debate How to make a 7-digits domain sale !

[Cyril.Best]

DPs,

I create this thread because I start to understand one big paradox of this industry.

Everyone has its own chapel and certitudes on everything whatever is domain name appraisal, dotcom vs ngtld, blablabla ... - why not ?

But the reality is that only few of you as already sold something for 7-digits in his/her life to a buyer - whatever it's a domain name or anything else.

The first time, I had this chance, I was 20 years old (a long time ago, I was very lucky because it was not just a domain - it was a full website, a marketplace, but I learned something for the rest of my business life :

What makes the price of a domain name is not the domain itself (whatever is the name or the extension) - it's the buyer - it's the business opportunity or the threat for the buyer !

All the rest : sales tactics, story, emotions .... are pure cosmetics and/or bullshit to go to the deal.

So, to answer the initial question : How to make a 7-digits domain sale ?

The right answer is : Don't chase after the perfect domain, chase after the perfect buyer !

and then bring the perfect domain to your buyer.

You will see - price will then be secondary at the end of the game.

Hope it helps.

All the .Best,

CF

 

[alcy]

Yep; we don't report any of our big premium sales (i.e bank.best, ...) and will not.

we never believe anyone on namepros who says they made 1 million dollar sales with zero proof... and will not.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I try to be fair an balanced, so if I could insert a few words in the discussion, just from my viewpoint.

I see much value in a registry CEO being active on NPs, but I think paraphrasing what the late Carl Sagan said about claims and evidence, with great influence must come great responsibility. In my opinion the $500 projection, whether meant just for city ones, as literally it did apply to, or more generally was probably unwise. While the CEO may, and probably does, feel that number is in keeping with the projection of interest in .best according to models, I think there is too great a chance the message will be misinterpreted (especially coming from a CEO as opposed to a random anonymous new poster) as either a guarantee or an idea that can be extrapolated. We all know how many newbies have been hurt by hearing an article or reading a book on the "easy domain flip, get rich" and then are disappointed when it is neither easy nor fast nor assured.

I think there are a number of interesting and worthwhile things we have learned from the .best threads and the involvement of the CEO. These include (in my opinion)

• A bit about the history of the TLD acquisition (some are quoting registration numbers and resale statistics seemingly oblivious to the fact that the TLD is in new hands and has a new direction).
• Some about the social media plan, and how the extension is seen as a complement to .com (or country code) and not as a replacement for it. One can debate this, but at least it potentially offers something different from most new gTLDs.
• The extension currently has tons of good names that are not registry reserved. That is very good news for domain investors, as the lack of quality non-reserved names is an argument against ngTLD by some.
• The announcement about the radical decrease in wholesale prices to the registrar (notice in Feb with 6 month period to implementation). For many the high renewal prices was a stumbling block,so that is important information to our community.
• The announcement of names being dropped from the reserved list provides NPs members with inside information that can be valuable to their domain investing, and today even asking for input on what niches we would like to see premium reserved names drop in.
• The aesthetics of the extension can be debated, and has been but it is arguably strong compared to many new gTLDs and the research evidence that @Cyril.Best has provided is valuable imho. It is sort of akin to the two years of full time analytics that Radix did in starting with 1000+ names and moving to the final 9 they won (part of a keynote at NamesCon).

I think the critics should acknowledge that we have learned rather a lot of value in just a few days. Name calling is never proper, and in my opinion a few posts have strayed past the NPs rules regarding respect.

Finally, if I might suggest that when considering how to interact with NPs as a CEO I think Epik's @Rob Monster offers model behaviour. Yes, he occasionally points out that Epik has such and such that is, I know, a form of promotion. I think most NPs members accept and welcome him here because mainly he provides information and help to NPs members. It is sort of like @Kate Buckley guide re social media (if I am remembering it correctly) that make sure that no more than 20% of your interactions are promotional with the rest being genuine altruistic contributions.

There is a lot of value in letting past perceived wrongs be in the past. Can we all just leave this rocky start and view this as a new day? The critics accepting that there have been useful contributions and that their name calling and harsh words were out of hand, and the registry operator agreeing to be more sensitive and guarded and less promotional going forward.

Just thoughts from an old man who is wrong on many things, but I've believed in peace and respect for a long time. Thanks for reading another too long post.

Bob

 

[maxtra]

I try to be fair an balanced, so if I could insert a few words in the discussion, just from my viewpoint.

I see much value in a registry CEO being active on NPs, but I think paraphrasing what the late Carl Sagan said about claims and evidence, with great influence must come great responsibility. In my opinion the $500 projection, whether meant just for city ones, as literally it did apply to, or more generally was probably unwise. While the CEO may, and probably does, feel that number is in keeping with the projection of interest in .best according to models, I think there is too great a chance the message will be misinterpreted (especially coming from a CEO as opposed to a random anonymous new poster) as either a guarantee or an idea that can be extrapolated. We all know how many newbies have been hurt by hearing an article or reading a book on the "easy domain flip, get rich" and then are disappointed when it is neither easy nor fast nor assured.

I think there are a number of interesting and worthwhile things we have learned from the .best threads and the involvement of the CEO. These include (in my opinion)

• A bit about the history of the TLD acquisition (some are quoting registration numbers and resale statistics seemingly oblivious to the fact that the TLD is in new hands and has a new direction).
• Some about the social media plan, and how the extension is seen as a complement to .com (or country code) and not as a replacement for it. One can debate this, but at least it potentially offers something different from most new gTLDs.
• The extension currently has tons of good names that are not registry reserved. That is very good news for domain investors, as the lack of quality non-reserved names is an argument against ngTLD by some.
• The announcement about the radical decrease in wholesale prices to the registrar (notice in Feb with 6 month period to implementation). For many the high renewal prices was a stumbling block,so that is important information to our community.
• The announcement of names being dropped from the reserved list provides NPs members with inside information that can be valuable to their domain investing, and today even asking for input on what niches we would like to see premium reserved names drop in.
• The aesthetics of the extension can be debated, and has been but it is arguably strong compared to many new gTLDs and the research evidence that @Cyril.Best has provided is valuable imho. It is sort of akin to the two years of full time analytics that Radix did in starting with 1000+ names and moving to the final 9 they won (part of a keynote at NamesCon).

I think the critics should acknowledge that we have learned rather a lot of value in just a few days. Name calling is never proper, and in my opinion a few posts have strayed past the NPs rules regarding respect.

Finally, if I might suggest that when considering how to interact with NPs as a CEO I think Epik's @Rob Monster offers model behaviour. Yes, he occasionally points out that Epik has such and such that is, I know, a form of promotion. I think most NPs members accept and welcome him here because mainly he provides information and help to NPs members. It is sort of like @Kate Buckley guide re social media (if I am remembering it correctly) that make sure that no more than 20% of your interactions are promotional with the rest being genuine altruistic contributions.

There is a lot of value in letting past perceived wrongs be in the past. Can we all just leave this rocky start and view this as a new day? The critics accepting that there have been useful contributions and that their name calling and harsh words were out of hand, and the registry operator agreeing to be more sensitive and guarded and less promotional going forward.

Just thoughts from an old man who is wrong on many things, but I've believed in peace and respect for a long time. Thanks for reading another too long post.

Bob

Just wanted to say I appreciate the level of detail you put in your posts Bob

That is all

 

[Elad n]

So this thread is basically a hidden (well, not so hidden )for .best domains

 

[bmugford]

We can disagree on everything but with respect.

Cool, I would argue the following things are disrespectful to the community -

1.) Spamming discussion threads with sales pitches.
2.) Opening new threads just to spam sales pitches.
3.) Throwing around baseless legal threats.
4.) Making wild projections / unsubstantiated claims based on limited or no data.

If you expected to just show up here and have experienced people swallow this manure that is not going to happen. You can expect to get push back.

If you want respect, give respect. This is a community, not a place for you to spam .best all over the place.

Brad

 

[Michael]

Pretty contradictory. Asking namebio to sign an NDA? Asking namebio to report the sale?

Anyway I’m certain @Michael will verify anything as out there as a $100k sale for a non-dot com extension and merely “talking to the buyer” is not enough to verify anything. For something like this given all the hoopla nothing short of third party verification of transfer of funds could support the alleged sale.

Again why anyone would pay 100k for bank.best or restaurant.best when equivalent extensions in these names were sold for:

restaurant.ly sold for 600

and come to think of it, Cyril says that the buyer of one of these is a French trader, but at the same time

monrestaurant.fr sold for only 2787 (NOT $100K)

and as well we aren't hearing anything more definitive about the million dollar hotel/hotels.best that was supposedly already sold.



I actually like Cyril's good natured attitude but I think that he's at "best" referring to some sort of joint venture agreements that he is valuing at six figures versus any sort of straight cash deals.

Thanks for the tag, I hadn't seen this thread. We don't sign NDAs under any circumstances. I'm not really sure why it would even be needed. If the buyer consents to having the sale reported then Cyril can have them reach out to us and provide whatever info we need from their end, that way GDPR isn't a factor.

I wouldn't report any of the sales mentioned in this thread based on screenshots alone. I would need to see contracts/invoices, see evidence of a wire transfer, and I would initiate a conference call between either the buyer or seller and his bank to confirm the details of the wire are legitimate. Normally I wouldn't go quite that far, but I don't get good vibes when someone considers a letter of intent to be a done deal.

 

[KWNG]

I take a few days off NP and see this thread title. I click on it. I read the first page. I skip to this page (7) and still no evidence of the mega sale. Disappointed. Btw I lurk alot well done on the click bait.

Regards

KWNG

 

[nick3]

Like I Said - we received a formal engagement letter from the buyer.

And it is for the couple domain hotels.best+hotel.best

hotels.com was sold for $11M so we still think that there is a huge gap between $1M and $11M.

There is also a huge gap between .best and .com..

I would take the $1M without a doubt.

Good luck anyway!

 

[Kate]

What are you trying to achieve here ?
Close that sale first, then go brag about it.
I am wondering if that 'buyer' is aware you are spilling the beans in public and providing exposure he may just not want.
Seriously ? You are going to publicly post a letter on the Internet for a private deal that has not even taken place ?

nTLDs are not my thing at all, but if they were I don't think I would want to own a .best domain after what I have witnessed today.
I'm sure you've had success in other business ventures but the domain industry seems like a poor choice.

 

[Ostrados]

I dont want to add more salt to the OP wounds but this thread is really embarrassing!

Educating potential customers (domainers) about the value of a product (.best domains) is a valid marketing strategy, but doing that based on unproven claims is considered deception when not backed by facts!

If the 1M sale was completed before posting this thread then it would have been a genius thread with powerful impact. An offer has no value until it converts to a sale, an offer is just an offer it can be genuine offer, troll offer, scam offer..etc. For me I only consider a sale as a sale when money appears in my account.

 

[DomainGuy86]

You realize for $1 million a company could nearly buy the rights to a new gtld extension and own the entire market.

But no....let's purchase a grammatically-backward domain name instead and garner all the prestige of it.

Raises the additional question of why a company would be okay with you disclosing the sale price even before a transaction has gone through. Must be part of the negotiating tactic: boast about private information on a Namepros thread.

We are definitely dealing with professionals here. Thanks for the advertisement. I just wish you would of put a skip button in the corner like they do on Youtube.

 

[branding]

Cool story. But as far as I'm aware you haven't sold the domains so your method seems to be a tad time consuming for zero profit.

 

[NYJimbo]

I create this thread because I start to understand one big paradox of this industry.

I find you irritating. .BEST is a crap extension with maybe a few good sales. Good luck with future endeavors.
Ignored.

 

[xynames]

I’m aware of a group in Southern California that has been trying to sell an art collection for - 11 years now. They tried to get me to invest in the collection last year. They’ve hyped the collection many times and even shared all sorts of different “engagement letters” with potential investors and buyers over the years that they claimed proved that someone was going to buy the art in a matter of days or weeks.

They also obtained a much ridiculed “appraisal” of the art that factors in trying to sell unsigned numbered copies of the art to the public even though the artist is dead and unable to sign anything any longer.

The collection has never sold and due to recent controversy over the artist (a pop singer) the art is probably now worth almost nothing. And still they occasionally hype claims that this investor or that has submitted a letter of intent to buy at some ridiculous price.

 

[Josh R]

Shilling your own extension with fake sales. Nice.

Need more regulation to make this kind of behavior illegal! I’m over it.

What’s worse is all the people that buy into the BS and waste money on a .Best... which by the way, makes absolutely zero sense as a domain extension.

 

[Joe N]

Interesting info. Thanks Cyril.

To my inexperienced eye, it looks like there is a lot of hard work and (more importantly) money put into doing the research and generating the data that tells the right story.

Additionally, the ability to analyze that information, package it properly, and pitch it in the right way to the right person in the right company are critical skill sets that needs to be developed over time.

My guess is that these are the biggest road blocks for domainers; particularly for us part-time investors who are only able to invest a few hours per week into investing and learning the industry.

 

[Joe N]

Cool story. But as far as I'm aware you haven't sold the domains so your method seems to be a tad time consuming for zero profit.

Posting about a 7-figure sale before it happens seems like a bit of a jinx to me too!

Cyril - hopefully you'll come back to give all the details if/when the deal goes through.

 

[DrJacoby]

Hotels.best is worth reg fee. Maybe.

A million dollars?! LOL!!!

 

[alcy]

yeah... as far as I go, the only thing this guy has accomplished here today with his posts is made me decide to never buy .best.

ignored indeed.

cheers.

 

[bmugford]

Yes, of course coz nychotel.best is not even register and available at godaddy :
Real value right now is even $1.99 at dynadot.

In my post, if you read it, I was speaking about the potential value that can reach nychotel.best

nychotel.com is from now

Valeur estimée : 5 776 $ (USD)

Do you honestly think that nychotel.com is 57x nychotel.best ?

and that nychotel.best can't go from $100 to $500 ?

I would say the multiplier is likely far higher than 57x when it comes to .com vs .best.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Ok but based on what ? you, the dotcom community ? It's fully subjective.

Based on nothing. The same as what your projections are based on.

"That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."

 

[alcy]

In my personal opinion, some members here act kind of unhinged.

I think we should all treat each other with respect, and certain kindness and joy, even if you disagree with someone.

And not like a pack of rabid monkeys, just because it is an online enviromnent, and you think you can. Honestly, you can not & you should not. I am not impressed at all, as I had much higher opinion of certain long-term members here (well, not too high, but certainly higher then I have now). The way some of you in this thread behaved was just not easy for me to even read. Imo.

What you send out will come back to you - so why to send out negativity, when you can send out something good and positive instead

Show attachment 112282
Yours, lolwarrior

no offence but I see no respect or kindness in your post above

in fact I find your post and words the most disturbing, negative and unfriendly comments and words offered in this thread so far.

perhaps next time you will want to practice what you preach so rest of us "unhinged pack of rabid monkeys" can actually learn something from you.

 

[Cyril.Best]

Please, give more precision. This is your moment.

Please feel free to explain your strategy if you feel there is "outlandish claims."

Also, would reporting a $1M offer, with no proof or facts, qualify as being an "outlandish claim"?

OK @Internet.Domains, so be ready coz it should be long ;

Regarding our THE.Best social network, I would suggest for those who have an interest that you look at our Namescon presentation that you can find on https://www.go.best

But in few words here is our domain name strategy :

Most ngtlds are focusing on selling domains to SMB or Corps. We want to sell domains to SMB through our registrars (go.Best), to Big Corps through our Best Protection Program (brands.best), and ... to the social media users through our own social network (THE.Best)

On the SMB and Corp side we totally disagree with all generic tld : .Best is not a competitor of the .com will never be. All the ngtld that claim/would like to replace the .com are already dead or will be absorbed time after time.

As for THE.Best social network here it is : It's the First social network based on a TLD where you can review anything you want.

Our 4 main differences are :

- Decentralized : Each user has a a real website with a real .Best domain instead of just having a social media account (ex : https://www.cyril.best vs https://twitter.com/FremontCyril)

- Responsible : each user is the owner and so the reponsible of its content (one think that could be usefull here sometimes ) This avoid us for instance to have to moderate our user content.

- Rewarded : We share/paid our contributors based on the number of visits/clics/engagement they have on their reviews. Like on youtube.

- Global : As for the decentralization we are already working with the MIIT to be accredited newt year on the .Best TLD and so will be the 1st social network to be in USA, Europe & China.

As for the business model here it is - fast your seat belt :

On the B2C side :

THE.Best will be a buyer of .best domains . THE.Best social network will buy domains for its users but not any .Best domains (numeric domains) that will be put in a specific class of domains dedicated to the social network.

Means it's a FREEMIUM business model on the user side : You register, we give you a free .Best domain with a real website like (cyril.best) and if you want to customize your name (as this is exactly the main and principle asset of all social media users and influencers), then you have to pay a membership for your domain.

On the B2B side :

Brands will pay a membership fees to :

- monitor their reviews coz it's fully decentralized so they have to pay a membership by brand/trademark/competitor they want to follow.

- sponsor users reviews

Don't want to go too far in details here coz it's not the problems of domainers except on one thing.

You all saw .tk collapsing. and they collapse for one reason, because it was not protected.

So now listen, THE.Best social network will be FREE as .TK was, it is fully protected coz it's a full content solution not just a domain name, and it will be rewarded !

Now guess what .TK whatever you or everybody can think is still the 2nd largest TLD in volumes with 22M. It was blacklisted like i said for all th reasons we know.

But what will happen my friends and I bet whatever you want on it is that we will spread more .best in the root than .TK and fully protected with real and unique user content for google.

So our objective is not 22M - our objective is about 100M users = .best domains by 2023 !

Yep 100M users = domains by 2023.

You think I am crazy !

You are right : I am conservative compare to quora for instance that start to reward its users for content and is now +300M active users !

So, for the .Best registry, what will be the boom effect. Like I said first, if you look at what happened right now you will see that people our now even buying social media names on ebay, ...

So we think thaht this is exactly what will happened also for us on the aftermarket with our .best domain names. Plus, using strong keywords in your name to make related reviews on hotels in NYC for instance will help get more traffic and so more money for the reviewers. So same, those names will have get some added value on the field.

Voilà, it's about 3:87 my friends and I would say that today you killed me. Answering 5 thread where people shot you is too much for me now. I assume it was the NP's initiation so I am good with that.

And I apologize if I hurt and/or seems disrespectfull for any of you - that was not my intention.

And sorry for my english or pardon my french

I have nothing against the trader community and don't be offense but it's true my dream is not to be a trader (nothing agains that), but I want to be game changer.

One last point, I chased the .Best acquisition since 5 years and worked with 10 of my close friends on THE.Best social network since 2 years.

We'll open it to the public at the WEB SUMMIT in Lisbon in November in front of 20K people :

Like I said, I am/ we are not a scammer or trying to pump the .Best - if we say /announce something it's happening - I know exactly where I am going and what I am doing.

Of course, we are not perfect, there is still a lot of work to do but we have a strong vision, the innovation and we are just now starting the execution. and trust me execution is my fav part of the game.

As for the deal, I will get back to you once we had the return from namebio so please be patient and try to not to kill me during the next days coz I have plenty others things to do right now.

I said and I will give you all information in a fully transparent mode like I did since the beginning so keep cool and be patient.

I said we have the engagement letter for the moment (no more).

Once we will take/accept the final sales decision, we will communicate on this.

Our Engagement Letter is valid for 30 days so we have time to take the right decision at the right price.

no hurry.

All the .Best for you, your domains and your business no matter which domains you like, you byu, you sell - I wish you success.

Sincerely,

Cyril FREMONT - CEO .Best & THE.Best

 

[Joe N]

Congratulations on your success, Cyril.

I think the real value would be in telling us how to find seven-figure buyers. Can you share your methods?