Where do you get most of your sales?

[morf13]

Just curious where most people get sales for their domains?

At any given time, I may have 900 or more domains regged, and 98% I have parked with Voodoo.
98% of them are listed for sale on Godaddy, Sedo,and Flippa,with only about 10% listed at Afternic.

To date, I have had zero offers & zero sales via Flippa, 2 offers & zero sales via Sedo, Zero offers & zero salesvia Afternic, and a fair amount of offers and a few sales via Godaddy.

The rest of my offers,and sales have been via Voodoo parking.

I was curious what works best for everybody else, and what is most successful

 

[Bannen]

To answer your original question 'where do you get most of your sales':
By far the most sales in my domaining history have been through emailing potential buyers. I'll add the caveat that we are of course talking about sales of substance; if it's just 'technically the most domain sales', I could say here on the forum. But my sales here have been mostly to 'dump' domains for a quick reseller price just because I don't want them in my folio anymore. But as far as the most sales of larger substance, it is through cold-emailing buyers.

The second largest number of my sales has been through people contacting me via my landing pages.

The third largest has been through people offering via Sedo. Then Afternic brings up the butt-end with my lowest number of sales.

Notes:
As others here have mentioned, whichever route you go, the most important thing is to have quality domains. Whether you email buyers or have a landing page or just list it for sale at a marketplace, none of that will get you a sale if you have the worst quality names that really don't help anyone with their business or online purpose. If they're low quality names but still have use, then you'll have very few inquiries (or none), you'll have to ask low prices, and you'll get very few sales. The higher the quality (the word 'quality' of course can spark an endless debate, but skip that right now), then the more inquiries you'll get, the more potential-buyers will respond to your emails, the higher price you can ask, and the more sales you'll get. - Treat those previous statements as a loose generalization, not a rule or guarantee

As for landing pages, I've tried a few different platforms that others above have mentioned, with various results. In the end I finally opted out of all of them and I make my own. I keep them simple, usually just a few words about the domain and what it can be used for - potential buyers already know their use, but it helps to throw a few more suggestions to strengthen their ideas - all the way up to a more detailed lander with more info. For an example of each: you can have a quick boo at Regiving (dot com), where I have just a few words. Then you can have a look at OkanaganLake (dot com), which I've put a more substantial lander on, to spell things out for any potential buyers in this area (Okanagan Lake is the most popular tourist-destination lake in British Columbia). But to build your own landers you need to figure it out yourself or hire someone to build them for you. I build my own, and use Photoshop to make quick logos and headers etc. A quick lander I can build complete in about ten minutes or less. I might work an hour or two for a more involved landing page. If you have hundreds of domains you probably won't want to go this route from scratch. Whenever I get a new domain or a few, I just do the landers right away, so the chore gets done in small bite-sized pieces.

As for emailing potential buyers, remember: only do it if you have genuine quality domains that you know - in your most sober and realistic and decent frame of mind - would help their online appearance and success. You know, don't email a stucco company for your 'BestStucco-ShopForQuality-Deals365 (dot info)' domain name because you have decided those are such fantastic keywords (plus it's got the '365' on there!!!) that they can really help increase the business of any stucco company!!!!! Please remember that I said 'in your most sober, realistic, decent frame of mind'. If you're emailing to sell Stucco (dot com), or StuccoSupplier (dot com), then yes technically you're still spamming, but you're spamming but with a quality domain that your potential buyer might actually appreciate and thank you for contacting them for. If you're emailing to sell the dot info I mentioned above, with the dashes and the 365... well, you haven't got a clue and you're the dictionary definition of spammer and no buyer ever wants to receive that email from you.

I would guess that the largest percentage of domain sellers don't even email potential buyers for their domains. They think 'if someone really wants this domain, they'll contact me'. But that is very very rarely the case. This is the usual case: most potential buyers of your domain actually never think of your domain. They don't think of domains, period, they don't think about yours, they don't know yours is available to buy, they don't know how to go about buying it or what they should pay. There, that sentence describes the overwhelming majority of the potential buyers for your domains. Keep in mind what the buyer of Chocolate (dot com) said: after he bought the domain (for some large undisclosed number), it made the news... and immediately, two large chocolate manufacturers contacted him and offered huge sums to buy the domain from him. - See, even the largest companies get settled into their usual operating mode, with their usual domain and website that they don't even think about, and then one day you come along with your (hopefully premium, helpful) domain, and remind them what's out there.

Basically, you nudge it into their consciousness. I email for my own domains, and I email as a broker for premiums owned by others. I have never, ever contacted any buyer who said "Oh, I've been thinking about that domain, looking for one like that." Emailing them is what nudges them to consciously think about your domain, whether it is premium or just 'good'. You know, if you own SoundCompany (dot com) (which I do), am I just gonna let it sit around for sale while all those dozens of businesses who have 'sound company' right in their domain name just carry on bizness without ever thinking about my domain... or am I gonna email them and nudge it into their thoughts? I emailed, got offers, but haven't got the offer that will make me sell it yet. Still, if I hadn't emailed... no one's contacted me out of the blue for that domain. Sometimes you gotta take it to the buyers, to increase the number of people who actually give your domain a thought.

There are a lot of different methods and tactics. Above is my own experience and .02 cents

 

[Bram C.]

Thanks for the replies. I hear a lot of people talk about 'landing pages'. Can you show an example of what a typical landing page should look like?

I made/use my own: for example my domain CosmicCalendar.com .
It's responsive as well so it looks good not only on desktops and laptops but also on mobile devices such as iphones and ipads.

 

[Kate]

Sedo.
But it's because I tend to park the domains there.

The platform isn't that important. What is important is the quality of the domain. If an end user wants your domain, they will find you. They will usually visit the name to see if it's in use. Then if the name is for sale they will either contact you from whois, or use the platform where the name is parked.

There are millions of domains listed on the marketplaces, so the end users have to be looking for your domains or at least something very similar. Otherwise what are the odds you'll ever make a sale... if you don't own domains that people are looking to buy ?

 

[SpareDomains]

Few offers through GoDaddy, Sedo, DomainNameSales etc... cause my domains are in their network but majority of leads/sales happen direct as I use my own landing pages so more offers generally come to where the domain name is pointed.

Domainers for years sent their domains to Sedo etc... and basically gave away their end user leads or basically built Sedo etc... for a fraction of parking revenue. So Sedo got a nice chunk of your parking income and your end user leads. Now that parking revenue isn't what it use to be more domainers are doing their own pages and finding out it's smarter to build your own database of end user leads instead of giving them away for pennies as then you're building your own future instead of creating one for another company.

So I give no credit to most markets as most end users they have were brought in or powered by domainers domains that created them. Only market I've seen spend on major TV advertising to bring in new end users is GoDaddy.

 

[pokainc]

what I did was very arbitrary.
from the letter a to i inclusively I put with efty, j to z to I put with DNS.

• Overall I would think it's more or less the same quality.
• Efty I had put and then removed, then put again when the new templates came about. It's fair to really compare from now which they are up to par in terms of the offer page design. Especially that now the text box is empty and the client needs to type in something if they want is adding to the legitimacy and gives sometimes a little insight on the client that you didn't have before
• For Undeveloped, I had tested 500 names or so. The logic behind it is that they "ensure" the client that they have privacy when they are making the offer.

Overall, as others have mentioned the 1st thing to worry about it is the value of your names.
In general Efty, DNS, Undeveloped seems to get the interested parties to either contact for price, make an offer. They are all nice templates. I don't think one necessarily beats the other.

>> Efty:
-Nice Templates,
-no commission,
-10$ flat fee,
-you know the contact info the lead entered

>> DNS:
-Nice Template,
-either no commission or 15% if you use broker,
-you know the contact info the lead entered

>> Undeveloped:
-Nice Template, you see the brokers faces on the landing page which may increase trust,
-15% commission for taking care of the payment part (they have a chat window between you and the client for ease of communication),
-you don't know the contact info the lead entered


i hope this is enough information ahaha

 

[garptrader]

I use NameInvestors.com domain shop but I hear EFTY.com is really nice as well. The primary advantage of bringing in your own leads is that you avoid paying marketplace commissions which can be 20% or more in some cases.

http://nameinvestors.com/shop

http://www.efty.com/

 

[NetworkPearl]

Regarding land pages I really like Efty.

 

[Bram C.]

Makes sense thanks.
How about the contact/inquiry part of it? Is the contact info that the person puts in to contact you automated so you can see and collect their relative data such as full contact info, IP address etc?

I don't have an actual contact form on the landing page itself, however when you click on the contact link on the landing page it will take you to my main website's contact form and there you can ask any question. When a visitor fills in the contact form I see their IP address, contact info (name and email address), and whatever info they entered on the form (the domain name they are interested in, a question, an offer,...).

My business is focused on BIN pricing though so I sell more at BIN compared to people contacting me and making for example an offer on a domain name. I tried both ways (landing pages with contact forms and ones without) and I seem to have more success with the latter.

 

[Bram C.]

Nice! How did you set up paypal installment plan and leasing plan there?

You have an option in Paypal for leasing plans (in Paypal it's called "subscriptions/recurrent payments" I think) and payment plans (payment plans in Paypal are basically the same as leasing plans but with an end date ). If you create a website you can easily create the html code in Paypal and then copy/paste it to your site.

In my case the code is already on my template so I don't need to create anything in Paypal. I basically divided my landingpages into price categories. For example for domains that I sell for $995 the buyer can also opt for a fixed lease price of $19.95/month instead or a payment plan of $97/month (12 installments of $97).
With a domain that I sell for example for $2,388 USD the buyer can also opt for a fixed lease price of $49/month instead or a payment plan of $229/month (12 installments of $229). And so on..

Anyways you get the picture .

 

[Bram C.]

@Bram C. , Thank you.

But if you are using the same html for paypal with the same price of $995, for example, how does paypal distinguish between two purchases?

Just by changing some variables on the html code.
See example in the code below (you just need to change the name of the domain and the price in this example):

  <form id="payment_form_id" name="payment_form" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
   <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick">
   <input type="hidden" name="business" value="[email protected]">
   <input type="hidden" name="amount" value="995">
   <input type="hidden" name="quantity" value="1">
   <input type="hidden" name="page_style" value="primary">
   <input type="hidden" name="cs" value="0">
   <input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="1">
   <input type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="1">
   <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Purchase of CosmicCalendar.com">
   <input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://confirmed-payments.almightydomains.com/index.html">
   <input type="hidden" name="rm" value="2">
   <input type="hidden" name="cbt" value="Return to CosmicCalendar.com">
   <input type="hidden" name="cancel_return" value="http://CosmicCalendar.com">
   <input type="submit" class="btn btn-lg btn-outline" name="submit" value="BUY IT NOW!">
  </form>

 

[garptrader]

Up until several years ago, SEDO used to be a good source of domain sales. Up until the launch of hundreds of new TLDs, Godaddy Premium Listings and Godaddy Auctions were good distribution channels. I have never found Afternic to be worth the time invested in listing, pricing or categorizing domains there. I guess now the only way to sell a domain is through your own landing page. Someone is specifically looking to brand on your domain and they type it directly into the browser bar and land on your portfolio site. If they search for the keyword at any registrar they will see dozens of competing TLDs where the domain is available for reg fee. Unless you own short .COMs, how do you compete with reg fee alternatives?

 

[SheikhOvais]

@Raymond C Nice looking landing page you have there friend.

Just to add a little more to the landing page conversation, own landing/sales pages gives freedom and added advantage of using them in any way we want---with anything we want on them. In short, we can design and format the way we like.

That is why I also use my own customized landing pages and I highly recommend domainers to learn basic HTML and CSS as it will help them in the long run, not only with their landing pages, but you can develop simple websites as well for your developable domains.

 

[pokainc]

pretty much exactly what David said

• put landing pages for all your names (bulk park them to save time), most of my inquiries / sales come from these, efty.com, domainnamesales.com, undeveloped.com
• Godaddy premium listings with "buy now" or regular auctions with buy now (offer /counter offer never really worked well for me. If I value the name very highly, then I'll put offer/ counter offer)
• Outbound if it's an "outboundable" name, brandables are not always the easiest to outbound (unless they are keyword brandables). But if you picked your brandables well, they will usually come to you.
• Sedo, I get some offers, but yet to finalize a very decent one

 

[Bram C.]

@Bram C. How do you deal with PayPal chargebacks?

Haven't had any Paypal chargebacks (and I had many Paypal sales so far).

I do feel I am somewhat protected in case someone would try to steal a domain by doing a chargeback and not returning the domain to me:

--> I clearly document all sales and also make screenshots of WHOIS changes as proof in case someone claims they did not receive the domain or if someone does a chargeback and I have to prove the sale towards Paypal for example.

--> I would of course try to get the domain back after a chargeback. With Godaddy for example you can email [email protected] in case a domain name gets stolen.

--> I always try to push domains in Godaddy and change the WHOIS before the push so it's impossible for the new owner to transfer the domain out without having to wait 2 months first.

 

[Bram C.]

Wow! Great landing page design @Bram C. very nice looking.

Are you using WP multisite for these landing pages? Did you design the template yourself or did you hire someone? How did you build AlmightyDomains?

Thanks!

The landing pages are in fact static html/css pages, not wordpress. My landing page template is based on the bootstrap framework but I designed it myself.

AlmightyDomains.com however is a WordPress site. I used a theme which I then customized and coded to my likings.

 

[Bram C.]

Have you found your landers generate a lot of inquiries and sales @Bram C.?

I'm selling around 90 domains per year, around 15 of those sales happen directly through my personal landing pages (the other 75 sales happen through 4 marketplaces: Namejet, Godaddy, Afternic and Sedo).

What is the best host for the lowest cost to run each of the landing sites - for a couple of hundred domains??

Not sure what is the best host but if you use static html/css landing pages it doesn't really matter as pages like that use almost zero resources unlike WP which uses a lot more resources. You just need a host with unlimited addon domains and you're all set.

 

[morf13]

Thanks for the replies. I hear a lot of people talk about 'landing pages'. Can you show an example of what a typical landing page should look like? Also, how much is involved in creating them?

 

[DomainStation]

So let's say you have 800 domains however, it looks like you would need to have a specific landing page designed for each domain, no?
Your page says 'cosmic calendar' is for sale. What if you had 800 others?

I guess you could have all of your domains point to one single sale page, that reads "the domain you are looking for is for sale"? And then put a spot for contact info and inquiry

You might be interested to follow my approach.

First, set up a main landing page on your web server using one of your domains, in my case I'm using a VPS which has a dedicated IP address.

Next, if your landing page using index.html extension please change it to index.php, find all definition of the domain name on your index.php and replace them with:

<?php echo ucfirst($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']); ?>

Obtain the IP address of your server, and the last step is point as many domains as you want to your server's IP address by editing A record on your domain DNS zone. See the screenshot:

See the working example of my landing page:

nucker.com
nulled.info

Hope that helps!

 

[DavidH]

Outbound emails
Sedo
Inbound emails
Godaddy
Forums

 

[silentg]

Here's a script by a domainer
http://domainsalestheme.com

 

[GoKaizen]

I made/use my own: for example my domain CosmicCalendar.com .
It's responsive as well so it looks good not only on desktops and laptops but also on mobile devices such as iphones and ipads.

Wow! Great landing page design @Bram C. very nice looking.

Are you using WP multisite for these landing pages? Did you design the template yourself or did you hire someone? How did you build AlmightyDomains?

 

[Bram C.]

90 domain sales a year - thats excellent! Do you know what percentage are "buy now" and what percentage are negotiated.
Thanks!

Concerning my landing pages, around 80-90% of those sales happen through BIN, without negotiation. But I don't have a contact form on my landing page, so it was my intention to have it this way.

Are these hand regs or aftermarket purchases? I should hire you to build my landing page!

Thanks! My portfolio consists of some hand regs but most of my domains are aftermarket (auction) purchases, expired drops (caught through a dropcatcher) and some end-user purchases as well.

 

[Sperry8]

Would you share the average sales price? (Or I'm too curious ... )

The average sales price was $800 and the median was $700. Highest sale was $5k.

 

[SpareDomains]

Thanks for the replies. I hear a lot of people talk about 'landing pages'. Can you show an example of what a typical landing page should look like? Also, how much is involved in creating them?

There are various scripts out there, wordpress plugins etc... if you wish to get your own server, have stats on your own server, ability to add ads, links to your network of sites etc... For someone that just wants to get something up quick with minimal effort I'd probably take a look at...

http://blog.bodis.com/improved-domain-sale-landing-pages/
http://salepage-inquiry.com/
http://salepage-escrow.com/