Sedo.com - Official Thread

[Sedo]

Hi All! :hi:

By request, we've decided to start a thread dedicated to Sedo. We're looking for invaluable insight into what domainers want and need out of our parking program (and marketplace, of course).

Questions, comments, suggestions, tips are welcome! We're hoping this will be a great discussion about what works at Sedo and what might not (please be constructive and respectful to others in your feedback) so that everyone involved can benefit and learn from it.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas! Happy Holidays!

Always,
Keith
(on behalf of Sedo)

 

[Jannes]

Do you guys have listed on Sedo with BIN and a minimum offer price?

BIN sales in the four digits do not happen often in my Sedo account. My minimum bid is 1k USD and every two months there is a buyer who bids exactly this amount of money. The guy doesn´t offer 1 Dollar more in following negotiations but pays instantly if I accept. Sometimes these sales are welcome even if you think your domain is worth x-fold.

I've never understood the concept of BIN or make offer with a stated minimum. That minimum practically becomes the anchor price (I remember @NameGroove ranting against minimum offers or make offers in general).

This was a step to the right direction, but unfortunately they haven't made the best of the best offer idea (pun intended):

https://sedo.com/us/about-us/news-press/newsroom/cant-decide-between-buy-now-or-make-offer/

They are still showing minimum offer amount (completely unnecessary and even stupid), and they haven't fixed this problem, I believe:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/sedo-com-official-thread.408817/page-131#post-9252317

 

[Name2go]

I've never understood the concept of BIN or make offer with a stated minimum. That minimum practically becomes the anchor price

It gives more flexibility. If a name doesn´t sell for BIN after several years, you may welcome a lower offer. Negotiate the buyer up from the min or sell for it if you need the money.

Let´s discuss an example.
I own the name CloudStrife dot com. Listed with Sedo BIN 3,298 USD for five years I believe. Some of you may say "Cloud is a term of the past", others will criticize "CloudStrife doesn´t make sense as a name".
I received this magic 1k offer and am negotiating myself down every day LOL.

Would you sell for 1k, keep the BIN or rise it?

 

[Jannes]

But maybe the much lower (and therefore distracting/confusing) stated minimum offer was the reason it didn't sell at BIN during all those years? Anyway, I prefer the way houses and apartments are sold: the seller has an asking price but welcomes offers, without being explicit about what the minimum is.

 

[NameGroove]

It gives more flexibility. If a name doesn´t sell for BIN after several years, you may welcome a lower offer. Negotiate the buyer up from the min or sell for it if you need the money.

Let´s discuss an example.
I own the name CloudStrife dot com. Listed with Sedo BIN 3,298 USD for five years I believe. Some of you may say "Cloud is a term of the past", others will criticize "CloudStrife doesn´t make sense as a name".
I received this magic 1k offer and am negotiating myself down every day LOL.

Would you sell for 1k, keep the BIN or rise it?

It's not that you can't accept offers - it's that the way they are showing min offer is incorrect and anchors the buyer. I recently made a $100 min offer on Sedo. The buyer came back with a $5k ask. What is the point of the buyer showing a $100 min here? They are not offering the name anywhere near the min. It wastes everyone's time. They should just allow "make offer". There is no anchoring in this way (Although I must say I also find BIN+MO also stupid as buyers then know your BIN is always negotiable). Nevertheless - at least it doesn't anchor a buyer to a low price that the seller will never accept. Had I seen MO next to the name I offered $100 for - I never would've made an offer (guessing he wanted much more than this). Had I seen a BIN+MO - where the BIN was his $5k ask, I never would've made an offer - since I would know he's not accepting $100 when he wants $5k. It is only the Sedo $100 min scenario that creates this problem.

Of course - it is possible buyers aren't astute and Sedo has found that getting them to engage in any talks can be promising and lead to increased sales. Surely this cannot be ruled out.

 

[Name2go]

But maybe the much lower (and therefore distracting/confusing) stated minimum offer was the reason it didn't sell at BIN during all those years?

If someone was interested in this domain they had the chance to offer at minimum. But nobody did. Years ago I had not set a minimum and received one 20 USD offer. Nobody wanted this domain for 1k+ USD, why should someone buy for higher BIN?

Anyway, I prefer the way houses and apartments are sold: the seller has an asking price but welcomes offers, without being explicit about what the minimum is.

Ok but be aware that real estate for sale is a tight market whereas Millions of domains for sale offer much more choice.

I recently made a $100 min offer on Sedo. The buyer came back with a $5k ask.

Did buyer have no BIN ...

Had I seen a BIN+MO - where the BIN was his $5k ask, I never would've made an offer - since I would know he's not accepting $100 when he wants $5k. It is only the Sedo $100 min scenario that creates this problem.

... or was BIN not visible on Sedo? I would think that if there is BIN the domain is offered with this price and a BIN button. And if there is an alternative minimum bid possible there would be a second button "Make-offer" with a text in the text box "at least ...".

 

[Jannes]

The elephant in the room is that Sedo is lacking the best option

https://twitter.com/x/status/1331325200382783493

 

[Synozeer]

The elephant in the room is that Sedo is lacking the best option

https://twitter.com/x/status/1331325200382783493

BIN + make offer is a strategy. You list a BIN price which is higher than your target sale price, then allow buyer to haggle for a lower price which is in the real target range you want, and buyer feels they got a deal.

 

[NameGroove]

BIN + make offer is a strategy. You list a BIN price which is higher than your target sale price, then allow buyer to haggle for a lower price which is in the real target range you want, and buyer feels they got a deal.

Atom has shown STR for that strategy is lower than BIN. Why anyone would choose a strategy that lowers their chance of a sale is beyond me. Probably because one thinks they have more control this way. But the reality is, it results in lower sales.

 

[NameGroove]

Did buyer have no BIN ...

... or was BIN not visible on Sedo? I would think that if there is BIN the domain is offered with this price and a BIN button. And if there is an alternative minimum bid possible there would be a second button "Make-offer" with a text in the text box "at least ...".

It was Make Offer only with a $100 min set. There was no BIN. So I offered $100. Buyer responded with $5k. I shut down the conversation. A waste of everyones time.

 

[Name2go]

Atom has shown STR for that strategy is lower than BIN. Why anyone would choose a strategy that lowers their chance of a sale is beyond me. Probably because one thinks they have more control this way. But the reality is, it results in lower sales.

Agreed. However, this is the Sedo thread and my original post just wanted to point out a possible setup for users who did never have a sale there of whatever reason. Without any approach of absoluteness.

Most of us use several marketplaces and why not try Sedo, too. Which was, BTW, my first love when today´s competitors did not yet exist. (Loyalty?)

For a newbie in this industry the marketplace choice will be easy. Newbie does not even have to know DAN history. One competitor has landers which do not resolve and another one is a domaining museum for some.

 

[Jannes]

BIN + make offer is a strategy. You list a BIN price which is higher than your target sale price, then allow buyer to haggle for a lower price which is in the real target range you want, and buyer feels they got a deal.

Sure, but the question is what implementation of BIN+make offer leads to working down from the high anchor price and what leads to working up from the minimum offer price (stronger anchor than BIN). I'm all for the former.

 

[Synozeer]

Atom has shown STR for that strategy is lower than BIN. Why anyone would choose a strategy that lowers their chance of a sale is beyond me. Probably because one thinks they have more control this way. But the reality is, it results in lower sales.

It's definitely a lower STR than BIN, but not sure if it would be at the bottom. Even though he states it almost always sells lower than the BIN, that doesn't mean that it doesn't sell for higher than if you had BIN only.

With BIN only, I might list it at $10k, and BIN + offer I could list at $20k and end up haggling to $15k. There's so much wiggle room with domain valuations that BIN could actually be losing you money per sale by pricing too low, but with the upside of a higher STR. This is also good for when you're not sure what to price the domain at, so you err on the higher side and negotiate down when necessary.

Obviously, names with just make offer only give the most potential for extracting the highest value, but it does so at the cost of STR. That's why BIN + make offer could be better for some names - it gives the buyer an expectation of what the name will sell for which can get them to make an offer.

 

[Synozeer]

Sure, but the question is what implementation of BIN+make offer leads to working down from the high anchor price and what leads to working up from the minimum offer price (more relevant anchor than BIN). I'm all for the former.

I wouldn't use minimum offers and just ignore the tire kickers. If they're interested they'll usually make another offer if you ignore them. If they make a reasonable first offer, then you can respond with a counter. Probably not best to do this when you can't self brokerage.

 

[NameGroove]

It's definitely a lower STR than BIN, but not sure if it would be at the bottom. Even though he states it almost always sells lower than the BIN, that doesn't mean that it doesn't sell for higher than if you had BIN only.

With BIN only, I might list it at $10k, and BIN + offer I could list at $20k and end up haggling to $15k. There's so much wiggle room with domain valuations that BIN could actually be losing you money per sale by pricing too low, but with the upside of a higher STR. This is also good for when you're not sure what to price the domain at, so you err on the higher side and negotiate down when necessary.

Obviously, names with just make offer only give the most potential for extracting the highest value, but it does so at the cost of STR. That's why BIN + make offer could be better for some names - it gives the buyer an expectation of what the name will sell for which can get them to make an offer.

My main problem with MO is exactly this "when you're not sure what to price the domain at". That, imho, is why domainers use MO. They have no idea the value of their name and want the buyer to tell them.

Yet, there is a lot of data out there for us to ascertain what a domain is worth.

With that said, I realize many buyers are dumb and thus, MO can work since they do not educate themselves before buying. I was on the advisory board of such a company. Venture funded and he ended up buying a hypen domain (against my advice) for $18k. It wasn't even consumer facing. Truly absurd waste of money imo. Seller used MO and made him think it was worth this amount. I advised as loud as I could, but was ignored.

 

[NameGroove]

Hi NameGroove,

Thanks for your message.

Yes you can report such names to our Security Team via [email protected].

All the best
Chris

So I sent one of these listings to your security team. They responded I needed to show them "proof" I own the name. I explained I don't own the name - it's avail to hand register. They won't remove it. Some retraining is likely needed.

 

[Garet]

Express Transfer Fee 3% -- Is this new?

I just noticed today that Sedo seems to be adding a non-optional "Express Transfer Fee 3%" for sales on their platform. I saw this when was I checking a name that is actively listed on Sedo but is actually registered to my company. I checked another name and it also had this 3% fee. I'm guessing that this doesn't get added for MLS/partner sales.

 

[kor]

Express Transfer Fee 3% -- Is this new?

They have been forcing this stupid practice on buyers for a while now and there is no logical explanation.

From what I understand it is to push the credit card payment fee to the buyer.

Even though I told them that this would turn off many customers if it was displayed at the last step of the purchase process, no changes were made. In short, Sedo is being Sedo.

 

[NameGroove]

Sedo - what the heck is this? A buyer cannot get to my name? Why does this message appear?

 

[Sedo]

Sedo - what the heck is this? A buyer cannot get to my name? Why does this message appear?

Show attachment 270605

Hi,

Please message our support team so we can look into this for you: [email protected] let us know what the name of the domain is that this is happening to so we can investigate further. Also let us know what browser and device you are using. Our customer support team will look into this and get back to you about it.

All the best
Chris

 

[Future Sensors]

Please message our support team so we can look into this for you: [email protected] let us know what the name of the domain is that this is happening to so we can investigate further. Also let us know what browser and device you are using. Our customer support team will look into this and get back to you about it.

Chris,

503 errors are typically on your end - capacity issues.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status/503