Disappointed with Domaining

[Oryon]

I am new to the world of domaining and I am a bit disappointed with the results I got so far (sold nothing). I was told that if I charge about 1/3 of the value estimated by Estibot I should be fine and the domains will "sell by themselves". Well, so far I haven't sold anything at that price and even lower. I don't think that my domains are crap, but I am wondering if people still buy domains.

I would love to get some input from more experienced folks: how long did it take you to sell your first domain? Did you ever manage to sell something on Sedo or Afternic? Thanks. Please don't hit me on the head if I said something stupid. I admitted that I an new.

 

[equity78]

1) Whoever gave the advice about 1/3 of Estibot having any relevance was giving you bad advice.

2) Domains don't just sell themselves

3) Yes people still buy domains, every day of the week including holiday.

No one thinks their domains are crap but a lot of times they are, or if not crap they were regged with a certain idea in mind that makes the registrant possibly the end user. Its hard to find someone else with the same vision you had when registering a domain name.

When people say domains sell themselves, they are talking about domains that no new domainer handregged in the last 3 years.

Yes Vodka.com or Forex.com will get many offers without trying, you still have to negotiate.

Post what you think are your top 5 domains.

 

[Oryon]

Isn't there a rule against posting domains I am currently selling outside the sale zone? (I don't want to get in trouble).

But no, sadly I don't have anything like vodka.com or forex.com. It's also a fact that those would sell for thousands. Other than Afternic, where the minimum sale price is $250, I've listed everything below $100, even when the Estibot values are above a grand. But I got ZERO interest. So, yeah, I am starting to suspect that I am doing something wrong. Maybe I should stop hunting for newly registered good domains and try auctions for better names? I do see really crappy names on Sedo and Afternic listed for thousands and there are plenty of them. I wonder if people ever manage to sell that stuff for those crazy prices or if those marketplaces are just filled with names that will never sell.

 

[gmd]

Read, Read, Read, thats what domainers do and you should do as newbie. That situation of yours in not new to all of us, even an old time domainer sometimes commit mistakes on buying and investing on domains. Appraisals are just a guide, but the true value of the domain depends on how much the buyer wanted to spend on it. It would be a good help if you will let us see your best names and from there people will give you a feedback on what they think on that names.

Disappoinment is a gateway to perfection!

 

[equity78]

Look, everyone places some kind of value on their own names, its why they registered them. Everyone was new at one time. If you were new in 1994 all the world was there for the taking. In 2012 - 2013 you need to really be good at hand regging names, its still possible to make money with hand regs, don't let anyone kid you on that. But they have to be something that has value to others, estibot is a tool, most seasoned domain investors don't use it for anything concrete, unfortunately many new domainers use it as a guide or a playbook. Its not.

There is a low barrier to domaining, so you will see plenty of names that you may think are crap on Sedo or Afternic. Sometimes names that are not one word generic .coms sell and sell for good money. You have to ask yourself like every domainer, Can I wait it out ? Can I renew year after year for what I think is a catchy brandable I am sure some start up will want ?

Then you have to think about budget, how many of these names can I hold looking for that one outlier sale to make it all worthwhile.

The flipside is not to handreg and look at expiring names on Go Daddy or NameJet.

There are millions of domains registered, there are 1000's of new extensions coming, you cannot just reg names and think they will sell themselves. You need some kind of plan or your money is best kept saved or invested somewhere else.

 

[Oryon]

Thanks guys, for the input. I appreciate it.

If I don't manage to do anything with the names I have, my plan is to develop them to a site and go Flippa, but I am hoping to figure out a better strategy that will enable me to sell what I have and reinvest the money I make to enlarge my portfolio.

I got to admit that this is tougher than I thought.

 

[Abdul Aziz R]

they were regged with a certain idea in mind that makes the registrant possibly the end user

good point.


for me, don't ever buy a domain based on auto-appraisals.
i have some domains that their estibot values more than $1200, I couldn't sell them for $120 .

did you try to submit some of them in namerific or brandbucket?

domaining in after market is risky. You have to have a good knowledge. you are talking about > $xxx ranges, not reg fee!

 

[McDuke]

Domaining will be tough over the next few years with all the new gtdls rolling out.

You need to combine domaining with creative web development and cold call / email sales, Sedo etc.

I'm a newbie but over the last 2.5 months domaining this is what I have learned

There are premium domains coming out soon in the new Gtdls but it will be 20-30 years before they are worth anything significant.

There is always the "wow sale" 88888.com etc but that is tough to foreshadow.

Happy Domaining!

 

[joshny]

Why don't you post some of your domains in the appraisal section to know what other domainers think of your domains and what they might be worth

 

[gmd]

@Oryon,

Thank you for sending me the lists, Firstly, no one will tell you that those are crappy names, because no one among us knows who will be your buyer. Many among us are surprised on names sold in the market which we think are crappy but sold for xxxxx. Simply because the real value of the domain lies on the eye of the buyer. For safe domaining I follow this simple steps to atleast minimized my lost.

1. Use godaddy discount codes, not promoting godaddy but their discount codes gives a high return of investment.
2. For safe domaining always concentrate on .com's as much as possible.
3. Try to registered 1 or 2 word, dictionary or with meaning.
4. Hot sale name categorized on brand, services, banking, finance and technology.
5. Don't expect too much.
6. Buy name for $2.17 using GD discounts and sell $3 in auction! Be happy!!!

 

[equity78]

Eric Lyon said it was ok to list your top 5 domains so feel free if you like.

 

[tomcarl]

I am new to the world of domaining and I am a bit disappointed with the results I got so far (sold nothing). I was told that if I charge about 1/3 of the value estimated by Estibot I should be fine and the domains will "sell by themselves". Well, so far I haven't sold anything at that price and even lower. I don't think that my domains are crap, but I am wondering if people still buy domains.

I would love to get some input from more experienced folks: how long did it take you to sell your first domain? Did you ever manage to sell something on Sedo or Afternic? Thanks. Please don't hit me on the head if I said something stupid. I admitted that I an new.

1) How many domains have you tried to sell

2) How many emails have you sent

3) What were the domains and the asking prices

4) What did your pitch look like

I won't go into giving advice until I see these, otherwise you could be doing anything and everything wrong, which shows you haven't been doing your research on your own.

Domaining is not a get-rich-quick scheme it is a Sales business, just like any other Sales business. Some people can sell a particular product left and right while another person wouldn't even be able to move 1, especially if you're trying to sell handreg'd names.

 

[Kate]

I was told that if I charge about 1/3 of the value estimated by Estibot I should be fine

Estibot is the bane of domaining. Automated appraisal tools are a joke, it's the first thing you should have learned. Those "tools" cannot teach you what makes a domain name valuable, you have to learn for yourself. It takes time and experience. This is not a trade in which you can become an expert overnight.

the domains will "sell by themselves".

The correct sentence is like this:

The GOOD domains will sell by themselves.

But the vast majority of domains will never sell. Most domainers are not making a profit. The failure and dropout rate is extremely high, because domaining is tough, it's not for everyone. If it was easy, everybody would know. Oh by the way it's not enough to have "good" domains, because there is no shortage of good domains, you need great domains. While there is a bit of luck involved I like saying it's 99% quality and 1% luck.

For a case in point, Namepros has, I think, hundreds of thousands of registered users. Plenty of spambots, fake accounts or one-timers of course, but you will see few members are really active. Welcome to reality...

 

[mhdoc]

there is no shortage of good domains, you need great domains.

I think the number of businesses that need a great name is much more limited than I used to believe. Good enough works in many cases.

For example, I set up a client website in 2004 using a nice six letter domain that fit the niche. When they moved on a year ago they chose a 21 letter domain which is their business name. That makes it easy for local customers to find them and customers who find them via search click the search result link. Few if any ever type in their actual domain name more than once.

I used to think of domain values as a pyramid with fairly steep sides. I now think it is a very flattened pyramid; many worthless, some worth a bit more, and a very few worth a lot.

 

[Abdul Aziz R]

Estibot is the bane of domaining. Automated appraisal tools are a joke

I bought many domains based on estibot with other auto-appraisal, they may or may not worth reg fees. in the other side, i have a domain that estibot value was in low xxx, I submitted to marketplace, they suggest
a low xxxxx, they said that selling it in low xxxxx is reasonable. So, you lose with ether sides.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Dont trust estibot. I at one time owned 350 names. I dropped 300 (cost 3000$) and finally sold a name in year 3 for 300$
The last 5 years I have sold 10 names for 200-500 dollars. You need to be a salesman in this business, dont be like me waiting for someone to type it in and ask to buy it. DO NOT go nutso and register every name you think of. Think about it, who will buy it?? I read if your domain name could be the name of a business, good start. Dont be shy, ask questions. I love sharing my knowledge
Is a tough business, read and read and learn, I still am. Look at recent name sales at www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm
google things in "quotation Marks" ex. "OkanaganServices.com"
My site see how many pages are indexed<<< very important to be in gooogle search
Due Diligence- Measure Twice and Cut Once>>>>be certain think about it
Good Luck 2U

 

[TURIST]

The last 5 years I have sold 10 names for 200-500 dollars. You need to be a salesman in this business, dont be like me waiting

How was it sold? With "Buy now price" or after short negotiations?
It's very strange that during these 10 sales you have accepted so small rewards for your domaining time (build/cut/manage your portfolio).
Did you have any chance to trade those domains for more?

---------- Post added at 01:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------

Estibot is the bane of domaining. Automated appraisal tools are a joke, it's the first thing you should have learned. Those "tools" cannot teach you what makes a domain name valuable, you have to learn for yourself. It takes time and experience. This is not a trade in which you can become an expert overnight.

The correct sentence is like this:

The GOOD domains will sell by themselves.

But the vast majority of domains will never sell. Most domainers are not making a profit. The failure and dropout rate is extremely high, because domaining is tough, it's not for everyone. If it was easy, everybody would know. Oh by the way it's not enough to have "good" domains, because there is no shortage of good domains, you need great domains. While there is a bit of luck involved I like saying it's 99% quality and 1% luck.

Domainer must know (or just bluff) the price for own domains based on own experience (or appropriate similar sales) to be able to sell them with profit. Automatic appraisals can't help here.
After the {99% quality and 1% luck} we have the following negotiation step with endusers and there is also so important to know how to take everything possible from the table {domainer has the advantage because he could be prepared in advance and it's his intellectual property}.
Good taste of domain names & sales tactics are two parts of each Sold case for profit.

 

[Russkie]

I used to work as a webmaster in the past. From my experience: customers (small + middle business) do not really care about domain names, they register complete crap (in my point of view) and do happily use it (surprise!), some do really succeed, managing really well...
Majority do not buy names, they register themselves. Probably, they would buy, but people thinks if it's already taken, it's gone.

 

[Oryon]

Eric Lyon said it was ok to list your top 5 domains so feel free if you like.

Most of the ones I bought are keywords. I don't feel confident enough to go for brands and other fancy stuff. I bought lowcaloriealcohol.com because alcoholic beverages are a product that is always on demand. I bought 3dSimulation.org and Victoriantimes.net because their org/net counterparts are listed for tens of thousands of dollars on Sedo and Afternic. I bought Swaplinks.org because of Google updates and so many new SEO companies showing up in the market plus the .com is listed for an insane price. I bought 2nh.org because Honda released a new car named 2NH and thought it might be a good opportunity.

As for emails, I sent about 70 emails. One person replied saying that they would buy a domain, but then disappeared. Another emailed me thanking me for the offer and saying that he is uninterested.

Regarding the content of the emails, I just try to be honest. I hate the fluff like "I have an incredible opportunity for you today blah blah blah..." When I get emails like those I don't even read them.

So what am I doing wrong? And thanks to everyone for the suggestions and input. You guys rock!

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

How was it sold? With "Buy now price" or after short negotiations?
It's very strange that during these 10 sales you have accepted so small rewards for your domaining time (build/cut/manage your portfolio).
Did you have any chance to trade those domains for more?

---------- Post added at 01:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------


Domainer must know (or just bluff) the price for own domains based on own experience (or appropriate similar sales) to be able to sell them with profit. Automatic appraisals can't help here.
After the {99% quality and 1% luck} we have the following negotiation step with endusers and there is also so important to know how to take everything possible from the table {domainer has the advantage because he could be prepared in advance and it's his intellectual property}.
Good taste of domain names & sales tactics are two parts of each Sold case for profit.

sold fuelinjector(s).ca both at dnc.ca for sale section
With.ca i was contacted
420buddy dot com i was contacted.
have to think of other ones, been a while.
Sedo sucks for .ca names, they call it level 2 domain name or something like that there fee $200
try ebay, go search domain names there. And social media, craigslist, other classifieds
I put this ad up in Nov http://kelowna.en.craigslist.ca/rts/4204196746.html