question Self-hosted or hosted domain portfolio?

[Atta]

The question is pretty much self-explanatory.

How are you managing your domain name portfolio? / What are your future plans for managing your domains?

I would appreciate your response.

Thanks.

 

[kam]

I perhaps should have mentioned that even with my own website I use links so those wishing to purchase can do so through Undeveloped, Registrar marketplaces, Afternic etc. I agree people have more trust that way.

I think it's better to stick with escrow.com only.
When you asked the potential buyer to make an offer or purchase a domain on sedo / afternic / undeveloped to confirmed a deal.
You are risking yourself losing a sales. The buyer may sudden found another domain catch his eyes on those platforms and he never look back

 

[Bob Hawkes]

While you raise the good point @kam that by going to a marketplace they may see something they like better, I guess feeling generous, if there is a better name for them, while sad to lose the sale, I am happy they found the best option for their needs.

I do make it as direct as possible to go to my listing in that rather than go to the general site and search, they have a direct link to the name on say Undeveloped or Namecheap Marketplace.

It may just be the value end of the market I deal with, but at least for end users I have made contact with they like the idea of being able to purchase at a marketeplace that they recognize as a major domain player (like GoDaddy or Namecheap) and where the process is easy to go from buying the domain name and actually getting it redirected and in use for a website. If I was selling in 4 or 5 figure domain names, then Escrow would clearly be the choice I would make.

Bob

 

[wizard]

I think it's better to stick with escrow.com only.
When you asked the potential buyer to make an offer or purchase a domain on sedo / afternic / undeveloped to confirmed a deal.
You are risking yourself losing a sales. The buyer may sudden found another domain catch his eyes on those platforms and he never look back

I dont agree we have had more sales via undeveloped than escrow i cant stand escrow i much prefer 9% anyday with quick payments i find them really good and im dealing with a large portfolio

 

[lennco]

DMP - Domain Market Pro

 

[MapleDots]

I'm finding most people don't collect enough data. I'm not afraid to ask anyone wanting my domains for more information.

Whenever I get an email like this...

Hey man... how much for domain one?

I respond.

==========================================================================

The proper way to address a purchase from MapleDots is to use our contact form at:

www.mapledots.ca/contact

Once you establish an opening bid we would be happy to start the negotiating process with you.

==========================================================================

So most forms (even the ones on Efty) do not collect enough information and my custom form does. It also provides me with SOME protection if someone like Facebook misrepresents themselves and grabs one of my domains. In the end my form is clear and it states the sale is for END USER only.

I have yet to find a hosted solution that collects as much info.

 

[kam]

I'm finding most people don't collect enough data. I'm not afraid to ask anyone wanting my domains for more information.

Whenever I get an email like this...

Hey man... how much for domain one?

I respond.

==========================================================================

The proper way to address a purchase from MapleDots is to use our contact form at:

www.mapledots.ca/contact

Once you establish an opening bid we would be happy to start the negotiating process with you.

==========================================================================

So most forms (even the ones on Efty) do not collect enough information and my custom form does. It also provides me with SOME protection if someone like Facebook misrepresents themselves and grabs one of my domains. In the end my form is clear and it states the sale is for END USER only.

I have yet to find a hosted solution that collects as much info.

Good job.
But I wonder to know what will happened when stealth acquisition agent hit your site.
They will hide themself for sure

 

[MapleDots]

Good job.
But I wonder to know what will happened when stealth acquisition agent hit your site.
They will hide themself for sure

I take each case one by one and my bill of sale has a back side which goes into great detail about what happens if the buyer misrepresents themselves. The buyer has to sign the bill of sale and like all signed contracts it gives me legal options should a broker purchase on behalf of walmart or something. In the end I would send it to my lawyer and let him decide how we can pursue.

 

[Recons.Com]

I'm finding most people don't collect enough data. I'm not afraid to ask anyone wanting my domains for more information.

Whenever I get an email like this...

Hey man... how much for domain one?

I respond.

==========================================================================

The proper way to address a purchase from MapleDots is to use our contact form at:

www.mapledots.ca/contact

Once you establish an opening bid we would be happy to start the negotiating process with you.

==========================================================================

So most forms (even the ones on Efty) do not collect enough information and my custom form does. It also provides me with SOME protection if someone like Facebook misrepresents themselves and grabs one of my domains. In the end my form is clear and it states the sale is for END USER only.

I have yet to find a hosted solution that collects as much info.

So you would rather lose many sales for capturing the remote upside from someone like Facebook wanting one of your names?

 

[MapleDots]

So you would rather lose many sales for capturing the remote upside from someone like Facebook wanting one of your names?

I have not lost any sales because of it yet, in fact I make sales because of it.

Price 1 = lower with all the supplied info
Price 2 = higher, you can buy incognito

If anything I form has generated sales for me.

 

[Bertrell]

Both. (Unfortunately, this wasn't a polling option.)

 

[Recons.Com]

I have not lost any sales because of it yet, in fact I make sales because of it.

Price 1 = lower with all the supplied info
Price 2 = higher, you can buy incognito

If anything I form has generated sales for me.

How would you know about the lost ones?

I needed a name for news ones with xxxx budget. Went through my shortlist of about 30 names and ignored ones asking my info, bought one of the names that clear reasonable bin.

 

[MapleDots]

How would you know about the lost ones?

I needed a name for news ones with xxxx budget. Went through my shortlist of about 30 names and ignored ones asking my info, bought one of the names that clear reasonable bin.

I cannot answer your question other than to say if you really wanted my domain you would inquire, that is the thing about having a good/great domain the demand is there.

I can only say for sure that my last 6 months have been among my more profitable months and that is also the time I started my new system of directing any incoming inquiries to my form.

I respond.

The proper way to address a purchase from MapleDots is to use our contact form at:

www.mapledots.ca/contact

Once you establish an opening bid we would be happy to start the negotiating process with you.

 

[.X.]

I do both, although I don’t point all my portfolio to my personal website

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Self-host is always the best. You can do a lot of customization that create competitive advantage.

Let's say I am familiar with VB.net framework. I can easily create a desktop application to connection to mysql database and make it much more convenience for bulk edit.
I found that web interface is always not the best for those task. I can even add some some new fields into the datatable and using my app to update those record

3rd party hosted is only a temporary solution for those haven't build up their own site yet.
I believed every serious domainer will finally go for self-host when their portfolio getting bigger and bigger.

The bigger reason I don't like 3rd party hosted service is because those public nameservers had million of domains point to them. It will be finally detected and blocked by ad-blockers.

The big corporation must have firewall installed. What if the 3rd party nameserver unlucky got blocked by those firewall / adblocker. It may lead to we lose a potential sales from big buyer.

Kam

Kam...I agree with you totally. I've known this to be the case all along, but old time traditional domainers don't want us hosting our own domains. I don't have the technical expertise that you have, but I can either partner with what I need, or I can hire it once the cash starts flowing. It's mostly because I have a business model/plan behind 80% of my domains that adds more value than any third 3rd party could possibly add.
We think a lot alike even though we're 12,000 miles apart. Good Luck Kam!

Bulloney aka ThatNameGuy™

 

[dncafe]

The problem with a lot of these listing pages or selling platforms, they don't offer your domain name much exposure. Sure, you might sell a domain name through them, but the buyer most likely did not find the domain name through that platform service. They found it by typing in your domain name.

So why pay a landing page a % of your money when they didn't help market your domain name?

For end user domain names, let's say NewYorkRoofing.com, a roofing company who might want to buy this name probably knows nothing about domain names. So if they type in the domain and land on a page at a service like Efty, they don't know anything about Efty, it's a service they have never heard of. So Efty is not offering you much credibility in terms of selling the domain, so why not put up your own sales page and keep 100% of the profit?

Who is the most well know domain registrar in the country, the company running Super Bowl ads and large marketing campaigns? GoDaddy. Where are many Americans going to go when they want to find a domain? GoDaddy.

Listing your domain for sale on GoDaddy Auction will give your domain more exposure to end buyers than any other listing service. First thing many people do when wanting to register a domain name is go to GoDaddy and type it in. If it's listed there, your domain will pop up with a option to buy it.

You can put your own landing page up on NewYorkRoofing.com with a Buy Now or Make Offer, as well as list it on GoDaddy Auctions. If a potential buyer doesn't feel comfortable paying you directly, you can link them to the GoDaddy Auction, a company they are comfortable with. If you don't want to put up a sales page you can do a free URL forward through the domain registrar to your GoDaddy Auction.

I don't like GoDaddy and do not use them as my main registrar, but without a doubt, they are the most popular and well known domain company, and that can be a big advantage when selling your domain.

 

[creataweb]

The problem with a lot of these listing pages or selling platforms, they don't offer your domain name much exposure. Sure, you might sell a domain name through them, but the buyer most likely did not find the domain name through that platform service. They found it by typing in your domain name.

So why pay a landing page a % of your money when they didn't help market your domain name?

For end user domain names, let's say NewYorkRoofing.com, a roofing company who might want to buy this name probably knows nothing about domain names. So if they type in the domain and land on a page at a service like Efty, they don't know anything about Efty, it's a service they have never heard of. So Efty is not offering you much credibility in terms of selling the domain, so why not put up your own sales page and keep 100% of the profit?

Who is the most well know domain registrar in the country, the company running Super Bowl ads and large marketing campaigns? GoDaddy. Where are many Americans going to go when they want to find a domain? GoDaddy.

Listing your domain for sale on GoDaddy Auction will give your domain more exposure to end buyers than any other listing service. First thing many people do when wanting to register a domain name is go to GoDaddy and type it in. If it's listed there, your domain will pop up with a option to buy it.

You can put your own landing page up on NewYorkRoofing.com with a Buy Now or Make Offer, as well as list it on GoDaddy Auctions. If a potential buyer doesn't feel comfortable paying you directly, you can link them to the GoDaddy Auction, a company they are comfortable with. If you don't want to put up a sales page you can do a free URL forward through the domain registrar to your GoDaddy Auction.

I don't like GoDaddy and do not use them as my main registrar, but without a doubt, they are the most popular and well known domain company, and that can be a big advantage when selling your domain.

Too many issues with GD imo but also you need a membership for auctions at $5 a year - regular folks aren't paying $5 to use GD auctions.

 

[dncafe]

Too many issues with GD imo but also you need a membership for auctions at $5 a year - regular folks aren't paying $5 to use GD auctions.

I agree, there are a ton of issues with GD, which is why I don't use them, other than for Auctions. The value GD is providing is marketing and exposure.

A buyer does not need an auctions membership to buy an auctions domain with a BIN price.

If you have XXXX.com domain listed at GD Auctions and a person who has never been to GD before with no GD account types in XXXX.com on the homepage, searching for that domain, they will be given an option to buy the domain name. No Auctions account needed.

 

[Name Trader]

You can get the GoDaddy listing by listing on Afternic instead.

 

[Atta]

The problem with a lot of these listing pages or selling platforms, they don't offer your domain name much exposure. Sure, you might sell a domain name through them, but the buyer most likely did not find the domain name through that platform service. They found it by typing in your domain name.

So why pay a landing page a % of your money when they didn't help market your domain name?

For end user domain names, let's say NewYorkRoofing.com, a roofing company who might want to buy this name probably knows nothing about domain names. So if they type in the domain and land on a page at a service like Efty, they don't know anything about Efty, it's a service they have never heard of. So Efty is not offering you much credibility in terms of selling the domain, so why not put up your own sales page and keep 100% of the profit?

Who is the most well know domain registrar in the country, the company running Super Bowl ads and large marketing campaigns? GoDaddy. Where are many Americans going to go when they want to find a domain? GoDaddy.

Listing your domain for sale on GoDaddy Auction will give your domain more exposure to end buyers than any other listing service. First thing many people do when wanting to register a domain name is go to GoDaddy and type it in. If it's listed there, your domain will pop up with a option to buy it.

You can put your own landing page up on NewYorkRoofing.com with a Buy Now or Make Offer, as well as list it on GoDaddy Auctions. If a potential buyer doesn't feel comfortable paying you directly, you can link them to the GoDaddy Auction, a company they are comfortable with. If you don't want to put up a sales page you can do a free URL forward through the domain registrar to your GoDaddy Auction.

I don't like GoDaddy and do not use them as my main registrar, but without a doubt, they are the most popular and well known domain company, and that can be a big advantage when selling your domain.

Interesting. What if hosted-service provides tools for marketing? Something like a marketplace where all the domains are listed?

 

[Bertrell]

Something like a marketplace where all the domains are listed?

Isn't this what a number of places offer already? NameSilo, Epik and Uniregistry come to mind.