discuss Why hasn’t anyone found a way to sell to businesses?

[uglydork]

You would think after all these years that one of the huge brokerage companies would have developed the secret sauce.
How do you get companies and businesses to go to a single point website to buy domain names?
Yes, outbound works but it’s fractured- nobody has taken over a B2B clearing house to sell domains. We don’t have a dominant go to website for business to browse names for sale.
I think about it all the time but I am a little fish - I don’t have the resources to pull it off

I build a clearinghouse site to list names for businesses - it is well known like a Google or Apple - we pay to list our names on that site. Seems like a simple idea but our community has too many sites (undeveloped,Uniregistry,brockets,flippa,sedo,Afternic) they need to be aggregated into one monster site that is well publicized.

Damn I should be rich!

 

[MapleDots]

the name was kid/messenger/com, if I am not mistaken.

Just don't trash the guys sale please.

It relates to this topic because it shows that in cases when you are dealing with big corporations they already know the domain they want and they send a broker to get it for them. They will very seldom identify themselves when negotiating the sale.

@uglydork 's suggestion could be useful but it would become another bogged down site with thousands of domains and I can't see a business owner going through them to find a suitable name. In most cases the business owner/company will think of a suitable name and try to get the matching address. If not they will think of some variations and check availability. They won't go to a website to look at thousands of domains that have no meaning to them.

 

[Steven McEvoy]

Why do domainers think that businesses can't wait to buy a domain name and tell their moms and dads?

The fact is, no one other than domainers cares about domain names. If they really want a name, they will find you. Worst case scenario, they will find something on brandbucket.

I sometimes see domainers mocking someone that they didn't want to pay $50,000 for a domain name as if they were selling them a cancer cure. It's sad.

Spot On!

 

[DomainBarracksRob]

Trust me if facebook comes knocking and I know its them I am adding a few hundred k to the price.

As a general rule (if you follow Rick Schwartz) a good domain name is worth a small percentage of the business value. Domains should, and do, sell for more to larger more profitable companies. Anyone that turns that away did not follow some of the bigger sales like daimler.com. It was priced for a large corporation and the owner was very smart. He could have sold it a number of times but he knew who the end user was going to be. His planning and patience paid off big time.

What did daimler.com sell for ? I can’t find any info on the sale or who sold it. Interested in knowing more (it did lead me to the sale of RideScout however)

 

[ThatNameGuy]

You would think after all these years that one of the huge brokerage companies would have developed the secret sauce.
How do you get companies and businesses to go to a single point website to buy domain names?
Yes, outbound works but it’s fractured- nobody has taken over a B2B clearing house to sell domains. We don’t have a dominant go to website for business to browse names for sale.
I think about it all the time but I am a little fish - I don’t have the resources to pull it off

I build a clearinghouse site to list names for businesses - it is well known like a Google or Apple - we pay to list our names on that site. Seems like a simple idea but our community has too many sites (undeveloped,Uniregistry,brockets,flippa,sedo,Afternic) they need to be aggregated into one monster site that is well publicized.

Damn I should be rich!

Uglydork...i see your name is Richard too, and that makes for too many "Dicks" here on NP's Now back to serious stuff. I was tasked by a former marketing guy and friend now living and working in Florida to explore why there isn't a single source for domainers and "end users" to go sort of like MLS is to real estate? Verisign, much to the chagrin of traditional domainers recognized the need for such an entity back in November. Whatever the entity, it doesn't have to be run for profit, but to the benefit of all concerned. I'll be in Vegas a week from today, and I intend to stir things up in a couple of areas where I'm seeking answers to several of my questions. Regardless...thanks for starting this thread, and I hope it will lead to positive changes for domainers and consumers.

 

[TCK]

Closed comparable sales always shape market prices whether you like it or not.

But then so do asking prices on what is available.

You must always assume that potential buyers are going to look at what sold and what else is available before making a decision to buy.

Closed comparable sales can be much much higher than the recent sale of the domain in question, that's the problem. That's the frustration.

 

[Jv1999]

Wat is brockets

 

[xynames]

Closed comparable sales include the sale of the domain itself. Recent or not.

 

[frank-germany]

don't fix stuff that ain't broken

imagine you would have to rely on uniregistry or sedo to sell your domains

if you don't get it
you are a newbe

 

[xynames]

In sale of all goods the buyer is able to figure out what sold for what before. And going market prices are based on what’s been sold before and what is available for sale now. This is the way it’s always been going back to the dawn of civilization.

If you want to sell your house you can’t complain about that the price you paid for it is public record.

 

[uglydork]

I have been offline for a while and I can see that this thread has some legs and really good conversation

Im going to use me as an example - I will be gentle, I am really trying to tone down:

I am selling Pacemkers.com. I have been out bounding the name for months to the usual suspects in the industry. I either get a rejection without ever discussion of price - a really low ball offer or no response at all. I track my emails (as most of us do) and they are getting read and passed around but nothing materializes.
What if I am massing someone who doesn't understand domains?
What if I am missing a huge buyer - in fact, I am sure I am. I am not a full time guy and I'm sure I am missing an opportunity to sell this name.
Just because we understand the value doesn't mean a entrepreneur or CEO knows or cares.
What if we had a website that is well known for selling quality domains? Like a Ferrari dealership - no junk allowed. It may not be something you buy often but you know it exists and you know where to find it.
We have well known brokers but outside of us, they are not well known. Media Options is a giant but who knows Andrew by name except people who deal in domains? @MapleDots - I know and respect you but honestly, would anyone know you sell domains? In fact, I have to explain it to friends and family and they just stare at me like "Thank God you have a real job in IT".

Im not saying I am right or wrong but I would like a one stop shop that gets well known outside or us and opens up the rest of the world to domains. Remember - we are just squatters to most people.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I have been offline for a while and I can see that this thread has some legs and really good conversation

Im going to use me as an example - I will be gentle, I am really trying to tone down:

I am selling Pacemkers.com. I have been out bounding the name for months to the usual suspects in the industry. I either get a rejection without ever discussion of price - a really low ball offer or no response at all. I track my emails (as most of us do) and they are getting read and passed around but nothing materializes.
What if I am massing someone who doesn't understand domains?
What if I am missing a huge buyer - in fact, I am sure I am. I am not a full time guy and I'm sure I am missing an opportunity to sell this name.
Just because we understand the value doesn't mean a entrepreneur or CEO knows or cares.
What if we had a website that is well known for selling quality domains? Like a Ferrari dealership - no junk allowed. It may not be something you buy often but you know it exists and you know where to find it.
We have well known brokers but outside of us, they are not well known. Media Options is a giant but who knows Andrew by name except people who deal in domains? @MapleDots - I know and respect you but honestly, would anyone know you sell domains? In fact, I have to explain it to friends and family and they just stare at me like "Thank God you have a real job in IT".

Im not saying I am right or wrong but I would like a one stop shop that gets well known outside or us and opens up the rest of the world to domains. Remember - we are just squatters to most people.

Richard...you're just driving home the point I've been saying all along. This industry has been hiding behind the curtains similar to the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. A few days prior to you starting this thread I was asked by a friend and former employee why a clearing house similar to MLS for the real estate industry doesn't exist for the domain industry? He was adamant about it, so I told him that I was headed to NamesCon next week and I'd try to get some answers. btw, he'd never heard of Uniregistry, Sedo, Afternic, Flippa etc. just like every person (business and non business) I've asked since I learned about this industry a year ago.

Remember this from Verisign just a few months ago; "Flipping domain names or warehousing them to create scarcity adds nothing to the industry and merely allows those engaged in this questionable practice to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and businesses."

Richard, you and my friend and former employee have inspired me to inquire at NamesCon WTF? The first person I intend to speak with about this is Jon Nevitt the new CEO of Public Interest Registry and the registry for .ORG. It seems to me since PIR is already non profit, who best to run the Domain-MLS?

Anyone else interested in Uglydorks idea....see me in Vegas

 

[frank-germany]

I have been offline for a while and I can see that this thread has some legs and really good conversation

Im going to use me as an example - I will be gentle, I am really trying to tone down:

I am selling Pacemkers.com. I have been out bounding the name for months to the usual suspects in the industry. I either get a rejection without ever discussion of price - a really low ball offer or no response at all. I track my emails (as most of us do) and they are getting read and passed around but nothing materializes.
What if I am massing someone who doesn't understand domains?
What if I am missing a huge buyer - in fact, I am sure I am. I am not a full time guy and I'm sure I am missing an opportunity to sell this name.
Just because we understand the value doesn't mean a entrepreneur or CEO knows or cares.
What if we had a website that is well known for selling quality domains? Like a Ferrari dealership - no junk allowed. It may not be something you buy often but you know it exists and you know where to find it.
We have well known brokers but outside of us, they are not well known. Media Options is a giant but who knows Andrew by name except people who deal in domains? @MapleDots - I know and respect you but honestly, would anyone know you sell domains? In fact, I have to explain it to friends and family and they just stare at me like "Thank God you have a real job in IT".

Im not saying I am right or wrong but I would like a one stop shop that gets well known outside or us and opens up the rest of the world to domains. Remember - we are just squatters to most people.

you obviously need to go to godaddy/afternic for that

- no recommendation

 

[uglydork]

if I understand correctly, you are looking for something like greatdomains.com was in the past ?
They only had listings of top-quality domains.

This website is gone, but here is an archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050223014314/http://www.greatdomains.com:80/

Yes, but advertised to the public. They we need some sort of campaign to push it out beyond domainers.
Namescon - amazing domain names that the public has no clue exists - seems like a miss/waste of 95% of the population.

 

[EASYPICKINGS]

If they could get buy-in from other players, was not blockchain based DAN project spearheaded by Undeveloped a way to have a single window to all available domain names, and a more efficient and verifiable way to move ownership? Perhaps I misunderstand it.

https://blog.undeveloped.com/domain...coming-innovative-thriving-again-a751d2e17ae9

I agree with @Kate that we don't want monopoly of a single company, but a system that multiple companies used so each had access to the full catalog of available domain names would be great.

I agree with @uglydork that the current system, even with some big players like Afternic, Sedo MLS and Undeveloped, and a host of smaller ones, is inefficient for organization and business owners to seek a domain name and easily purchase it.

Bob

I’m thinking all websites for sale should redirect to the same landing page where they can securely buy it from this middle man. So right now I gotta find a business to redirect all my websites to so people visiting can have a buy/offer option. I’m thinking all of us would pay $5 a month to a central platform that we depend on to close sales, and have buyers reach us so we’re not checking all the freakin auction sites for leads.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I’m thinking all websites for sale should redirect to the same landing page where they can securely buy it from this middle man. So right now I gotta find a business to redirect all my websites to so people visiting can have a buy/offer option. I’m thinking all of us would pay $5 a month to a central platform that we depend on to close sales, and have buyers reach us so we’re not checking all the freakin auction sites for leads.

Do you really mean websites for sale or do you mean domain names? (I think what the OP has in mind)

Various sites allow you to place your domains there as landers, and handle sales for those who want to buy them (Sedo, Afternic, Undeveloped, ToughDomains and many others). However, they don't charge a monthly fee, but rather a commission charge when a sale happens. Well ToughDomains do have a monthly rate, but also a free option for small number of domains.

 

[Larion]

I am thinking of creating such a Domain-Marketplace as described by uglydork.

What could be the name (domain) for such a Marketplace, in order to reach out to the general public or to Business-customers ?


What do you think of the following Keywords (for the domain at which such a Marketplace is presented):
- Style
- B2B
- Cyb (Cyber)



Appreciate your input.

 

[lambo.com]

You would think after all these years that one of the huge brokerage companies would have developed the secret sauce.
How do you get companies and businesses to go to a single point website to buy domain names?
Yes, outbound works but it’s fractured- nobody has taken over a B2B clearing house to sell domains. We don’t have a dominant go to website for business to browse names for sale.
I think about it all the time but I am a little fish - I don’t have the resources to pull it off

I build a clearinghouse site to list names for businesses - it is well known like a Google or Apple - we pay to list our names on that site. Seems like a simple idea but our community has too many sites (undeveloped,Uniregistry,brockets,flippa,sedo,Afternic) they need to be aggregated into one monster site that is well publicized.

Damn I should be rich!

There is so much less demand (aftermarket) for domains relative to everything else

 

[EASYPICKINGS]

I am thinking of creating such a Domain-Marketplace as described by uglydork.

What could be the name (domain) for such a Marketplace, in order to reach out to the general public or to Business-customers ?


What do you think of the following Keywords (for the domain at which such a Marketplace is presented):
- Style
- B2B
- Cyb (Cyber)



Appreciate your input.

The best name would be “theedomain.com”

 

[richasis]

A business wants to purchase incognito, the hired broker will claim poor student status when purchasing the domain. They will purchase a 150k domain for 15k and the person selling has no idea until the domain goes live. I see it again and again, including a sale to facebook which was discussed on the forum here. Everyone was ..... good sale, way to go. I was like huh!! seriously??? to facebook at that price??? Crap I would have slapped my head a few times had I sold it to facebook on the cheap like that.

We had a recent case in Canada and the last thing these billion dollar corporations want to do is go to a website and tell anyone they are looking. In most cases they are just like the rest of us, they want it on the cheap and one never really knows the company that is interested.

This has been a sticking point of mine for years and I always say if you know the end user you have more power over the negotiations.

So in my opinion the op's suggestion is pointless (so sorry, your opinion is always appreciated), a business knows exactly what domain they want and when they are ready to buy they sure as hell are not going to announce it. They are going on the sly to get it as cheap as possible. It is our responsibility as the domain owner to assure we know the end user. You make contact with me and I am very direct about it, no end user, no sale. It starts at the very first contact and ends with a bill of sale specifically outlining this. First contact form if you want an example is here: https://mapledots.ca/contact/


Show attachment 107210

^THIS.

 

[richasis]

exactly because of this, platforms like e.g. @Sedo are senseless and counterproductive for a domain-seller.

issue 1: the seller does not know who the buyer is
issue 2: high brokerage commissions

there needs to be a new platform, which removes these issues.

But then, there goes the industry...

 

[Larion]

Seems like a simple idea but our community has too many sites (undeveloped,Uniregistry,brockets,flippa,sedo,Afternic) they need to be aggregated into one monster site that is well publicized.

what is "brockets" ?

 

[Name Trader]

The vast majority of people view domain names as they would a logo or hosting account. How much would you be willing to pay for that? Yet in my work I have seen businesses pay without hesitation five -figure invoices for web development, SEO and marketing services, five figures monthly for AdWords campaigns, regular five -figure invoices for attorneys (six figures for a larger business), hotel, airfare, meals for dozens of corporate managers to attend an off-site meeting, six figures for maintenance on a corporate jet and five figures for the fuel bill, five figure bonuses to execs, five figure invoices for misc IT services, etc. Then you come across invoices for some of the domains they have registered or filings related to domains they consider business assets and go ????? What the #%@&! we're they thinking when they registered that?

To answer your question (which I know was rhetorical) is, they were thinking I can fix that with all the money they spend on marketing

 

[maurixius]

Well, there is dofo.com which checks if the domain is listed on any marketplace(Sedo, Afternic etc.) and then gives the option to go and buy the domain.
I'm not affiliated with them.
I found about it and I think it is useful

i just checked one of my domains on dofo and its showing that its for sale in some extensions and available for reg in some of my other extensions. Cool concept but wrong info. i would not revisit the site till its fixed.

 

[lock]

It still all boils down to the merit of the domain. If you offered cars.com to the Janitor he is going to tell the ceo.

 

[DpakH]

Thanks for the insights.There is competition everywhere.
Thanks
DpakH