MaguirePhD said:
Is estibot a fairly reliable, with a margin of course, indicator of domain value?
No, it's not. What it is, is a tool to complement your own research and knowledge of the domain market.
On average, it's quite good. Statistical testing proves that there is a high correlation between Estibot appraisals and real sale prices. What this means that it is often in the right ballpark, and can therefore be used as a tool to get a quick rough idea, but there are many occasions when it cannot evaluate a domain's value even to the right ballpark.
A lot of those occasions get posted here, where Estibot has been "wrong", so there is a publication bias. Most occasions, where it is in the right ballpark, do not get posted here, but it does hit the right ballpark more often than not.
Why can it not be accurate for all domains? Because the formula that is always accurate for domain appraisal cannot be programmed into an automated system. The formula is this:
DNV = DPB * DPS * MB * MS * AMV
For explanation, read my blog
I punched a domain in and received the following:
Frequency (MSN) 3670000
Backlinks 0
PageRank
Alexa Rank Not Ranked
Traffic (Visits / Day) N/A
http://EstiBot.com Valuation : USD 2,500
I am assuming that as a parked domain this would be capable of generating traffic, correct?
Not correct. Neither Estibot nor anything/anyone else can predict exactly how much traffic your domain would get parked.
You can use the "type-in-traffic" tool to get an idea of the number of searches for the keywords with extension - this correlates well with natural traffic, but even that cannot predict the traffic for certain.
The only way to evaluate the traffic is to park the domain and monitor the stats. You can use the 4-day grace period to cancel the domain if it doesn't get any traffic.
Secondly, can anyone come up with a figure whereby it would not be economically cost beneficial to purchase a domain based on the valuation.
No, that's not possible I'm afraid. You can use the valuation and especially the keyword stats to help you perform your own valuation.
For example: A domain that estibot states it is worth $200.
My question is should it generate parked revenue? Lastly, I assume that if it is valued at $200, there must be a resale market that would, at a minimum recapture the cost of the domain, assuming it was purchased for reg. fee.
I'm afraid you can't assume that. Domain registration and purchase requires knowledge of the market. Estibot and other tools on the Web can help you to get the data you need for your own valuation.
Jeff said:
Estibot is one tool in your arsenal, IMHO. It's a good system, but it should not be relied up solely ... rather, it should complement your other research (one being the #1 Namepros Appraisals Forum™ for Wholesale "Quick Sale" range/pricing)
Very true. I'd like to add that while I also recommend without reservation getting an appraisal here in the Namepros forum, you should be very skeptical of the Namepros appraisal forum responses, too. There are some individuals here who are very good at appraising resale market value, but you need to learn who those individuals are.
MaguirePhD said:
My root question is: Should a domain evaluated by estibot at $300, $400 or $500 produce parking revenue, as that is all I want them for?
The answer to your root question is no, Estibot does not attempt to evaluate parking revenue.
The "Max PPC income" figure you see is a rough estimate of the sort of PPC income you might collect if your domain/website was at the top of Google search results for the search term.
scabies said:
Here is what estibot has to say about my highest earning parked domain, making $450/month:
Valuation for domain name only : USD 100, Valuation considering traffic: USD 160
There you have it, the domain is worth a little more than 1 weeks revenue.
Estibot cannot know what your parking revenue is; it is not considered in the valuation. You said your best revenue generating domains are "crappy, worthless, hyphenated names". I'm surprised the valuation is even USD100 in that case - but if you look at the valuation closely, Estibot knows that your domain is generating traffic. This should be a heads up to do further research on that domain.
Basically any domain that generates type-in traffic can be valuable, regardless of how "crappy" it sounds
scabies said:
Don't just take estibot with a grain of salt, I would suggest not taking it at all. It is almost always waaay off, and it's not really estibots fault, if it were easy to make a program to accurately predict parking revenue, there would be programs available to accurately predict parking revenue.
True, that's why Estibot does not attempt to predict parking revenue.
In summary, please read the disclaimers and the Guide when using Estibot.
I use it all the time, and it has helped me a great deal in acquiring valuable domain names. The way I use it and recommend to others:
The dollar valuation number is a "quick-look" indicator. If it is very high, the domain is worth a closer look. If I get a $x,xxx valuation or $xx,xxx valuation, I look very carefully at the market for that domain. Sometimes it's a false alarm, sometimes not.
The only way the dollar valuation is helpful is if the domain name is sensible as a domain name. The initial filtering and final valuation need to be done by the user.
There is no point in valuating domains such as "HaveTherefore.com" or "BecauseHe.com". Although these are obviously crap domain names, they have high Google popularity because they are frequent word combos in natural language. Even though I've programmed filters to try and catch these high-Google crappy domain names, Estibot can be fooled to think they might have value as domains, because it cannot take all linguistic aspects into account.
Many skilled and successful professional domainers have told me that they use Estibot, and also that the dollar valuations are often very close to their own thinking.
This is because if you have an understanding of the market, you will not punch in names that are obviously crappy.
Look at the domain name. If it looks like it's a nice generic domain name that describes a product or a service, and Estibot gives it a high appraisal, chances are the appraisal is close to the approximate market value.
Estibot is at its best with generic keyword domains. And even then, it can be only roughly indicative.
Please do not just look at the dollar valuation. Explore the other tools, look at the keyword stats, Advertiser bids, and so on, and you will come to understand what the valuation means.
There are two ways to acquire valuable domain names:
1) Perform thorough research
2) Register them all for "tasting". This is a controversial technique, but since there are those big-time domainers who do this on a massive scale, I see no reason why the rest of us shouldn't do it - it's only democratic.
