strategy How to Find Potential End Users?

[shilmy]

Hi,

Do any of you has regularly sell your domain to end users? If so, do you mind share with me in this thread on how find potential end users for your domain?

Regards,
Sjarief

 

[Gene]

Fantastic information. Thanks for sharing this Joshua.

 

[fh08]

Nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[Nattydomain]

As always great info....Just to make sure im doing this correct I bought a reg fee domain about 4 days ago. Its a geo + product domain. Sent out 5 emails (for the surrounding area) and got back 1 reply. I was at work and they called. Then they emailed me (when they called they left no voicemail). I emailed back a price of $500 which fits about right with Josh company info. So far no reply but will respond back on Monday. If all goes well I have 5 other domains thet the domain itself fits the exsiting business BETTER or supports it in one way or another. Thanx again for all your info!

 

[garptrader]

Thanks Joshua for sharing your experience with the forum. Domainers have a tendency to price their inventory based on what they see on DNJournal and forget that DNJournal only reports the high-end sales while the typical sale is much lower. One comment I will add that I gathered from a domainer/blogger is that he made some sales to end users who already had good domains. Our efforts focused on companies with poor domains with the idea that they would be interested in a better alternative (without directly stating your domain is #@$%^&!). Obviously that approach did not work. Companies with poor domains may not see why they should spend money on a high-quality generic domain and thus often balk at the suggestion of paying more than $50 for a domain. And again the Spanish market is obviously less receptive to such offers than the English-speaking market.

 

[spikedo]

This should be nominated for Post of the Year. Fantastic infomation! We all appreciate you sharing Josh.

Unsure of how to price domains for end-users? Well, after having completed my 150th end-user sale since September the other day, I...

 

[Kenny]

Unsure of how to price domains for end-users? Well, after having completed my 150th end-user sale ........

Outstanding post!!!! Rep up'd

 

[dotnom]

Unsure of how to price domains for end-users?..........

Excellent quick guide for domainers that focus end-users
This topic with your help and everyone's else is interesting for all the pages it contains

 

[Domainace]

Great post, Josh. So many domainers are hung up on the glamour of big sales - the lottery mentality. Little sales, done consistently, add up.

 

[DanB]

Joshua, I think you have some good points, especially for the research part, but having sold hundreds of domains to end-users from low $xxx to mid $xx,xxx, I would advise to not underestimate a small company or to overestimate a large one. I mean, I've already sold domains for $x,xxx to small companies, and struggled to get a low $xxx from large businesses with online presence. I think only experience will tell you how much ask for a domain. But again, it's a good start point your guide.

I would tell you to check all the ccTLD extensions for your domain too. Not only it provides you more potential buyers, but it gives you more arguments to negotiate. You can use EuroDNS for example. And as I said in my previous post, I always include price, I don't wait for a reply "how much?". This can be good for a small business, someone that is not very busy, but having worked in big corporations, an offer without a price don't get an answer. It's your domain, you are offering me to buy it, why should I ask you for the price? But again, it depends, I'm just telling you my experience.

LAst thing, I totally agree that you should put a price of $495 instead of $500 for example. This seems ridicoulous, but it is a very powerfull and proven marketing/sales strategy. Besides, if you are selling to an European country, include the price in USD and put the equivalent in Euros, since the amount in Euros is lower than in USD, and the end user has the impression to have a big deal thanks to his stronger currency.

--

 

[Fork]

Hey Josh, have you ever used Hoovers.com to research a company before pitching or while pricing a domain? Apparently they have the contact info of the decision makers and accurate financial data, but it costs $29 per report or $75/mo.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Actual end-user sale transcripts

Thank you all for the kind feedback. In an effort to keep this momentum rolling on all cylinders, I have decided to publish actual negotiation transcripts of successful end-user sales I and my friends here at NP have banged out recently. You may locate them at the below URL, now and, hopefully, for years to come:

http://blog.nameflipper.com/end-use...nscripts-actual-e-mail-templates-that-worked/

All transcripts, in which the lion's share of identifying information has been censored, are reproduced at the above URL with express permission of the associated sellers. Please read the complete set of terms on the above page before proceeding to view these transcripts.

We plan on adding 2-3 transcripts to the above URL each week, so note the address and check back periodically!

If you're looking for any type of proven end-user approach template (initial e-mail pitch, follow-up, prodding, responding to counter-offers, responding to unsolicited inquiries, accepting non-ideal offers graciously, etc.), the above URL either contains or will eventually contain what you're seeking.

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Joshua, I think you have some good points, especially for the research part, but having sold hundreds of domains to end-users from low $xxx to mid $xx,xxx, I would advise to not underestimate a small company or to overestimate a large one. I mean, I've already sold domains for $x,xxx to small companies, and struggled to get a low $xxx from large businesses with online presence. I think only experience will tell you how much ask for a domain.

I absolutely, 100% agree with this point. My very first domain sale involved a small publishing firm forking out 10% of its 2008 sales budget, whereas recently I couldn't even get an interested multi-billion dollar / year research lab to dish out $100 for a very relevant generic, keyword-heavy domain ($50 was their max offer). Even after just 150 end-users sales I've eaten my fill of these enigmatic experiences. The price ranges I stenciled in my earlier post are intended to help beginners mount an intuition for how much they could extract, on average, from companies of the corresponding size when approaching them first. But you need to prepare to deviate an order of magnitude in either direction based (a) The dozen factors I outlined earlier in the post, and (b) Cues and vicissitudes specific to your situation. I wouldn't recommend that beginners approach even a massive end-user with a mid-$xx,xxx asking price, but if you have researched your end-user thoroughly enough to know that your domain fits their business snugly and you manage to play your JUST right, a mid-$xx,xxx end-user sales may not impossible to achieve, even if you're soliciting the end-user.

Hey Josh, have you ever used Hoovers.com to research a company before pitching or while pricing a domain? Apparently they have the contact info of the decision makers and accurate financial data, but it costs $29 per report or $75/mo.

Nope. Could be worthwhile when approaching huge corps. which you believe your domain would enthuse for $x,xxx-$xx,xxx if you tapped the right executive. I haven't reached out to enough such enterprises to make that $29 worth my while, but the contact information could turn out very useful if it were accurate and comprehensive. Honestly though, I'm not sure how Hoovers.com would obtain these contacts or why company executives would reveal them, so I will remain skeptical about their accuracy until I verify them for myself.

 

[lincolndsp]

Fantastic info, Josh!
Thank you!

 

[garptrader]

Due to constant turnover, promotions and restrucutring, internal organization charts at large companies are notoriously outdated. And where else would Hoover's get its data from but the company?

 

[Vladi]

Thank you, Joshua. I've checked your site out and I was pleased to find such useful information

 

[pk81]

I think I just sold one of my domains, thanks to one of Joshua transcripts. Ive been an idiot, I never emailed potential end users. I decided to give it a try yesterday and the guy just replied with: " mid XXX amount and you have a deal". The domain is a dot NET and the guy had something else . So far im 1/1. This was a business website, a large one that did not have a com or net, or even a org. I didnt register the site prior to knowing this, I just luckily found out the site existed AFTER I had registered it.

 

[Sameh]

I think I just sold one of my domains, thanks to one of Joshua transcripts. Ive been an idiot, I never emailed potential end users. I decided to give it a try yesterday and the guy just replied with: " mid XXX amount and you have a deal". The domain is a dot NET and the guy had something else . So far im 1/1. This was a business website, a large one that did not have a com or net, or even a org. I didnt register the site prior to knowing this, I just luckily found out the site existed AFTER I had registered it.

Congrats.


Keep up the hard work & dig your other domains for more end-users sales. :tu:

 

[ripley]

Edited.

 

[nicedomains]

Josh thanks for sharing your transcripts here.. repped +


Looks like it's time for me to get back in end user email/calling mode.. It's been a while, wish me luck!

 

[lincolndsp]

Joshua, have you estimated the success rate with approaching end-users who have inferior domains?
I'm asking because I approached the end-user yesterday with a .com that's "online" shorter than his business's domain and he was categorically not interested.

 

[garptrader]

Yes, I would be interested as to whether the pros pick up a domain only after having identified target end users or vice versa. Most domainers already have plenty of domains but offering a drop Word1+Word2.com to a company with Word1+Word2.net is a different approach. I recall one nice Spanish travel-related .COM (common phrase+S.com 10 characters total) we promoted and within our list of potential contacts were travel agencies with Word1-Word2.cc or Word1+Word2.tld. In the end we sent out close to 50 email contacts half at the regular price and half at a 40% discount and still got no offers.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Joshua, have you estimated the success rate with approaching end-users who have inferior domains?
I'm asking because I approached the end-user yesterday with a .com that's "online" shorter than his business's domain and he was categorically not interested.

My "initial response" rate is about 10% for caught drops and 20% for won pre-release domains. Of all my negotiations, roughly 40% have resulted in a sale (most of the others asked "what's your price?" out of curiosity, with no intention of actually purchasing the domain name).

I successfully quick-flip roughly 1/3 of my pre-release domains and 1/5 of my dropping domains. Most of these are superior versions of multiple developed domains (e.g. from the liquid expiring domains lists I offer in my sig.).

I never backorder, bid on, or hand-register a domain name unless I can identify either one VERY strong end-user prospect for it or three medium-strength end-user prospects. This is how you maintain a liquid portfolio whose domains receive frequent inquiries.

 

[lincolndsp]

My "initial response" rate is about 10% for caught drops and 20% for won pre-release domains. Of all my negotiations, roughly 40% have resulted in a sale (most of the others asked "what's your price?" out of curiosity, with no intention of actually purchasing the domain name).

I successfully quick-flip roughly 1/3 of my pre-release domains and 1/5 of my dropping domains. Most of these are superior versions of multiple developed domains (e.g. from the liquid expiring domains lists I offer in my sig.).

I never backorder, bid on, or hand-register a domain name unless I can identify either one VERY strong end-user prospect for it or three medium-strength end-user prospects. This is how you maintain a liquid portfolio whose domains receive frequent inquiries.

great stats! thanks
it's a pity NP does not allow to add rep so often as I want to.

 

[ripley]

Yes, I would be interested as to whether the pros pick up a domain only after having identified target end users or vice versa. Most domainers already have plenty of domains but offering a drop Word1+Word2.com to a company with Word1+Word2.net is a different approach. I recall one nice Spanish travel-related .COM (common phrase+S.com 10 characters total) we promoted and within our list of potential contacts were travel agencies with Word1-Word2.cc or Word1+Word2.tld. In the end we sent out close to 50 email contacts half at the regular price and half at a 40% discount and still got no offers.

I haven't yet figured out why this is, but travel-related businesses, primarily travel agents or agencies, rarely seem interested in acquiring a better domain. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but my experience indicates that they mostly don't care. I've also had this experience with another couple of segments that might seem surprising, primarily restaurants, realty companies and florists. I am rarely able to interest companies from these segments in better domain names, so much so that I've significantly raised my personal bar for investing in these types of names altogether.

Go figure.

ripley.

 

[mwzd]

Yes, I would be interested as to whether the pros pick up a domain only after having identified target end users or vice versa.

Totally depends on your investment strategy tbh.

If you're going for generics in available extensions, the target market is totally different to picking a domain that a US company could use.

I try to buy each domain on a combination of brand worthiness, applicability to industry, search metrics and price.

Unlike Joshua I don't buy with a buyer in mind, more the development potential and scope. Also unlike Joshua, I don't have 120 end user sales in the last 6 mo. :D Not even close.

Though I did sell 1100 names last year, it was and is a combination of domainers, domain companies and end users. I am a four bar seller at Sedo and have over 400 successful transactions here.

What I'm trying to say is "know your market". Not everyone will have success with end users. Not everyone is even interested in putting in the effort, they'd rather make 2x reg fee every day than one 'biggish' sale every few months.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Noooo...I wanted post #1000!!!

(Note to self: edit post #1001 and swap this placeholder with useful end-user tip when less tired.)