To Park or Not To Park

[Jimmy Changa]

I've been thinking lately about parking domains. Not about so much about parking them as about NOT parking them. All because of the reaction a potential buyer may have when they land on a "parked" page. Let me explain...

Ok, put on your psychology thinking cap. Pretend you're back in class doing a little roll-playing. Pretend your a business owner or enteprenuer excited about a new venture. You have a great idea for a website and you go online to look for the domain. You find it "for sale" on some site you've never heard of called "sedo" (or something). By some annonymous person who wants you to "make an offer"...

I don't know about you, but I would be turned off by this. Possibly go looking for some other option. How many times might this senario happen?

I'm sure there are lots of opinions on the nuances of this subject and I would love to hear whet you veterans have to say on this.

 

[mws]

:talk:

always park

if you don't have a current website to point them to.

or if you plan to develop...... still park until development begins

never just let the domain sit

Not to echo again ,but it is just that simple.

 

[primacomputer]

Personally seeing a name I'm interested in parked at a PPC service is a put off. The first thing that runs through my mind is “Damn. Another cybersquatter, milking his click lizard, who's going to ask $50k for a mediocre name”. I imagine a lot of people have the same response. Many people have had a bad experience with speculators or know someone who has. They often assume that anyone who has bought a name with not intention of developing it is willing to sit on it forever or until they get a six digit offer—whichever comes first.

In reality this is not (no longer) the norm. Most speculators will be happy to part with a name for a reasonable price. You'd have to try hard to pick a business where you couldn't find a good relevant name for $500 or less. Still, it would be reasonable to assume that some people don't realise this and don't bother to make an offer. This is not necessarily bad because anyone who's serious will make an offer regardless.

I find the offers I do get through parked pages are pretty crappy. One of the reasons I don't “get the word out” on a lot of my names is because I don't need any more $50 offers from indivual speculators. I get at least 10 offers a day as it is. If your looking to actively trade names in the $xxx range then parking at Sedo and posting in forums is the way to go. If you are looking to sell to corporate end users then you can rest assured that they will email the administrative contact, or even call you to make an offer or a name they want.

 

[Jimmy Changa]

First, let me say, I appreciate your entire response as it was the kind of insight I was after.

...milking his click lizard...

:lol:

I find the offers I do get through parked pages are pretty crappy. One of the reasons I don't “get the word out” on a lot of my names is because I don't need any more $50 offers from individual speculators. I get at least 10 offers a day as it is. If your looking to actively trade names in the $xxx range then parking at Sedo and posting in forums is the way to go. If you are looking to sell to corporate end users then you can rest assured that they will email the administrative contact, or even call you to make an offer for a name they want.

Helpful assessment. I can assume with getting 10 offers/day you have quite a portfolio. I am still waiting for one offer. I had the one big sale that brought me into the domaining arena then nothing, so I am forced to learn parking/dev (been a webmaster for years but not for this reason) for the sake of income to make up for it. Anyway,so I guess it's the type of name that determines the intended audience and whether or not parking is appropriate. So what makes a name corporate? Wow, that's a bit of a subjective question...lol.

Anyway, the psychology of the sales process is the same anywhere, you just have to know where to apply the rules and how to learn your players. This is hard to do when you can't see them.