Where Do Some Sellers Get Their Valuations From?

[domaintrades]

We all know a domain is only worth what someone's willing to pay for it, but where do some people come up with asking prices in auctions?

I just saw one domain with a minimum price of $100, and a reserve of $500. The BIN price is an unbelievable $7,500!

I checked Estibot, and it appraised this domain at $0!

I'd never buy a domain without first getting at least a rough valuation, and I can't see anyone paying that sort of money for this one. So why would any seller ask ridiculous prices, unless of course he really believes that the domain is an investment that's likely to rise in value (I seriously doubt this one will).

 

[Raymond C]

Why not! I ask for $xxx,xxx
https://nameii1.wixsite.com/yepinternet/ossz-com

 

[Joshua Harding]

People will often pipe dream their valuation in their BIN pricing - just because they can!

 

[Silentptnr]

I try not to judge the prices domain investors place on their domains. Without proper research, it is impossible to know what potential end users there are, which can play a major role in the value and pricing of a domain.

I don't think that placing astronomical prices on domains for no real reason is a good strategy. I think recognizing a domain that potential end users are likely to come looking for is very important.

Its surprising the large amounts of money spent on domains that most people might initially think were not worth much. Most of the time, after doing research, it's clear the domain actually was important to the business or company.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Interesting discussion, and thank you to everyone who has posted. I learned a number of things in reading through the posts (as a relatively new active domain investor).

I would just add three things.
(1) The appraisal robots are only as good as the algorithm, and often (always?) it is not apparent exactly what is used in the robot (probably for good reason, since if known people would figure out how to make the valuations high without true value through clever selections). I suspect that some appraisal robots may reflect biases of a particular part of the community.
(2) Some domain names will have value but only in a certain geographical community. I sense this is hard to evaluate, and not done well if at all but most appraisal robots (it seems from limited cases I have tried).
(3) Domain names in certain areas will have value not yet reflected in the algorithms. e.g. if a startling new scientific discovery is made or technological advance that was unexpected, there would be names not yet valued by the robots.

All that being said, since artificial intelligence is developing so rapidly, I suspect that very soon we will have sophisticated appraisal robots that learn quickly and broadly and will reflect up to date, regionally sensitive, balanced worth. This is something that Google could do well, or do they already have an appraisal tool for domain names?

 

[Mr. Deleted]

Interesting discussion, and thank you to everyone who has posted. I learned a number of things in reading through the posts (as a relatively new active domain investor).

I would just add three things.
(1) The appraisal robots are only as good as the algorithm, and often (always?) it is not apparent exactly what is used in the robot (probably for good reason, since if known people would figure out how to make the valuations high without true value through clever selections). I suspect that some appraisal robots may reflect biases of a particular part of the community.
(2) Some domain names will have value but only in a certain geographical community. I sense this is hard to evaluate, and not done well if at all but most appraisal robots (it seems from limited cases I have tried).
(3) Domain names in certain areas will have value not yet reflected in the algorithms. e.g. if a startling new scientific discovery is made or technological advance that was unexpected, there would be names not yet valued by the robots.

All that being said, since artificial intelligence is developing so rapidly, I suspect that very soon we will have sophisticated appraisal robots that learn quickly and broadly and will reflect up to date, regionally sensitive, balanced worth. This is something that Google could do well, or do they already have an appraisal tool for domain names?

Hi Joseph Slabaugh,

You were watching the listing for freesiteworth.com on Flippa.

This listing was sold to another user for a final sale price of $2,000.

Case in point, if you can buy Love.com for only 12-14,000 dollars, you have done a miracle.

http://freesiteworth.com/website-worth/love.com.html

There are sites that just do not understand basic domain values at all.

 

[biggie]

It's only worth what someone will pay for it not what the owner think it's worth. I can ask anything but ultimately buyers will determine it's worth. Your way of thinking is why most domainers will never sell more than 1% of their portfolio. It's the buyers not sellers who are in control.

you can ask anything you want for your name, that's for sure

but, if the name doesn't speak for itself, then whatever price you put won't matter.

quality of the domain, demand, usage, etc, gives the owner the leverage to say no to an offer and wait for a better one, or negotiate higher than what was offered.

also, if a domainer has 100 domains acquired @ $9.00 each = $900, and they only sell 1 per year @ $2,500
which means.... "selling only 1% of their portfolio" was profitable.

imo....

 

[domaintrades]

I haven't paid for my membership there for a few years, so i have a question, what would estibot value "estibot.com" at?

I like these 2 sites to get a general idea of value, but I dont take them as gospel: www.freevaluator.com and www.domainindex.com

I just ran one of my domains through Estibot - $650

Freevaluator - $2163.63

and the third on your list, Domainindex - $0

All good fun I suppose.