poll Did domain prices go down market-wide lately already, due to low sales?

[twiki]

Not necessarily if you are personally lowering prices. But if you think the market did reduce prices overall already.

It's probably not a good idea - in my opinion - to (ever) reduce prices.

With domain renewal prices and high auction buy prices currently, all you get will be losses by reducing price; also since sales are more scarce.

But some sellers will reduce prices in hope of a sale.

 

[Digital Nomad]

If everybody would raise their prices, then end-users would have no choice to buy. It is unfortunate that players like hugedomains and buydomains have such low prices, they buy in bulk and want to sell fast, I get that. But the domain industry is weird, all sorts of prices all over the place, but if there was a minimum high price especially for premium names I think the industry would benefit as a whole. I will not lower my prices, as a matter a fact I have raised most.

 

[NickB]

Seen quite a few examples of lowered prices, the auction/aftermarket prices are still ridiculous....

I'm not lowering anything...was going to start a thread asking what peoples plans where in 2023 regarding pricing but you nailed it......don't be lowering prices on a hope and prayer that something will sell

 

[DrJacoby]

I'm raising prices on my keepers, and liquidating the rest.

 

[karmaco]

Have seen prices lowered on non com names bigtime. Com prices seem to have gone up in some cases.

I think alot of people are finding out the one year plan doesn't cut it for the times we find ourselves in. I see other domainers getting great names from others easily for peanuts.

I see xyz’s and co’s related to the metaverse dropping like crazy. Peoples over speculating from last year is coming to roost.

We are in a course correction era where smart domainers are renewing the keepers years out and letting the fluff or the uncertain go.

Added to the rising cost of renewals, many are bound to be more selective with what they decide to keep. I think that is in play as well with price reductions.

 

[Recons.Com]

Pricing should be based on how big the business/product potential is and how much the business/product depends on the internet. For example if a domain is related to a small local business which depends mostly on foot traffic and offline payment methods, that domain couldn't break 2k-3k psychological barriers in most of the time.

Well, I try not to buy the names that I don't think can sell for $2k-3k minimum. So, if a domain is good enough only for a small local business, or blog, or personal, I won't invest in it.

The price elasticity will be performed on the names I believe have a reasonable chance to sell for $2.5k with an expected STR of near 1%.

 

[twiki]

@twiki I see you are dropping loads of names, but TBH I haven't seen not even one I would be interested in.

Offtopic. I see no connection to the subject of this thread.

 

[clarkemarketing]

Auction prices are up. I have been bidding on a bunch of premium 4L.com and competition is surprisingly fierce. Same with premium 3L.co - there was just a whole bunch at Dynadot a few weeks ago and I was bidding $400-$1000 each and only won a few. End user sales are definitely down, but wholesale prices haven't dropped at all which is strange.

 

[enterscope]

I believe domain prices are up overall and will continue to rise like other property assets do.

 

[Recons.Com]

I am not changing prices neither down, nor up. Basically, not changing is like reducing by 5-10% given the inflation.

 

[Recons.Com]

May I ask you if you will consider raising prices if the market STR will reduce to let's say 0.8% ?

Probably not. I suspect, the industry wide measuring stick of 1% is already probably in 0.7-0.8% range.

I wouldn't because: first, it is an administrative work. Changing prices for 23000+ names takes time. Automation isn't simple either, as each name is unique.

Second, there is no known research so far that would indicate how price elasticity for domains work. Basically, will reduction of price by 20% give me over 20% extra sales (plus, cost of restocking) or not. If I had such a data (which eventually I will generate myself), I'd reduce regardless of the market situation. As, for a business, the goal is to maximize revenue overall, not from an individual sale.

 

[okaydomains]

I see xyz’s and co’s related to the metaverse dropping like crazy. Peoples over speculating from last year is coming to roost.

Possibly, but with $1/yr fee you could easily register 1000 names and only have to sell 1 at $1k to break even. But you definitely have to drop almost all the names at the end of the year even if you made some money.

So I wouldn't interpret all these names as evidence of a failed strategy, but perhaps things going to plan.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The big players don't seem to do drastic repricing when times are good or bad, just very gradual changes. So that part is fixed.

I suspect the prices at brandable marketplaces also stable.

The terrible economy right now, and the increases in renewal fees, are definitely squeezing some/many. I suspect that some prices have gone down, and the wholesale market prices are down I thin, as is demand.

The top of the market, at least if judge by DNJournal, is very weak in recent months. I suspect that most with those high-end names have plans to hold for many years, and are unlikely to change prices much.

With so many layoffs in tech, will we see people starting solo businesses and in market for a name, perhaps on a payment plan, appropriate to that? And what is that budget point for a one-of business?

Thanks for starting the topic @twiki!

-Bob

 

[twiki]

So if the price of loans (interest rate) goes up you expect also real estate prices going up?

There are (too) many correlated variables to take into consideration and also a quite high degree of unpredictability. Domains may very well go up or down, it's no easy answer so far.

In my country real estate prices are going through the roof while sales are going down.

Something gonna break but knowing history, it's not going to break soon.

Not the same with domains though. Nothing predictable here and in fact current moment is unique in domaining history in my opinion. So we will have to see.

Poll answers seem mixed so far which is pretty much in the line with what I expected when posting this.

 

[twiki]

The big players don't seem to do drastic repricing when times are good or bad, just very gradual changes. So that part is fixed.

I suspect the prices at brandable marketplaces also stable.

The terrible economy right now, and the increases in renewal fees, are definitely squeezing some/many. I suspect that some prices have gone down, and the wholesale market prices are down I thin, as is demand.

The top of the market, at least if judge by DNJournal, is very weak in recent months. I suspect that most with those high-end names have plans to hold for many years, and are unlikely to change prices much.

With so many layoffs in tech, will we see people starting solo businesses and in market for a name, perhaps on a payment plan, appropriate to that? And what is that budget point for a one-of business?

Thanks for starting the topic @twiki!

-Bob

Thanks for your comment as well, @Bob Hawkes .

The only big problem I see with payment plans is: Buyer changing their mind / stopping payments.

Edit: Most domains bought will either 1) never be developed, or 2) turn into a flop within one year or so.

That's why I don't see payment plans as a feasible option. Especially in this market. I'd rather negotiate and sell names even at some discount if needed.

Money in hand should be the new mantra in these times.

 

[twiki]

Seen (big num of .com)
Premium names: > 20%+up
Remium names: > 40%+up
Emium names: < 50% discounted
Mium names: < 150-200% discounted
Ium names: > 100% even 300% up
Um names: < 300% +more discounted
M Names: > 30-50% up

Liked. Guess not everyone gets it though... or are familiar with your sales.

 

[kemjika11]

So if the price of loans (interest rate) goes up you expect also real estate prices going up?

probably....talking about real estate, i love how some people think the higher interest rates and prices will get rid of the demand for real estate.

Domains may very well go up or down, it's no easy answer so far.

Much more likely domains will go up than go down. The world "mainstreaming" into the digital space seems to be not bad for domains, so that means up is more likely. I'm also seeing increased demand and prices for shorter names. One sign we will see (or not see) that will tell us if domains are really going up and big or gonna bust soon, is the arrival of a neutral "ratings" site/service that formally recognizes types and values of different domains (and that in turn enables larger and better market activity).

To me, in 2022, if you're holding GOOD domains, you're holding real assets, still.

 

[twiki]

Seen quite a few examples of lowered prices, the auction/aftermarket prices are still ridiculous....

I'm not lowering anything...was going to start a thread asking what peoples plans where in 2023 regarding pricing but you nailed it......don't be lowering prices on a hope and prayer that something will sell

Yeah, well it's simple. With discounts, the math doesn't check out.

But I'm still curious what the market "a la large" is doing, where sellers might not all be educated investors.

 

[twiki]

I had my own price reduction formula that worked great for a few years for my names.

For some reason it stopped suddenly about 1 year ago and something. Grinding halt. Hard to say why but I guess its pandemic and SMB related.

Now reducing price actually seems to hurt sales instead of helping.

My current assessment is that lower end SMB sales are much more affected by low sales in comparison with high end names.

 

[Recons.Com]

I had my own price reduction formula that worked great for a few years for my names.

For some reason it stopped suddenly about 1 year ago and something. Grinding halt. Hard to say why but I guess its pandemic and SMB related.

Now reducing price actually seems to hurt sales instead of helping.

My current assessment is that lower end SMB sales are much more affected by low sales in comparison with high end names.

Automatic formulas won't take into consideration the psychological aspects. And I don't mean $xxx sales, as I am not interested in those types.

E.g. changing price from $2500 to $2600 could reduce the sales by more than the 4% increase, as people could perceive anything above $2500 cutoff as too expensive. Or, vice versa, 4% reduction to $2400 might not move the needle at all, as it might seem the same to them (either too expensive or still affordable). There is no way to know until proper synced A/B tests on a mass scale. I will get to it eventually, but right now it is not a priority. I'd probably be interested to test $1950 vs $2500 vs $2950 in particular, as sub $2k and sub $3k seems to be the other psychological barriers. If I discover any change in sales beyond the circa 20% +/-, that could be an incentive to change pricing.

 

[Ostrados]

In general I see drop in wholesale prices for liquid domains such as 4Ls. And I see that some domainers decreased their retails prices considerably.

For me I decreased the prices of my weak domains and increased the prices of good ones. I am trying to make a balance.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

I'm raising prices on my keepers, and liquidating the rest.

Same here

 

[zomainhacks]

Indeed. Its just that your thread seems a bit absurd. 'Decrease price' should
not be an option. Why should we decrease the price of our names when literally everything else increases?

So if the price of loans (interest rate) goes up you expect also real estate prices going up?

There are (too) many correlated variables to take into consideration and also a quite high degree of unpredictability. Domains may very well go up or down, it's no easy answer so far.

 

[zomainhacks]

I am not changing prices neither down, nor up. Basically, not changing is like reducing by 5-10% given the inflation.

May I ask you if you will consider raising prices if the market STR will reduce to let's say 0.8% ?

 

[.X.]

Some have , and their are some pretty nice drops happening too , I have yet to see any significant price drops though .