Is it only me?

[wot]

I have had 6 offers in the last 10 days.

4 were via Sedo,each of them were the lowest possible amounts from existing members.(usual suspects)

Countered all of them with reasonable offers,not one counter response! What's the point of this? Are they trying to get sellers to go to auction where second bids are a rarity or what?

Next enquiry was direct for an OK one word English spelling .com I countered with upper $xxx,very fair, no response.

Finally,fair offer via Namedrive.com which I accepted,no response!


Is it only me? :P

 

[Name Trader]

Offers lately for me have been through the roof. Sedo listing them on godaddy has brought me a lot of minimum bids. You could raise minimum bid to eliminate lowballers. Personally I take all offers as it's just another offer on the Sedo page which makes the domain look more desirable. Most of my completed deals are direct through my own site though as I'm not a fan of anonymous offers.

It is incredible to note that nobody has mentioned that Sedo charges 20% commission on those GoDaddy sales, whereas if you list directly on GoDaddy, they only charge you 10% commission.

My sales ytd are GoDaddy-4 Sedo-1 Aftenic-1 Private-1. I wasn't using GoDaddy at first, but when I realized the commission difference, I listed them on GoDaddy, ASAP. It's made me approx a grand in saved commissions

 

[lincolndsp]

^^ for this reason i deleted my domains for sedo and transfer from drop-registars to godaddy to list there.
despite the min bid seting in sedo godaddy still allowed everyone to offer $60 that's why wot described as the established buyer - it is actually the same, as the godaddy is playing a role of the sedo seller there hence the high sedo score

 

[Name Trader]

I list on all three Sedo, Afternic, and GoDaddy. I've been pleasantly surprised how good GoDaddy are. Number of eyeballs, I guess. But I see no reason to pay Sedo 20% when I pay GoDaddy only 10%. That's crazy-stupid.

 

[tonecas]

I list on all three Sedo, Afternic, and GoDaddy. I've been pleasantly surprised how good GoDaddy are. Number of eyeballs, I guess. But I see no reason to pay Sedo 20% when I pay GoDaddy only 10%. That's crazy-stupid.

and if you don't have domains registered with godaddy?

regards,
tonecas

 

[Name Trader]

You can still list them on GoDaddy. 95% of my domains aren't registered at GoDaddy.

 

[SpareDomains]

It is incredible to note that nobody has mentioned that Sedo charges 20% commission on those GoDaddy sales, whereas if you list directly on GoDaddy, they only charge you 10% commission.

My sales ytd are GoDaddy-4 Sedo-1 Aftenic-1 Private-1. I wasn't using GoDaddy at first, but when I realized the commission difference, I listed them on GoDaddy, ASAP. It's made me approx a grand in saved commissions

Yeah makes sense to go direct in that instance.

Doesn't matter if...

Company A charges 10%
Company B charges 15%
Company C charges 20%

etc...

as all you do is adjust your pricing so the buyer pays it.

If you want to clear $1,000 for a domain then the price would be...

Company A $1111
Company B $1176
Company C $1250

so you net the same $1000 regardless. I hear complaints quite a bit that people don't use certain markets cause commission is too high. I'll take a sale from anywhere it comes from and a sale at 20% commission is better than no sale at 10%, just adjust your prices based on the markets commission charge and the buyer pays it anyway.

 

[equity78]

There is a problem with that logic imo Spare, you can't just pass on whatever commission to the buyer. Adding say 30 % for Go Daddy Premium Listings, domaining is the only industry I know where people feel its so easy to just pass the cost onto the consumer.

 

[tonecas]

as all you do is adjust your pricing so the buyer pays it.

if only it was that so easy ::gl:

when you price your domains for accommodating a 20 or 30% in commissions many times you will move them out of the sweet spot for selling them. and sometimes you will lose you potential buyers without knowing because you are trying to sell your domains a little too expensive.

remember, a buyer can miss you if you don't have the domain in front of his eyes at the right time and at a reasonable price.

that is why Goddady sells so much and seems to attract so many buyers. the regular Joe uses them to register domains so if your domain shows up at the correct value they will bite.

regards,
tonecas

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 PM ----------

You can still list them on GoDaddy. 95% of my domains aren't registered at GoDaddy.

you're right, but how do you remove them from Sedo's or Afternic's MLS\DLS systems? if you de-list the domains from them you will miss the extra exposure.

or are you saying that by listing also directly at GoDaddy if a domain sells there you will entitled the sale from GoDaddy (10%) and not through Sedo (20%)?

regards,
tonecas

 

[SpareDomains]

There is a problem with that logic imo Spare, you can't just pass on whatever commission to the buyer. Adding say 30 % for Go Daddy Premium Listings, domaining is the only industry I know where people feel its so easy to just pass the cost onto the consumer.

if only it was that so easy ::gl:
when you price your domains for accommodating a 20 or 30% in commissions many times you will move them out of the sweet spot for selling them. and sometimes you will lose you potential buyers without knowing because you are trying to sell your domains a little too expensive.

Been working for me for 11 years, couple hundred bucks is nothing when only selling to end users. Listed on my own site at face value and adjusted up per each marketplaces comission charge. Had one a few weeks ago where the buyer used a Godaddy broker. Me and the broker negotiated back and forth and made a deal. Then the broker says I'll pay $100+ for their commission charge which wasn't mentioned during the entire negotiation process. I told the broker it was the buyers choice to include a middleman so they can pay your $100+ fee, less than an hour later buyer says no problem. Buy from my site pay no extra fees, choose to add a middleman and they pay it. Very easy for them to know my site as all of my domains either redirect straight to the sales page or the parking page sales link redirects to it. If the price was slightly too high for them at whatever market they found it at just by typing it in would lead them direct to me and save them money. I know this buyer knew of me as he emailed me yesterday so was his choice to involve a middleman=GoDaddy so that's on his dime as my prices are set and if a buyer brings 1,2,3 brokers to the table then he can pay them .

 

[tonecas]

I know this buyer knew of me as he emailed me yesterday so was his choice to involve a middleman=GoDaddy so that's on his dime as my prices are set and if a buyer brings 1,2,3 brokers to the table then he can pay them .

i understand that sparedomains but that works if the buyer comes to your site. more often than not they do not even come to your site. they stick to their registrar and when they see the domain is not available if the domain is not listed for sale many times they will move on. if they see it is for sale, the price tag may scare them. i have seen it all ways. 20 or 30% is too much. a 4-5k domain will move to 6k. seems little but many end-users will not move above 4k (take .net domains for instance).

the problem is the middle man is way too greedy.

 

[lincolndsp]

^^ totally agree with tonacas.

if the buyer willingness is $2500 to spend, and you wanted to get $3000 from the domain, then listing it for $2995 may sell with GD premium, but you lose $1000. so taking that into account you will list it at $4000 -> the sale would never happen in that sweet-spot since you are far way from $2500.
and in most cases that buyer will not even visit your site to purchase at the best price from you directly, because he does not know any better!! he'll just move on and brainstorm further.

on top of that add that godaddy auctions is very misleading for end-user with it's 89 days left thing even you have that buy it now price. godaddy knows that perfectly that's why it charges a lot for its premium listing because it works.

 

[SpareDomains]

i understand that sparedomains but that works if the buyer comes to your site. more often than not they do not even come to your site. they stick to their registrar and when they see the domain is not available if the domain is not listed for sale many times they will move on. if they see it is for sale, the price tag may scare them. i have seen it all ways. 20 or 30% is too much. a 4-5k domain will move to 6k. seems little but many end-users will not move above 4k (take .net domains for instance).

the problem is the middle man is way too greedy.

get your point, this is the reason that I redirect my domains straight to my own sites sales pages or I use parking companies with noticeable sales links Internet Traffic, Smartname, TrafficZ etc... that redirect to my own sites sale pages as in 11 years the majority of my sales do happen direct, not really a fan of anonymous negotiating plus it has helped me build an 11 year end user sales database names/company names, emails, phone numbers, ips etc... where future sales have happened from the same previous buyers, your own site over time creates your future where anonymous auction houses take your domain, hand ya some cash and then you see who the buyer was a week later with no business connection made, reason Sedo etc.. make a ton of sales is cause a million + domainers domains feed into it providing most of those leads straight from the parked page sales link, creating your own site will have the same effect just at a slower pace unless you own a million domains, so I've opted for short term pain for long term gain.

 

[NPer]

Those who are using the $60 minimum offer on their domain names: Is that the TRUE minimum that you would accept for selling that particular name?

If it is the case that $60 is your minimum, then all is fine.

But if it is not the case, and you would only be interested in offers for $xxx or $x,xxx you should set it as such!

An argument against this would be that a lower minimum will bring you more inquiries/offers-but in reality you will just attract more offers which might not eventually lead to your desired minimum (perhaps in the $x,xxx or $xx,xxx range- if it's a good name) that you would be satisfied with before selling the name.

As time goes by, all the "low-ball" offers which you've received (which in fact was the minimum set by, none other than YOU) will shape your mindset that a low amount is all you will eventually receive for the name. Doubt begins to the cloud the mind of the seller-even if the name is good.

When someone who could actually afford your TRUE minimum comes along, you wouldn't even know since you were hammered left, right, and center with $60 offers.

The guy who could afford to pay $x,xxx or more for the name, will more than likely approach you as everyone else has: with a $60 offer!

You counter, and he counters... An offer below your TRUE minimum is made, and happens to be above most of the offers you have received... your mind tells you to just accept, even if it could be worth much more because you may never get buyer who is so generous ever again!

Setting the minimum offer at $60 certainly messes with the mind of the seller since all these "low-ball" offers tells the seller that that is all his/her domain is worth. Maybe it is, but maybe it's not!

That's why you sometimes see good names selling for cheap. The seller gets a $60 offer, maybe needs money at that point, and pushes it to auction, hoping everyone will see it and bid on it.. Only for the name to sell for low $xxx instead of a decent price which could have been significantly higher.

The minimum I set is in the $x,xxx range. And that's just to cut out all the time-wasting activities that comes along with setting a $60 minimum offer, that in reality, I would never even consider.

If someone sees your minimum, they should have a clue as to the price that they can expect to pay.

Setting the minimum offer at $60-what are you telling the potential buyer? :gl:

With a realistic minimum that you might accept for a name, you will reduce the "low-balling" and more than likely attract offers that you would consider serious.

 

[tonecas]

I follow the same path sparedomains. Sedo's sales page are still ludricous. but the last two years trend from market places to list domains with registrar sites is relevant. i am getting more sales from godaddy and this after I lowered a bit my BIN prices. I think it was sufficient to put them at sweet spots.

however I never tried or at least sold any domain that is listed with SEDO or other venues and also listed directly with GoDaddy. so my question is: by listing also with GoDaddy will the sale be considered to be from GoDaddy only?

regards,
tonecas

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 PM ----------

well pointed out 3D. i am not sure if $60 will make any relevant impact on our mindset but it is true one must be resilient to take lowballs and remain confident that the domain is worth more.

regards,
tonecas

 

[Kate]

With a realistic minimum that you might accept for a name, you will reduce the "low-balling" and more than likely attract offers that you would consider serious.

The problem when setting a minimum offer is that it implies (in the mind of the potential buyer) that your desired price is somewhere in the same range.

There are some domains that I put up on sale with a BIN for a quick sale, for others I like to keep some flexibility. A few times, I have received (and accepted) offers that were generous, well above expectations :]

 

[SpareDomains]

Those who are using the $60 minimum offer on their domain names: Is that the TRUE minimum that you would accept for selling that particular name?

If it is the case that $60 is your minimum, then all is fine.

But if it is not the case, and you would only be interested in offers for $xxx or $x,xxx you should set it as such!

An argument against this would be that a lower minimum will bring you more inquiries/offers-but in reality you will just attract more offers which might not eventually lead to your desired minimum (perhaps in the $x,xxx or $xx,xxx range- if it's a good name) that you would be satisfied with before selling the name.

As time goes by, all the "low-ball" offers which you've received (which in fact was the minimum set by, none other than YOU) will shape your mindset that a low amount is all you will eventually receive for the name. Doubt begins to the cloud the mind of the seller-even if the name is good.

When someone who could actually afford your TRUE minimum comes along, you wouldn't even know since you were hammered left, right, and center with $60 offers.

The guy who could afford to pay $x,xxx or more for the name, will more than likely approach you as everyone else has: with a $60 offer!

You counter, and he counters... An offer below your TRUE minimum is made, and happens to be above most of the offers you have received... your mind tells you to just accept, even if it could be worth much more because you may never get buyer who is so generous ever again!

Setting the minimum offer at $60 certainly messes with the mind of the seller since all these "low-ball" offers tells the seller that that is all his/her domain is worth. Maybe it is, but maybe it's not!

That's why you sometimes see good names selling for cheap. The seller gets a $60 offer, maybe needs money at that point, and pushes it to auction, hoping everyone will see it and bid on it.. Only for the name to sell for low $xxx instead of a decent price which could have been significantly higher.

The minimum I set is in the $x,xxx range. And that's just to cut out all the time-wasting activities that comes along with setting a $60 minimum offer, that in reality, I would never even consider.

If someone sees your minimum, they should have a clue as to the price that they can expect to pay.

Setting the minimum offer at $60-what are you telling the potential buyer? :gl:

With a realistic minimum that you might accept for a name, you will reduce the "low-balling" and more than likely attract offers that you would consider serious.

Could see that happening to some, like your thinking pattern there, personally I'll keep the minimum as it shows me that a handful of people are interested and some do just search by number of bids myself included so more offers shows more demand, do find that if someone sees a domain with 5,10 previous offers they are more likely to begin at $200, $500 etc... as they figure with this many previous offers no sense starting at $60

 

[oldtimer]

Does anyone know if its possible to forward the domains to their corresponding premium listings that show up when people search godaddy’s website for those domains. It would be great if people could see the premium listings when they did direct type ins and when they did whois checks on the domains that they liked. Adding these two features might increase domain sales so much that it could make it possible for godaddy to lower the commission to 20% on the premium listings.

 

[eyedomainous]

While I don't park domains; list or sell through SEDO or Godaddy, I too redirect many of my domains to my sales site(s) simply because I make more money and invaluable connection$ with the buyers.

get your point, this is the reason that I redirect my domains straight to my own sites sales pages or I use parking companies with noticeable sales links Internet Traffic, Smartname, TrafficZ etc... that redirect to my own sites sale pages as in 11 years the majority of my sales do happen direct, not really a fan of anonymous negotiating plus it has helped me build an 11 year end user sales database names/company names, emails, phone numbers, ips etc... where future sales have happened from the same previous buyers, your own site over time creates your future where anonymous auction houses take your domain, hand ya some cash and then you see who the buyer was a week later with no business connection made, reason Sedo etc.. make a ton of sales is cause a million + domainers domains feed into it providing most of those leads straight from the parked page sales link, creating your own site will have the same effect just at a slower pace unless you own a million domains, so I've opted for short term pain for long term gain.

 

[Name Trader]

@tonecas - What I found was when you list your domain directly with GoDaddy, your listing takes preference over Sedo's.So all Sedo's list of your domains disappear.

@SpareDomains - What is the url for your website. It sounds interesting.

@oldtimer - had this conversation with my Rep just recently. GoDaddy don't have a url to list all your listings. You need to create a webpage listing all the domains which link to the individual sales page on GoDaddy. Then you redirect your DNS to that page. It's long-winded, I know, but that's the only suggestion the Rep could come up with. But I don't understand why anybody would even consider linking to the GoDaddy list directly, because their sales pages are really crap. 80-90% GoDaddy advertising and only a small link to your list at the very bottom of the page. It's hard to tell what to do when you visit that page. Very confusing. You would be much better off having a for sale page for each domain, where you could advertise the merits and put up your own graphics (ala SpareDomains), and then if somebody is interested they could click the link which goes to the GoDaddy page, or Sedo, or Afternic, or all three. The buyer gets the choice. And you get the cheapest commission rates, per broker.

 

[tonecas]

@tonecas - What I found was when you list your domain directly with GoDaddy, your listing takes preference over Sedo's.So all Sedo's list of your domains disappear.

that is great info stub. thanks for sharing. I will try that ASAP because today i got another 5 figure sale coming from GoDaddy and 20% is going to the middle man...

also, apologies to Wot for diverging from his topic.

my answer to your question is: I have experienced the same. prospective buyers approach with very low ball offers, I counter with reasonable values and they go away. this has happened with domainers (user has buyer/seller ratings) and recent users (registered in the same month they make the offer)

regards,
tonecas