advice My Personal Domain Appraisal Strategy

[Eric Lyon]

IMPORTANT: It doesn’t matter who or how many people you ask about the value of a domain, each appraisal will vary based on a person’s individual experience with a niche and their research. You can crunch all the data in the world and still not hit the same number that a potential end-user is willing to pay. There is no way possible to hit the exact value of a domain on the head due to a wide spectrum of variables that change slightly with each target market.

Why focus on reseller value? Because as domain investors it’s comforting to know that there is still meat on a bone so that we don’t pay too much with little return or end up in the red with a loss.

You wouldn’t ask a Plumber to do a heart transplant and you wouldn’t ask a heart doctor to fix your clogged sink. Chances are, neither of them would be very good in each others industry. The same rule applies to successfully appraising domains. It really comes down to hands-on experience in each industry niche (Separately) to get a closer look at the real potential value of a domain...

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[Name Trader]

@Eric Lyon - Interesting article Eric. I've bookmarked it. How long does it take you to come up with a price for a domain in a niche, you are not an expert in, but know quite well?

 

[Eric Lyon]

@Eric Lyon - Interesting article Eric. I've bookmarked it. How long does it take you to come up with a price for a domain in a niche, you are not an expert in, but know quite well?

It really depends on the niche itself and how deeply targeted it is. It's not uncommon for it to take 30 minutes up to 2 hours of research and compiling just to appraise one domain thoroughly. Then you may have to even factor in more time to compensate scheduling and meeting up with a local shop owner to discuss their personal experience in that niche to make sure you didn't forget anything. The longest time-consuming appraisal I have ever done (Which includes local shop collaboration) took just under 3 days (based on 6 to 8 hours per day = 18 to 24 hours total time spent).

In my experience, I've found that most mom and pop shop owners (Founded by people that came out of the same industry to do their own thing) are very receptive to brainstorming/collaborating when there is no sales pitch involved. With that in mind, it benefits an investor to have their own local contact list of individuals they brainstorm with but don't target for selling. Small cooperative groups from various industries like that are an asset to everyone involved.

I think the trap door in appraising is when people look for the quick number or base their value on incomplete data. I see lots of investors falling through that trap door and having a hard time climbing back out.

 

[Serengeti]

@Eric Lyon , Thank's a ton for The sum of experience and hard work....

 

[davidc1]

Nice post, but it depends of the type of domain you are interested in.
general domaining, niche master, parking revenue, seo domains, traffic domains, etc,... for each type appraisal is different.

 

[Eric Lyon]

E

Nice post, but it depends of the type of domain you are interested in.
general domaining, niche master, parking revenue, seo domains, traffic domains, etc,... for each type appraisal is different.

Exactly! I agree! Which is why I made sure to address that in the article a few times.

 

[davidc1]

E

Exactly! I agree! Which is why I made sure to address that in the article a few times.

great !

 

[Isac]

This article is pure gold . Thank You @Eric Lyon