As for NameBio, while I do believe your data set is Swiss cheese, as with Estibot, a dull knife is better than no knife. It is awesome that there is a (free) database of comps from which people can cherry pick.
Where did you find the free bit of NameBio, Rob? I couldn't. But my target market, in common with what I suspect is a very large proportion of domainers, is retail, so Michael's suggestion that his patchy records of wholesale/inter-domainer sales traffic sprinkled with a few retail numbers is meaningful is somewhat smile-inducing.
It seems, as in all forums, there is a minority who wish simply to bring down whoever is posting something useful, as though they deserved the limelight the OP is getting by being the OP. One such on this thread made a final post (to date) claiming they were already following Rob's advice and had been doing so for some considerable time. So much for all the previous nay saying posts from that "contributor".
There is also a widely held supposition on this forum that one cannot be a successful domainer without holding at least several thousand domains.
I have done much research since deciding to give domaining a go. The "art" of pricing a domain prior to contact with a buyer, by any method or mix of methods I have been able to read about or think up so far, is at best nebulous. "Hit and miss" is a tad too generous.
OK, so I'm new to domaining. But that does not imply that I do not understand what domains are or how they work. I built my first web site in 1998 so have come across more than a few in my time.
Of my currently 77 domains for sale, which disregards another 9 I have picked up in passing, as in parts of batches, which I need to either shift cheaply or allow to drop, I have 14 which I would loosely mark at US$20k and up to slightly more than US$30k.
These I intend, so far as I am able given the time it will take to sell each one, to market directly to end users. "Outbounding" is the current fad for tagging the method, I glean from various articles and threads around the web including here on NP. Having many years marketing experience under my belt I still prefer to call it "direct sales". I am still listing the 10k to <20k as "make offer" because of the intention to induce negotiation, allowing myself time to research the "inbound" enquirer (English, inquirer is American, sorry to all you folks from across the pond, we had the language long before you did
).
All of this is from straightforward marketing theory and practice. It simply makes sense. The reason for putting a BIN on the domains I consider to be probably <10k is that it will waste too much time selling lower value domains when I could be concentrating on the higher value ones.
Furthermore, as I sell and reinvest the income (at least, part of it) in higher quality domains, I have no intention of loading myself with the administrative nightmare of thousands of the damned things.
So to me and, I hope, many others. Rob Monster has been talking a great deal of sense in this thread. At no time did I read into any of his posts the idea that we should not put any of our domains on, nor even keep the majority of them away from, BIN pricing. Hopefully, we are all adults here and completely capable of selecting from the various sales methods discussed on NP - or did you post on and slag them off for the sake of it, too?
If he made an error it was in using an example of the kind "in the case that" you find somebody to whom a specific domain in your care has a higher value you should go for it. That is how I read it. It was not "find a sucker and flog 'em any crap you have to hand" as at least on commentator managed - deliberately? - to misread it.
I have yet to perceive how domain names differ from any market principles. Each one is unique, there are principles for selling unique goods and services. The variety of possible structures and uses makes them variable in value and desirability between individuals and institutions alike, a property of uniqueness. They are intangible. But that makes little difference beyond removing a logistical problem and introducing a proof of delivery one in its stead. Escrow removes that one anyway.
Just as with any other good or commodity, there are a variety of sales methods, each of which will work sufficiently, even admirably, for some yet not work at all for others. It is for you to decide whether the method articulated in this thread is for you. But it is not for you to decry its use or non-use, let alone make the decision, for others.
Why do I go to the trouble to spell all this out? Because I did not see more than one intelligent question throughout the thread. Lots of pointless and, frankly, baseless slagging off. Pages of it. Absolutely nothing useful said outside of Rob Monster's sales thesis and a supporting post from somebody actually trying it.
Having got that off my chest, I'd like to express sincere thanks to Rob Monster for putting this very sound sales technique into the context of domain names.
Just one morsel to add to the technique, in which I use
n as a mathematical variable, 1 to infinity, substitute as appropriate: Do not be the first to state a price. Engage in conversation, ask a ton of questions, but only mention price if the enquirer insists, and then in the nature of "generally domains of this type (however you wish to describe type) usually fetch in the low/high/medium
n-figure range" or even better, "I haven't seen one of this type go for less than low/medium/high
n-figure in recent years", or something equally vague and move on. Do not dwell upon price at least until the prospect has offered their expectation in the form of a specific figure.
It matters not that the enquiry is from direct contact by you or incoming from your landing page. The one who states a figure first is the loser. For the seller that is disastrous. You either frighten the prospect away (too high) or leave money on the table (too low). Hint: You have no idea what is in the prospect's mind at this point. It is imperative you find out.
But that, of course, is for those who wish to use Rob's method. For the naysayers, kindly neigh your nays elsewhere. I find them boring.
