discuss Reputation and Trust's impact on sales

[Windoms]

Hello,

So we know when a buyer visits a domain for sale and sees a GoDaddy logo, we have trust.
Trust is very good at engaging prospective buyers.

Now when buyers visit a domain for sale page, most of them have no idea what the domain market is.
Talking to GoDaddy and getting a price from GoDaddy is a big advantage imo.
VS having to figure out a random offer with a random seller on something they don't understand.

Now if the seller is known, clear contact, clear public profile, real, well known professional dealing with domain name, clear background, we also have trust.

Such a seller has a huge advantage over one that doesn't have reputation.

Think @Recons.Com , @Josh R , many more.

On known marketplaces such as @DAN.COM , we could have a feature where one could basically assign all the domains in his/her account to a seller and let them negotiate all leads on his/her behalf in exchange for a commission, for example 10%.
Remember, it's only about replying to a message or talking over on the phone to qualified leads. Nothing else. None of all the work involved in brokerage finding executives, contacting multiple people, following up with everyone, etc..

Domain owner sets his price, adds a floor for the broker, and lets him/her handle leads.

Now because @Recons.Com and @Josh R have things to do, the marketplace would only let them (the broker) invite a person using an iD #. For example I would contact @Recons.Com or someone else on namepros or social media, let them know I have these domains, once they know I'm serious and my portfolio is good (profitable), they would send me an invite on DAN using the ID #.

Everytime there's a lead they negotiate on my behalf, they get a 10% commission.
Again, no work involved. Except replying to qualified leads.
Yes, sometimes there's fake leads and other things. Professionals know how to handle such things. It's life.

Yes we already have brokers on Uniregistry.
Yes you can point your nameservers to Afternic and let their brokers handle leads on your behalf.
Yes I've heard @Rob Monster is stepping in to help close deals using his reputation.
Yes he's setting up brokerage.
That's all good.

What I'm talking about is adding easy features to known marketplace such as @DAN.COM that will make it easier for us all.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Speaking of reputation. As one who has a bad one on here.

It explains why I haven't sold any domain via regular methods like reaching out via pm.

Not anyone reaching out to me via pm for domains I've mentioned on here over the years.

Reputation IS EVERYTHING.

Although I do still have over 18,000+ connections on LinkedIn (not purchased but actually acquired over time).

 

[dirk]

In my opinion it's the marketplace that establishes the required level of trust for you. That's the driving force behind these kind of sales venues. No need to get a spokesman involved unless you're clueless about what you're doing.

I don't care who's selling. When you buy at places like DAN you know you'll get your domain. If the seller defaults, a refund. Simple as that.

What more could a buyer want? Chat to another random dude, who doesn't even own it and doesn't have final say over the sale?

If you own domains worthy of being represented by a broker, just hire one. He can list it.

I don't see why a marketplace would implement a feature as suggested as it will only make it less transparent for buyers and actually create more room for fraud.

 

[Windoms]

What do you guys think about giving buyers the ability to hire a broker on @DAN.COM
Let's say $29 fee + 10% broker commission. Affordable, shows commitment, DAN's revenue.

Here's a really good idea:
Buyers could hire someone on DAN to handle negotiations on their behalf.
For example 50$ fee + 10% commission.

GoDaddy domain buy service.
''Domain Broker Service, your domain broker will negotiate with the current owner to get the name for you.
We protect your privacy. You’ll stay anonymous throughout the process. The domain owner won’t know your identity.
Our name gets attention. Domain owners are more likely to engage with a request from GoDaddy CA than from individual buyers.''

Uniregistry
''We’ve helped thousands of buyers securely purchase domain names for over a decade, and we’re confident that we can do the same for you.''

Sedo.
''Just let us know which domain you are interested in and entrust our brokers with the negotiations. We will assign you a personal domain broker who will initiate negotiations with the owner on your behalf. You as the customer remain discreetly in the background. Guaranteed!''

GoDaddy does it, Uniregistry does it, Sedo does it, domain brokerage firms do the same. they all have experience, they know they need to convey trust as some buyers feel more comfortable dealing with a broker. Epik is setting it up.

Why not add that casual feature on @DAN.COM
Having buyers hire brokers is easy to implement and it ultimately helps close more deals.

Buyers can hire someone with reviews, based on their # of sales / active negotiations (already listed on DAN's homepage).
Only top DAN sellers, pure discrimination. The goal is to help sellers close more deals through serious buyers that pay to get help with negotiations, not about random sellers looking to earn random commissions. DAN keeps the 50$ fee (revenue). Broker only negotiates for 10% commission, top sellers that opt-in. Those busy being prosperous with 1000 active negotiations don't have to opt in.

Seller knows he's dealing with a broker, serious buyer.
Broker doesn't know seller's identity and vice-versa, no collusion incentives.
[/USER] . Brokerage becomes accessible to all.

 

[Windoms]

DAN could literally hire people among top sellers and have them become formal DAN negotiators.
Very casual revenue stream (10%), and none of the professional broker work involved, only inbound.
While witnesses all kinds of sales (upping skills and knowledge).

 

[Josytal]

If someone is unable to negotiate for themselves they might be in the wrong business.

Same thought here.
Learn, Read, Practise. It's your business and no one else can conduct it better than you.
Practice makes perfect. And how can you be perfect when you delegate practice to others?
It's no cake walk and can be difficult initially. But who said it was going to be easy?!

I receive offers via my landers, do the negotiations and then use escrow services. I've used DN.com,
Sedo, and Escrow.com proper.
Hope to try Epik escrow in future.
No lost orders, no fake or diverted offers etc.
And It's cheaper - commission wise.

 

[Windoms]

@DAN.COM are you completely getting rid of the make offer option?

The model we're working hard to make the norm in the industry is a model where no negotiation is required anymore. Our new lease to own model doubles down on that notion.

When you have set a BIN price of $2000 for example and offer a payment plan of just $20 a month - almost any potential end-user can all of sudden afford the price that you have set. Sellers are more competent as well to price domains than end-users which just want a domain that matches their branding for as little expenses as possible.

Your BIN price then is validated and the buyer will have all information at his or her disposal to instantly transact with you.

However, when you offer the option to make an offer next to a BIN listing - you already give the buyer a so-called escape to try to negotiate a better deal which always introduces friction and friction results in fewer sales.

The "contact seller" option is even worse for conversions because you do not portray a definitive and final proposal to the buyer but again provide an escape to negotiate.

The vast majority of our most successful sellers all are following the same selling method as mentioned by us above (BIN + installments).

Everything stated above is 100% backed by our marketplace data as we do not leave anything up to chance. Some might not agree with us but we base our decisions on data and not gut feelings.

 

[Windoms]

Actually I have a question for you Abdul...

You have your portfolio listed on your own private website, as well as on various marketplaces. With the domains not being directed directly to your private site do you still get the occasional sale there?

If so - in those cases do you think it is just someone browsing your site and they see a domain they like?

Are you referring to DomainsWeb.com and/or AbdulBasit.com?

If yes, I rarely get any inquiry via both sites and have never sold through them. But yes, building those sites especially AbdulBasit.com have given lot of authority and trust among the endusers who many times have transferred the domain at first before I've sent them funds when both parties are happy not to use any escrow service.

Although domain haven't sold directly via those sites but the trust and built good relationships I've got matters the most to me.

Now if the seller is known, clear contact, clear public profile, real, well known professional dealing with domain name, clear background, we also have trust.

Such a seller has a huge advantage over one that doesn't have reputation.

For domains up to 5k you can be OK but if you are serious about domain investing, trust and effective buyer engagement becomes a huge +.

Negotiating and making a deal with a real professional is very different from talking to a ghost on the internet, especially when you have no idea what the domain market is.
A 20k counter offer from a silent ghost is basically a joke.

Especially when the buyer has no idea what the domain market is.
Having a professional guide you through a domain purchase is a big advantage.

 

[nothere]

Marketplaces and well known brokers already use their trust and reputation to sell your (good) names. But their price is 15%-20%, not 10%. So nothing is broken.

If a well known marketplace hired John, Bob, Harvey and dozens of their friends from the "Internets" to lower your broker price, that marketplace would suffer a huge reputational decline. As a broker you are dealing with real money. If I'm dealing with a random individual, the thought that he will back out or try to cheat me is priced in, and I act accordingly. But if a broker hired by, say, DAN, makes mistakes or tries to back out of the deal, the marketplace or company will suffer. They can only survive x number of such bad things, word spreads.

If you have a great name, the name will do 99% of the selling. Once you agree on the price, escrow services kick in. No need to trust anyone and until escrow is funded don't assume anything. In fact, you can still continue to offer it even if you verbally agreed to it...with an *, indicating that you can have if the previous deal falls through (not that most names will have such issues over 2-3 days._

Hello,
On known marketplaces such as @DAN.COM , we could have a feature where one could basically assign all the domains in his/her account to a seller and let them negotiate all leads on his/her behalf in exchange for a commission, for example 10%.
Remember, it's only about replying to a message or talking over on the phone to qualified leads. Nothing else. None of all the work involved in brokerage finding executives, contacting multiple people, following up with everyone, etc..
@DAN.COM that will make it easier for us all.

 

[Windoms]

@nothere

On known marketplaces such as @DAN.COM , we could have a feature where one could basically assign all the domains in his/her account to a seller and let them negotiate all leads on his/her behalf in exchange for a commission, for example 10%.

Examples.
People could agree on 10, 20, 30, 50%, whatever they like. DAN's just an example. This can be implemented on any marketplace.

Forget about simply replying to messages, this is the real deal.

@uglydork has pacemakers.com, he's been trying to sell it.
Maybe someone, somewhere, because of his connections or environment, has a chance of selling it.

If that someone is not a broker, is not interested in brokerage, and has a very easy way of hopping onto that domain and selling it; that person is going to think about it, and eventually do it. It makes things a billion times easier than having to manually contact the owner, talk for a while, negotiate a fee, etc.. etc.. those are deterrents.

We need a collaborative space that'll make things easier for everyone.

We agree on 30%, I share your listing, handle communication, it sells, 30% of sales prices is mine.

If a well known marketplace hired John, Bob, Harvey and dozens of their friends from the "Internets" to lower your broker price, that marketplace would suffer a huge reputational decline. As a broker you are dealing with real money. If I'm dealing with a random individual, the thought that he will back out or try to cheat me is priced in, and I act accordingly. But if a broker hired by, say, DAN, makes mistakes or tries to back out of the deal, the marketplace or company will suffer. They can only survive x number of such bad things, word spreads.

Guilty broker is the only one that should feel concerned, his reputation and reviews will go down.
You as a seller is responsible for due diligence before working with someone.
Marketplace doesn't have to care about anything. They are just providing value, that will benefit many. 95% good outcome 5% bad outcome is nothing, happens everywhere no need to be scared.

If you have a great name, the name will do 99% of the selling.

In the meantime people are lowkey making sales happen all the time and those people can certainly (marvellously) benefit from a list of available domain names.

 

[Windoms]

Update @DAN.COM is setting up brokerage.
Hurrah.

Brokerage should be interesting. Hopefully that becomes a solid division for DAN.

8) Can you talk about any upgrades, changes or new features DAN will be rolling out soon?

Reza) There’s so much going on:

1: we’re setting up a brokerage division to provide integrated buyer/seller brokerage support.

 

[Future Sensors]

If someone does not have reputation, you can bootstrap that with the help of influencers, however that is like putting nitro in the fuel tank. If you use that added boost wrongly, it can backfire spectacularly if the influencer's endorsement was used imprudently.

Totally agree with this.