Selling is always at the center of attention – Don’t over price domains

I remember reading comments many posters left on domain blogs. The most popular question targets the selling side of domaining. Any person can purchase a domain name, but not everyone can sell a domain. One common problem I see is setting high prices on domains. Don’t overvalue your domains or you’ll continue searching for that first sale.

Domaining is like a game. The goal is to sell a domain to another end-user or person. Why should a buyer purchase your domain? World Wide Media, Frank Schilling, Rick Schwartz, and many successful domain investors can set high prices because they have super generic domains, as well as an established reputation in the domain industry. They own domains that can revolutionize the Internet. Hence, they can probably form their own registrar.

When I’m searching for various domain names, I usually land on Frank Schilling’s parked page. You’ll know when you reach a domain name owned by Frank. The domain’s letters are big, and the letters reflect on the bottom. Frank owns many quality resume and cover letter domains. Recently, he sold two generic resume domains to a popular resume company. One of the resume domains sold for 2.8 times more than the purchase price a few years back.

In two years time, the resume domain returned a nice profit. Schilling’s lottery.net was another major sale that netted him more than 5 times his initial investment. Many domain posters hang around on blogs to ask selling questions. They will list dozens of domains to ask for advice. It is a common cycle in the domain industry.

Thanks

New domain investors buy many domains without determining their market value. They’ll set high prices based on what they see on other domain sales platforms. For example, Go Daddy gives domainers the opportunity to list their domains as a premium listing for a small fee. On the landing page, I find that it is all too common for mediocre domains to have 4-6 figure prices. eBay is another domain platform where domain owners think people are clueless.

Who in the world is going to buy a domain for $50 million? If the domain is not business.com, then I don’t see anyone bidding on that domain. If you want to spend that kind of money, you will have to commission a Sedo broker, or another popular website to facilitate the deal. Domain investors complain about receiving insulting offers. I find that overvaluing domains creates high expectations. Even new domain investors searching for their first sale refuse to work with a buyer to sell their domains.

Domain valuation tools disrupt decision making. If a domain appraises for $30,000, the domain owner will want $50,000. The problem with making such an assessment is determining whether an end-user will pay half the amount to acquire the domain. The most exciting part of domaining is selling a domain. It makes you feel proud of your effort when you remain persistent throughout a deal to accomplish a sale. Furthermore, buying a quality domain at a good price is another gratifying experience. Sometimes, I question how a certain domain is still available for registration. I hand register 99.99% of all my domains. To be able sell domains is a rewarding process.

If a domain investors that hasn’t made their first sale continues to overvalue their domains, they will lack credibility. A domain blog owner that informs their audience they have obvious weaknesses in selling domains will lose trust in their fans. Selling domains is a challenge. It can be an easy as receiving an unexpected offer, or as hard as not receiving one reply to 100 e-mails. When attempting to sell domain, you can’t get discouraged. Trust me, selling domains can be dejecting. That is the reason many elite domain investors use domain brokers or companies to sell their domains. They own hundreds of thousands of domain names. There is no way they can sit at the computer to email thousands of end-users.

Domain investors have to be creative. Think of how businesses advertise their products and services. You never know when you will receive an offer to purchase one of your domains. You have to be ready when a buyer surfaces. Know everything there is to know about the domain keywords, niche and the market. Selling will always be at the center of attention. DN Journal is popular because people are interested in domain sales. The goal of domaining is to find quality domains to keep as long-term investments, or to resell in the aftermarket. Buying and reselling within a year can reduce overhead cost associated with renewals.

Aveno.com sold to Aveeno.com

The DN Journal reported on the recent sale of Aveno.com for $2200. After typing in the domain name, I determined Aveeno.com purchased the name as a mispelling.

The domain is masked to Aveeno’s main website. Most high traffic websites are searching for typo sites to control their traffic.

Aveeno provides information and sells their products on Aveeno.com. Acquiring such typo sites will increase traffic to an already popular site.

Finding typo domains can net you a nice sale in the near future. Common
mispelled keywords are valuable Internet property.

Think about different ways to spell a popular keyword. You’ll be surprised how many .com typo domains are still available. Good luck.

Fusible’s Article on Word Wide Media’s Rejections on Domain Offers

The following list reveals offers that were rejected by Word Wide Media. Fusible reported on the rejected offers to demonstrate the growth of the domain industry. I find a few of the domains overpriced, questioning who is making such offers to acquire them.

The domain industry is confusing when end-users are making huge offers for such domains, and then they reject offers on major service domains that are relevant to their business plan. The two service domains I offered are easily valued at 5-8 times the asking price.

Additionally, I called an end-user several times, and she always made excuses regarding specific domains that would send business her way. I only asked $200 per domain, knowing that one domain in the package could easily fetch $1,000 in the next 6 months.

As domainers, should we remove Sedo’s fixed price option? Why set a price when you may receive a high offer for an overvalued domain? I know I own some good domains because I’m in the midst of a negotiation that has lasted close to 2 weeks now. The negotiation is not up to my expectations, so I plan to reduce the amount only another $100. I will stick to that amount until the buyer refuses to pay the amount, or when I decide to end the negotiation process.

This is one of those rare instances where I need the money. I refuse to
accept an counter offer that is only 15% of what I want for the domain. I don’t think I’m asking too much for the domain, especially when the buyer has the ability to make back the purchase price within a year.

I have no idea who is trying to acquire the domain. There has to be a reason they want the domain, but I know enough about the industry to retain the domain until I receive the right offer. There are many times I have to make sales to survive. This is one time where I will wait to earn the amount I think I deserve.

I will hold back the criticism on the following domains. I’ll let you all be the judge on assessing the rejected offers. Fusible claimed that D.tv was registered this past year. How is
that possible when many domain registrars don’t offer buyers the option to register domain that are less than 3 characters?

In my opinion, the most valuable domain listed below is Stuff.com. The domain is easily valued at 5 times more than the offer made. Many posters have challenged me on what determines a domain’s value. Their argument is usually narrow minded, and unsupported.

The rejected offers are covered on the Fusible blog. I don’t think I’m asking too much for my domains. I agree that the domains in the rejected offers list are valuable names, but there are a few that puzzle me.

I’ll never understand why I’ll get rejected trying to sell domains that are just as valuable as the ones listed below, but then the DN Journal will report on high priced sales that are not worthy. Many major companies bid on keywords in their niche, but they refuse to pay 10% of the value for a generic service domain, or 50% of the amount for a generic 4 character domain with huge potential.

In my opinion, many online companies are stuck in traditional advertising. They refuse to entertain the possibility that paying $15,000 for a domain will save them $100,000 in the next 5 years on
advertising costs. Most importantly, they will own the domain for as long as they keep up with the registration fees.

I will never understand over priced offers and under priced offers. How do these companies determine what to offer for a domain? World Wide Media rejects offers because they can. They have millions in capital, as well as thousands of domains to fully function in the domain industry.

DN Journal reported on ShopKids.org, a domain that was recently offered for sale at $750 with no buyers. Then, the domain scored a $5,100 sale. Why? Can we trust reported sales? Or are they used as a ploy to increase interest? On DomainTools.com, the domain was originally priced at $750.

I advise you all to ask more for your domains. It seems that companies will reject domains that are under priced because they assume such domains have little commercial value, and are not worth developing. The buyer may potentially respond with a lesser offer, so don’t sell yourself short.

If domain companies and private parties can fetch huge amounts for their domains, you can also do the same. Good luck!

D.tv $125,000
iBill.com $100,000
VisitBerlin.com $100,000
345.com $75,000
Stuff.com $75,000
MotocycleHelmets.com $60,000
RestaurantSupply.com $50,000
Aili.com $40,000
TheTour.com $30,000
Kevin.me $10,000
Ayanna.com $10,000
FreshPrints.com $10,000
BettertoKnow.com $10,000

Random Thoughts on Domaining

I usually read the DN Journal’s weekly sales list. In my opinion, I feel their weekly sales are prepared to brag about domain companies and private domain investors. Many domains on that list are not as appealing, and are over valued. I wouldn’t pay 10%
of the cost to acquire any domains on that sales list.

In the past, a few worthy domains changed ownership, which I believe were well worth the cost. I don’t how companies can afford to pay high
prices, and then let such domains do little to make them revenue.

One lady, in particular, purchased a domain for mid 5 figures. She
now points the domain to a site that generates less than 900 unique
visitors per month. I can prepare a sales report with graphs to
prove the benefits of using a web directory to reduce advertising
costs. It takes skill to determine the price of a domain.

Whereas, several domain tools exist online, a broker has to weigh many
factors to set a good price. I had conflict with posters that assumed I was a random person who never made a sale. You’ll be surprised on how many domain posters will fight with you on ways to determine value. They discredit domain stats as an appraisal
indicator, but then build value into organic searches. How else can
a price be set without factoring-in the age, keyword results and
monthly results, and backlinks?

I tried to relate to these domain
investors who shoot down the preceding stats as irrelevant
indicators to set a domain’s value. However, I have enough
experience with chatting with elite domainers and selling domains
to know that their advice is one-sided. Organic searches is not the
only factor that makes a domain valuable.

A month ago, I challenged
a domain with only a hundred searches a month. The blog owner is an
industry leader that owns thousands of quality domains, but many of
the posters are clueless, or locked into their own domain.

More than likely they probably sold domains, and understand the domain
industry very well. I sense the posters don’t want new domainers to
learn because domaining is like a pyramid scheme. If newbies don’t
know what to buy, they waste thousands upon thousands on acquiring
bad domains.

Stats interpret a domain’s value. If keyword results and searches had no meaning, then Sedo would not have a price suggestion tool, and appraisal platforms would be nonexistent on
the net. Many aged domains that don’t have sites linking in, backlinks, a Google Page Rank, and unique traffic depend on keyword stats.

However, your domains don’t need performance stats to be
successful. But, domains do have major importance when they
generate unique traffic. I don’t own any domain that generates 1,000 visitors a month. It’s not easy to build that type of
traffic. I can write 1000 articles on this blog, and will never produce more than 500 unique visits a month.

Many companies are not
going to purchase a domain based only on its organic value. If domainers listen to these posters, they will walk down the wrong road. I rarely find good advice on blogs. On the contrary, Elliot’s Blog is a quality blog with professional domain tips.

When I started to ask more questions, many domainers scolded me, assuming
I was trying to gloat. On Domaining Mojo, I share information to help people become successful. I also have an opportunity to promote a few new domains and affiliate programs.

To date, I have never scored any affiliate deals or leads. It’s not easy making money with domains unless you know the right people and have
persistence to battle through obstacles to make it past hardship.

I presented 5 figure domains to companies that could afford them. I
didn’t get as much attention as I hoped to make a sale. These domains are owned by another elite domain investor.

I also look for buyers on domains that others want me to sell. My goal is to find the right person that is interested in a particular domain. I can assure you that if you keep failing at selling, you will find your groove in domaining.

Every time you fail, you will make adjustments to deliver better results the next time around. Selling is the
hardest part of domaining. Once you conquer the selling aspect,
then it will be smooth sailing.

Buying domains is not as hard as
many make it out to be. I’m finally getting clicks on a few domains
that never generated any traffic. NYCDatingWire.com (worthless in
appraisal value) earned $1.60 off 1 click yesterday.

You never know which domain will produce the next big click. Back in the Summer, student loan domain got a few $10-$20 clicks. Go Daddy determined that my traffic was not organic, so they close my parking account down. If you list your domains on selling platforms, people are
going to visit the site. In my opinion, I feel that Sedo and Go Daddy’s parking accounts restrict you from building traffic.

However, I never had any problems with Sedo’s parking. I never made
much using their parking account, and feel that landing pages with
ads will never attract repeat visitors. I boosted my traffic using
Why Park’s domain apps. People find my domains through my shopping
apps, the business listings, You Tube videos, games, articles, and
hotels.

In essence, the DN Journal’s weekly sales report is interesting, considering that many domains on the list are not
worth a fraction of the final sale. The three domains I presented to many companies are just as good as any on the DN Journal’s sales
list. I haven’t attracted any attention to the domains.

I debated one company on their response to one of the domains that is 1000 times better than their business site. They suggested that any domain can’t be developed into a site that is better than the entire niche category. I challenged the owner with a slough of
information, and he then finally agreed with me.

I lacked selling skills back in February, but I understand the domain market enough to make a sale. It will only take me 45-50 domains to make back the
cost of purchasing 810 domains. The domains I sold are not even my best. People are actually typing-in the exact name of my .com domains.

For example, customresumeservices.com,
resumecoverlettertemplates.com, taxischools.com,
leathermanbags.com, and empirestatehotel.com are typed-in exactly as they appear. A company would benefit from having such domains that people will type-in directly in their search bar, or as keywords in search engines.

Don’t get discouraged if a company
declines your domain. Most businesses are tight with their money during the end of the year, as well as around the holiday season.

If own generic domains, or two word domains specific to a niche
such as ____jobs.com, ____hotels.com, ____degree.com,
_____degrees.com, and other names, you will be able to make a sale. You will have the same success with niche markets, and GEO domains. I will be looking to sell LasVegasEscortService.net in the upcoming
year.

I plan to push the following hotel domains with more than 1,000+ popular monthly searches: NewhallHotels.com
StevensonRanchHotels.com CanyonCountryHotels.com GilroyHotels.net
QueensHotels.net SuisunCityHotels.net SantaMargaritaHotels.com

Domains with 1,000+ local monthly searches are eventually going to
attract attention. It’s only a matter of time. You can always sell domains in lot deals. That will give you a chance to move more domains.

Good luck on making sales in the next year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Word Press is frustrating. The missing button makes it hard to revise posts or to publish posts. I have to revise posts using my IPhone. Any tips would
be helpful. Thanks.