discuss Buy Now v Make Offer?

[AndyM]

Hi fellow NamePro'ers!

I would like to start a discussion regarding what you think is the best strategy for selling your domains.

Do you make more sales from having a buy now price listed?

Do you scare potential buyers away when they inquire "how much?" and you hit them with a $15k price tag, even though you only paid $200 and would be happy with $5k. Or do you insist on the interested buyer making the first offer?

Do you make more sales on make offer/inquire? or do you make more sales on buy now?

Lets here your thoughts and views.

 

[Haris]

I am not experienced and don't have much sales but I would like to mention some good points gathered at NP and some experienced domainers' blogs.

Firstly, I used to list 'Buy now + Make offer' but the problem with this listing is that you might still be leaving money on the table by setting a 'buy now' price.

Secondly, if you list your domain with either 'buy now' or 'make offer + buy now' then you should list the 'buy now' price at only one marketplace and have only 'make offer' listing of the same domain at other marketplaces. Because there is a chance that your domain gets sold at 'buy now' price at 2 different marketplaces at the same time which can cause a lot of trouble!

FUN FACT: I had set a BIN price of $50 on a pigeon-shit domain which was my crappiest registration ever. Just few weeks ago I changed all my domain listings from 'buy now + make offer' to 'make offer' and set the minimum offer at $20 because I didn't have the time to set different minimum offers for each domain. Amazingly, a week ago I received an offer of $150 on that pigeon-shit domain which would have sold at $50 if I didn't have removed the BIN.

 

[JayJay]

Ive had more success with make offer than BIN, even some names that were BIN I changed to make offer and eventually sold.

 

[SpareDomains]

BIN on stuff I wanna clear as it makes purchase quick and easy when in distribution channels, Sedo, GoDaddy, DomainNameSales, My own sales page etc... Make offer on domains that receive offers all the time as no urgency when demand is always present.

 

[Casey L]

Regardless if I'm having an auction or a make offer, I always add a BIN price. This way the buyer has the option to snatch it up if they are eager for the name, or they understand what type of offers I'm looking for.

 

[Willox Perez]

I am not experienced and don't have much sales but I would like to mention some good points gathered at NP and some experienced domainers' blogs.

Firstly, I used to list 'Buy now + Make offer' but the problem with this listing is that you might still be leaving money on the table by setting a 'buy now' price.

Secondly, if you list your domain with either 'buy now' or 'make offer + buy now' then you should list the 'buy now' price at only one marketplace and have only 'make offer' listing of the same domain at other marketplaces. Because there is a chance that your domain gets sold at 'buy now' price at 2 different marketplaces at the same time which can cause a lot of trouble!

FUN FACT: I had set a BIN price of $50 on a pigeon-sh*t domain which was my crappiest registration ever. Just few weeks ago I changed all my domain listings from 'buy now + make offer' to 'make offer' and set the minimum offer at $20 because I didn't have the time to set different minimum offers for each domain. Amazingly, a week ago I received an offer of $150 on that pigeon-sh*t domain which would have sold at $50 if I didn't have removed the BIN.

I agree as well with Make Offer. You give yourself more chances of testing out your negotiation skills and work out a price with the offers that come in. No offer is a bad offer. You simply have to take the time to discuss and see what is the max the person is willing to pay.

I've had success with make offer since I was able to negotiate to a better price I was initially aiming for.

- Will

 

[Name Trader]

All my listings are make offer. Therefore all my sales are also from make offer listings I really dislike Buy Now prices because you always feel you have left something on the table, and because it's difficult to react to market changes with many domains.

I try to get the interested party to go first with the price, but it quickly gets quite absurd. So I'm not shy to go first. But I do get a lot of this "that's too much for me" reactions. But that does give you the chance to go back and ask them to make their best offer, or ask them what they would pay for the domain. >80% say under $100 or no reply (at a rough guess). <5% offer something you could live with, but still try to negotiate higher. The other approx 15% are just not prepared to pay your asking price (even after a 50% reduction from the original asking price). Although most of my counter offers are nowhere near 50% reductions. So yes, I get quite a lot of the ask $15k would accept $5k, lost sales syndrome. (I'm talking about the syndrome here. Not the actual numbers). Would happily listen to any strategies to counter that.

 

[biggie]

i sold 3 names on sedo at BIN pricing in 2015 and currently negotiating one that was "make offer"

it depends on the name, if it earns ppc, or maybe just how one feels at the time, etc, etc

initially i load all names with "make offer" and in time will set some to Buy it Now.


for email inquiries when no offer is submitted, i ask them to make an offer

for email inquiries when an offer is submitted, if it's too low, i'll say too low or reply with a price, depending on the name, how many previous inquires, etc, etc

everybody has different strategy and whatever works for you, is the best solution.


imo...

 

[Name Trader]

Flexibility to situations is the key for me. I won't be such a stickler on price within quite a large ball-park. Better to make a sale and move on and reinvest. Or buy that new Ferrari Especially on domains that receive few-to-no offers.

 

[JudgeMind]

I set a buy it now price for 99% of my names simply because I list all eligible domains on marketplace multiple listing services (MLS).

The following require that you set a buy now price to be listed on their MLS

Godaddy Premium
- Afternic fast transfer

Sedo mls

I prefer to get the most exposure I can and that for me is through MLS. I set BIN prices just below current market averages to increase sales.

 

[Haris]

All my listings are make offer. Therefore all my sales are also from make offer listings I really dislike Buy Now prices because you always feel you have left something on the table, and because it's difficult to react to market changes with many domains.

I try to get the interested party to go first with the price, but it quickly gets quite absurd. So I'm not shy to go first. But I do get a lot of this "that's too much for me" reactions. But that does give you the chance to go back and ask them to make their best offer, or ask them what they would pay for the domain. >80% say under $100 or no reply (at a rough guess). <5% offer something you could live with, but still try to negotiate higher. The other approx 15% are just not prepared to pay your asking price (even after a 50% reduction from the original asking price). Although most of my counter offers are nowhere near 50% reductions. So yes, I get quite a lot of the ask $15k would accept $5k, lost sales syndrome. (I'm talking about the syndrome here. Not the actual numbers). Would happily listen to any strategies to counter that.

Was just reading ricksblog.com's old posts and maybe there is an answer for you.

www.ricksblog.com/2010/09/how-to-sell-a-domain-name-part-1/#.Vrum4_l97cs

www.ricksblog.com/2010/09/how-to-sell-a-domain-name-part-two-20-ways-to-do-better/#.Vrum2vl97cs

 

[Name Trader]

@Haris100 - Thanks. I'd read #1 before but not #2. Rick has been very successful with his blunt approach.

 

[Recons.Com]

I believe in "Buy it now". It is fair. It is not you trying to rip off someone because he is richer and can pay more.

I give a discount, though, to non-profit, students etc., if I can verify that.

I also have probably 20% of my names that I have crush on, so those are "make offer", but that is because it is really hard for me to put price tag on them and if someone wants to have them, it must be an enticing offer, regardless of who the buyer is.

 

[garptrader]

I have an aged nine-character .com domain with a high $xXxX BIN at Godaddy Premium Listings. However the domain in question has an EFTY landing page with a low $xXxX minimum offer. That way I can filter out the lowball offers but still have a chance of receiving offers from someone who is not willing to pay the BIN price. This week an end user submitted an initial offer of $2500 and when I countered he came up to $3000. So while I do not yet have a sale, at least I have a serious lead. Note that the potential buyer is outside the US so it is possible he is not as familiar with Godaddy as we are here in the US.

 

[DTR Alex]

To make the bin price reliable, what number should we use?

For example:

Make offer: $525
Buy now: $700

does it look reliable?

I also don't want to give much gap between 'make offer' and 'buy now' price........ so that it will look reasonable.

Or do you use 'buy now' price such as $799?