discuss No Domain Sales For A While

[lknights1987]

Last year with a portfolio of 500 domain names I sold 5 domain names priced at
$2888 , $2500 , $265 , $120 & $999 with my last sale in July 2022

The year before that I sold 7 domain names each sale was for $265

All sales were from Afternic apart from the highest sale $2888 which was on Dan.

I believe my domains are decent but with no sales what should I do? Reduce prices? Try another lander?

( I'm currently using Afternic NS3/NS4 landers )

 

[lknights1987]

Do you watch news. Or youtube? Recession is already here, banking crisis in US and EU.. Energy and food crisis in EU etc... earthquake in Turkey...global warming , water crisis . People do not invest anymore... We need money for food and living not for domains .

No I do not watch the MSM. It's all doom and gloom and one-sided and the majority is fake news.

 

[rh2000]

No I do not watch the MSM. It's all doom and gloom and one-sided and the majority is fake news.

Funny but, true.

 

[biggie]

Last year with a portfolio of 500 domain names I sold 5 domain names priced at
$2888 , $2500 , $265 , $120 & $999 with my last sale in July 2022

Hi

to renew 500 domain names, if all were .com, would average about $10 per name or $5K per year.

since your 5 sales last year, earned slightly more than that renewal cost for the portfolio...
then, according to the "average math", it appears that at least some profit was earned.

i'd say, just be patient and maybe increase pricing on your best names, so maybe you won't have to sell as many to sustain.

imo...

 

[NameBuyer.com]

Could you imagine how many brokers would walk if they thought they were being replaced by a bot? Just the whisper of it alone would be problematic.

This is my concern as well. I switched all my domains over to Afternic over a year ago and last year was slightly higher than average at $136k in sales for the year.

GoDaddy had a layoff announced in February. I've been in several corporations and when layoffs are looming, productivity drops like a rock because of the unknown and negative vibe.

So my concern is similar to yours, where if there is a push for bots in addition to layoffs that have actually occurred (and could continue), is this negatively affecting my sales and negotiations?

My take is that the economy is really bad right now and is fully still headed in that direction. Personally my sales since the middle of November have been down 80-90% on 6,000+ domains. That is not an organic drop in revenue over a 6+ month period. There is something in play when things are down that much, in that short of a time period. As a comparison, in 2008-2009 during a major "recession" I didn't notice anything like this. If there was a drop, it wasn't significant enough to notice without reviewing sales numbers.

The good...it forces you into accurate thinking which results in a cleaner portfolio with only good and great domains in the end. Also, if you have cash laying around, you can get some great deals purchasing domains. As for me, I'm going to get out of sales in the under $5,000 range. The amount of sales that come from this range for me, as compared to the renewal expenses, doesn't make a lot of sense when compared to the other ranges.

I've also switched everything back to my old landers and will put lease options back in place.

https://www.biix.com/domain/dyntec.com

---

***----------------Update-------------***

I originally wrote this post on about May 23rd or so and left it in draft mode until now. In the next 4 days after my initial draft I had $37k in sales after over 6 months with no significant sales over $2k. Even though I changed my landers, the sales still came from Afternic. Just thought I'd share the before/after and what a stark contrast in viewpoints there could be in the same economy. Sales are still down for the last 6 month period overall, but the recent boost made a huge difference.

 

[Silentptnr]

@biggie is right. Be patient.

As you are renewing your domains, it's a good time to evaluate the quality, the price and the landers. Also, it is a good time to explore other venues and methods of selling your domains. (Namepros, Namejet, Dan, Sedo, etc.)

I was concerned over my sales because I had a few months dry, then bang....Had a great sale through Afternic last month.

I wish you the best!

 

[biggie]

What sites do you use before putting a price on your domain names?

Hi

i don't use any site that will influence pricing.

since the profit is made on the "buy side",
i prefer to keep the envelope open.

however,
if you list on goodaddy/afternic, they will "put" their appraisal value for your name, somewhere on the page.

so, are they attempting to influence the domain owner and even potential buyer, to "consider"... then eventually "conform" these assessments, as a "norm"?

or, has it already happened?

imo...

 

[NameBuyer.com]

Congrats.

Have you made any change in prices recently or keeping the same from a longer time?

It's funny you ask this. This is what led to the big sale.

Because we had a 6 month period of almost no sales (which is normally $60,000+) we did something drastic with our pricing. My wife and I took all the domains under $10,000 and priced half of them at $2,450 and half at $450 to see if we could get any activity. Within a week or so we got a sale at $2,450 and one at $450.

Since we had moved all the domains back to biix, had confirmed sales activity, and we were now getting almost daily inquiries that week, my wife had a bad feeling that she needed to update all our low priced ($450-$2,450) domains that were being valued at over $10,000 (based on the NameWorth estimates). So she had changed the pricing within 1-2 days of the sale from $450 to the $24,500 NameWorth estimate. I think the domain was previously at $7,450 or so it got picked up in our experiment for domains under $10,000 and then subsequently priced down to $450.

Had she not updated the pricing, we were 1-2 days away from losing a huge sale had we not updated our pricing.

 

[DrJacoby]

with my last sale in July 2022

That's 8 months ago. The title says "No Domain Sales In Over a Year". Which is it?

 

[Mister Funsky]

I believe my domains are decent but with no sales what should I do? Reduce prices? Try another lander?

I have not read the whole thread, so my post may be repetitive.

In my case, I had no sale for the last part of 2021 and no sale in 2022. with low xxxx names, this became quite an issue.

However, 2023 has been very good. Although dozens of leads came thru nic and dan, not a single one closed through them...as a matter of fact, they lost the biggest sale because the buyer eventually reached out to me directly.

When times are tough, I raise my prices rather than lower. They are all priced at a reasonable retail number to begin with...a buyer can take the name at the price listed or move on.

 

[twiki]

This year I've had the worst 3 months ever since I started domaining. Didn't make up even for renewals.

Last year, second half went bad but on the last minute we made a few good sales and went past the finish line.

However there were other factors at play this year (long story, some mistakes).

But in any case, 2023 doesn't look like a domain selling bonanza to me. It used to prior to 2022, I kinda miss those days.

Edit: Note, I'm not worried as there are always fluctuations, but you know, it's not a good feeling to have 3 months in red.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Do you watch news. Or youtube? Recession is already here, banking crisis in US and EU.. Energy and food crisis in EU etc... earthquake in Turkey...global warming , water crisis . People do not invest anymore... We need money for food and living not for domains .

 

[lknights1987]

What needs to happen is a verification process in place before we see a lead generated on our end.

A simple verification email sent to the lead, which they have to confirm, and then once they've done that, the lead center broker can contact them.

This should save the broker from going through thousands of leads which could turn out to be a load of spam/bots.

Can this be looked at @James Iles

 

[NickB]

you sold 1% of your portfolio last year

We are only 3 months into this year so still plenty of of time to hit that mark again, assuming you still have 500 domains......

 

[Amit V]

Dont open your umbrella before it rains!

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Thanks for the high quality thread and comments all.
Domaining is over reallybigidea.com said in past and he was quitting domaining because of that. Wish he would keep his word
Sails down across the board, prepare to sell no names this year imo

 

[Recons.Com]

I looked through your names.

Lots of them shouldn't be priced above $1.5k-3k range for the reasonable shot at 1% STR, yet, $3688 seems to be a minimum price for the most.

If you priced them, e.g., at 2500$ and sold 4-5 in a year, you'd make around $8k-10k post commission, minus $5k renewals, $3-5k net. Or, at $2000 you'd probably sell 5-6 and still net $3k to 5k.

But at $3688 to 20k+ for this names, you'd be lucky to make 1 sale in a year, so you'll probably end it in red, save for 5% chance of getting really lucky.

 

[James Iles]

What needs to happen is a verification process in place before we see a lead generated on our end.

A simple verification email sent to the lead, which they have to confirm, and then once they've done that, the lead center broker can contact them.

This should save the broker from going through thousands of leads which could turn out to be a load of spam/bots.

Can this be looked at @James Iles

I'll add this to feedback for the sales/landing page teams. Thanks.

Regarding the rest of the thread - stalled is essentially closed - little chance of the domain selling following this status. I'll see whether wording can be improved there. If a domain goes into stalled status quickly, it'll be a spam message. Again - I'll work on getting the wording improved.

 

[NameBuyer.com]

Congrats on these big domain sales. What was the hold time for these domains?

Sorry for the big delay.


I had FindYourAnswer(dot)com for nearly 10 years, buying it in 2013 for $57. Then in 2015 I leased it for a year to a company doing an ad campaign for $40 per month.

I've had TheWorldOfWellness(dot)com since March 21, 2008 with no other offers since. I bought it on backorder for $59.

The most interesting part of the story is that I sold WorldOfWellness(dot)com (without the leading "The") in that same month in 2008 for $7,000 via a Sedo auction through a series of events and I thought it was the greatest thing of all time.

So in retrospect, I definitely could have sold WorldOfWellness(dot)com for much more than $7,000. So if you look at the 2 sales, I sold WorldOfWellness(dot)com in 2008 for $7,000, and TheWorldOfWellness.com(dot)com in 2023 for $24,500. So what changed? Mostly my perspective and research while creating NameWorth. I had shifted my thoughts on pricing after having relatively the same strategy for 15 years and previously averaging in the $1,xxx-$2,xxx range in sales price range with occasional sales in the high $x,xxx or low $xx,xxx range.

With more inspiration from Rick Schwartz and Mike Mann, I've been trying to evolve where my very lowest prices are now in the high 4 figure range and the core sales being in the five figure sales or above.

 

[lknights1987]

I guess that depends entirely upon what your definition of low and high is.
It was a mix. (2K to 50K)

Is 50k your highest priced domains?

Only asking because one thing I’m noticing is when a lead comes in for one of my low priced domains within a few minutes to a few hours the status changes to stalled or confused.

I had 1 lead come through for a high priced domain the other day. That domain name is still sitting in the qualifying status ( broker has sent 3 emails and called twice). So are brokers only interested in working on the high priced domains and the rest can be forgotten about ?

 

[Joe drake]

Do you watch news. Or youtube? Recession is already here, banking crisis in US and EU.. Energy and food crisis in EU etc... earthquake in Turkey...global warming , water crisis . People do not invest anymore... We need money for food and living not for domains .

not true ,companies need domains more than ever -to get business ,the trick is to buy the right domains

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

I've got around 80% .com and the rest are .ac ,.io , .co.uk domains and 1 .services which is about $80 per year.

I have increased my prices but may need to reduce some. All of them are listed on DomainKnights .co .uk

What sites do you use before putting a price on your domain names?

I was looking at site where all your names are listed DomainKnights . Co .uk
Thanks for sharing the url, always helps
Had hard time even remembering url .this .uk
Have you thought of using .com?
Minimum ooffer 50k for ask claude com
I dunno dude
In your opening post your highest sale was 2888$
Pricing may be issue.
Whois Claude?

 

[Silentptnr]

exactly why people are bidding thousands on dropcatch in regard to op this month has the best month for me EVER best sales best purchases.

Congrats fam!

 

[Silentptnr]

Yes, only 7 domains show on the lead center 2 confused and the rest stalled.

Thats not bad. Deals take time. You should communicate with the brokers about pricing.

 

[Leo2k]

I believe my domains are decent but with no sales what should I do? Reduce prices? Try another lander?

( I'm currently using Afternic NS3/NS4 landers )

As I read in their blog / article,

use NS 3/4 for high value domains - May be for above $1000 or $2000
use NS 5/6 for low value domains - Better all those below $1000

You can that and wait for few months to see if there is any difference.

 

[alcy]

expect sales to get worst. as economy worsens. if u have decent sellable names then I suggest u throw big bait prices and wait for one life changing sale in say high 5fig or even 6fig...vs underselling names ... however u need to know your stuff and understand if your names have such potential.... else u will be waiting forever and getting homeless renewing names while no profits... so I suggest u seriously evaluate your folio for such potential of say 1 higher sale per year... better work hard to get 1 5fig sale per year than 10 3fig sales per year... but.... all in all...anyone who think domaining is immune to global problems is clearly mental.