Price Upon Request

Hello everyone,

Just came across this excellent tweet by Rick Schwartz regarding the concept of Make an Offer which is quite prevalent in the domain industry.

https://twitter.com/DomainKing/status/1185881107608289280?s=19

I have personally never been a fan of "Make an Offer" option, as I am unable to digest this point where I am asking someone outside the domain industry to "Make an offer" on an asset that I own, rather than being able to valuate it myself.

Rick Schwartz has given a superb alternative which is much more logical and looks more professional - "Price Upon Request".

What do y'all think?

Something that @Rob Monster @Reza and a few other leaders can think about to implement the same.

 

Hi

I think you missed something, which may be why it didn't seem logical to you.

I've been using "make offer" for years, and it's nothing new

but you may assume one can't value their own domain, so that's why they ask for offers.

that may be true for some who don't have a lot of experience, however, many sellers know what they want, because they set fixed prices.
while others who know what they want, will still ask the inquirer to make an offer.... if/when no offer is submitted initially.

as for the "price upon request" line

if someone contacts you and asks "how much",
then it wouldn't be logical for the seller to reply "price upon request", would it?

also, to me, using that phrase as the replacement line for "Make Offer", may put that seller in an obligatory position, to grant each request from every tire kicker that can kick a tire.

just saying....

imo…..

 

IMO, Make an Offer is best vs Price Upon Request for most price ranges with price on request being a good idea for ultra premium names.

 

Price upon request is the same as putting a BIN on a name but giving the potential buyer the added hurdle of asking for it. If you're going to have a "PUR" you might as well just put BINs on your names instead.

The only time I can see it more beneficial to have a PUR is if they leave a name with their request and you can put some research in to determine whether they have deep pockets or not. Then your BIN might change.

 

I think if you don't want a lot of inquires, you can use that language. It is like "Shown by Appointment". It screams, "this domain is going to cost a lot and I may or may not get back to you anytime soon". So, I am hesitant there simply because there is the versatile option of lease, finance and purchase. I rather have the intelligence data of an inquiry that might otherwise not show up. For each his own. Rick only swings for the fences so that model works for him. Great.

 

When you put your domain up for sale, there are many different valuation methods and for sale words you can use. One of them is Price Upon Request - for the elite 1% domains. The rest of is what is .. contact us, send an inquiry, make an offer .... or bin.

 

In the case of very valuable names I think PUR is perfectly acceptable. Its along the lines of if you have to ask you can’t afford it 😂 Plus it doesn’t give your competition the knowledge of your asking prices should they have a similar dictionary word. It also leaves it wide open for you to amend your price should it become more valuable or less valuable.

That being said, I think Make Offer or Inquire accomplishes the very same things and is more suitable to most names.

 

Make offer is the only way to get an enqury a bin price will get you 10%. Poa will get you how much. Make offer will get you a starting price unlike any other method. There are newbies with more sales to date listen to them.

 

I at first was persuaded when I saw the Tweet, but upon more reflection, for price ranges where the majority sell at $$$ to low $$$$ I wonder if price available by request we are losing a number of potential buyers. Rick's perspective, as someone who only sells well above that, is valid but for his own situation. Nevertheless, I am still open to both viewpoints on this one personally.

I would like to know more about research that has been done on BIN or not. Like GoDaddy say that research has shown it is better to have clients phone to get a price, but it still seems surprising to me that is true in $$$ to low $$$$ range. The recent DNW podcast re how GoDaddy/Afternic could improve has also wondered if they should not research that question again.

@Rob Monster has proposed having Make Offer only on Epik landers, but use BIN on fast transfer enabled at Sedo and Afternic so that people searching on those platforms can buy them but people who simply search if a name is available are taken to a Make Offer and Epik allows you to directly interact with that buyer.

Bob

 

Bob - I think we have the the best hybrid solution that plays to the respective strengths of the platforms. The part that is missing is the ability to centrally manage the MLS process where from your Epik control panel, you could list, and unlist, domains at many fast-transfer marketplaces. That development work is currently being assessed and is really a logical solution that should work for all stakeholders since no marketplace likes having bad listings due to outdated inventory. After all nobody is better equipped to verify ownership than an accredited registrar that is operating under a structured agreement with the MLS partners.

@vitigo @Ala Dadan

 

Totally agree @Rob Monster - I hope you did not take anything I wrote as being against Epik option. As you know I am a big fan of the power and flexibility of your landers,, and the ease of setting up payment plans of an infinite variety. And I like the improvements made to Marketplace entry (although possibly room there). My post above was more wondering out loud about the issue of Make Offer versus BIN versus Price Available triggered by Rick's recent tweet. I am still undecided on that. I am also somewhat rethinking listing multiple places or only one. But that is another topic.

By the way, having a better central way to list and unlist would be great and easier integration with fast transfer as well.

By the way why don't you people at Epik innovate instead of always doing the same things year after year? (ps that was a joke in case this is read by the one person who does not realize all the things Epik have tried recently, are getting opinion on, or are in early development stages for - my head spins with all the initiatives).

Best wishes,

Bob

 

Thanks Bob.

I am blessed with amazingly talented engineers and a steady flow of tech opportunities.

Candidly, the task is a bit like connecting dots in a child's coloring book. I don't always see the exact panorama of what we are building but instinctively know when to connect the dot, and also when not to.

I am reasonably sure that we are building something very interesting that has implications far beyond the domain industry but should benefit the domain industry.

Thanks for co-creating.

 

here we go again...

another discussion thread that turns into a promotion

imo...

 

I have already noticed that ridding my bin prices and replacing with make offer has increased interest although I am back to dealing with time wasters I appear far more approachable. Now I am always one to ask for them to make offer or I will high ball for a reaction get one and then ask again for an offer. End users don't behave like domainers and although always smooth with domainers it is about getting every ones attention as got to keep the traffic up.

 

Hi

although most of my domains are listed as "Make Offer" on various marketplaces.....
the last couple of months I've been testing the BIN sales pages at Sedo for some names that are still parked there.

the results, in contrast to yours, shows an increased visitor count for almost every name -
however, since they are BIN priced, there is no option for a visitor to submit an offer.
(though I have received inquiries via email for a few)

so, with that setup, it seems like you get the benefit of increased exposure, but loose the potential to receive offers.

imo...

 

I gauge who the end user is for a domain.
If facebook calls my price will be higher than if a ma/pa store comes calling.
I require end user details before I sell any domain.

I will not quote a price until I know who I am dealing with and anyone asking for a quote from me has to agree to give end user details.

I know a lot of people don't agree with me on this but it works for me and I had a case a little while ago where a broker contacted me about a small project that ended up being a pretty big company. It was not until I presented the form requesting end user details with a legal disclaimer that the broker came clean and told me who was inquiring.

 

Yes, exactly.

So, I am considering to add some programmable logic that will allow you to automatically respond to people to further qualify them, e.g. based on the size of their offers.

If you are interested in this topic, feel free to PM and will discuss with anyone that is interested in designing that logic.

I am expecting to have something in place fairly soon on a pilot basis and then make it more broadly available for customers that want it -- especially folks with large portfolios that get many inquiries.

The solution is being designed to work regardless of registrar choice.

 

So Efty introduces Price Upon Request.

Would be interesting to see in what way it affects the no. of inquiries, sales, and the overall deal flow.

 

isn't there a cost to use their platform?

imo...

 

True. I think there is, as I do not use them personally.

 

Depending on the template you are using, Uniregistry lets you choose from different options.
Make offer.
BIN.
BIN + Make Offer.
''Send me a price quote''.
BIN is BIN, make offer can cause hesitation.
Price upon request seems like the easiest way to find/manifest/engage buyer interest.

 

I Like the idea of buy now with the option to make an offer. Most people don't know the value of domains, so it's a alot of wasted time imo to just have make offer(with a few exceptions). This is something that's evolved for me. I don't have time for all the bickering and price shocks. I'm treating it like any other product... I don't go into a retail store and make offers on T-shirts etc...

But make offer is a secondary option...i guess it's the buyers way of maybe asking for a discount/coupon...

 

This thread provides ample knowledge for people who are still confused about whether to put up names for sale on "make offer", "buy now" or "price upon request"

I am in fact doing something all the more different and will share my landing page shortly.

 

Rules I live by
http://www.premiumnamedomain.com/?page_id=26852