question Do any of you make regular outbound sales and is it worth it?

[peace800]

Just wondering if any of you successful outbounders vouch for outbound selling and whether you've had success in the 4 to 5 figures occasionally?

 

[rohitgoyal]

Just wondering if any of you successful outbounders vouch for outbound selling and whether you've had success in the 4 to 5 figures occasionally?

Yes i have a team which does outbound on daily basis... Lots of xxx sales and yes couple of xxxx sales as well. Though havent had xxxxx sale yet via outbound

 

[Casey L]

Hi Harrington, its nice to see someone getting sales. I wish I could sell Geo's for more than 3-500.00. I have saw that is usually the sweet spot. I have sold keyword domains for $xxxx but not even close on Geo's. As far high quality domains, I dont think you can get much better than plumbing. I started marketing it on Tuesday night and sent out 60 emails and I havent closed it yet. I have had interest so we will see. I like to think I am pretty selective as I look for high CPC popular keywords and I will market up to 80 potential buyers or 10 pages of Google. I am not sure what else to do. Any input would be appreciated.

A lot of outbound is based on luck. I have names that I’ve sent over out 100 emails for that I can’t get rid of, names that are exact matches for a company’s name that I can’t get responses to, and so on. However there are also times when I send my first email and have an offer before my second email.

As long as you focus on names that are plausible for end users to want, then the rest is just a waiting game. While a name like NewYorkLandscaping.com might sound good, consider that NYC doesn’t exactly have a ton of grass to be cut, so it won’t have the plethora of potential end users that a less populated city might have. It’s 50% common sense and 50% luck to have outbound success imo.

 

[DeliDomains]

Sold one recently high XXXX outbound. took about 8 months thou.

 

[Scotty205]

In regard to outbound sales, you do have to look professional, website, phone number and such. I sold a lot of Geo and keyword domains last year. I took a break after August and am just now getting back into outbound sales. Last year it was pretty easy for me to get consistent sales contacting anywhere from 20-80 prospects. I am not sure what has changed if anything but I am struggling to get any sales at all in the last month. I am doing the exact same thing I did last year, so I just can't put my finger on why the sales seems to be harder to get.
In my opinion though, you have to look professional, answer the phone and give the buyer different options to buy the domain. Keep the email short. I use an email tracker, so my open rates are great. I have noticed average sales on Namebio has really dropped as well.
Hopefully things will start picking up again soon.

 

[MediaCode]

We have been actively investing in domain names for about 10 years now. We have had one outbound sale -- AccountPlanning.com for $4,995 back on 4/29/14. We had paid $555 for it at NameJet only one month earlier, 3/27/14.

We did the required research to identify about 7 prospects and their direct email addresses. We crafted a short email noting that the domain name was now available while not mentioning the price but including a link to a Buy-It-Now landing page. We sent out the emails one by one. Within the hour, one email recipient went to the landing page and used the Buy-It-Now button and a credit card to purchase the name. That was the only outbound sale we have ever made.

We generally believe that inbound and lots of patience is the better way to go. With inbound, you are in a much better negotiating position. They want your asset and they have approached you. That is a much stronger position than you using outbound to "sell" the domain name to them. If you have good quality domain names, you will need less patience because inbound inquiries should be coming in pretty regularly on good quality names.

Even better, we believe simply setting Buy-It-Now prices and eschewing negotiations completely is the fastest way to generate cash flow from a large portfolio of domain names. Prospective buyers really do not want to negotiate at all. It feels unseemly to them, especially for something with as obtuse a value as a domain name. In negotiations, you are some mysterious seller on the other end of a computer screen trying feebly to justify your asking price in an email conversation. Negotiations are simply too hard on the prospective buyer and they do not enjoy the process.

In contrast, when you use BIN pricing, many buyers simply assume that the value of the domain name is the BIN price that you are showing them on the landing page or in the marketplace. They are forced to justify value = price to themselves given their need and desire for the domain name. Upon justification in their own minds, it's simply a matter of them finding the money to pay the BIN price. If they are a large corporation, they will find the money and move forward with the acquisition using the Buy-It-Now button.

 

[DanBingham]

Yes, I do outbound but only on the odd occassion. Roughly 5 emails per week. No large sales, but recently sold a UK fitness related name for low £££. I only email specific niche areas, and direct contacts and never outbound to generic sales@, info@ addresses - it's a waste of time.

Do the research, and make every email count.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Per my experience, email outbound - waste of time.
I invest my time in other tasks...

 

[Cebe]

Yes, I do outbound but only on the odd occassion. Roughly 5 emails per week. No large sales, but recently sold a UK fitness related name for low £££. I only email specific niche areas, and direct contacts and never outbound to generic sales@, info@ addresses - it's a waste of time.

Do the research, and make every email count.

Like me. I until now never sold domain via outbond, but i can learn from their respond.

 

[MR Harrist]

I already try outbound, and most of reply that I get from potential buyer are low ball but I do understand from their POV that tell u to spend xx.xxx for domain name are the last thing they will do!
though someone outhere can spend xxxxxxx if they really want to! the different between outbound and inbound is, outbound mean they don't need your domain, but you tell them to spend xxx.xxx , well of course the answer is obviously NO!
but if our domain related with their Industry! I am sure they don't mind to spend 10% to 20% from average(most ppl) incomes/salary! something like $100-200!

personally if someone send me email and they want to sell seodotcom to be honest, I don't mind to spend $100 or to $200, but if you think $100 or $200 are lowball, then I am sorry, I don't need SEOdotcom(see)

but just like I said, if I need the domain name and want to build new biz, and I already accept funding from my investor! probably I don't mind to spend $xxxxxxxxxxxx. the reason simply because, $xxxxxxx is not a big deal! and unfortunately most biz owner can't afford to wasting a times just to buy a domain names! I mean, does $xxxx are big deal ? if they think xxxx are big deal, well I am sure, they will not start a new biz!

so the question is, why someone willing to do outbound meanwhile what they get only lowball offer ?
well it depend on situation or personal experiences! but I do believe if we Bugging someone especially for rich ppl, there are a times when they need us! so when it happen you can negotiate more further! though, most rich people, as far as I know(maybe different with u) all of them are cheapskate! but it would be different if you a HOT girls! or in need for profitable biz ! but as you can predict, most successfull people or rich people they know their stuff! so basically they will squezee you! yep! something like $50, take it or leave it! and at worse! they will make $50 like a big deal! and they will tell you they wont do outside Godaddy! Imagine that! if I sell domain $50 at Godaddy, godady cut 20% yep, I only got $40 in nutshell, Outbound is something that most people do if they bored!
I mean, $50 FOR GOD SAKE!

its just my 2 cents, don't take it personally! I could be wrong though! afterall, if you lucky enough, its no doubt you can make big sales with outbound! but I have feeling, it will not happend everyday!

 

[Casey L]

Outbound has been doing wonders for me over the last couple months. I’ve done mid $xxxx in sales, and have started spending a lot more on adding high quality geos to my portfolio. Effort is a huge factor, and being more selective when it comes to buying/registering names is crucial

 

[alcy]

it'll depend on many things
including your skill
time devoted
and probably most importantly, the domain types you own

I know for fact there are people on np who say you aren't even a domainer or domaining properly unless you do outbound.

then others (imo the great majority here) who will say they never do it...

so... all extremes are covered.

 

[Dave]

Ask Federer (Luc) about this, he is pretty much the king of hand regging.

 

[Scotty205]

It's been long you report some of your sales. Do you still make sales and prefer to go silent on it.

No, I lost my mom in August of last year and just wasnt into doing research and stuff. I am finally getting back in the swing of things. I had 1 sale of DallasCommercialPhtographer.com

 

[MediaCode]

...I have noticed average sales on Namebio has really dropped as well.

At the same time, we have noticed that average acquisition prices at drop auctions have skyrocketed since February or so. So much so that we have largely stopped buying at auctions. Too risky now.

If average drop auction prices are soaring and average end user sales are falling, profits and ROIs from domain investing are looking less and less attractive.

 

[karmaco]

I don’t do outbound. I tried the first year and got nowhere. The closest thing for me are fellow domainers I have friendships with who are always looking for domains. There are people who make a great go of it here sure to reply. I would wager the high figure sales on an outbound are infrequent unless we are talking about super premium dictionary or other high value names.

 

[DanBingham]

Sold one recently high XXXX outbound. took about 8 months thou.

Yep, they can have a habit of dragging on!

 

[shaarani]

I tried outbound, sending about 20-30 emails with a few domains and got no replies. However, I do believe it's a case of emailing the right person at the right time, so yes as @bashariqbal wrote, expect more misses than hits.

 

[MayerT]

Outbound doesnt work anymore

Not true.

You just need to do it right.

I've just sold a domain via outbound for $500 - less than I wanted, but not bad for a two week flip on a domain that I bought for under $30.

 

[Thirwell Castle]

In regard to outbound sales, you do have to look professional, website, phone number and such. I sold a lot of Geo and keyword domains last year. I took a break after August and am just now getting back into outbound sales. Last year it was pretty easy for me to get consistent sales contacting anywhere from 20-80 prospects. I am not sure what has changed if anything but I am struggling to get any sales at all in the last month. I am doing the exact same thing I did last year, so I just can't put my finger on why the sales seems to be harder to get.
In my opinion though, you have to look professional, answer the phone and give the buyer different options to buy the domain. Keep the email short. I use an email tracker, so my open rates are great. I have noticed average sales on Namebio has really dropped as well.
Hopefully things will start picking up again soon.

You nailed it on the head with this TBH.
Its been similar on my end and the general community.
about a month ago an Indian buddy of mine emailed about 80 buyers, majority of the email were read but no single reply.
So it's strange this days i tell you

 

[creataweb]

A lot of outbound is based on luck. I have names that I’ve sent over out 100 emails for that I can’t get rid of, names that are exact matches for a company’s name that I can’t get responses to, and so on. However there are also times when I send my first email and have an offer before my second email.

As long as you focus on names that are plausible for end users to want, then the rest is just a waiting game. While a name like NewYorkLandscaping.com might sound good, consider that NYC doesn’t exactly have a ton of grass to be cut, so it won’t have the plethora of potential end users that a less populated city might have. It’s 50% common sense and 50% luck to have outbound success imo.

New York is also a state and there are many, many landscaping businesses in NY.

 

[bgmv]

Yes i have a team which does outbound on daily basis... Lots of xxx sales and yes couple of xxxx sales as well. Though havent had xxxxx sale yet via outbound

@rohitgoyal - can you add more detail here about your "team?" how are they contacting endusers, are you providing them with lists and email scripts or are they doing the DD themselves? What is their cost per hour, do you pay commission? What is your success rate % based on total # of emails sent per domain?

I have been doing this for 10 years now and am trying to switch up the model a bit to see if it makes sense to utilize offshore team to do the work for me

And to everyone else - I have a pending sale for high $XXX which was generated via outbound emails in the "Finance Sector" and not a GEO but a hyphenated .com.

 

[bashariqbal]

Outbound is generally less of a hit and more of a miss case. It mostly depends on the name and its niche. If you have decent names in the right niche you might get sales. I have few successes this year.

 

[ilucky21c]

I choose to look on the bright side, and do have a question, say, if you have this domain and emailed to many potential buyers, what if two or three of them replied with interest, who should you sell it to？Despite that all the outbound cases I see from np is the kind that only got one reply after tens of emails sent.

 

[Andrew Knox]

I have tried a little bit of outbound but haven't had any success. I am going to try more soon.