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

 

[ResoluteDomains]

One more strategy I'm gonna start pushing, is domain names leasing.

Have you listened to this Domain Sherpa interview about leasing? Its quite informative, as are all of Mike's interviews:
http://www.domainsherpa.com/zak-muscovitch-leasing/

 

[Recons.Com]

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

So, you are using efty, dns and undeveloped in parallel?

Have you distributed domains randomly among them or according to a pattern? Any trends you could share?

 

[nomen]

Last year all of my bigger sales except one (Sedo) came through Afternic/Afternic DLS. Decided to try Bodis sales landers for the majority of names this year, will see...

 

[pokainc]

@recons

• I put about 400 names with DNS 3 days ago. Have 4-5 leads. Too recent to know what will happen. 15% commission if you use their brokers which I am for now to test out.

• Efty I have more or less about the same amount of names listed, had 2 decent offers in last 2 days. And no commission to pay. Flat 10$ a month.

• Undeveloped I had 2 sales recently and 3 offers I turned down. They are really nice guys to deal with, it's 15% commission but they don't negotiate for you, just take care of the payment part + incoming offers you don't know who they're from. With DNS and efty you do. So for now removed my names, but might put back depending on how leads go on the other ones

 

[Omriko]

Have you listened to this Domain Sherpa interview about leasing? Its quite informative, as are all of Mike's interviews:
http://www.domainsherpa.com/zak-muscovitch-leasing/

One of Google results was that interview.
Nice.
Looks like it's some kind of growing market... Seen more and more lately...

 

[Omriko]

Another great place to list (and park)!
http://undeveloped.com
Simple, clean, free, easy...
++++

 

[Recons.Com]

@recons

• I put about 400 names with DNS 3 days ago. Have 4-5 leads. Too recent to know what will happen. 15% commission if you use their brokers which I am for now to test out.

• Efty I have more or less about the same amount of names listed, had 2 decent offers in last 2 days. And no commission to pay. Flat 10$ a month.

• Undeveloped I had 2 sales recently and 3 offers I turned down. They are really nice guys to deal with, it's 15% commission but they don't negotiate for you, just take care of the payment part + incoming offers you don't know who they're from. With DNS and efty you do. So for now removed my names, but might put back depending on how leads go on the other ones

Thank you for the insight! Really appreciated. Are DNS and Efty names pretty much the same quality? How long have you been with Efty? For Undeveloped, 2 sales+3 offers in how long and on how many names? What is the logic behind them not wanting to tell you where the correspondence came from?

 

[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

 

[domainbartender]

When Undeveloped implements a bulk delete feature, I may start using them more.

For me, sales came from:
Efty landing page
Forums
Sedo

 

[Bram]

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.

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

 

[serryjw]

One more strategy I'm gonna start pushing, is domain names leasing.
Escrow.com has covered this section as well.
See https://www.escrow.com/services/domain-name-holding-escrow.aspx
During the first years of new TLDs/GTLDs, that can easily cover domains renual, while rasing the domain(s) value.
Sounds great for me!
Now, all I have to do, is find who will lease my domain(s).

--------------------
IMHO, you can't 'sell' leasing BUT you can use it as a closing strategy

 

[serryjw]

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

-------------------------
I am going to try using PP. I don't think you will have chargebacks if you are very specific/detailed and use an invoice. Give them a 2-3 day review period.Make them initial if they are buying a domain with an extension other than .com and after 3 days all sales are final.

 

[serryjw]

im not 100% sure if this is what you mean, but if you're running an auction for a specific name, if you get a first bid here on namepros, you have to remove it from godaddy.. or else obviously who would be the winner if you have 2 winning bids?

-------------------------------
I'm just asking if a domain can be in a NP auction as well as GD or any other market place like ebay OR does a domain must be in NP auction exclusively?.

 

[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.

 

[serryjw]

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 to it's impossible for the new owner to transfer the domain out without having to wait 2 months first.

Can you explain this more fully. HOW do you change the WHOIS?
Thanks,
Serry

 

[Bram C.]

Can you explain this more fully. HOW do you change the WHOIS?
Thanks,
Serry

When someone buys a domain with Paypal you get their email address (and their name or company name if they have one). With this email address (or name/company name) you can do a Google search and usually find all the domains that belong to this buyer . When you open one of those domain names in WHOIS you get all the whois information of the buyer.
So if you sell a domain to that user you can go to your Godaddy domain manager and change the contact/WHOIS information to that of the new owner prior to the push. Then push the domain to this new owner. Since you changed the admin email address the domain will be transfer-locked for 2 months. If you simply pushed the domain to the new user without changing the admin email first there will only be a 7-day transfer lock after the domain arrives at the new owner to protect against fraud.

Now this is only working for Godaddy of course (the 2 month transfer-lock by changing the admin email in whois) but 75% of my domains are at Godaddy.
I have to admit that I'm not always bothering with it (for example if I liquidate a domain at a forum for $20 I'm not going to bother, it's not worth my time. Also, if I sell my domain to a respectable company I'm also confident they won't do a chargeback so no point in changing whois manually).

 

[Bram]

Thank you @Bram C.

What payment method do buyers prefer the most, PayPal or Escrow?

 

[serryjw]

When someone buys a domain with Paypal you get their email address (and their name or company name if they have one). With this email address (or name/company name) you can do a Google search and usually find all the domains that belong to this buyer . When you open one of those domain names in WHOIS you get all the whois information of the buyer.
So if you sell a domain to that user you can go to your Godaddy domain manager and change the contact/WHOIS information to that of the new owner prior to the push. Then push the domain to this new owner. Since you changed the admin email address the domain will be transfer-locked for 2 months. If you simply pushed the domain to the new user without changing the admin email first there will only be a 7-day transfer lock after the domain arrives at the new owner to protect against fraud.

Now this is only working for Godaddy of course (the 2 month transfer-lock by changing the admin email in whois) but 75% of my domains are at Godaddy.

---------------------------
WOW! Thanks...Is selling on Ebay safe?

 

[theSun]

Focus on 3~4 numbers, 3~4 letters biz/info/mobi and you will get a sale without even listing them at any marketplaces. The buyers will find you. These are very high demand!

 

[Bram C.]

Thank you @Bram C.

What payment method do buyers prefer the most, PayPal or Escrow?

I'm selling more domains through Paypal if the buyer is an end-user (since they are often not familiar with Escrow and everyone knows Paypal). If my buyer is a domainer or a company familiar with buying domains then it's usually Escrow they prefer (unless it's a small purchase, for example under 250 USD, then again Paypal is preferred).
If I would count all my sales (both end-users and domain investors) then I'm selling more using Paypal.

 

[Bram C.]

---------------------------
WOW! Thanks...Is selling on Ebay safe?

Not sure, never tried to sell there.

 

[Omriko]

I spoke with PayPal, and asked them about chargeback issues.
They told me, clearly, that if the buyer calls his/her credit card issuer, and deny the transaction, they have nothing to do with it.
I'll have to sue him/her my self.
So, if it's les than $50, or let's say even $100, PayPal is OK.
For more than that, I would recommend only Escrow.com .

 

[serryjw]

I spoke with PayPal, and asked them about chargeback issues.
They told me, clearly, that if the buyer calls his/her credit card issuer, and deny the transaction, they have nothing to do with it.
I'll have to sue him/her my self.
So, if it's les than $50, or let's say even $100, PayPal is OK.
For more than that, I would recommend only Escrow.com .

--------------------
Can't ANY buyer for ANY merchandise call their CC company. WHAT makes domains anything special? PayPal isn't going to try and save the sale? What about the domain...can you get it back?

 

[Cdomains]

I am going to try using PP. I don't think you will have chargebacks if you are very specific/detailed and use an invoice. Give them a 2-3 day review period.Make them initial if they are buying a domain with an extension other than .com and after 3 days all sales are final.

That is only part of the problem with Paypal. They will freeze your account for no good reason without notice or explanation, and many times will try to keep your money. This often happens when you try to take your money out of your PayPal account.

You will find countless stories of people losing thousands of dollars and also being put out of business and worse by Paypal arbitrarily targeting innocent people.

And do not think you are immune because you have been using them for years and have had no problems yet. Just wait. Sooner or later you will have a problem with them.

Their MO is to freeze your account and then ask you to provide personal information to unfreeze it. It does not matter if you comply. They will keep asking for more and more and many times will still not unlock your account.

At this point all of your most important personal information will be stored on their servers just waiting for a hacker to steal.

Then they will not answer your emails and give you the run around when you ask what do I have to do to fix it. All the while they will have your money, sometimes a lot of money.

If you continue to complain they may close your account and keep your money.

If you doubt what I say just Google it and you will see. There was even a class action suit against them because of this.

Also, watch out if you have your bank account connected to PayPal and keep a lot of money in there.

I will never use PayPal to collect money. Never!!

 

[Omriko]

--------------------
Can't ANY buyer for ANY merchandise call their CC company. WHAT makes domains anything special? PayPal isn't going to try and save the sale? What about the domain...can you get it back?

Regarding any online purchases, yes. You can easily call your CC company and deny the transaction.
About the domain?
I know GoDaddy has some 'undo' option for such cases, but in general, you'll need to have a lot of proofs.