Best place to auction Namecheap domains

[Amphibia07]

Need some advice.

Planning to register about 10 domain names with Namecheap, since they appear to be among the cheapest registrars right now. Namecheap is currently running 8.88 usd promo for .com, incl. whois protection. Which looks nearly twice as cheap as GoDaddy (11.99+7.99). I have heard GoDaddy should be cheap but it doesn't look anything like it.

My question is about auctioning. I am relatively new to domaining, so maybe this sounds like a dumb question but do you pay any consideration to auctioning when registering domain. The domain names are not premium, like 4 letters, etc. So I am thinking GoDaddy's built-in auctioning feature would be an advantage, logistics or otherwise, if you have these domains on GoDaddy. Or there is no difference where they are registered?

 

[lock]

Price shouldn't really be your first contributing factor. You should know how much your selling them for you also have an idea of who to. Auctions are to clear off domains a great domain a buyer will find you. If your going to register 10 names what does it matter when they all are worthless. If you plan on selling them for $20 then you make money I guess. I would rather spend a lot longer looking and pick up names so i can actually get paid for my time.

 

[Amphibia07]

Well I am not saying I am registering 10 random names, for the fun of it. I am researching these names
considerably. Still, the difference in registration prices is almost twice between gdaddy and namecheap. And I would like to spend conservatively at first, at least until I get the first sale, not sure if I will get any anyways. Seems to me like you are saying registration price should be of no concern

 

[karmaco]

You can list your names at Afternic with a make offer. You can’t always auction until the name is 60 days old unless you do it at the registrar you bought it at or places like Sedo which are friendly to newer names. Either way the domain is locked to the registrar for 60 days and your buyer has to be ok with a push. You can also sell names here.

I like NameSilo for buying names. I would spend more time on the actual name research than which registrar you pick. And names don’t fly off the shelf right after you buy them. That only happens occasionally for really good names.

 

[Kate]

You can list on as many venues as you like. It doesn't matter where they are registered, as long as you can handle the transfer and coordinate with the buyer as necessary.
But if the names were registered less than 60 days ago, they cannot be transferred to another registrar. However the buyer can accept a push (keep the domains at the same registrar but move them to another user account).

But I think you are putting the cart before the horse. It is very optimistic to think you can buy 10 unregistered names and flip them right away, especially being new to domaining. It's not that easy.
And if you have good names, buyers will find you. They will either visit the domain name to see if there is an active website on it (you put a placeholder page with a contact form), or use whois to contact you.
So the domain doesn't really have to be listed for sale anywhere.
If nobody is looking for a domain like yours, then your listing will simply remain ignored and unnoticed.
So, domain names don't sell just because they are listed for sale at the right place. They sell because somebody wants them.

 

[Amphibia07]

Thank you - the 60 day rule to transfer registrars is very helpful.

I am not expecting it to be easy, but I want to ride on the rookie enthusiasm while it's there. Perhaps this was discussed on some post before - and I am not entering the right keywords, so feel free to direct.

For example, you mention contacting by Whois form, but I specifically wanted NameCheap for WhoIS Guard protection to avoid spam. This makes it more difficult for buyers to get in touch, but registrats do usually offer services to get in touch with domain owner, so it shouldn't really be a problem I think. Still, it's an extra effort from buyers side, so a registrar everyone is familiar, like GoDaddy, with 100mn monthly visitors, is a big preference.

How do you go about valuations? Do you check your own instincts on estibot.com or valuate.com? How safe is it to check, before registering? I have this idea, if you find a good name, they would just register before you. Assume it's not difficult for them to check logs, but maybe it's just over-inflated expectations about the value of the name, and nobody does that on purpose.

 

[Silentptnr]

Based on your questions it seems you are taking care to properly plan your investment from registration to sale and that is a good thing.

I suggest you study the domain sales that occur every day. This will help you understand the characterististics of what sells and roughly for how much. Be sure to check out Namebio.com and Domaining.com.

First, be aware that there is an area in this forum that tracks registration specials. The cost is considerably lower than what you found. I pay about $6 with no specials. I would suggest you look there for deals.

Next, i have found that each auction site has its niche. This forum can be an economical channel for selling some names. Then there are others like Sedo, Namejet, and GoDaddy that are also useful.

Have you thought about buying expiring domains?

Anyway, my point is that this is a complex industry. There are very experienced domain investors, some with very deep pockets that buy up lots of great domains. Usually what is available is whats left over and not too valuable generally speaking.

You might consider buying one good domain for a few hundred bucks versus 10 left over hand regges.

Either way, keep learning because I promise you the more you learn the more you will be surprised to find how complex (and awesome) domain investing is.

Best of luck.

 

[Kpett]

I typically register .com domain names at GoDaddy using the 35% off - so its $9.92 - about a dollar more than Namecheap. I use GoDaddy as I've got a GoDaddy cPanel so if I want to develop a site its much easier ... but I've also got some Namecheap-registered domains in my cPanel as well. But with GoDaddy, its also easier to put names on GoDaddy auctions / Afternic ...

Yes, I get spam e-mails and some phone calls, but I've also received e-mails and calls from someone who wants to buy ... so you have to weigh that annoyance. And the Namecheap WhoIs guard is only free for 1 year, then you have to pay.

Very hard to hand reg a name and turn around and sell it - even with 10. There are some who buy more in bulk and hope a few sell to break even ... but then re-reg fees will creep up after a year ...

 

[Amphibia07]

Thanks guys. Expiring domains is interesting but I would leave this (and buying from auctions) for later, after I get a better feel of the market.

Just out of curiosity today I scanned across "web + 2 letters" domains, like webmd.com, to check availability across all 676 options. And there are no domains left on dot com. None! All domains are parked and listed for something like 1-2k usd, but very few are actually being developed. Seems like a highly speculative market, buying 10 or more domains, and hoping 1 would sell and cover the rest.

There are ~70 dot net domains available, but as far as I checked randomly, all have no corresponding .com developed as websites.

 

[dnk]

Namecheap marketplace is very good for selling cheap domains, have sold some domains