debate Trying Something Drastic!

[gericsb]

I've decided to shake things up a bit in an effort to at least generate some cash flow for 2022 (zero sales so far).

1 - I reduced DRASTICALLY the Buy It Now Prices on most of my domains (portfolio is about 136 names now) and I did this for about 120 of them. 16 are long term holds if I don't get my price, but the rest I slashed massively...the majority of my names are now priced between 399 and 1488, roughly.

2 - I synced up my BIN prices so that they match across Afternic, Sedo, and DAN. Yes, I am using BINs on all three marketplaces since I think the odds of selling the same name to different buyers is very low (small portfolio)

3 - I may try listing a couple brandable names on Squadhelp if this doesn't generate any sales.

4 -IF I get a sale or two (big IF), I will probably raise a few of the lowest priced names, but just a little. My goal is to generate some type of cashflow for the year to help offset my renewal fees.

Have any of you radically changed your pricing with the hopes of shaki g things up and generating some sales?

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Have you also looked seriously at the selling options with the Namepros marketplace?

Apparently you can even list your expiring or even expired domains there. There are the NamePros rules that are important to read before doing this. And, since BIN offers are legally binding, the sale would presumably need to be exclusive to Namepros.

One wonders whether this tactic might be worth a trial. Delist a small group of desirableBIN domains for a week or two at the other outside marketplaces, and list them at Namepros. After all, if you post prices that are 10-20% less or more, could that be a good start for investors who may have been interested in your domains?

 

[gericsb]

Have you also looked seriously at the selling options with the Namepros marketplace?

Apparently you can even list your expiring or even expired domains there. There are the NamePros rules that are important to read before doing this. And, since BIN offers are legally binding, the sale would presumably need to be exclusive to Namepros.

One wonders whether this tactic might be worth a trial. Delist a small group of desirableBIN domains for a week or two at the other outside marketplaces, and list them at Namepros. After all, if you post prices that are 10-20% less or more, could that be a good start for investors who may have been interested in your domains?

This is something I had been considering! I very well may do this soon....

Thank you.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

This is something I had been considering! I very well may do this soon....

Thank you.

That option of listing the expired names is a very interesting one. Considering that the outside marketplaces appear to require that you pay the renewal or redemption fees prior to sale, Namepros appears to offer a different alternative.

If the price is low enough, an invester/buyer may be fine with paying the renewal fees. That may be still a better deal for them --compared to backordering and battling out with bidding on expired domain auctions. The rules stipulate that the seller pays redemption fees, though, minus what would be the renewal fee that the buyer pays. So having an expired domain listed in the redemption period may be tricky and has to be priced carefully.

Thanks for your posting. You've been an inspiration to explore different options more agressively.

 

[gericsb]

That option of listing the expired names is a very interesting one. Considering that the outside marketplaces appear to require that you pay the renewal or redemption fees prior to sale, Namepros appears to offer a different alternative.

If the price is low enough, an invester/buyer may be fine with paying the renewal fees. That may be still a better deal for them --compared to backordering and battling out with bidding on expired domain auctions. The rules stipulate that the seller pays redemption fees, though, minus what would be the renewal fee that the buyer pays. So having an expired domain listed in the redemption period may be tricky and has to be priced carefully.

Thanks for your posting. You've been an inspiration to explore different options more agressively.

Yes, that is an intriguing aspect of the NP Marketplace that I hadn't fully realized. I am going to give it a shot.

Thanks for the kind words, too.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Yes, that is an intriguing aspect of the NP Marketplace that I hadn't fully realized. I am going to give it a shot.

Thanks for the kind words, too.

Perhaps some other Namepros members have had successful experiences with listing the even the expired domains there, and can share more insights.

There was the issue about Paypal that came up recently. The business account provides more protections for the sales, so it does make sense to use that--even if fees are higher. So the sales transaction options might be good to explore further.

If you think about it, when the various aftermarket platforms have 20+ million listings, what really are the chances of your domain being seen. Namepros Marketplace at least doesn't have millions of concurrent listings....yet. So, you might get a little bit more visibility here?!

 

[gericsb]

Hey All!

Have been away fir a while, but like to update this thread periodically - usually after a sale!

I was able to post my first sale of 2023 over in the Completed Sales thread.

First 4-fig sale in a loooooonnng time (yes, low low 4-figures, but I'll take it)!

Here are a few things I've been doing and some observations:

Was up to 198 domains and trimmed 8 of what I considered my weakest. My recent sale came without any price adjustments or anything.

Buyer paid BIN on Afternic.

Now that I have one sale for the year, which will help a lot with renewals, I am going to bump some of my names up a bit so that a 2nd sale will ensure profitability.

BUT also, there has not been much good inventory on Expired Domains, GD closeouts etc.

This leads me to believe that good domains are becoming more scarce and if we own any, price them up now!

Finally, areas to maybe focus on are good brandables, AI, or emerging tech.

Good luck, All!

 

[gericsb]

Gradually trimming a few more domains - mainly 3 or 4 word domains that don't meet my 'minimum price criteria' - which is currently $799.

Goal is to get to around 170-175 domains-ones that I think will have a higher probabilty of selling.

Anyway, I'm still learning and refining my strategy.

Thanks!

 

[snake_case]

Hey All!

Have been away fir a while, but like to update this thread periodically - usually after a sale!

I was able to post my first sale of 2023 over in the Completed Sales thread.

First 4-fig sale in a loooooonnng time (yes, low low 4-figures, but I'll take it)!

Here are a few things I've been doing and some observations:

Was up to 198 domains and trimmed 8 of what I considered my weakest. My recent sale came without any price adjustments or anything.

Buyer paid BIN on Afternic.

Now that I have one sale for the year, which will help a lot with renewals, I am going to bump some of my names up a bit so that a 2nd sale will ensure profitability.

BUT also, there has not been much good inventory on Expired Domains, GD closeouts etc.

This leads me to believe that good domains are becoming more scarce and if we own any, price them up now!

Finally, areas to maybe focus on are good brandables, AI, or emerging tech.

Good luck, All!

Congrats for the nice sale, it's a bear market and it's hard to impossible to have a slae for us with small portfolio, happy for you (:

 

[gericsb]

Congrats for the nice sale, it's a bear market and it's hard to impossible to have a slae for us with small portfolio, happy for you (:

Thanks, SnakeCase....

Last year 2022 was not good, but in this business there is a lot of time where nothing happens....then maybe we get lucky once in awhile!

 

[gericsb]

Seriously can't believe I've had a second sale within ten days of my last sale. It's posted in the Completed Sales thread...

This business is 'odd' - Lol.

But it's made me reconsider my pricing strategy so I thought I'd share it here:

Like most people, I buy, hang reg, get a name somehow and then think...hmmm, it's okay but not great so I may price it at xxx and hope for a sale.

I have changed to a pricing model that focuses on what I want to achieve versus what I think the domains are worth....

 

[gericsb]

...so here's a example with mostly round numbers.

Say you own 200 domains that will cost $10 each to renew so your expenses if you don't buy any new names are $2k.

At an average sell through rate of 1% you can 'expect' 2 sales this year.

Then think about what you want to achieve:

Case 1: I just want to break even, oh dear God please let me break even - your MINIMUM DOMAIN PRICE should be $1k so that 2 sales make you enough to cover expenses (I realize I am over simplifying, leaving out commissions but you get the idea)

Case 2: I want to cover expenses and have $1k to invest in more names - your MINIMUM DOMAIN PRICE should be $1.5k so 2 sales (assuming 1% sell through rate on 200 domains) gets you $3k. $2k for expenses and $1k to buy more names.

Case 3: I want to cover expenses, have $1k to buy more domains, have $1k to take my best friend's wife on a vacation. Your MINIMUM DOMAIN PRICE should be $2k (2 sales gets you $4k, $2k for expenses, $1k to buy more names, $1k for vacation.

Case 4: I want to be @abdulbasit - Buy the Dot-CO registry and price all your names at a minimum of $15,888

Anyway, maybe this is obvious to you more experienced domainers, but it has me thinking about pricing my domains in a whole new way.

 

[phaethon]

I had no sales since November and had two April sales on two days in a row..

 

[phaethon]

 

[phaethon]

Seriously can't believe I've had a second sale within ten days of my last sale. It's posted in the Completed Sales thread...

This business is 'odd' - Lol.

I had no sales since November and had two 3K April sales on two days in a row.

 

[gericsb]

I had no sales since November and had two 3K April sales on two days in a row.

It's so strange how so much time can go by with nothing then BAM

 

[phaethon]

It's so strange how so much time can go by with nothing then BAM

I'm looking forward to my first Sedo sale though. It will probably take 5 years or so lol

 

[gericsb]

I'm looking forward to my first Sedo sale though. It will probably take 5 years or so lol

I have all but given up on Sedo. The one area I may still use them is they have occasional free auctions, like Quarterly Keyword Domain Auction. The catch is you have to start your domains at $99 Reserve, so good for liquidations only.

And if you have a very high value domain you can pay for their featured auction to get exposure.

I used to list all my domains at Afternic, Sedo, Dan. Now I just use Afternic and DAN and with the DAN Afternic integration, may just only list at Afternic going forward.

 

[Andreas B.]

Do you use installments?!

That might be an idea...

 

[phaethon]

Do you use installments?!

That might be an idea...

I avoid installments, because with 1-2% STR the average domain sale business model will collapse. Installments could work for domainers with huge portfolios.

 

[snake_case]

Seriously can't believe I've had a second sale within ten days of my last sale. It's posted in the Completed Sales thread...

This business is 'odd' - Lol.

But it's made me reconsider my pricing strategy so I thought I'd share it here:

Like most people, I buy, hang reg, get a name somehow and then think...hmmm, it's okay but not great so I may price it at xxx and hope for a sale.

I have changed to a pricing model that focuses on what I want to achieve versus what I think the domains are worth....

Saw your slae in the reported sale thread, can't believe it happened, Congrats again