discuss Some differences in domain sales I have noticed in 2022.

[twiki]

I have just posted one $788 sale in the reported sales thread, I'm re-posting part of the comment here for everyone to be able to discuss. Feel free to comment and please do share your insight as well.

Note, this is just my own perspective / observations AND is a bit related to my portfolio as well. So it might not be the same for everyone else. But I'm very curious to hear your current perspective too. Anyway, see below.

1) For some reason, discounting domains to clear in the low-to-mid XXX range has gradually faded in the last part of 2021 and died this year.

At least for me. And in 2022 it has basically stopped. Whenever I discount a domain below $788, even if thousands of names are discounted at the same time, the effect is the unintended one - there is no sale further.

I have therefore decided to stick to the following prices:

- Regular price: above 1.48k: $1488 (the cheapos, non-renewables), $1688 (meh ones), $1988 and more ( good) etc etc.

- Discount price: $788 (but feel free to use $799 as well). Fixed price. (Edit - although I sometimes play with adding some min offer there but it still doesn't do anything)

I have no pricing between the two or below $788 anymore. Reason? They don't work anymore. Even at 1K, 1.2K, $500, whatever, everything in these price points did NOT sell anything for me (guess I had some measly $499 at some point but not worth noting).

Side note I only use Afternic and the GD lander (ns5/ns6), because this setup brings me the best results.

The $788 price has worked great in the past and it still works well for my clearances.

2) Having a min offer no longer brings offers.

My current strategy is to use fixed price everywhere (min price = floor = BIN). If someone wants a discount, they will reach me anyway via the broker. I sometimes get offers via DomainAgents, GD etc, but having a min price at Afternic is pointless nowadays.

Please note that I also have the ability to switch to the Afternic Bin and min lander I talked about in the past where there is both min and bin but even there there is no offer. (note, I get most sales via Fast Transfer anyway, so lander based sales are still a minority).

3). $299 and $199 prices = zero results. This is in sharp contrast with the past. And it doesn't depend on domain quality, good or bad, if you put such price you're wasting time (at least I'm wasting time).

And I know 100% sure that Afternic still promotes and sells such domains (for example at GoDaddy Auctions they are still listed in 45-day ranking increasing order until the 45-day windows resets).

I'm not sure what the reason is exactly for this. I can assume though that this was the pricing where small businesses and individuals purchased my names (it's the market range anyway) AND they either don't have purchase power now, OR, more likely, are to scared (or stingy, or can't afford etc etc) to spend $300 on a name anymore. So this market segment might be having a stroke or something.

The more I discount below $788, the worse it gets. Fast.

This has never been like this and I'm still baffled about why this thing which started in 2021 has gone here. I blame the pandemic effect (economy) + the war now. Anyway I personally also see a big reduction in XXX range sales in the reported sales thread too.

4). 4-fig sales still rock. Especially high ones up to 5-fig. It appears this segment has grown, while going weaker and weaker the lower you get with the price.

Takeaway = get less, but higher value names.

Edit: Also try a bit higher pricing - you might be surprised to see it actually increases the sale % as the domain might be perceived as having more value.

5). There is a weird (or not?) correlation between NASDAQ and domain sales. Whenever NASDAQ goes up, Bitcoin goes up, well, guess what - domain sales start going up. Whenever it goes down even by small percentages (say 3%) sales halt - at least for me.

Yeah, it was like that in the past too, since I have tech and finance names mostly anyway. But it hasn't been that strongly correlated before.

I bet its market panic, mood swings and the fight between greed and fear = the only 2 emotions that matter in life.

6) This is not new, but it has sharpened in comparison with the past: If you put a price just a bit too low on a domain you have, it will kill the sale. It used to be like, you reduce the price and it sells faster. Not anymore. If I have say a domain at $1488 (meh domain) and I put it at $1200 or $1K it won't sell anymore, but if I put it up I get a better chance to sell it (but not if I get too high up).

So you have to hit the nail in the head with the right price, and the window seems narrower than it used to be. (note I have mostly 1-word, 1-word modified and 2-word .COMs if that matters.)

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

Had a brief DM conversation with Abdul Basit (thanks again, @AbdulBasit.com for all your posts and advice etc) and he also said last month was really weird with no sales for some reason; which is not common for him. I had a slightly different interval but it overlapped with his pretty much.

Note, also in the last 2 weeks this month I had very few sales (I can consider that zero), and it seems to be driven by the NASDAQ wind. So now I watch this index closely and hope for some fresh sales when it gets momentum (heard Meta is up 15%, that woudl be good for us ). I had good sales though in the first 5 days of the month which covers my monthly profit. But then there has been an eerie silence.

There might be other things as well but this is what I recall at this point.

As a side note about my own portfolio size, I have reduced it to 8k and intend to go below 5k names while improving quality. I'm focusing on .coms mostly and at least for the near future, intend to keep it that way. 95% of my names now are .coms.

Feel free to ask me anything and comment. Thanks!

 

[karmaco]

People buying at a sub 1K price are generally other domainers. Other domainers are diversifying their holdings with ENS handshake etc domains and NFTs. They are buying less traditional names right now.

They are equally or more into crypto than they are into domains. Its FOMO and its multi faceted.

They are liquidating or dropping even really good names to fund Web3 stuff. I have gotten some crazy good bargains.

The underlying theme to be concerned about for anyone flipping is are they permanently losing interest in normal DNS domains or is it temporary.

If thats the case many might be forced to or choose to trim their portfolios.

An unsteady economy is contributory but 2021 was the year of the NFT and Meta boom and its not a coincidence sales might be dwindling in correlation to peoples money going elsewhere.

 

[scithe]

I've sold a few domains in the $200-350 range this year. It's possible I undersold them but I was happy with the ROI and time held.

I've been considering raising prices on a number of my domains priced under 1k on Afternic. I do have a few geolocation domains that I am still thinking should be under 1k. Is a mom and pop shop going to fork out 2k for a domain? Probably not but I think we can squeeze more than 299 out of them now.

I have never received an offer on Afternic but do have offers as an option. Even if I won't accept it, I like seeing the attention on that domain. If someone lowballs me on a domain, I'm more likely to renew it. I do worry that having a domain for $1888 and a min. offer of $188 might make people think that I don't believe the domain will sell for the BIN but as I've said, all of my Afternic domains have sold for the BIN and they've had offers lower than the BIN (though at the time I think I was doing 50 or 80% of the BIN). I even had a domain sell for $899 on Afternic that was priced at $500 on sedo and I think the domain was parked on Sedo. So how the heck did someone buy the domain for $899 and not even look at the parked page? Or maybe they didn't see the price.

 

[twiki]

I've sold a few domains in the $200-350 range this year. It's possible I undersold them but I was happy with the ROI and time held.

I've been considering raising prices on a number of my domains priced under 1k on Afternic. I do have a few geolocation domains that I am still thinking should be under 1k. Is a mom and pop shop going to fork out 2k for a domain? Probably not but I think we can squeeze more than 299 out of them now.

I have never received an offer on Afternic but do have offers as an option. Even if I won't accept it, I like seeing the attention on that domain. If someone lowballs me on a domain, I'm more likely to renew it. I do worry that having a domain for $1888 and a min. offer of $188 might make people think that I don't believe the domain will sell for the BIN but as I've said, all of my Afternic domains have sold for the BIN and they've had offers lower than the BIN (though at the time I think I was doing 50 or 80% of the BIN). I even had a domain sell for $899 on Afternic that was priced at $500 on sedo and I think the domain was parked on Sedo. So how the heck did someone buy the domain for $899 and not even look at the parked page? Or maybe they didn't see the price.

Most domains at Afternic are not sold through the landers, but via syndicated partners = registrars, etc = the Afternic partner network. Lander sales are a minority in my experience.

For example you go to Name.com or Namecheap or Sav etc. and in most cases you will see the domain and the price, but not everyone shows min offer.

Indeed, they didn't see the price.

Note, I'd refrain from using very low min offers. It usually confuses the user. I'd recommend using 50% if you might consider selling for that, or 70-80% (in this case about everyone will actually hit the BIN).

Edit: Mom and pop won't usually fork out more than a few hundreds. For such domains, I'd recommend to stay below $750 - most will sell at $300 max. It depends of course, but definitely not 4-fig from my experience. (I used to sell a lot of these)

 

[lovely4ever]

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

Had a brief DM conversation with Abdul Basit (thanks again, @AbdulBasit.com for all your posts and advice etc) and he also said last month was really weird with no sales for some reason; which is not common for him. I had a slightly different interval but it overlapped with his pretty much.

Note, also in the last 2 weeks this month I had very few sales (I can consider that zero), and it seems to be driven by the NASDAQ wind. So now I watch this index closely and hope for some fresh sales when it gets momentum (heard Meta is up 15%, that woudl be good for us ). I had good sales though in the first 5 days of the month which covers my monthly profit. But then there has been an eerie silence.

There might be other things as well but this is what I recall at this point.

Unfortunately month of april was a dead month , at least for me , no sales , no affers , low traffic !!

I hope MAY to be better and full of actions !!
.

 

[scithe]

I am thinking of just doing BINs for most of my domains.

On the flip side, I've got some trendy names in the crypto/meta/NFT realm and I am thinking of putting stupid high prices on them with lower offers. I've seen people in the report sales thread stating they had 10k or 20k prices on stuff and then after a 2k offer came in, negotiated 3-5k. I don't know if that's better than just starting with a 3-5k price. Seeing some of the names I've seen selling over 10k though makes me think I could get lucky? 2 years ago I would have said the 10k names are quality names but I've seen what I feel are some stinkers going for 5 figures.

 

[rohitgoyal]

As per my experience sales ratio has actually reduced after covid... Earlier I used to have 5-8% sales ratio for my hand registered geo and emd domains (outbound)...
I have been out of domaining for quite some time and restarted since January 2022... Presently I am getting sales ratio of 2-5% .. As for pricing I have always priced by domains in $200-500 range and it still works fine for me... Sold approx 80 domains in last 3 months with an average of 1 sale per day (range is $200-500)..

As per landing page, yes new afternic landing page does increase the sale ratio especially with outbound atleast for me.. When I use dan/daaz then my follow up time increases and when I use godaddy landing page then I don't really have to follow up... However support of afternic haven't changed much or rather say it has become even worse . Sometimes I received response 2 weeks after I send a query.

As for pricing, I personally feel that there would always be market for $200-500 range as buyer don't really mind paying that much even if they do not intent to use the domain instantly...

Ultimately in case of domaining there can be 100s of different strategy and it works differently for different people. We should follow and study what others are doing but ultimately we have to follow our own strategy..

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

I have just posted one $788 sale in the reported sales thread, I'm re-posting part of the comment here for everyone to be able to discuss. Feel free to comment and please do share your insight as well.

Note, this is just my own perspective / observations AND is a bit related to my portfolio as well. So it might not be the same for everyone else. But I'm very curious to hear your current perspective too. Anyway, see below.

1) For some reason, discounting domains to clear in the low-to-mid XXX range has gradually faded in the last part of 2021 and died this year.

At least for me. And in 2022 it has basically stopped. Whenever I discount a domain below $788, even if thousands of names are discounted at the same time, the effect is the unintended one - there is no sale further.

I have therefore decided to stick to the following prices:

- Regular price: above 1.48k: $1488 (the cheapos, non-renewables), $1688 (meh ones), $1988 and more ( good) etc etc.

- Discount price: $788 (but feel free to use $799 as well). Fixed price. (Edit - although I sometimes play with adding some min offer there but it still doesn't do anything)

I have no pricing between the two or below $788 anymore. Reason? They don't work anymore. Even at 1K, 1.2K, $500, whatever, everything in these price points did NOT sell anything for me (guess I had some measly $499 at some point but not worth noting).

Side note I only use Afternic and the GD lander (ns5/ns6), because this setup brings me the best results.

The $788 price has worked great in the past and it still works well for my clearances.

2) Having a min offer no longer brings offers.

My current strategy is to use fixed price everywhere (min price = floor = BIN). If someone wants a discount, they will reach me anyway via the broker. I sometimes get offers via DomainAgents, GD etc, but having a min price at Afternic is pointless nowadays.

Please note that I also have the ability to switch to the Afternic Bin and min lander I talked about in the past where there is both min and bin but even there there is no offer. (note, I get most sales via Fast Transfer anyway, so lander based sales are still a minority).

3). $299 and $199 prices = zero results. This is in sharp contrast with the past. And it doesn't depend on domain quality, good or bad, if you put such price you're wasting time (at least I'm wasting time).

And I know 100% sure that Afternic still promotes and sells such domains (for example at GoDaddy Auctions they are still listed in 45-day ranking increasing order until the 45-day windows resets).

I'm not sure what the reason is exactly for this. I can assume though that this was the pricing where small businesses and individuals purchased my names (it's the market range anyway) AND they either don't have purchase power now, OR, more likely, are to scared (or stingy, or can't afford etc etc) to spend $300 on a name anymore. So this market segment might be having a stroke or something.

The more I discount below $788, the worse it gets. Fast.

This has never been like this and I'm still baffled about why this thing which started in 2021 has gone here. I blame the pandemic effect (economy) + the war now. Anyway I personally also see a big reduction in XXX range sales in the reported sales thread too.

4). 4-fig sales still rock. Especially high ones up to 5-fig. It appears this segment has grown, while going weaker and weaker the lower you get with the price.

Takeaway = get less, but higher value names.

Edit: Also try a bit higher pricing - you might be surprised to see it actually increases the sale % as the domain might be perceived as having more value.

5). There is a weird (or not?) correlation between NASDAQ and domain sales. Whenever NASDAQ goes up, Bitcoin goes up, well, guess what - domain sales start going up. Whenever it goes down even by small percentages (say 3%) sales halt - at least for me.

Yeah, it was like that in the past too, since I have tech and finance names mostly anyway. But it hasn't been that strongly correlated before.

I bet its market panic, mood swings and the fight between greed and fear = the only 2 emotions that matter in life.

6) This is not new, but it has sharpened in comparison with the past: If you put a price just a bit too low on a domain you have, it will kill the sale. It used to be like, you reduce the price and it sells faster. Not anymore. If I have say a domain at $1488 (meh domain) and I put it at $1200 or $1K it won't sell anymore, but if I put it up I get a better chance to sell it (but not if I get too high up).

So you have to hit the nail in the head with the right price, and the window seems narrower than it used to be. (note I have mostly 1-word, 1-word modified and 2-word .COMs if that matters.)

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

Had a brief DM conversation with Abdul Basit (thanks again, @AbdulBasit.com for all your posts and advice etc) and he also said last month was really weird with no sales for some reason; which is not common for him. I had a slightly different interval but it overlapped with his pretty much.

Note, also in the last 2 weeks this month I had very few sales (I can consider that zero), and it seems to be driven by the NASDAQ wind. So now I watch this index closely and hope for some fresh sales when it gets momentum (heard Meta is up 15%, that woudl be good for us ). I had good sales though in the first 5 days of the month which covers my monthly profit. But then there has been an eerie silence.

There might be other things as well but this is what I recall at this point.

As a side note about my own portfolio size, I have reduced it to 8k and intend to go below 5k names while improving quality. I'm focusing on .coms mostly and at least for the near future, intend to keep it that way. 95% of my names now are .coms.

Feel free to ask me anything and comment. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's always nice to learn what fellow investors are going through the domaining cycle.

About my sales, the last month was pretty dry and not completely dead. But like we discussed privately, sales have picked up this month but there is a lot of inconsistency. I always think a certain number of domain portfolio will sort out this issue but I'm yet to resolve this thing completely.

 

[twiki]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's always nice to learn what fellow investors are going through the domaining cycle.

About my sales, the last month was pretty dry and not completely dead. But like we discussed privately, sales have picked up this month but there is a lot of inconsistency. I always think a certain number of domain portfolio will sort out this issue but I'm yet to resolve this thing completely.

I've had good sales in the first week of April but since then no sales except one clearance $788.

Indeed there are wild fluctuations.

It's no wonder though. I mean, what do we have at hand: Inflation everywhere (money printing... govt's... hello? What were you thinking), supply issues, hype and bubbles likely bursting, stocks down 50% in some cases (many stock investors complaining), plus a war in Europe... etc.

We're in a rocky boat. Meta going up 15% this week after announcing their results is a bit of hope though for our field.

 

[biggie]

but ultimately we have to follow our own strategy.

Hi

that's so true.

as a beginner, one may struggle to find their way or niche'. especially in today's times, with so many distractions to keep them focused.

everyday, there are reported sales, which can steer some off-course or put some on the right course.
but, making a choice to stay your course or change directions, because of those headlines, could be a game changer in either direction.
that typically happens when one starts to feel like they are missing the boat on the trend, so better get in...before it ends.

once you "get it" though, and start stacking some sales history, then maybe you can afford to delve into uncharted waters.

i look at sales over the long term, like my 401k investments
over last 10 years, passive str has held steady @ 2%
only holding about 200 names, and have already hit that percentage this year.

for sure, years ago, i could catch a name at 11:00am for $6.95 and sell it by 2:00pm the same day for $100
but back then, str wasn't even a metric of consideration.
now, i catch a name for $$> $$$ and prolly wait 5 to10 years before it gets sold.

so, to me, no big difference noticed in sales for any years.
it's not like one doesn't have opportunity to make a sale or haven't received an offer, just sometimes you walk away and keep waiting.

imo...

 

[twiki]

Hi

that's so true.

as a beginner, one may struggle to find their way or niche'. especially in today's times, with so many distractions to keep them focused.

everyday, there are reported sales, which can steer some off-course or put some on the right course.
but, making a choice to stay your course or change directions, because of those headlines, could be a game changer in either direction.
that typically happens when one starts to feel like they are missing the boat on the trend, so better get in...before it ends.

once you "get it" though, and start stacking some sales history, then maybe you can afford to delve into uncharted waters.

i look at sales over the long term, like my 401k investments
over last 10 years, passive str has held steady @ 2%
only holding about 200 names, and have already hit that percentage this year.

for sure, years ago, i could catch a name at 11:00am for $6.95 and sell it by 2:00pm the same day for $100
but back then, str wasn't even a metric of consideration.
now, i catch a name for $$> $$$ and prolly wait 5 to10 years before it gets sold.

so, to me, no big difference noticed in sales for any years.
it's not like one doesn't have opportunity to make a sale or haven't received an offer, just sometimes you walk away and keep waiting.

imo...

Domaining is a long game.

 

[twiki]

Oh and I was just reading some news and yeah - just like I said the post at 5):

NASDAQ had its worst month in April, down 18% = actually worst since the 2008 (note, the crisis).

Well, no wonder my domain sales are down like that. The correlation is quite astonishing BTW.

 

[bmugford]

Sales are just streaky even if you own a large portfolio.

I have made sales when the overall economy is good or bad.
I had had slow periods when the economy is good or bad.

I worry far more about getting offers than getting sales.
Sales tend to average out over time if you consistently get offers.

When times are good I pay for future renewals on my best domains, to help if times are not so good.

I sold some average .COM this week for $18K. I put that money into Series I Savings Bonds.
With higher inflation and a shaky economy, it is about the best investment you can make IMO at this time.

Brad

 

[lovely4ever]

.

 

[biggie]

Oh and I was just reading some news and yeah - just like I said the post at 5):

NASDAQ had its worst month in April, down 18% = actually worst since the 2008 (note, the crisis).

Well, no wonder my domain sales are down like that. The correlation is quite astonishing BTW.

Hi

just a month ago, you were predicting increase in sales

https://www.namepros.com/threads/good-news-we-should-expect-a-boost-in-domain-sales-next.1270048/

as some of us have said before, there really isn't a justifiable correlation to stock market fluctuations and domain sales.

to me, it's always about the actual domains one holds.

imo...

 

[twiki]

Hi

just a month ago, you were predicting increase in sales

https://www.namepros.com/threads/good-news-we-should-expect-a-boost-in-domain-sales-next.1270048/

as some of us have said before, there really isn't a justifiable correlation to stock market fluctuations and domain sales.

to me, it's always about the actual domains one holds.

imo...

A month ago things were looking different. April came as a surprise, at least to me.

I was wrong obviously. But as you know, nobody knows 100% if the candle goes up or down next. It is a question though whether this is the start of something bigger, or a momentary thing.

There is reason for correlation. Domains are used in all industries, but tech & financial still brings most meat to the table. That's where it comes from. Maybe less pretty niches, everyday stuff domains will get a comeback... who knows.

I'm currently increasing dropping less premium stuff and reducing buys to a few well selected items. Therefore, for those with enough funds stored, it might be a time to start buying.

 

[zomainhacks]

First three months of this year were great on my side, almost complete silence in April.
Considering the current economy I didn't expected better results.

The disappearance of the XXX segment makes economic sense, what remains to be seen is if the X,XXX market 1% STR will stick or not in the foreseeable future.

I think the situation will improve a bit once the long term outcome of the Putin's regime invasion of Ukraine will be clearer, there's too much uncertainty right now.

 

[blogspotter]

How are you getting bargains?
Do you set alerts for names when they drop prices.

I often wonder how domainers snap names as soon as someone drops price on a name on afternic etc

Auction prices are showing no slowdown whatsoever. Pathetic affair. WHy don't they all go by ens domains..

People buying at a sub 1K price are generally other domainers. Other domainers are diversifying their holdings with ENS handshake etc domains and NFTs. They are buying less traditional names right now.

They are equally or more into crypto than they are into domains. Its FOMO and its multi faceted.

They are liquidating or dropping even really good names to fund Web3 stuff. I have gotten some crazy good bargains.

The underlying theme to be concerned about for anyone flipping is are they permanently losing interest in normal DNS domains or is it temporary.

If thats the case many might be forced to or choose to trim their portfolios.

An unsteady economy is contributory but 2021 was the year of the NFT and Meta boom and its not a coincidence sales might be dwindling in correlation to peoples money going elsewhere.

 

[karmaco]

How are you getting bargains?
Do you set alerts for names when they drop prices.

I often wonder how domainers snap names as soon as someone drops price on a name on afternic etc

Auction prices are showing no slowdown whatsoever. Pathetic affair. WHy don't they all go by ens domains..

What I mean is what I have seen lately is more decent names that normally would be bid up are cruising into the bargain bin at GoDaddy bidless which is good for anyone who doesn’t want to get into a bidding war (like me.) The bots don’t get alerted if you wait for the bin.

 

[blogspotter]

What I mean is what I have seen lately is more decent names that normally would be bid up are cruising into the bargain bin at GoDaddy bidless which is good for anyone who doesn’t want to get into a bidding war like me.

Ah.. True that.
I was thinking of good names getting liquidated and wanted a piece of the action

 

[cooljub]

greed and fear = the only 2 emotions that matter in life.

Love is all you need.

 

[blogspotter]

April was my best month ever, but it was due to 2 xyz sales.
The crypto people don't care about the normies economy/markets etc I guess.

Still had a decent month even without those two sales. But all my sales happened in the first 3 weeks of April. And as if somebody just switched off the funnel, everything went quiet since last week of April.
Not even low balls on my landing pages and I have make offer (+BIN) on all names.

Looks Like I should slow down on purchases this month until sales stabilizes...

 

[twiki]

Love is all you need.

In the commercial context, selling. Nah, no love there.

 

[November]

I have a portfolio of 1200 domain names /600 premium names listed in Squadhelp/ , there were no sales/offers for 4-5 months . But April was a good month with 3 sales /1 Squadhelp sale on installment plan,1 Afternic sale and 1 Alter sale/.

 

[lovely4ever]

I have a portfolio of 1200 domain names /600 premium names listed in Squadhelp/ , there were no sales/offers for 4-5 months . But April was a good month with 3 sales /1 Squadhelp sale on installment plan,1 Afternic sale and 1 Alter sale/.

Congrats for april sales , We would appreciate if you share and report them in the thread of sales reports

.