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question Why are hundreds of thousands of Quality Domain's not sold?

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ThatNameGuy

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I've been at the domain game now about two years, and while that's given me time to accumulate about a thousand quality domains (told by NP brothers and sisters), the sell through rate is absolutely deplorable.

A lot of domainers like to compare the domain industry to the real estate industry, but there's no comparison imho. Why do you think the real estate industry, the insurance industry, the automobile industry, the financial services industry spend Billions (not millions) of dollars every year to sell their products/services?

It's pretty obvious that even quality domains don't sell themselves, thus if you're going to make it in this business you better learn how to market/sell your own domains or find someone who can.

The days of only "inbound" marketing doesn't work for most domainers, and it never will. Not having an "outbound" strategy is a lot like not having an offensive strategy in team sports. Can you imagine relying on your defense to score all your goals/points?

The point of this thread......there has to be a better way? and just like I know I have a portfolio consisting of quality domains, I know there's a better way to sell domains. I started a thread a few day ago based on the following Podcast; https://domainnamewire.com/2020/01/13/saw-com-dnw-podcast-268/ but few NP members noticed it:xf.frown: However, one key and influential member Rob Monster of Epik noticed it immediately. The thread had everything to do with "outbound" strategy recognized by the founders of Saw.com when they referred to "Smiling and Dialing" and "Dialing for Dollars" as keys for their success.

I've reached out to help the founders of Saw.com, but apparently they don't need my help, or somehow they feel threatened by me:xf.confused:...that's their choice. NP members, help me help them by sharing your thoughts(y) It's time we went on OFFENSE!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I like domain investing because even if you have expertise from another industry, you still have to spend time and money before you know what you are acquiring and how to price it correctly.
Having $1.000 vs $50.000 on day 1 won't help with that learning curve.

Spending lots of money early on is suicide, unless you know you are spending to learn.
 
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It basically comes down to inadequate demand. Outside the world of domain investors, most people give little thought to domain names. Yes, they know Google and Facebook and YouTube but buying a domain name is not a regular task. An entrepreneur may launch a small business but domain name selection is generally not given high priority. I have seen divisions of companies spending five figures monthly on Google AdWords campaigns but when you look at the domains they register and renew one really wonders how they came up with that domain. Domain name selection seems to be as important as the color and style of the trashcan in the break room. The same companies that will pay four figures monthly for SEO or lead generation services and which will give no thought to paying a five figure IT invoice will offer you $xxx for your domain to promote their business. Then again even Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg are not going to pay $5000 for a pen to take notes.
 
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It basically comes down to inadequate demand. Outside the world of domain investors, most people give little thought to domain names. Yes, they know Google and Facebook and YouTube but buying a domain name is not a regular task. An entrepreneur may launch a small business but domain name selection is generally not given high priority. I have seen divisions of companies spending five figures monthly on Google AdWords campaigns but when you look at the domains they register and renew one really wonders how they came up with that domain. Domain name selection seems to be as important as the color and style of the trashcan in the break room. The same companies that will pay four figures monthly for SEO or lead generation services and which will give no thought to paying a five figure IT invoice will offer you $xxx for your domain to promote their business. Then again even Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg are not going to pay $5000 for a pen to take notes.
That being said if Godaddy was to spend money on premium domain TV ads, it would be apocalypse.
 
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I have been keeping my domains (nice ones less than 10) for almost 20 years, and I did not do outbound. Sold 3 of them with $xxx, $xxxx, and $xxxxx. I did nothing because I did not know about marketplace, auctions, NP, and all of these. After almost 20 years gap, I started active to do more buying and selling 2 months ago. I will wait 1 year only, and if none of sold, I will drop some names and back to sleeping and just waiting.
 
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I met someone via finding her on whois because she owned a ton of LGBT domains at least 1,000. Granted they were killer.

Her day job was a realtor.

By definition she was a definition with that many.

I contacted her to sell her my LGBT domains since she had an affection for them.

She said she wasn't interested and instead wanted to sell.

She's had these domains for years. Renewing and renewing.

I asked her if she knew about namepros or any other marketplace or community. She didn't .

What?

With that many domains?

I hope she is on here now as I suggest.

I suspect no since I me never seen her domains listed here.

My point there are people out there with domains who don't even know where to begin.

As with me ? Most have domain auction paranoia jitters.

The idea of listing a domain at auction for the lowest price possible to catch the eyes and then putting no reserve on it with a gun ho "put it all in black and let it right attitude" is just too scary.

This is I think the major reason many domains don't get sold.

That and unrealistic price expectations.

Also people form sentimental attachments to their "creations" and their maybe "overpaid" domain aftermarket purchases .
 
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That and unrealistic price expectations.
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To be honest. If I knew this place years before I sold my domain, I would sold my 3 domains that have sold in price at least 50% less. I would be scared to say NO. If you are domain collectors with really nice names your bargaining power is high. If the buyers know (experienced enough) you are brokers with lot of domain names to sell and renew, they will push you.
 
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To be honest. If I knew this place years before I sold my domain, I would sold my 3 domains that have sold in price at least 50% less. I would be scared to say NO. If you are domain collectors with really nice names your bargaining power is high. If the buyers know (experienced enough) you are brokers with lot of domain names to sell and renew, they will push you.

I agree.

Always best to send to auction.

The problem with auctions like goDaddy especially is that goDaddy sucks out all the air in the room with their own inventory of expired domains which they are more inclined or prioritized to sell.

The only domainers owned domains getting exposure on there are the OBVIOUS good ones.

And then if you want to play the "I'll pay for ads" game you will soon realize you'll begin with less money than when you even started the auction. So what's the point.

The perfect situation is to control your fate. Have your own domain auction site. With a separate websites with high traffic to advertise your domain auction site on.
 
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The sell-through rates are low partly because of ineffective marketing, as you say, but also due to the unique nature of each domain name that makes them somewhat like artistic works. We will never see sell-through rates comparable to generalized products. I do agree they can be improved, however.

I think the only inbound or only outbound dichotomy is misleading. Look at Amazon. Do they clog up your email box with pushing stuff they have (well yes they do once you put it in your cart :xf.grin: or buy something similar). But for the most part they sell at volume because they create an easy to use place that people looking for products can securely buy them.

There has been progress in domain marketplaces, but none are yet an Amazon of domain names.

We also need to use the real estate model to shift more to a service model with a unified agent network - I will write more on that in some other NamePros thread at some point.

I know you have raised the same point many other times. Thanks for not letting us forget it. :xf.wink:

Bob
 
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It basically comes down to inadequate demand. Outside the world of domain investors, most people give little thought to domain names. Yes, they know Google and Facebook and YouTube but buying a domain name is not a regular task. An entrepreneur may launch a small business but domain name selection is generally not given high priority. I have seen divisions of companies spending five figures monthly on Google AdWords campaigns but when you look at the domains they register and renew one really wonders how they came up with that domain. Domain name selection seems to be as important as the color and style of the trashcan in the break room. The same companies that will pay four figures monthly for SEO or lead generation services and which will give no thought to paying a five figure IT invoice will offer you $xxx for your domain to promote their business. Then again even Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg are not going to pay $5000 for a pen to take notes.
I've been driving the last 3 hours and had to pull over and address your comment about business names not being a priority..... not so it's actually one of the highest priorities when starting a business. Trust me I've started dozens of them and helped others start dozens more. Business names are a higher priority than hiring a lawyer or a accountant. Back on the road!
 
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I've been driving the last 3 hours and had to pull over and address your comment about business names not being a priority..... not so it's actually one of the highest priorities when starting a business. Trust me I've started dozens of them and helped others start dozens more. Business names are a higher priority than hiring a lawyer or a accountant. Back on the road!

That is probably true. But comparing money that they spend on buying name and development budget it is a small number. This is just my guessing, I am probably wrong. If the development budget is $250K, the budget for buying name probably less than $1K (or even try to go with hand-reg names). In my opinion with $250K development budget, they should buy name on $5K-$20K name which should give them good name to start!
 
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Why are hundreds of thousands of Quality Domain's not sold?
Because it is a niche market and 99.999% of the people cannot afford to spend money on this wordy BS game.
They have to meet their basic needs first!!
You think someone living in Haiti,Honduras or in the refugee camps really care about domains?
The cost of registering one domain $10 USD is like between eating or starving....
 
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I have heard this a lot through the years, "Domain names are like real estate" Also "The Game""

Domain are nothing like real estate IMO And the industry is most definitely not a game.

I agree with @Bob Hawkes in the sense of many domainers are using ineffective marketing, domaining does not have a "one size fits all" when it comes to marketing. marketing domain names is something someone learns over time, there is no quick fix, no speedy user manual for this, It is a bit complicated and just takes time. using the domain name market places while someone is learning is the best option IMO. learning and understanding why the industry does sell domain names, how the process of elimination works by potential buyers and pricing domain names so that they will be looked at by potential buyers is very important just to start off with. patience while learning is a crucial part of what a persons future can be in the industry, many many many jump ship after they purchase up 25 to 100 names and have no sales within the time frame they think they should.

I hear many say , "That is just part of the game" "stay ahead in the game" a lot of game , when referring to the domain name industry, remove that from your vocabulary as soon as possible IMO, there is no gaming in the domain name industry, working hard and learning every day, and you never ever stop learning, and never want to stop learning either, because if a person takes that attitude, they will fall behind with the quickness.

Think of this, You buy a domain name from a market place or you hand register a domain name, will it sell within a week, a couple of months?? most likely it will not, what about 6 months?? probably not, a Year? maybe in a year, most certainly not always. but why? because if you purchased the name from a drop or ect marketplace you paid what the domain name is worth, you competed with other people to buy it, you were the high bidder while the others in the auction decided they would not pay the rate you bought it for, you must let it mature before you will get a return on your investment, aside from a quick flip making $20 , you must let that domain name mature, you know there are people interested in the domain name, the people that participated in the auction of the domain name you won like the name, but they are domain name traders, you want to give that name every opportunity possible to be sold to an end user, not a domain name trader if possible. so expect a hold time of up to 3 years when you purchase it. that is realistic.

There are exceptions to the rule, sales can and do happen fairly quickly, 3 months to 6 months time, but aside from selling a name to another domainer and making hardly beer money in profit, waiting on end user offers and enjoying the domain name industry is the much better option IMO
 
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Why are hundreds of thousands of Quality Domain's not sold?

I personally think that quality domains are not sold, IF:

A) they have too little end user pool (only small number of end users are there)

or

B) there are lot of alternatives existing to be regged for reg fee by end users

When buying domain names, I would suggest always make sure A) and B) are not the case, otherwise nothing will help :)
 
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Because we have too many resellers.
Resellers don't buy quality domains, they buy crap names and in the $1 auction
Resellers = Buy Good Name Cheap (Dream On)
 
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Because we have too many resellers.
Resellers don't buy quality domains, they buy crap names and in the $1 auction
Resellers = Buy Good Name Cheap (Dream On)
John...is see where you've been in the IT business for 30 years...id didn't know they had computers back then:xf.wink: I've been the name game for 50 years, naming my first business while in college in 1970. I agree with you this reseller game is for kids...most of the names I see there are "crap names" just like you said. Do you have an "offensive" strategy? Thanks
 
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Why are hundreds of thousands of Quality Domain's not sold?

I personally think that quality domains are not sold, IF:

A) they have too little end user pool (only small number of end users are there)

or

B) there are lot of alternatives existing to be regged for reg fee by end users

When buying domain names, I would suggest always make sure A) and B) are not the case, otherwise nothing will help :)
Marek...i agree with "A". The fewer potential buyers, the less the odds that someone will find you. That said however, lets say there are just a dozen potential buyers for one of your "Premium" domains, offensive targeting of a dozen buyers should be a reasonable task. How would you target them....offensively that is?

With regards to "B"....most end users don't have near the experience I have, and while they might find a decent name on their own, chances are I could find one for a reasonable fee. That too is part of an offensive strategy.
 
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We still cannot ignore the fact that aftermarket domain purchases are a rarity. I have seen many thousands of invoices varying from travel to legal to marketing to IT to temp agencies as well as funding requests for capital projects, etc. I have seen client invoices for Google AdWords campaigns as well as Godaddy and Network Solutions charges for domain registrations and renewals. I recall one client where in the commentary I came across a list of the domains they considered assets of the company. I was unimpressed. However, I have never once seen a client invoice or payment for an aftermarket domain.
 
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In a few words, a huge over-supply with far lower end-user demand.

Over time it has become basically a numbers game combined with luck.

There's really no way to make it better with the market saturation and I predict it will continue declining (hope I am wrong) even with the current excellent economy.
 
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In a few words, a huge over-supply with far lower end-user demand.

Over time it has become basically a numbers game combined with luck.

There's really no way to make it better with the market saturation and I predict it will continue declining (hope I am wrong) even with the current excellent economy.
Oh ye of so little faith:xf.rolleyes: Have you no "offensiive" ideas??? Try thinking outside the box or you'll never win at this game...Thomas Edison did, Nikola Tesla did, and so did Westinghouse. If you want to learn to be a better domainer and sell more domains, read an old book:xf.wink:
 
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We still cannot ignore the fact that aftermarket domain purchases are a rarity. I have seen many thousands of invoices varying from travel to legal to marketing to IT to temp agencies as well as funding requests for capital projects, etc. I have seen client invoices for Google AdWords campaigns as well as Godaddy and Network Solutions charges for domain registrations and renewals. I recall one client where in the commentary I came across a list of the domains they considered assets of the company. I was unimpressed. However, I have never once seen a client invoice or payment for an aftermarket domain.
"We still cannot ignore the fact that aftermarket domain purchases are a rarity."....and therein lies the opportunity my friend:xf.grin:.....when opportunityknocks.com, you should at least try to answer:xf.rolleyes:
 
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We still cannot ignore the fact that aftermarket domain purchases are a rarity. I have seen many thousands of invoices varying from travel to legal to marketing to IT to temp agencies as well as funding requests for capital projects, etc. I have seen client invoices for Google AdWords campaigns as well as Godaddy and Network Solutions charges for domain registrations and renewals. I recall one client where in the commentary I came across a list of the domains they considered assets of the company. I was unimpressed. However, I have never once seen a client invoice or payment for an aftermarket domain.
You've never once seen a payment for an aftermarket domain because for the most part after market domains suck. Then again, I happened to pick up a couple of domains this weekend as a result of another NP member, CasinoBarge.com and ShipwreckCasino.com. I paid just $8.49 for each of these domains, and do you have any idea how much money you might make "if" you owned a fleet of Casino Barges around the world?....can you say Billions:xf.grin: Granted, if I sit back and wait for the Casino industry to find me I'll go broke, but I can promise you, that won't happen:xf.wink:
 
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That is probably true. But comparing money that they spend on buying name and development budget it is a small number. This is just my guessing, I am probably wrong. If the development budget is $250K, the budget for buying name probably less than $1K (or even try to go with hand-reg names). In my opinion with $250K development budget, they should buy name on $5K-$20K name which should give them good name to start!
What you say is "probably" true too, but neither of us know for sure? Just as a test, and for the benefit of anyone else reading this....lets say I just registered and gave you the domain BoGoBakery.com. Furthermore, lets say you had to sell it for the $1,121 GD appraises it for to make your mortgage payment, how would you go about trying to sell it? Keep in mind, "the baking industry generates more than $30 billion in revenue each year. The industry includes 6,000 retail bakeries and nearly 3,000 commercial bakeries."

Thanks!
 
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I like domain investing because even if you have expertise from another industry, you still have to spend time and money before you know what you are acquiring and how to price it correctly.
Having $1.000 vs $50.000 on day 1 won't help with that learning curve.

Spending lots of money early on is suicide, unless you know you are spending to learn.
Thanks Windoms....every dime I've spent so far has been well worth it. Fortunately I'm a pretty quick study, and my experience and expertise from other industries is a blessing. I'm progressing daily, and if I weren't I wouldn't be here. Thanks again(y)
 
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Acquiring a domain which could be turned into a business perhaps could be compared to finding a good gym. Launching and running a successful online business is like the work involved to become a professional athlete. How many professional athletes compete in multiple sports - tennis and cycling? Or football and golf? Or basketball and hockey?
 
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