What did you learn, from your first attempt at selling a domain?

[RockBros]

And if you could do it, all over again, what would you do differently?

 

[NickB]

Hey there...
So, I take it, this was a market place auction listing sale NOT a landing page sale...?

If auction, how would you feel about sharing your auction strategy ie asking price, reserve or not, length of auction, etc?

And since idiot didn’t release funds, in the first place, then the name never changed hands, correct?

I don't have my own landing pages (3rd item on my list is to develop domain website) so yep they where through a marketplace and Undeveloped Lander.

On Godaddy I have listed prices, on Undeveloped and Sedo mainly make an offer with some BIN -would be interesting to see how more experienced people price on different sites, or do they use same pricing policy across the board or mix it up?

Also in the process of listing on Dynadot - registered today and will get it done by end of weekend, will make all "make an offer"

Correct, the name never changed hands

 

[UmerK]

The first attempt I made yielded results, the sale was at decent price and within 4 days of hand reg so what I learnt that day was that domains indeed work and the business is real if one knows what they are doing.

Something I learnt later on was asking questions, has worked great for me. If someone says not interested or no straight away, a well thought out reply asking why not? serves well. Has helped me learn how end users think and what not.

 

[gilescoley]

For me, this is THE most important thing in domaining, learn how to do this well and your sales will increase

Contact the right person at the company, the decision maker. It doesn't matter how good your name is or how prefect it is for the company, if you send it to someone who doesn't see the immediate value or doesn't bother forwarding the email to the correct person, it will end up the trash folder and the time and effort you have put in is wasted.

Check the company exec team on their website, Google, LinkedIn, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance etc and find someone who can make the call on whether to buy the name (ie Business Development Manager, Head of Marketing, General Counsel, CEO etc)

Using the WHOIS email often just gets someone who will delete the email and cant make the decision

I spent a lot of time in the beginning sending emails to the WHOIS email, receptionish, sales guy etc or used email from their website like [email protected], [email protected] and more often than not I never received a reply at all.

Hope that helps

 

[RockBros]

I don't have my own landing pages (3rd item on my list is to develop domain website) so yep they where through a marketplace and Undeveloped Lander.

On Godaddy I have listed prices, on Undeveloped and Sedo mainly make an offer with some BIN -would be interesting to see how more experienced people price on different sites, or do they use same pricing policy across the board or mix it up?

Also in the process of listing on Dynadot - registered today and will get it done by end of weekend, will make all "make an offer"

Correct, the name never changed hands

Thanks!
I don't have my own landers either, but on to do list, also. As for Dynadot, I just transferred some .coms into them with no hosting, for which they offer a "Make Offer" "For Sale Landing Page", which appears to be in Beta...Lots O'kinks.

So, marketplaces (GoDaddy, Sedo & Dynadot) and 1 lander with Undeveloped, but either listed price, make an offer and some BIN, but not necessarily auctions, correct? I can't imagine many potential end users being found via marketplaces. That said, do market places frown upon listing with other/multiple marketplaces, at the same time? What types of potential buyers are typically found, on marketplaces...Other domainers and/or investors?

 

[soopasimon]

I got a domain years ago that I thought was a real good result.......

Then I learnt about trademarks, and that domaining is not all about getting recognisable brands.
The name? ipod.tv

I managed to offload it for a couple of hundred bucks but it was not the one to make me rich lol!

Domaining takes research and more knowledge than it looks. That is what I learned. Then I just continued with the day job, which is web programming.

What do I think now? Well I am no domainer so I'll just take a punt:

I think a domainer is not only about mind numbing stats, domain knowledge and in places a slice of luck.

It's mainly about creating dreams. Then forging that dream and attaching it to a name. The final skill is selling that dream onto others and closing it out. I think it's the ability to create and sell dreams that probably sets successful sellers apart.

But I do stand to be corrected!

 

[RockBros]

The first attempt I made yielded results, the sale was at decent price and within 4 days of hand reg so what I learnt that day was that domains indeed work and the business is real if one knows what they are doing.

Something I learnt later on was asking questions, has worked great for me. If someone says not interested or no straight away, a well thought out reply asking why not? serves well. Has helped me learn how end users think and what not.

Thanks!
Nice job, for any attempt, let alone first.
Some questions, since you brought it up... How would you feel, about elaborating, on work involved, for one who knows what they are doing, as well as details of first attempt hand reg, resulting in a sale, at decent price within 4 days i.e. was it a .com? How did you find buyer? How and when did domain and funds change hands?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Along with agreeing with the excellent points made by others about starting slowly, emphasizing quality, learning the ins and outs of the various marketplaces, and being prepared to do the work and research, I would add the following:
(a) Really learn to use NameBio fully - like names that start with or end with, or just on certain venues, or number of letter combinations, or categories, etc. Learn every last setting and use them!
(b) Always focus on who might want a name and how they would use it, and don't let your own views that a name is cool sway you. Actually make lists. A good domain investment is one that you can sell for more than you bought it for, period.
(c) Establish a personal brand as a domain investor. Someone should in one sentence be able to describe what makes your work in domaining a bit different from others. Be honest, open, polite and professional. Always.
(d) While looking at what has sold (see a!) also be creative and forward looking.
(e) Figure out how much domain investing risk you can handle and take that much, but not more!
(f) Be alert to domainer addiction. Don't spend all of your time looking for gems or discussing domain names on NPs. Keep balance in your life. Set limits on how many you will acquire or spend.
(g) Especially in early sales, don't be greedy. If you have a good ROI and an offer that is what you had hoped to get, don't try to squeeze out more and maybe lose the deal.
(h) Keep written records and grow. I don't just mean for the tax man, but that is important, but also so you can look back at what your thinking was in 6 months or 2 years. Keep a domain idea and decision diary.
(i) Be organized. Keep track of expiration dates, prices, where stuff is listed, etc. Don''t be the one that sells a domain and then leaves it up on another market. I suggest using spreadsheets for tracking things if not using a service like Efty.
(j) Use evidence and data and don't fall into (too many of) the traps in deceptive logic. Make a reasonable projection of acquisition, holding and selling costs, and likelihood of sale and price, to decide quantitatively if a domain name makes sense.
(k) Costs matter. Use tools like TLD-list (there are others) to find the best registration, transfer and renew cost. Also be alert to other costs like hosting to find the best balance of service and costs.
(k) Be positive and help others.

Have a nice day, everyone!

 

[RockBros]

Along with agreeing with the excellent points made by others about starting slowly, emphasizing quality, learning the ins and outs of the various marketplaces, and being prepared to do the work and research, I would add the following:
(a) Really learn to use NameBio fully - like names that start with or end with, or just on certain venues, or number of letter combinations, or categories, etc. Learn every last setting and use them!
(b) Always focus on who might want a name and how they would use it, and don't let your own views that a name is cool sway you. Actually make lists. A good domain investment is one that you can sell for more than you bought it for, period.
(c) Establish a personal brand as a domain investor. Someone should in one sentence be able to describe what makes your work in domaining a bit different from others. Be honest, open, polite and professional. Always.
(d) While looking at what has sold (see a!) also be creative and forward looking.
(e) Figure out how much domain investing risk you can handle and take that much, but not more!
(f) Be alert to domainer addiction. Don't spend all of your time looking for gems or discussing domain names on NPs. Keep balance in your life. Set limits on how many you will acquire or spend.
(g) Especially in early sales, don't be greedy. If you have a good ROI and an offer that is what you had hoped to get, don't try to squeeze out more and maybe lose the deal.
(h) Keep written records and grow. I don't just mean for the tax man, but that is important, but also so you can look back at what your thinking was in 6 months or 2 years. Keep a domain idea and decision diary.
(i) Be organized. Keep track of expiration dates, prices, where stuff is listed, etc. Don''t be the one that sells a domain and then leaves it up on another market. I suggest using spreadsheets for tracking things if not using a service like Efty.
(j) Use evidence and data and don't fall into (too many of) the traps in deceptive logic. Make a reasonable projection of acquisition, holding and selling costs, and likelihood of sale and price, to decide quantitatively if a domain name makes sense.
(k) Costs matter. Use tools like TLD-list (there are others) to find the best registration, transfer and renew cost. Also be alert to other costs like hosting to find the best balance of service and costs.
(k) Be positive and help others.

Have a nice day, everyone!

Good stuff...
Thanks for sharing!