Question for eBay domain sellers.

[atypical]

Why do guys advertise their domain names with thumbnails of naked butts? How's that working for ya?

 

[Spade]

I dont. For thumbnails - I make a small image with the domain name.

 

[SpareDomains]

majority of domain buyers are men, most men like naked butts and will be drawn into looking at them, after they look at the butt then they look at what is for sale, sex sells all across the board in almost every form of advertising, so I guess to bring attention to their listing.

 

[atypical]

I dont. For thumbnails - I make a small image with the domain name.

That's so much more professional, I think. I wish more people would. For now, I've resorted to turning off the pictures when I'm browsing domains there.

 

[VURG]

I agree. I just put my lessthan96 logo up. It's frustrating when looking at domains on eBay with other people in the room and wondering what they think I'm doing.

 

[atypical]

majority of domain buyers are men, most men like naked butts and will be drawn into looking at them, after they look at the butt then they look at what is for sale, sex sells all across the board in almost every form of advertising, so I guess to bring attention to their listing.

I thought domainers were very discerning about domain quality, and would just scan through the listings for good ones, like I try to do.

Can a nice butt picture sell an otherwise crappy domain? Because if it can't, then why risk offending even a minority of domain buyers?

Has any domainer anywhere ever said to him/herself "Hey, i would buy that 3 letter .com for $300 if only there were a nice a** picture to go along with it?"

 

[JoeCanadian]

Its the war for eyeballs - at any time there are probably somewhere in the order of 4,000 domain names for sale at ebay.com. Anything to make your auction stand out from the crowd has got to be good. Not that I have EBay figured out - I tend to be pretty disappointed at prices I get on EBay so I don't sell there very often.

 

[SpareDomains]

Not saying I agree with the pictures nor do I do it as I don't use ebay for domain sales, just providing the answer why it is done, if 50 domains are on a page will each viewer look at all 50 on every page?, probably not, if 1 of the 50 has a hot woman next to it you can almost guarantee that it will get viewed everytime by straight men anyway. :hehe: doesn't mean the image will sell crap domains for big bucks, just means it draws more attention to the listing and publicity is good for domain sales.

 

[VURG]

It attracts a certain part of the domain name market. Some people consider it more professional to spread their products to as many sections of the market as they can. I prefer the more conservative approach but I understand why people market their domains with a different style to me.

At the end of the day people will stick to ways of selling that works and I think that some sellers must of had success with it and hence it is common.

 

[atypical]

It's frustrating when looking at domains on eBay with other people in the room and wondering what they think I'm doing.

Yea, same here. It feels seedy.

Unbidden butt... that's what I'm calling it. I'm not entirely convinced of its effectiveness as a sales strategy, but that's OK. I figured out how to turn the pictures off.

 

[Heman maximus]

I use the Domain name as the picture.

I have also seen many "so called established websites" with a girl picture in the listings...Weird...

 

[Jo]

I was selling a few bikini sites and suggestive sites and that was when I put "girlie" pics on my auctions. I would put the name in the photo and make a logo too. I had a few comments :hehe: For any others I use the name.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Good question, atypical. I've often wonderd the same thing. Other than domain names related to the butt or girlie picture as Kerrijo mentions, I think it gives an element of distrust and unprofessionalism to the seller. I would be much more cautious of handing over a payment to someone who used that selling technique than to a more professional approach, and therfore would probably be less willling to pay a higher price based on the perceived risk. Even the description give as getting attention seems to be a bait and switch tactic. I like looking at at a sexy photo as much as the next guy, but when it's used in this way I think it's tacky.

If you really want to get attention, pay the fee for a featured, bold and outlined listing. if the domain is truly what most who list on ebay think they are worth, then what the problem with a $60 listing cost to sell $1000 plus domain name? Knowing what a person has invested in the featured listing at the top of the list gets my attention more than a thumbnail of a girlie photo.

 

[accent]

I think it started a couple years ago with dog pictures (no, do not go there...) I mean, if it is a random 4 letter name then a cute pup can set the ad apart from the others. Seems like about a year ago the near-neked ladies started showing up.

Usually it is just-reg'd junk domains that have the pictures. I have occasionaly looked in to see if there is a larger version of the pic (often not), but I agree it would be less likely that I would trust such a seller - except if it is a sexy name. And repeating the same photo again and again is counter productive.

My big gripe is to those who do not put the name in the title, forcing me to open the page only to find QJHZX.com with a valuation of $5000. If you do not put the name in the title I ain't gonna look.

...
If you really want to get attention, pay the fee for a featured, bold and outlined listing. if the domain is truly what most who list on ebay think they are worth, then what the problem with a $60 listing cost to sell $1000 plus domain name? Knowing what a person has invested in the featured listing at the top of the list gets my attention more than a thumbnail of a girlie photo.

Bold and outlined are generally considered worthless by those I have read comments from, Featured may be worthwhile if you have a high-value name.

 

[FPForum]

It's been said by other people here but, it's obviously for attraction. Of course a majority of the people looking at domain name's are going to be men. Personally, I do not use any image's at all. I've still sold domains with no problem. However, I would never use a picture of a butt when trying to sell one..