TDNAM Traffic Domains go for Crazy Prices..

[DotWeekly]

I always watch the Traffic Domains at TDNAM and I get Amazed at the amount of money they make off these domains that show certain traffic number. It's a total JOKE that they provide these numbers, because they have no proof of the traffic provided to the bidder.

So does this mean that we can provide stats for domains that we just pick up and give this statement:

*The traffic data is provided AS IS and for informational purposes only. The traffic data reflects internally calculated data and does not represent a guarantee of continued traffic in any way.

Most are off the wall domains that you can hardly say, spell etc. I always get a kick when DNJ comes out and you see that TDNAM provides the worst domains on the board. People must look at the names and prices and be like WHAT? It's due to this Traffic Estimate.

What are your thoughts on TDNAM being able to provide these numbers with out any proof?

 

[Name Trader]

Well, I think they can say whatever they like provided they also have their disclaimer.

Yep. I've bid on a few, but never won any I did read in another thread that that traffic can be anything from 10% to 90% bots (from a range of posters). IIRC, the median was about 30% bots. Well that leaves 70% traffic which would still be good. However there's no way of knowing whether the domain your bidding on does or doesn't have a high percentage of bots.

I have bid and won some names in the <100 hits category. Most of them get no or little traffic. I buy them for the name, not the traffic. I see no reason why this shouldn't replicate itself in the higher traffic arenas. So don't count on the traffic. Even a domain I let drop, which had no traffic at all, tdnam were claiming had 15 hits a month.

Personally, with the prices these high traffic names go for, for usually some crappy name, the buyers must be crazy. But then I'm not predisposed to spend a lot for the domains I buy.

The real gems on tdnam, imho, are those domains with zero traffic, but unfortunately you can't search only for them, and there's a lot to plow thru.

 

[cache]

I doubt people are really buying because of traffic. At least I don't

 

[DotWeekly]

I doubt people are really buying because of traffic. At least I don't

Did you ever look at some of these domains?

gilleyslv.com
nrg-r-us.com
skarrone.com
espiritudefe.com
uaebalqees.com
noticiassinfronteras.com
3shoq.com
lilj4ever.com
inetmarketingguide.ws

All pure traffic buys IMO. All show traffic and most have $xx-$xxx bids with plenty of time left in the auction.

 

[xman]

I've been noticing that myself. Buyers in TDNam tend to be competing with the domains with lots of traffic without knowing exactly where the traffic is coming from. I won't even reg. some of those domains that's being bought in TDNam evev if it's available. The only domains I've been buying from TDNam are LLLL.com

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Besides that, all traffic is not good traffic. I bought one .ws name not because of the traffic,but because it was a good keyword. Even after winning and parking, I still had lots of traffic but NO clicks. Just to see why, I did some investigation. It appeared after looking that the name might have been either part of a spam, scam, virus, or phishing scheme. Most hits traced back to non-existant web pages or pages in Russian or Chinese. It's still a good keyword, so once the bad traffic wears off I still got what I paid for on the $5 fire sale deal.

Sometimes the domains were also use for real small time sites that either dies shortly after you get the name or are ones that you could never get a person to click on since they knew the site and were only looking for it specifically.

Some traffic is also from drop monitoring bots and people looking to see the status to pick it up. That too drops after it leaves expire status.

If a tdnam site has good traffic that's just a bonus, but I certainly wouldn't bid based on that traffic.

 

[VURG]

The stats would be a multiple of a few days data. The sales data should represent that there is some level of accepted credibility in the info.

If the minimum bid is over $10, that is probably a better indication of whether a domain is good or not. I have bought a few domains with less than 100 hits. One of them has been generating between 0.70 and 4.20 EURO per month but this is the exception, not the norm.

Yofie,

If you provide traffic stats with your domains, some people will trust you and others won't. You will probably have to experiment with this for yourself as to whether it increases your profitability as there aren't enough people doing auctions to see if this is the norm.

It may detract attention from some domains and increase attention to others. Who knows?

If the info is as true as possible and you provide a disclaimer, I don't think it will upset anyone.

 

[estibot.com]

I agree with Yofie that many of the names look utterly crap and the traffic count seems improbable.

AdoptableDomains makes a good point about the quality of traffic. That's what matters - quality, not just quantity. I have one domain with about 500 hits per month, but absolutely zero clicks. Another domain gets 5 hits a day, 60% CTR and makes about $5 per day parked.

The TDNAM traffic count does give some idea usually - I've bought a few with >100 per month according to TDNAM and so far it looks like they are delivering.

However, I'm sure just being listed on TDNAM will increase the traffic temporarily and generate those extra 20 hits, and I think if the domain gets bid on a lot, this will just create more traffic as more eyes notice the domain. Most of the traffic will cease after the sale.

I like to be on the safe side and divide the TDNAM traffic report by 10. But I would never buy a domain for traffic alone without HARD data to back up the numbers.

Cheers
Josh

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Firesale traffic is fairly safe, in my experience.
It can be higher or lower, but for $5 + reg fee ($12-14 total), it's hard to go too wrong... it's not like buying a traffic site for $250-$500 only to find the traffic fall off dramatically.
You won't see many (if any?) domains at the firesale with more than 95/96 uniques/month expected.
-Allan

 

[TLDnetworks]

I purchased one name that was advertised as 150 range, yet after purchase I've got almost Zero. I'm pretty skeptical about these figures now...

 

[billinchina]

What is this? The reverse psychology thread to attempt to scare away bidding competition on TDNAM? If so, then let me throw in my scare tactics too... Boo, bad things might happen, scarry, scarry, boo, buyer beware, run for the hills...

Serious now, TDNAM traffic figs are wonderful and I wish SnapNames released that data. Domainers know how to sniff around and determine where the traffic comes from. The traffic figs just throw a red flag that says "investigate this name".

 

[NoRest]

Now you tell me

I learned the hard way that the TDNAM traffic stats are BS. I bought a couple of $XX domains with fantastic traffic (>1000 pm), none of which actually existed. Fool me once...

There are however some semi-decent $5 domains occasionally - one I picked up was www.topcooking.com

NoRest

 

[estibot.com]

A bit off-topic, but how is it possible that a domain that's expiring in 2009 (according to domaintools whois), is regged through Network Solutions.com and has a Network Solutions parking page is being auctioned in the _expired_ name auction?? Is it a scam? It's a nice name, and no bids.

I've been scammed once, but it wasn't an expired name auction. I "won" a very good domain for $200. If it sounds too good to be true, then......

yeah, fool me once....

Josh

 

[SharonTucci]

You have to do your research rather than going at it blindly. Here are some tips:

1. Check Alexa and extend the Alexa chart for % reach. Even for high traffic names, if you see that number going down steeply, unless it is a good name on its own or you can get it for a steal (unlikely), then forgget it. While you are there, if the info is given, look at the countries representing traffic. Some countries are really hard to monetize traffic.

2. Check Compete & Quantcast. They both measure US traffic. They are not infallible (well neither is Alexa) but a domain showing more than a few k uniques at Godaddy should get on their radar at least in *most cases*.

3. Check archive.org to see what/if any web site was there.... nature of the site, target audience, etc.

4. Also go to Google and see if there were any issues with the domain. There are certain words I use when researching for negative issues. I found a sweet domain a couple weeks back at TDnam that had good links, type in traffic as well, was highly brandable, aged.... everything right... I probably would have gone higher than what it finished at BUT the previous site apparently ripped a lot of people off.

5. Most importantly, everyone is traffic hungry these days. Top dollar is being paid (and overpaid) for traffic domains. Today at snap, some travel site typos with low overture (ie 30-100) went for solid 4 figures... but you have to think of what you are going to DO with that traffic even if it is legitimate. How are you going to monetize it? Or if you are interested in reselling it, who is a potential buyer?

Personally I use the traffic stats as a signal to investigate further but I don't rely on them any further than that.

 

[Makis.TV]

i won several domains at tdnam
Spend about $5500 and got back just from ppc about $2000 and another $1500 on resales i did in one year. I m looking for high traffic domains that include good keywords.

The bad thing is that the profit i made was from 4-5 domains in total of 25 i bought.

I think its a fair market if you are doing your research before buying, risk is involved but thats domain life.

 

[Name Trader]

Perhaps I misunderstand your maths. $5500 - $3500 = $2000 loss. Or 20 domains left for $2000 = $100 each?

 

[cache]

If someone want the LLLL names disappear faster, then he can run a bot
to hit all the LLLL at tdnam to speed up..., right?

 

[Makis.TV]

stub, for me its a good result for now,(after 1 yr)
i have several domains for sale with strong keywords that are more appealing because of the traffic they have.
The $1500 i made comes from reselling 60% of the domains i used to have, i still have another 40% to sell and cover the loss and make some more, in the meantime i developed 2 of them and still getting ppc from the others.

tdnam is good because u get to buy strong domains with traffic, the thing is that you must be able to do something with that traffic, you cant sit on ppc for ever.



For example i had a domain that made