My recent experience with GD
There is definitely the appearance that different persons are approving domains and valuations over at GD. I inquired about listing my domains
mexico.org and
vietnam.org.
The reply came back with a recommended ask of $20K for mexico.org along with a reserve much lower. While not insubstantial sums, these are appreciably lower than I 'know' the name to be worth ... to the right buyer. In subsequent emails, I actually had to 'negotiate' upwards.
Yet they have ufo.org with an ask of $40K, and broadband.org at $35K. And I had to 'negotiate' an ask of $25K for mexico.org!
I made several forum posts for comment/appraisal on these domains, and received enough feedback that I ultimately decided to raise my reserve prices a mere 10% on each domain.
And ... GD declined! They said
"We would like to stick with the prices we sent you." Well, okay then! If you don't want my ultrapremium country.org domains, so be it. Whose domains are they anyway? It doesn't seem reasonable that they seem to feel so proprietary over the pricing of the names. It's one thing if somebody wants $150,000 for foo.org and they think that's excessive and won't list it until a 'reasonable' price is agreed. But these are exceptional country.org names and they chose to kill the deal over a mere 10% increase in each reserve, with previously agreed ask prices unchanged. Go figure. If they wish to inform me at what exact price these domains will sell then I will not be able to do business with them.
It was the right thing to clear the old garbage at GD and relaunch with a more restrictive collection. It is right to exercise some control over sensible valuation ranges so their sales collection doesn't become polluted with ridiculous prices. But nixing a deal for two major country.org domains over a 10% difference in reserve makes no sense to me.
As for GD's collection, there are some spectacular names there. And most of the prices are within the range of reasonable. Some are silly however.
Also, GD seems to have a strong preference for a BIG DIFFERENCE in reserve and ask, like a 30-50% discount to reserve. They say it helps the selling process and lets the buyer think they got a good deal.
I agree with CoolHost that higher prices (having large built-in discounts available) will tend to turn off prospective buyers and nix deals before they can even get started.
If you are going to have "wiggle room" so a buyer can feel they saved a bit, I would make it no more than 15-20%. If somebody can negotiate away 35% of the ask price, they'll think they can reach 50% off too ...
I do think that GD's fee structure, i.e. a 10% commission, is quite reasonable. And they provide escrow for the transaction. So if you can agree on reserve/ask with them for your domain, and if they 'agree' to accept your domain to be listed, it's probably worth it.
They also seem to have a strong favor for .tv and .us (in addition to .com and .net). My contact there didn't seem particularly enthused about .org, and seems to consider it less attractive than .tv.
Originally posted by CoolHost.com
:bingo: "Asking prices" look good to
those listing ... but often may turn-off potential Buyers, IMHO. Remember, too, who owns GreatDomians ... the largest domain Registrar in the world, who wouldn't mind you
registering (and then potentially listing for inflated values) more domains on their site. There is some
method to the madness there, in my view.
Thanks for the discussion here.
