My 2 cents....
I've posted to the DT blog previously about the last 2 auctions - that the quality of the domains wasn't there. This time, I think the quality overall was a lot better however the RESERVES set by people were simply unrealistic for the market. By market, I do not mean the domain industry as a whole but who attendees of this specific auction are - primarily domainers.
I think to be successful with auctions on either the side of a seller or a buyer is really having a solid understanding of auctions in general, the domain industry as a whole and the auction you are participating in in specific.
I'll give some specific thoughts here:
1. Every auction is different. You cannot compare CAC to Roundtable to Traffic. Some people in other threads have remarked that the last CAC went poorly. But ya know what - it wasn't really much different than the previous CAC auction results wise. Not when you compare the domains that sold along with their selling prices.
--->> In this case, for those that submitted, did you spend time looking at previous RT results so you could see what sold, what were the reserves and what were the actual selling prices?
2. Further to #1, if you are trying to SELL domains consider the audience of the auction you are submitting to. Take this into account when deciding which domains to submit along with their reserves.
--->> In this case, RT is primarily a domainer audience. These are people just like you that have access to forums and many of the serious buyers have wider access to resources than most 'regular' participants do as far as buying does. The people with the deep pockets will almost always think of opportunity cost (except when true DESIRE to have a specific domain fuels them). ie if they didn't bid on a specific domain, often it comes down to that it did not represent a good value for their money.
Here's a bit of a clue (at least I think) - before submitting a domain to the next RT along with the reserve ask yourself if you posted that specific domain with the same reserve as a fixed price on here and other domain forums is it likely to sell and how fast? If you aren't confident of that, then reconsider submitting the domain and/or change the reserve. If you are guaranteed a spot in live auction as you are with RT if your domain is accepted, then also consider the idea of setting your reserve at the highest legitimate offer you had previously received and considered.
Note: I don't think this same strategy applies to other domain auctions to the same extent it does for RT.
BTW - we had Robbin.com in this @ $2500. Although it's a different spelling, it WAS a reasonable enough reserve to encourage multiple people to bid on it. I'm happy with where it ended given the audience. Yup, an end user sale may have been closer to 5 figures than being in mid 4's, but that wasn't the audience here and we accepted that.
3. Don't expect RT to do all the work for you. We proactively contacted people that had previously contacted us about the domain along with owners of other TLDs of Robbin and several companies/individual that were using that spelling of Robbin in their domain name. All you need to have a domain sell at a satisfactory price are TWO people that want a domain. Why not spend 30-60 minutes finding at least one of those people yourself?
4. From a buyer's side, you need to consider what your own approach is to this business to determine what is or isn't a deal to you along with your own resources. In my own case, I try and find the overlooked bargains that are domains I also feel I could develop if need be. In the fall Traffic, Nametrader.com and I bought 3 domains. 2 of these were sold at the start of this year TO domainers on forums for multiples of what we purchased them for. The one we haven't yet sold is one COULD sell for probably 5x what we paid within minutes of posting it on any forum.
A good percentage of domainers are interested in current traffic/revenue for a domain and how that translates to ROI at a given price. That's the easy way but unless you have deep pockets, it will be hard to compete on these domains. Others are focused on generics for development. I try and look for solid brandables, niche keyword domains that can place well in SERPS if developed or ones that are in areas that I know the market for. Sometimes a solid domain, if developed rather simply, even with little traffic can result in a huge financial payoff. Here's one example - not auction related - I have a hand reg of a specific term in an industry that is searched at specifically @ Google. I put up a simple site and since Jan last year, it has been ranked #1 on Google for that term. That one site generates mid 4 to low 5 figures a month for a business to business service. This is a longtail phrase so actual traffic is low, but it is targeted enough that the closing rate of visitors is exceptionally high.
I don't have the budget personally to even consider a 7 figure purchase (no, really hehe). But there are a lot of bargains to be had in more targeted one word generics or multiple word phrases at auctions. That's what I look for anyways.
Nametrader and I did buy one domain yesterday. I had been really interested in another domain that went for it's reserve but was unable to bid because of having some serious lag at the time. It went at - what I consider - to be a steal of a price with only one bid.
Sharon
hot prospects, as well! Lastly, though it says "On List" ... I don't even see it anywhere ... and still no reply to my earlier emails!?! :blink:
