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

 

[mwzd]

Its your product, quote a price, mention its negotiable if you're aiming high or you'll scare him away.

Don't confuse an end user with Sedo except maybe at the escrow stage, though if the amount is greater than $500, don't do it then either.

Good Luck

 

[aliweb]

Its your product, quote a price, mention its negotiable if you're aiming high or you'll scare him away.

Don't confuse an end user with Sedo except maybe at the escrow stage, though if the amount is greater than $500, don't do it then either.

Good Luck

Ok I have asked the buyer to quote a price which he thinks is fair. I would have sent him my asking price but I saw your post after sending email. But never mind let's see what he has to say as I have told him I am open to suggestions. Didn't send any SEDO link.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Ok I have asked the buyer to quote a price which he thinks is fair. I would have sent him my asking price but I saw your post after sending email. But never mind let's see what he has to say as I have told him I am open to suggestions. Didn't send any SEDO link.

If you approached the buyer, it's your responsibility to quote a price. And if the buyer is an established company I would simply agree to transfer them the domain before requesting payment. Your buyer would then more likely say "yes" because he/she would feel more secure about the purchase, and you spare yourself the 10% loss on Sedo's commission. I've made over 100 end-user sales in this fashion and have never encountered a buyer who grabbed the domain without paying.

***

I've received many inquiries on how to respond to the "how much?" type e-mails. While I have provided general advice on how to price one's domains, to this point I've hesitated to offer templates for e-mails establishing asking prices because I had yet to find one that consistently evoked the optimal percentage of affirmative (or at least positive, understanding) responses. Well, after many months of experimentation, I would to present a template that I have yet, after about 10-15 mailings, to receive a straight out "no" (or no-response) to. My end-user has always either accepted or counter-offered -- usually the latter:

***

Template instance 1 - Domain SimpleTouch.com, end-user SimpleTouchIL.com:

Hi [...],

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, especially during these challenging economic times.

The most accurate way to gauge a domain's market value is to base it off past sales of similar domains. SimpleColor.com, SimpleStream.com, and SimpleMeasures.com pop up as the three most recently reported commercial domain name sales beginning with "Simple-". They sold for $755 (Apr. '08), $2288 (Feb. '07), and $3000 (Sep. '06), respectively. More importantly, the less-desirable SimpleTouch.net is listed at $888 on BuyDomains.com.

Based on the market capitalization and growth potential of LCD touch screens and spa resorts -- the most likely industry candidates for SimpleTouch.com -- this domain could easily fetch $1500-$2000 during healthy economic times. However, seeing as you represent a relatively young group, I will ask a slimmer $845 for SimpleTouch.com. If you choose to move forward I would proceed to transfer you SimpleTouch.com and then invoice your group for $845 via PayPal.

There already exist dozens of established domains beginning with 'SimpleTouch'. At its present $845 tag this domain will sell. It's only a question of whether that swap will occur this week or the week after.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and will keep my offer open through Friday if necessary. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone (XXX.XXX.XXXX) if any questions come to mind.

Speak to you soon,
[...]

***

Template instance 2 - Domain HummerHire.com, end-user HummerHummer.co.uk:

Hi [...],

Thanks for getting back to me, especially late on a Saturday afternoon. At your earliest convenience please pass the following information on to your supervisor and let me know whether he requires any additional facts:

The most accurate way to gauge a domain's market value is to base it off past sales of similar domains. TruckForHire.com and TrucksForHire.com pop up as the two most recently reported car-related domain sales ending with -Hire. They sold for $1000 and $1150, respectively, in July 2008. Other recently purchased -Hire domains include MedicalHire.com (whisked off for $800, also in July '08) and EasyHire.com (scooped up for $1000, Feb. '05).

Based on the market capitalization of the luxury car industry and the fact "hummer hire" as an expression receives 30% more monthly Google searches than "truck for hire" (and 300% more than "trucks for hire"), HummerHire.com could easily sell within the $1000-$1500 range during healthy economic times. However, as I understand the present recession has struck England even harder than it has the USA, I believe $750 would be a more fair amount to ask for HummerHire.com. If you chose to move forward I would proceed to transfer you HummerHire.com and then invoice your group for $750 via PayPal.

HummerHire.com is an extraodinarily pragmatic luxury car domain to own for both search engine optimization and marketing purposes. At its present $750 tag this domain will sell. It's only a question of whether that swap will occur this coming week or the week after.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and will keep my offer open through Wednesday if necessary. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone (+1.XXX.XXX.XXXX) if any questions come to mind.

Speak to you soon,
[...]

***

As you can tell, this template requires heavy tailoring whose final product lucidly reflects the domain's composition, domain's industry category, and the nature of the specific end-user on your receiving end. Work hard => get lucky.

If the end-user does say "no thanks" without presenting a counter-offer, a quick throwback like the following has nearly always elicited a counter in my experience:

***

[...],

Out of curiosity, what is the most you could have offered? It's unlikely we'll accept that amount but we might take it under consideration.

Thanks,
[...]

***

Hope these examples help a few of you. I do not believe in keeping "trade secrets".

Jamie Zoch has also posted up a couple of helpful sample responses to the "how much?" question on his DotWeekly.com blog.

 

[aliweb]

Many thanks JoshuaPz for your detailed advice. I will keep that in mind from now on. Repped!

 

[jlw]

The most accurate way to gauge a domain's market value is to base it off past sales of similar domains. SimpleColor.com, SimpleStream.com, and SimpleMeasures.com pop up as the three most recently reported commercial domain name sales beginning with "Simple-". They sold for $755 (Apr. '08), $2288 (Feb. '07), and $3000 (Sep. '06), respectively. More importantly, the less-desirable SimpleTouch.net is listed at $888 on BuyDomains.com.

Thanks; this is a great template. Can you also advise: What tool(s) do you use to search for the sales results on comparable names?

---J.

 

[BitcoinDK]

Namebio is a good place to start.

The most accurate way to gauge a domain's market value is to base it off past sales of similar domains. SimpleColor.com, SimpleStream.com, and SimpleMeasures.com pop up as the three most recently reported commercial domain name sales beginning with "Simple-". They sold for $755 (Apr. '08), $2288 (Feb. '07), and $3000 (Sep. '06), respectively. More importantly, the less-desirable SimpleTouch.net is listed at $888 on BuyDomains.com.

Thanks; this is a great template. Can you also advise: What tool(s) do you use to search for the sales results on comparable names?

---J.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Thanks; this is a great template. Can you also advise: What tool(s) do you use to search for the sales results on comparable names?

---J.

Rabbi W.,

I prefer NameBio.com because its search/sort features are very flexible and easy to use, but DNSalePrice.com offers a quality selection of past sales as well. As a minor point, I've had difficultly pulling up past sales of .me domains on NameBio.

If NameBio's prices of similar domains don't justify my initial offer (or sometimes, even if they do), I pull up prices of domains resembling mine listed at BuyDomains.com -- there's nearly always a handful in that repository. Register.com, Moniker, and DomainTools also host a pretty large collection of sale listings.

Hope this helps.

Shabbat Shalom,
Josh

 

[jlw]

Rabbi W.,

I prefer NameBio.com because ...

Shabbat Shalom,
Josh

Hey, I'm not a rabbi, but thanks for the promotion.

--- J.

P.S. --- Also thanks for citing Namebio. I'll check it out.

I'd heard about dnsaleprice a couple weeks ago, but it doesn't work for me. I've visited it about ten times, using three different browsers, and only once did it work, but the success couldn't be repeated even in that session. It always says nothing has been found, even when there obviously should be plenty.

 

[copper]

I'd heard about dnsaleprice a couple weeks ago, but it doesn't work for me. I've visited it about ten times, using three different browsers, and only once did it work, but the success couldn't be repeated even in that session. It always says nothing has been found, even when there obviously should be plenty.

I use dnsaleprice.com often without any problem although site isn't available sometimes.

 

[jlw]

I use dnsaleprice.com often without any problem although site isn't available sometimes.

Hmm, I wonder what the problem is. I've tried many times, on different days. I've used Firefox, IE, and Safari. It only worked once. That time I was using IE, but when I tried the same search a few seconds later, it did not work again.

And it hasn't worked since.

Anyway, namebio works great; so I no longer need to get dnsaleprice to work. Thanks, guys.

---J.

 

[aliweb]

Just sold DevJobs.mobi to end user for $55 :D

 

[Teddy7]

Enduser.
MissLife.com
700 Euro

How to Find Potential End Users? Don´t worry, they will find you!

 

[notlikeyou]

Hmm, I wonder what the problem is. I've tried many times, on different days. I've used Firefox, IE, and Safari. It only worked once. That time I was using IE, but when I tried the same search a few seconds later, it did not work again.

And it hasn't worked since.

Anyway, namebio works great; so I no longer need to get dnsaleprice to work. Thanks, guys.

---J.

Try doing a search without selecting a specific TLD, seems like currently if you select a TLD it won't produce a result.

 

[Fengz]

i was wondering, do you use escrow service for domains sold below $100 to end user?

 

[kwok]

i was wondering, do you use escrow service for domains sold below $100 to end user?

Probably not.

 

[ripley]

I only use escrow for $500+, unless I have a squirrely buyer who insists on it.

ripley.

 

[fh08]

Negotiated my first enduser sale today. Just wondering how you guys approach the topic of Paypal fees/escrow fees? I asked the buyer the bear the Paypal fees, but gave him the option of MassPay. Does anybody split fees when it comes to paypal/escrow?

 

[DavidH]

Negotiated my first enduser sale today. Just wondering how you guys approach the topic of Paypal fees/escrow fees? I asked the buyer the bear the Paypal fees, but gave him the option of MassPay. Does anybody split fees when it comes to paypal/escrow?

If I am selling to an enduser I pay the Paypal fees and simply work that into the price I agree for a sale. I use this as a selling factor - making life as easy as possible for the buyer (with a possible view to getting more sales in the future) is more important to me than getting a few dollars more in fees out of the buyer.

If it goes to escrow then I usually ask the buyer to pay the fees or if this becomes a sticking point, agree to split 50/50.

 

[fh08]

I see, working the fees into the price seems like a good way to get around the problem. To be honest, I felt a little bad pushing the 4% fee on the buyer at the last moment, although he didn't have any concerns about it.

 

[Gene]

I see, working the fees into the price seems like a good way to get around the problem. To be honest, I felt a little bad pushing the 4% fee on the buyer at the last moment, although he didn't have any concerns about it.

I always used the 50/50 option in Escrow.com without ever bringing the up the subject. I've never once had an objection.