Premium domain values down?

[steveinlanc]

Hi guys and gals. I'm not a "domainer" per-se, but have been in the web business on and off since the mid 1990's. Back in the early years I picked up a couple good names, used them for business for some time but have had them mainly idle the last few years.

Two years ago I started thinking about selling, and had the best names valuated by Francois Carrillo at premiumdomain(dot)com (now preiumdomainS), back when they had actual humans evaluate your name and put a number on it. At that time one name valued at $65k and another at $25k. I figured that they were a better investment to sit on at those prices, and moved on, happy with my nest egg.

Today, thinking more seriously about selling, I went back to their site. I found my account and valuations gone (along with everyones), and a link to their automated instant valuation form at valuate(dot)com.

The two high-value names, through the "instant" system, came back SIGNIFICANTLY lower than two years ago, to the tune of a total $65k drop for the two. Both valuations also came back with a "sell now!" link.

So my question is - did premium name values really tank that much, or does valuate(dot)com just suck, or is it a scam to get you to sell to them at a fire-sale price?

 

[Spade]

Well, several factors.

1. Appraisals are really just guesses in our industry about what a domain name MIGHT sell for.

2. Appraisals are generally considered unreliable for accurately valuing a domain (They are ok at giving you an approximate range of value) But that range is usually pretty large.

3. The economy in general is down 2008 to now. So yes, its likely your domains might not sell for as much today as they would have in 2008 (just like eveyrthing else)

4. Without knowing the actual domain names, how can we respond? Its quite possible the appraisals given to you in 2008 were off, and even the ones today are off.

 

[DomainTalker]

I draw a distinction between current market price, for a domain - and, the underlying value for a domain.


* Yes, the 'headline' price for premium domains is down, at the moment, due to general economic circumstances affecting people's current capacity to pay.


* But, the actual underlying value of them has not declined - ie, the potential commercial value of good names to an end user.....what they can use them for, and how they can add value to their business. The supply/demand, and, marketable value-add, dynamics of good domains are unchanged.


So, yes.....Today, the market price may be relatively less than, say, 2007 (if you sold them today)....But, good domains will retain (and, I believe increase) value in times to come.


Its a timing issue.

.

 

[steveinlanc]

The change in apparent subjectivity in valuing domain names is what has my wheels spinning. I hit several free appraisal sites today, plus the appraisals I got two years ago, and the spread is just amazing. I'm revealing several of my domains below, and if anyone qualified wants to value them, please start a new thread for each domain in the "appraisals" section so as not to muddy up the waters here.

My concern in this thread is the spread, even amongst "big players". I mean, $0 - $20k+ ???? I know I have some good names, but this is ridiculous.

Domain Value Estimates

Lancaster.net

Premuimdomains.com (2008): $65K+

Valuate.com (2010): $15k+

NetSol (2010): $25k+

urlappraisal.net $29,220.28


Shaman.org

Premiumdomains.com (2008): $25k+

Valuate.com (2010): $10k+

NetSol (2010): $25k+

urlappraisal.net $29,353.79


Fearnoart.com

Valuate.com (2010): $180

NetSol (2010): $310 - $545

urlappraisal.net (2010): $25,575.54


DaMusic.Biz

Valuate.com (2010): $0

NetSol (2010): $14.500 - $17,250

urlappraisal.net (2010): $13,911.98


Taoweb.com

Valuate.com (2010): $1,600

NetSol (2010): $25K+

Urlappraisal.com (2010): $33,570.77

 

[bmugford]

Some of those domains like Lancaster.net and Shaman.org are nice domains, but at the same time they were never worth those estimated prices realistically.

Brad

 

[owntype]

Some of those domains like Lancaster.net and Shaman.org are nice domains, but at the same time they were never worth those estimated prices realistically.

Brad

Agree.

 

[Spade]

Ugh.

Honestly. Im not really liking your domain names at all. It appears they were grossly overvalued by really bad appraisal sites. Lancaster is alright, but frankly, Its not the big ticket you might be expecting it to be. It may be worth the low end of the appraisals (at best, IMO).

The rest are practically junk. Shaman.org is interesting, but if I saw that on NameJet or SnapNames, I wouldnt expect bidding to go higher than around 1k.

The rest you have listed, I am not sure I would even register if they were available.

 

[SpareDomains]

you could hand a domain to 50 people and you will get 50 different appraisals, appraisals are basically a guess to value by using amount of searches a month for the term, profit margin of the category the domain describes, how much advertisers spend per click for the type of traffic, long term potential of the domain or is it just seasonal or a fad that will fade, previous sales figures data on similar domains from dnjournal, dnsalesprice etc... I own groups of domains in the same categories so I have some previous sales figures that makes pricing on the others a bit easier as I have a current sales gauge to use, automated appraisals may provide some useful metrics but definitely not the way to price your domains as it's only one factor to your research, now is the time to prune your weak and mid grade domains, economy is down right now so a good time to patiently hold your premium domains

 

[Kate]

There is no such thing as accurate appraisals. Automated appraisals are worthless and human appraisals are often off the mark as well. It's impossible to predict the eventual sale price of a domain, but it's normally not hard to tell a good domain from a bad domain.
You have domains that are good but you also have domains that have zero chance of selling IMO. So the appraisals are very relative if there are no buyers. It's just a virtual amount.