale was Shoppery.com which sold for $6,888 and once again via GoDaddy.com. Hold time 5+ years. Then the next one StitchAndSew.com for $1,988 was again via GoDaddy. Hold time less than 1 year.

Finally there was a sale of Cleverr.com which happened via partner registrar which had a BIN of $6,888. Hold time 1+ year.

And then there was a blasting sale and that too happened via partner registrar, The domain is Exicon.com which actually had a BIN of $50,000 but after going back and forth, finally I agreed to sell for $40,000. The interesting thing about this domain is that I had a BIN of $39,888 just 1 month before I received this particular inquiry. I just got a hunch to increase the price of this domain mainly because of the potential of this domain. I’m not sure if this triggered the buyer somehow or what but I was still happy to accept the 40K GROSS. Hold time 2+ years.

Finally there were 3 more domain sales of WayneMedia.com for $2,000 which I had a BIN of $2,988 but I agreed to sell for 2K. This sale was generated via Afternic lander. Hold time 1+ year. The last 2 sales happened via GoDaddy and were SxPro.com for $1,988 and Eudai.com for $1,888. Hold time was 2+ and 3 years respectively.

The sales happened via partner registrars, reminding you that you must keep your domains at a registrar which offers Fast Transfers. That gives an additional exposure to sell your domains.

The number of inquiries for August was almost 550 and the total number of domains at the end of last month just reached 4,300.

Total cost of acquisition was under $6,000 and total amount of sales was $99,028. Though I missed the 100K mark but I’ve no issues. I’m more than happy and hope the sales keep flowing in like the last month not only for me but for all of us so we can prosper altogether

On the other hand, my friend Muhammad Aamir from DotCorner was happy to share once again his September sales via Afternic which I’ve copied below:

SeoQueen.com for $2,900.
bStores.com for $7,500.

In general, it shows that there will always be ups and downs no matter how big or small a portfolio you’ve. But to get rid of some inconsistency of your sales is to build up your portfolio with a good number of domains along with quality. Having both quality + quantity is the best way to go. I know it takes a lot of hard and smart work, time, dedication, cash flow, etc. And I’m telling you this from my personal experience as well as reviewing fellow investor’s sales and flow.

Thank you Afternic, Richard Green, my relationship manager, the entire brokerage team and everyone involved in making the overall experience so wonderful.

Feel free to share your Afternic sales and/or give your feedback no matter how good or good it is

 

[WatchDogue]

Your " Afternic Experiment " series is among the most insightful, useful and informative of any series, articles or threads I have read on NamePros.

While this may be your final post in the series it is quite a tribute to your hard work, research and domain investments, a great Grand Finale to your series.

Enjoyed 'em all, thanks!

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Great sales...

It looks like you add BIN to all your domains at AN with fast transfer option. What happens if you receive a good offer at Sedo, or Dan for one of them, can you cancel fast transfer easily ? What if you cancel fast transfer and the buyer at Sedo just doesn't pay (happens very often, and everywhere)? (Also if a buyer doesn't pay at Sedo, you can't cancel the sale...you have to wait for a month or longer..)
Do you ever add BIN without fast transfer?: what happens if there is a BIN and no fast transfer, and domain expires, and then "gets sold"?

I'm scared of adding BIN, because it would take days to erase them (why not offer one click reset?).
Fast transfer would fix this problem (expired domains can't be sold), but it has its own problems: you may not be able to cancel it easily.

Thank you!

Yes, I've set BIN to almost all domains if not all at Afternic.

I've listed domains at Afternic and Sedo and at both places I've set up BIN. If the domain gets sold via AN, I remove the domain from Sedo immediately. So far in my experience, I've never faced an issue where my domain gets sold at both places simultaneously.

Until Uniregistry was not acquired by GoDaddy, all my domains were not opted-in for FT but after GD acquired Uni, I've opted-in for FT.

By the way, what I've witnessed is that all expired domains are automatically opted-out from FT at Afternic.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Your " Afternic Experiment " series is among the most insightful, useful and informative of any series, articles or threads I have read on NamePros.

While this may be your final post in the series it is quite a tribute to your hard work, research and domain investments, a great Grand Finale to your series.

Enjoyed 'em all, thanks!

Thank you so much!
I'll be sharing my sales occasionally which I think has something good for others like I used to do in the past.
Thank you once again

 

[smartwebby]

Great going Abdul. This is the first article of your series for me, helpful information so will surely read all the previous ones. Wish there was some kind of summary of all . What were your key takeaways from the entire experiment? For example any shift in perspective or any overall learning/tips apart from those mentioned?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Great going Abdul. This is the first article of your series for me, helpful information so will surely read all the previous ones. Wish there was some kind of summary of all . What were your key takeaways from the entire experiment? For example any shift in perspective or any overall learning/tips apart from those mentioned?

Thanks!

If you read the all the previous articles of the same experiment, you'll definitely get most of the answers from it. Feel free to let me know if you've any questions after going all the posts.

 

[newdawndomains]

Thanks for sharing this! It was enlightening.

I was wondering, how did you obtain these specific domains in the first place? GoDaddy auctions/etc?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Thanks for sharing this! It was enlightening.

I was wondering, how did you obtain these specific domains in the first place? GoDaddy auctions/etc?

I've been investing for a decade now. Usually I acquire domains via auction houses like GoDaddy, SnapNames, DropCatch and private acquisitions.

 

[KTC]

Congrats on your great sales!

I actually had a question for you. Since you've had experiences with the Afternic brokers, what are the main differences that you have between them and Uniregistry's brokers(before the GoDaddy sale)?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Congrats on your great sales!

I actually had a question for you. Since you've had experiences with the Afternic brokers, what are the main differences that you have between them and Uniregistry's brokers(before the GoDaddy sale)?

Thanks!

I was happy with Uni brokers but finds myself more happier working with Afternic brokers. And the main difference I see is their convincing ability to purchase the domain AND get the buyer to make the payment quickly. Both these reasons are obvious here with Afternic.

 

[KTC]

Thanks!

I was happy with Uni brokers but finds myself more happier working with Afternic brokers. And the main difference I see is their convincing ability to purchase the domain AND get the buyer to make the payment quickly. Both these reasons are obvious here with Afternic.

Nice! I wonder if Uni's broker process has changed since being bought out by GoDaddy, but if it's pretty much the same, then I'll probably give Afternic a whirl. Just wish there was a way I could track my traffic while doing so.

Thank you so much for your insight on using the Afternic landers and I hope you continue to have some more amazing sales.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Nice! I wonder if Uni's broker process has changed since being bought out by GoDaddy, but if it's pretty much the same, then I'll probably give Afternic a whirl. Just wish there was a way I could track my traffic while doing so.

Thank you so much for your insight on using the Afternic landers and I hope you continue to have some more amazing sales.

Until my experience till last January, everything was fine with Uni brokers. The 2 things I earlier mentioned always lacked and I came to know after using Afternic.

Good luck and let us know after some time by sharing your experience with Afternic for others to learn and understand more.

 

[KTC]

I will give it a try! I just need better evaluation skills of which domain names that I should keep and which ones I should drop before I start putting them on the landers.

I actually have one more question for you. Do you set the floor and reserve prices on Afternic? If so, do you have a particular set formula of what those prices may be?

 

[topdom]

Are your domains listed with a price at most registrars? I tested this it at Godaddy, and some were not listed when priced at Afternic (fixed BIN price without fast transfer).

Do you do outbounding? If so does it help?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

I will give it a try! I just need better evaluation skills of which domain names that I should keep and which ones I should drop before I start putting them on the landers.

I actually have one more question for you. Do you set the floor and reserve prices on Afternic? If so, do you have a particular set formula of what those prices may be?

I always set BIN, Floor, Minimum the same especially for the domains in the range of up to 5K. After that I keep some difference between BIN and Floor/Minimum. I never keep the minimum field empty as I'm not at interested in entertaining any lowballers.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Are your domains listed with a price at most registrars? I tested this it at Godaddy, and some were not listed when priced at Afternic (fixed BIN price without fast transfer).

Do you do outbounding? If so does it help?

When I set up BIN at Afternic, AFAIK all the partner registrars of AN shows the BIN in their search results for that domain even when there is no FT opted-in. There may be possibility of not showing the BIN at some registrar which may have gone unnoticed by me so I'm not sure but at GoDaddy, the BIN is always shown when the domain is actively listed at AN and not in Pending Review/In Review status.

I think I've stopped doing outbound for the last at least 5 years.

 

[rafaelo0]

Thank you!

Yes, I've set BIN to almost all domains if not all at Afternic.

I've listed domains at Afternic and Sedo and at both places I've set up BIN. If the domain gets sold via AN, I remove the domain from Sedo immediately. So far in my experience, I've never faced an issue where my domain gets sold at both places simultaneously.

Until Uniregistry was not acquired by GoDaddy, all my domains were not opted-in for FT but after GD acquired Uni, I've opted-in for FT.

By the way, what I've witnessed is that all expired domains are automatically opted-out from FT at Afternic.

Abdul thank you for all of your contribution to the domain name space, there's great information in your threads and posts. All domainers should check them out and learn from it. Keep up the good work.

Regarding your previous post when you insert a BIN on both Afternic and Sedo do you opt in for Fast Transfer and MLS?

For domains listed with a BIN price above 5k i think the risk of them selling in both platforms is low but for domains listed under 5k the risk might be much higher.

In your domains that are listed with a BIN price in the 500$ to 3000$ range do you also list them on both Afternic and Sedo?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Abdul thank you for all of your contribution to the domain name space, there's great information in your threads and posts. All domainers should check them out and learn from it. Keep up the good work.

Regarding your previous post when you insert a BIN on both Afternic and Sedo do you opt in for Fast Transfer and MLS?

For domains listed with a BIN price above 5k i think the risk of them selling in both platforms is low but for domains listed under 5k the risk might be much higher.

In your domains that are listed with a BIN price in the 500$ to 3000$ range do you also list them on both Afternic and Sedo?

Thanks mate

Yes, I've opted-in for Fast Transfer at Afternic but I don't think my domains qualify for Sedo MLS because the domains are with Uniregistry. Also I don't care much at Sedo because the sales are very rare through them. Though I've listed ALL my domains for sale both with Uniregistry and Sedo no matter whatever the price range they're in.

So far in my entire career, I've never faced a single issue where the domain gets sold simultaneously at both platforms. But whenever a domain gets sold from either of the platform, I try to remove from the other one immediately.

 

[Ntmt]

Abdul, thanks for sharing your invaluable experience! I will miss this series.

I responded back with some explanation as to why I would stick with the BIN and the potential of this domain.

Could you share what you explained as Aumet.com potential to broker?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Abdul, thanks for sharing your invaluable experience! I will miss this series.

Could you share what you explained as Aumet.com potential to broker?

Thank you!
I prefer to keep that private in respect of the current buyer. Hope you'll understand it

 

[exyzed]

Congrats Abdul,

You are an inspiration!

One thing I don't understand is ns3/ns4, what is it?
What is the difference from ns1/ns2 ?

How and where does the option to opt for ns3/n4 is presented to user?
Can you give some detail?

Thanks.

 

[twiki]

Congrats Abdul,

You are an inspiration!

One thing I don't understand is ns3/ns4, what is it?
What is the difference from ns1/ns2 ?

How and where does the option to opt for ns3/n4 is presented to user?
Can you give some detail?

Thanks.

A different set of nameservers, shows a different landing page.

You dont need to do anything else, just set your nameservers to ns3.afternic.com and ns4.afternic.com after you have listed them on Afternic. Then you will see the landing page by visiting the domain.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Congrats Abdul,

You are an inspiration!

One thing I don't understand is ns3/ns4, what is it?
What is the difference from ns1/ns2 ?

How and where does the option to opt for ns3/n4 is presented to user?
Can you give some detail?

Thanks.

Thanks!

As @twiki already explained it. I just wanted to add one thing for you to see some sample of NS1/NS2 and NS3/NS4.

For NS1/NS2, you may check this - callingcoyote.com

For NS3/NS4, you may check this - B4F.com

 

[s.g]

Very helpful. Thanks.

 

[Ramesh Kumar G]

Hi AbdulBasit !
Congrats for your Afternic Experiment sales, New aquisitions and Many thanks for sharing valuable information to bring in hope for new domainers.
I have a technical Question regarding Afternic listings. Can you pls help ?

Q : Once a domain is listed at afternic.com directly or via godaddy monetize option/dynadot/etc, Is it important to point nameservers too to AFTERNIC ?
Or/ i.e
Does it make any significant difference in receiving enquiries through Afternic- If a domain is listed at Afternic BUT the name servers point to another brokerage platform ?

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hi AbdulBasit !
Congrats for your Afternic Experiment sales, New aquisitions and Many thanks for sharing valuable information to bring in hope for new domainers.
I have a technical Question regarding Afternic listings. Can you pls help ?

Q : Once a domain is listed at afternic.com directly or via godaddy monetize option/dynadot/etc, Is it important to point nameservers too to AFTERNIC ?
Or/ i.e
Does it make any significant difference in receiving enquiries through Afternic- If a domain is listed at Afternic BUT the name servers point to another brokerage platform ?

Thanks Ramesh!

It's not necessary to point NS to Afternic if the domains are already added in your Afternic account but it's important to point NS to Afternic as that gives you additional sales due to their brand recognition (thanks to GoDaddy).

So yes, it makes a lot of difference if using AN landers and domains added to AN. Also put up BIN to make it worthwhile.