Your top 5 places to sell enduser priced domains?

[bobbarato]

Hello,

If Namepros is the best place to sell at "domainer" pricing, what would your list of top 5 places to sell more at "enduser" pricing levels look like?
(if you want me to be more specific, this would be for domain names that would probably sell between $100-$1500, the seller is not in a hurry and the selling site can be a bit slow on paying me but will probably not screw me.)

I have yet to sell a domain name but I think this is the year I will thin the herd. Here's my cut at it - remember I have never sold a domain before so this is just my guestimate.

1. Moniker
2. Afternic
3. Sedo
4. Bido
5. Fabulous

20. ebay? Mostly because a buyer could screw me.

TDNAM and Namejet don't count because they just do dropped domains right?

 

[JoshuaPz]

1. Targeted pitches to real endusers
2. Targeted pitches to real endusers
3. Targeted pitches to real endusers
4. Targeted pitches to real endusers
5. Targeted pitches to real endusers

If you're trying to sell at enduser pricing on the (reseller-filled) venues you mention, that's probably you haven't yet flipped a domain this year. Why not just flip those domains to businesses and organization capable of building them out? You'll earn the most money while potentially allowing a formerly vacant lot to blossom into a useful website.

Granted, however, I have received a few of inquiries on Sedo from endusers. So I would add:

6. Sedo
7. GoDaddy premium listings (viewed primarily by endusers)

 

[garptrader]

End user sales secrets?

Joshua you have been very successful at selling domains to end users. But I believe domainers attempting this approach will not have the same success rate for a variety of reasons (after ~900 emails and no sales I shifted focus to development). One is that you sell domains largely in the $200-$500 range which is well below where most domainers believe they should sell a .COM domain. I believe you also go an extra mile to find the decision maker. Just sending an email to [email protected] is going straight to the delete button in most cases. You also seem to have found a higher response rate by sending out your pitches in the early morning. I'm sure there are other factors.

 

[MicroGuy]

Got to go with numbers 1 thru 5 listed in JoshuaPz post above.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Joshua you have been very successful at selling domains to end users. But I believe domainers attempting this approach will not have the same success rate for a variety of reasons (after ~900 emails and no sales I shifted focus to development). One is that you sell domains largely in the $200-$500 range which is well below where most domainers believe they should sell a .COM domain. I believe you also go an extra mile to find the decision maker. Just sending an email to [email protected] is going straight to the delete button in most cases. You also seem to have found a higher response rate by sending out your pitches in the early morning. I'm sure there are other factors.

Not quite sure what point you're trying to make. If endusers are very receptive to purchasing domains in the $200-$500 range that we paid reg. fee for, why price higher and preclude your chances of making sales? Even a $200 sale on a domain you paid $7 for is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Enduser feedback is a far better indicator of demand than "what most domainers believe they should sell a .COM domain." The same rule applies in any other industry -- set a price figure that optimizes your earnings. 150 sales x $300 (asking) each certainly beats 0 sales x $5000 (asking) each. The former is equivalent to a year's worth of income, the latter a year's worth of frustration.

It takes virtually no skill to pitch from a template and ask an amount in the $200-$500 range.

Also, I do make every effort to contact decision makers directly (via Jigsaw, DT History, etc.), have sent numerous pitches in the p.m. with almost as much success as with pitches sent in the a.m. hours, and have flipped a couple dozen domains for 4 figures (where appropriate). There's nothing particularly special about these choices.

90% of my success lies in the fact my pitches are highly targeted (e.g. selling XYZ.com to the XYZ.net owner who does a substantial amount of business online), not in my actual technique. Allocate your thought energy as 90% towards your acquisitions, 10% towards your sales.

We'll leave it at that as we're digressing from this thread's main topic.

 

[Blitz]

Joshua, Thanks for the great info and template examples in you sig. Learned alot from you just now. Repped :great:

Bob

 

[vanbollu]

It seems that sedo is the best plat to sell domain~

 

[bobbarato]

Oops, I should have worded my original post differently. I've never listed domains (or even parked) at any sale site - that's the main reason I've never sold a domain. I bought my first domain in 1994 so I've got some pretty decent ones. I get some offers via email but they are usually for my "core" collection that I'd only sell for "crazy" money.

So if anyone is willing to post their Top 5 lists, even if they don't target endusers, that would be great.

 

[bmugford]

No offense, but if you have sent out 900 emails with no sales then more than likely the problem is 1 of 2 things -

1.) Your domains are not as desirable to end users as you think they are.
2.) They are overpriced.

Most end users will not spend thousands on a domain name, as they are not generally aware of the benefits. At the same time most domainers don't have domains worth thousands. Sure, some domainers might think they are sitting on a gold mine but that is not normally the case.

If you can buy domains for $7-$20 and sell them for $200-$500 that adds up fast.

You take those profits and buy top tier domains that are long term holds.

Brad

Joshua you have been very successful at selling domains to end users. But I believe domainers attempting this approach will not have the same success rate for a variety of reasons (after ~900 emails and no sales I shifted focus to development). One is that you sell domains largely in the $200-$500 range which is well below where most domainers believe they should sell a .COM domain. I believe you also go an extra mile to find the decision maker. Just sending an email to [email protected] is going straight to the delete button in most cases. You also seem to have found a higher response rate by sending out your pitches in the early morning. I'm sure there are other factors.

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

Allocate your thought energy as 90% towards your acquisitions, 10% towards your sales.

I really like that quote. Buying the right domains for the right prices is the most important factor. The best sales pitch in the world still can't unload a turd.

Brad

 

[john_karr]

1. Targeted pitches to real endusers
2. Targeted pitches to real endusers
3. Targeted pitches to real endusers
4. Targeted pitches to real endusers
5. Targeted pitches to real endusers

If you're trying to sell at enduser pricing on the (reseller-filled) venues you mention, that's probably you haven't yet flipped a domain this year. Why not just flip those domains to businesses and organization capable of building them out? You'll earn the most money while potentially allowing a formerly vacant lot to blossom into a useful website.

Granted, however, I have received a few of inquiries on Sedo from endusers. So I would add:

6. Sedo
7. GoDaddy premium listings (viewed primarily by endusers)

I have to agree with Joshua

 

[garptrader]

My point was that selling to end users is not as easy as it sounds. Most domainers take some time to realize that the prices seen on the weekly DNJ sales reports are not typical. My portfolio has a large number of Spanish and .NET/.TV domains and our marketing campaign was representative of the portfolio. I have seen the portfolios and pricing of other domainers. While I don't hold premium one-word .COMs, I don't believe my domains are priced in the stratosphere either.

To give one example - I backordered a nice one-word domain at Namejet and was the only one to spot it. Google Adwords' keyword tool shows 1.2 million monthly searches for that word. I would have been willing to sell it under $1000. Yes, I got lucky and didn't have to bid against other domainers for the domain but shouldn't the time to find and market domains be valued? It turned out that per Namejet policy the prior registrant still had rights in the domain and more than three weeks after my great catch, the domain was removed from my account. The current registrant has it listed at Afternic with a minimum offer of $5 million! Who is overpricing their domains? I have done numerous comparisons of where my domains stand quality-wise and pricewise to others at SEDO with similar keywords. I don't believe quality or price is the primary issue. If a company perceives the need for something they can easily spend tens of thousands of dollars or much more. The market in my opinion is just soft.

Now it is true that if you can turn domains over quickly like a supermarket or fast food chain, then those small $200 profits can add up quickly but how much effort do you invest to generate those tiny profits? If your upside is only a few hundred dollars, what happens when you spend all that time and still noone is interested? I like to believe most of the domains I was promoting were somewhat unique. Once sold they cannot be replaced.

But in any business one has to be flexible. So I may try again with lower pricing, only English .COMs and only to companies advertising for those keywords or who have purchased domains with those keywords. Our approach of targeting companies with poor-quality domains or branded non-generics and trying to sell them domains priced $799-$2500 did not work. But for the moment I need to return to development...

Best of luck to all...

 

[DotWeekly]

@garptrader

I know your a reader of my blog, so I'm not sure I can dish out more info then I already provide lol but so many things are important that a seller has very little control over.

Timing
Are your emails ending up in spam folders?

Then are you contacting the right end users?
ThomasNet.com for "product/service" type domains.
.com is always going to be the easiest sale.
Pricing
Did I say Timing...

 

[bobbarato]

Oh woez me! My thread has been hijacked by the Enduser Posse! Geez, you guys have the stickied "How to find potential endusers?" thread. :wave:

 

[JoshuaPz]

Oh woez me! My thread has been hijacked by the Enduser Posse! Geez, you guys have the stickied "How to find potential endusers?" thread. :wave:

I think we just don't understand what you're asking exactly. If you're looking to find the 5 venues that receive the most enduser eyeballs, I believe this topic has been covered previously.

 

[werty]

I have to agree with Joshua. I sell an average of 1 out of every 3 domains I market directly to end users. I focus on the $100-$500 range. If I paid $7 yesterday why not sell it for $200 tomorrow. I can use the money to reg a lot more names and repeat the process. You can believe that your domain is worth $5K but that doesn't mean you will get $5K for it. I prefer to sell 25 domains at $200 each and make the $5K. Cheers..

 

[bmugford]

Well, end users don't frequent most of the sites you mentioned. Sure an end user might buy a domain here or there on SEDO, but they normally contact you first. They aren't normally just on SEDO and happen to find an active auction that matches their needs.

Of course the best way to get end user prices is to sell directly to end users. It seems so obvious doesn't it?

Brad

Oh woez me! My thread has been hijacked by the Enduser Posse! Geez, you guys have the stickied "How to find potential endusers?" thread. :wave:

 

[intheflow]

I am a big fan of turnover, take the smaller profit. Sell directly to end users, not through any auction site or service. There is a lot to be said for taking the initiative and contacting people directly. Even if someone is not actively shopping for a domain, if they are presented with one in the right way they will often become interested.

I completely agree that most end users never visit the sites that we frequent.