poll As a buyer on a scale of 0 to 10 how important is the value assigned by an automated appraisal

[equity78]

Estibot and GoDaddy are the two dominant forces in the automated appraisal space, there are some other players in the game as well. No matter which service is providing the value, how much weight do you give to these services when making a purchase?

 

[branding]

I've been buying domains as an end-user for as long as I can remember and I have never ever used an appraisal whatsoever.

 

[Samer]

0. Dont let the machine do the thinking for you.

Samer

 

[Peak.Domains]

0, and when people approach me with names for sale and they cite some inflated bot value, it detracts from the amount I'm willing to pay, it's a strike against them because I just assume they're trying to bamboozle me. It hurts the credibility of the seller, in my eyes, to cite ridiculous automated valuations.

Also, it signals to me that they have very unrealistic expectations, so there are times I won't even bother making an offer on a name I otherwise may have been interested in. Now that I think of it, this happens fairly often. There was an okay 4L listed here the other day, but the seller made a huge deal out of pretending it was a real word, talking about how they think it's worth 5 figures etc, so they kind of shot themselves in the foot in terms of getting an offer from me. Which is fine, if they genuinely only wanted xx,xxx for it then it saves us all some time - but if they were just trying to pump the name up, it had the opposite effect.

There have been plenty of names I've been interested in but if someone's telling me they think their 3 week old handreg is worth $2000 according to this or that, it's hard to even get to the table.

So, I guess I actually assign negative value, less than 0.

Just my 0.02, tho.

Edit: I hope the results here are eye-opening from a seller's point of view, nobody cares about these tools except the registrars who sell a bunch of janky domains to newbies who think they can turn $8 into $2000 because some robot told them so.

 

[bmugford]

0.

While tools like Estibot might be good for sorting large lists of domains, I don't put any stock in the actual appraisal value as a buyer or a seller.

Brad

 

[Rich]

I don't identify as a buyer, but if I did, somewhere in the 0-1 range because I'm going to low ball them anyway. Now you want to talk about the seller side, I will quote that price every time it exceeds my BIN/asking price.

 

[alcy]

too bad your poll forgot to add -100
which is the most accurate figure.

lets keep it nice and simple truth folks.. that domain apparisals are useless for all.. buyers sellers ... and aliens.

 

[Hypersot]

As a domainer-buyer I would choose 0

If was to go back in time however, when I had absolutely no idea about domains, then my choice would be 9-10.

 

[Anne L.]

Zero.

I look at Keywords Volume (SEO-intuitive domains) and Google Trends (for emerging trends) instead - unless they're brandables.

 

[Joe N]

Automated appraisals prey on those who haven't yet developed the confidence or experience (or courage) to valuate and market their own names.

No automated tool is going to sell a domain for you. Everyone needs to put in the leg work to understand what types of domains will sell, for how much, and why.

 

[pb]

0, obviously. It's just a toy. But Akinator is more fun.

 

[DomainRecap]

The specific dollar value - 0

The relative ranking of the domain - 7

For example, if you ran a Stock Market-like game on GD auctions, and I picked 100 domains with valuations of $5K or greater, and you selected 100 domains valued at less than $1K, I can guarantee mine will sell for far more in the open market than yours ever will.

The individual dollar values are spurious, but I always keep an eye on where the domains rank on the relative scale.

 

[NameShiba]

>>>> 0 <<<<
Zero

As it should be.

 

[karmaco]

I look at it but it has no bearing on my desire to obtain a name or selling price.

 

[wurdd]

I love it when a tire kicker responds, "That's ridiculous, the estibot fair market value of this domain is $XXX!"

Truly makes my day. I love appraisals. Check 11 for me.

 

[Samer]

I said 10 cos I'm thinking as an end user buyer rather than as as a domain investor.

Most of the planet has heard of Godaddy so we can use that as a validation tool and an end user who is seriously looking for a domain name has already checked what they may have to pay on GD before they even contact us as the seller.

Knowledge is power and it works for both sides of the equation.

“Funny thing with domainers is that if they're buying they write off auto appraisals but if they're selling they always quote the values. Gofigurethatoutnow. com”

End-users think for themselves;

i would imagine theyre self-made and have their own set of strict standards of valuation, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

 

[7363824]

Gofigurethatoutnow. com

Want it, I'll sell it to you for the low low price of just $300...that's right act now and save $6! What a steal...

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

ZERO

 

[Joe N]

In lieu of anything better or an industry wide standard we shall just have to accept that there is some merit to them.

A product doesn't have merit simply because it exists. Sometimes products serve no other purpose but to entertain us, and make money for their creators.

There's a vast difference between taking advantage of an industry gap, and filling that gap successfully.

Only the future knows the final story so either come up with something better or accept and use what we already have.

The "something better" that you speak of is experience. If profitable domainers followed the guidance of appraisal tools, many of them would make a lot less money on their sales, and would own far more invaluable names.

 

[enterscope]

It's important for me to gain as much information as possible when buying a domain, so I will use the appraisal tools as an added variable. I know that appraisals generally undervalue domains and if there is some value to the automated appraisal, then it's worth something.

 

[lock]

If you can only find a religious bot believer that will buy all bot names for bot worth.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I would not give it much weight, but I would give it a little bit of weight. Even in my few contacts with end users I have encountered people (non-domainers) who had consulted GoValue and therefore I think even if I I did not consider it relevant, it becomes relevant to some degree because potential buyers will have consulted it. So if I felt two domains were equal in quality on all my metrics, but one has GoValue of $3000 and one $800, that matters to me.

Also, while we can talk about how great our brains are, GoValue has this huge database of Afternic, GoDaddy and other sales data, and despite what we think about the number, I think it does do a very good job in finding comparator sales. So it is not that dumb.

If it was a name where the search and advertiser stats were important, I think that is where Estibot does best. Again, it would help me break a near tie between two names.

So what number does that all mean? Maybe a 3.

I think that you should FIRST do all of your own analysis and make a decision re value, and then as a second opinion check the bots. And with machine learning they should be able to get much better than they currently are. Several things I do every day bots do way better than my brain. Oh maybe that is just MY brain. Hmmm

Bob

 

[BaileyUK]

Thankfully - there seems to be a better understanding of these bots than I thought here at NPs
52 votes for ZERO Value, (at this timestamp)
My confidence in the membership is restored - shame though that all the advocates of the Appraisal services are the most vocal in the threads

 

[BrandAptly.com]

As domainers, we're also salespeople. If the figures generated by domain appraisal tools give you more negotiation leverage and equip you with the confidence to insist on your asking price, then by all means have at it.

This discussion seems to completely neglect the highly complex emotional component of sales.It is the driver behind Starbucks ability to sell a .99$ 7/11 cup of coffee for $5.00. What appraisal tool was used to determine the price of that cup of coffee you just overpaid for? The answer is simple: Starbucks sells you an experience whereas 7/11 sells you a cup of coffee.

My consensus is that the value of a domain is the price the seller can persuade the buyer to pay to own it. If I can convince my next customer to pay $8k for shut-up-and-pay-what-i-want.com, that becomes the value with or without appraisal tools. Of course, the value may change if/when the buyer decides to resell the domain.

 

[BrandAptly.com]

My uncle often said that you can't fetch water from a dry well...but when the well is full, use an irrigation pump. The algorithm that drives my personal appraisal tool is how deep my prospect's pocket is, what I perceive his character to be and how tightly I have his gonads in a vise.

I sold a domain to a lovely old lady, which had a Godaddy appraisal value of $950, for $550. If she had asked, I would have sold it to her for much less to make up for all the pet grooming discounts she's given Maverick (my dog).

In another development, I am in the middle of a negotiation right now for a domain I paid $10 for a month ago. The Godaddy appraisal value is $1,067. My asking price is $150k. Yes, it is insane and will probably be considered unethical by some. But that is how I feel about the $62k he spent on 2 Hermes purses (probably made in a sweat shop somewhere by malnourished underage kids) for his mistress. The domain is the exact match of his parent company. His DBA is trademarked, but not the parent company. Why he left the company domain on the table beats me. Why someone also dropped that domain also puzzles me. His last offer was $80k. I won't take anything less than $120k because I can get it either from him or one of his competitors. That is the value my personal appraisal tool has assigned. He should be thankful I gave him the first right of refusal. The breakdown of my pricing: $20 for the domain name: $119,980 for my street-smarts. The education cost me a fortune. What's the point if it doesn't earn me a good living, right?

Based on his last offer, reliance on any appraisal bot will leave almost $79k plus on the table.

A bottle of Paco Rabanne cost $29.99 at Burlington. The same cologne in the same size sells for $80 at Macy's. Guess what appraisal tool was used by the latter in arriving at their price? The 'emotional-bot'...the very tool that gives Louis Vuitton justification to sell purses at $8k for the very same quality purse that Brahmin prices at $250. Bulova watches sell for $70 at TJ Maxx, while Movado watches sell for as much as $4k. They are both made by the same company using the same mechanical components. One word: BRANDING. This is the very business we as domainers are all a part off. How can you effectively use a bot to appraise a brand?

When you take into careful consideration the fact that 80% of all medical conditions are lifestyle related, you realize that doctors prey on the irresponsibility of the masses. The appraisal tool they rely on to set their prices for services is called the 'fear-bot'.

Doctor:
"Hey Mr. Ignorant, you have ulcerative colitis. If I don't go inside you, take out your entire colon and fit you with a colonoscopy bag so you walk around for the rest of your life perpetually smelling like crap, you are going to get stage 4 colon cancer by the time you are 30 years old."
Me:
"Thank you doc, but I will take my chances"

The diagnosis was given to me when I was 22. With some major lifestyle and dietary changes, I am now 47 years old with my colon intact, no colon cancer and extremely mild and rare symptoms of ulcerative colitis. I was one of the few exceptions to the rule. His fear-bot works on most of his patients. Doctors are allowed to 'practice' medicine on patients for their entire career when everyone else has to be a professional at what they do. Why are domainers the vultures with a bad reputation?

I have paid a premium for my street doctorate degree and I am not about to let some bot dictate what my return on investment should be. I sell dreams and ideas fueled by any human emotions I can leverage. Just like Saks does with their cheaply made cotton T-shirts, it's $20 for the hand regged domain and $4k for the overpriced cyber AC your wide nostrils are inhaling in my online luxury boutique. And while you are at it, don't forget to write me a stellar testimonial professing your unbridled loyalty...appraisal bots and all.

 

[biggie]

Hi

on namejet,
doesn't matter how much weight you give it "personally"....
it's the other bidders who see the bot value posted right there below the name and if they believe in the bot, then they may bid prices up to and over such amounts.

ie: like when trump said to drink disinfectants, then some folks actually did it.

there is a significant portion of the population who are gullible enough to rely on, and make decisions, based on insufficient information.

and those would be people who use such tools exclusively, to make domain purchases.

imo...