“The good, the bad and the ugly” An opportunity for readers to discuss what they like and don’t like about a particular company in the domain space.
Each post will deal with just one company, readers are encouraged to share their positive and negative experiences. Suggestions for improvement are also encouraged.
One of the goals of the column is that company representatives will see how their customers think of them. This can lead to a conversation on fixing problems.
What is not allowed:
- Personal attacks on individuals at the chosen company
- Promoting a competitor
- Posting domains for sale
The company in the spotlight today is Sedo.
Headquarters: Cologne, Germany
CEO: Tobias Flaitz
Founded: February 12, 2001
I want to thank everyone who participated in our first post which focused on GoDaddy, traffic and engagement to the post have been excellent. I also want to thank GoDaddy for taking notice and notes on what our readers think. Paul Nicks posted in the thread and other reps have reached out to us that they are listening to what the readers have to say.
the only bad thing about SEDO is that people outside US can’t put a price more than 10000 USD to their domains.
this is interesting, because there is no link between that decision and reality, for instance if a Chinese investor buys a NN or something like this for 10M usd he can sell it back only for maximum 10k :))
i’m not waiting for any post response from SEDO, there is no discussion for that, just an advice, remove this limiting rule
every other things are ok with SEDO.
Since when can anyone in the US list above $10k either. When you try, you get this:
“Please note listings may not exceed 10,000 USD. If you believe your listing is worth more than 10,000 USD, please order an Appraisal or do not enter a specific price.”
This is my #1 complaint as well, i.e. not being able to set buy now prices above $10,000 for a domain. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. Still don’t like it.
In lieu of that extreme limit with Sedo, what is the best sales platform where a domain can be placed into an auction with competitive bidding if there is significant interest or more than one offer on a sales listing instead of only allowing a straight sale?
good:
none i can think about
bad:
only ugly
ugly:
only interested in getting their commissions
0 (zero) value for their clients. don’t even know how to make an effective sales page
make European clients pay for their taxes (VAT over THEIR commissions)
high fees
I’ve sold lots of domains via Sedo, and the transfer and transaction processes are pretty smooth.
But I’ve also had transactions (when I was the seller/not buyer) stall or go “into limbo” after I accepted the buyers’ offer(s). This needs to be rectified. In one case, I had to file a complaint against the non-paying “Buyer”, which triggered an instant payment.
I suggest all SEDO buyers need to provide payment info prior to bidding on domains. This will eliminate the possibility of buyer’s remorse and the seller losing a sale, not to mention, tying up a domain (wherein no other offers can be accepted) for up to 10 days.
Success rate on payment after accepted offer on Afternic has been 100%. Sedo: about 90%
Very Good and largely overlooked. Purchases on Sedo are under contract, which includes a specific performance clause. These contracts are actionable. It has saved me from losing a good domain to DBS before.
Why Sedo wants to appraise (and make money) to list a domain for above $ 10,000 ? If they are so sure about quality of their domain appraisal, will they be willing to buy an appraised domain at even half the appraised price.
I got a six figure offer which turned out to be a non serious/prank/fraudulent offer. Sedo would have made a decent amount ifsale took place. But they washed their hands off after providing me email only (no phone #).
i like that they have traffic stats.
i wish we could sort this traffic stats.
we use to be able to sort traffic stats…don’t know why u guys stopped this function.
such a simple fix.
I like Sedo’s escrow service.Once we pushed the domain name to Sedo, the funds will be released in 24hours. We don’t have to wait for the non responsive buyer’s confirmation or the funds credited to the escrow service’s bank account from the buyer’s bank.
I believe the ‘push’ benefit might be going away. I considered that function one of the major reason to sell a domain through Sedo.
Just in the past 2 days, I had a transaction that normally would have been a ‘push’ transaction turn into a ‘wait for the buyer’ to initiate a transfer to the new registrar. I’m still waiting on the buyer !!! Plus, it adds an add’l 7 days to the transaction process.
The only domains I ever sell through Sedo is when they are priced below the domain’s market value. (wholesale). Now, that the ‘push’ function might be gone, I will not consider Sedo my primary sales platform.
Also, I assume the ‘push’ benefit might be gone from the other guy that charges 20% commission.
Good: Quick Transactions, when they buyer actually pays.
Bad: Customer Help section does not work right half of the time.
Ugly: 10k sell limit and having to give personal banking info to increase the limit.
I don’t have anything bad to say about sedo at all It’s the first place I go to post my names for sale.
GOOD:
Sedo is one of the Domain Industry company who puts the money where there mouth is, and is present in all
International events and makes a great awareness effort ! Many people came to the Domain Industry, just because of this effort!
Except online!
Good: easy search, love it
Bad: I bought a domain, paid for it and nothing but troubles getting it from the seller (a registry), when I asked to cancel and gety money back, SEDO told me I was obligated to buy the domain, apparently the failure of the seller to transfer as agreed is not reason for any sort of protection for me as a buyer. Its been around 3+ months paid.
I am unlikely to use SEDO again for purchases.
The $10k listing limit is the biggest deal breaker of all with Sedo:
“Please note listings may not exceed 10,000 USD. If you believe your listing is worth more than 10,000 USD, please order an Appraisal or do not enter a specific price.”
It is also completely asinine, contrary to the business and commerce interests of customers, makes no sense at all (except as a blatant effort to shake people down for an “appraisal” of course), and is completely insulting. Sad really. I removed all my sales listings from Sedo a while ago.
Bad search I have domains listed with sedo that do not show up in keyword search when I enquired they say it has to do with how long the domain is listed,had some block chain domains parked and used this in search only results were baby block stats are all over the place had one domain parked at sedo never had one visit in a year,moved it to afternic and got 500 visit’s in the first month also the $10,000 limit is a problem even though they have my banking info and if I take the buy now off the domain it disappears from search.
I’ve never seen any offer to eliminate the $10k limit if banking info is given. All I have ever seen is the limit message and nothing else:
“Please note listings may not exceed 10,000 USD. If you believe your listing is worth more than 10,000 USD, please order an Appraisal or do not enter a specific price.”
Just went through the convoluted “sedo help” and they no longer accept higher listing prices without an appraisal certification used to be one way to list higher prices.
Good:
– Sales transaction & escrow process
– Domain search
Bad:
– Registrar selection process is terrible in SedoMLS process. Why can’t they just figure it out themselves and determine if eligible? If I’m loading domains in bulk, i don’t want to spend the time to go figure out which registrar each are at. Afternic makes so much easier.
– Process of getting paid is a little unclear – never know what the status or ETA is
Ugly:
– Sold a domain on Sedo that i had already sold elsewhere a few days earlier. I notified them right away. Got billed for their “lost commission”. Told them to F off and just opened a new account
– Support chat open for 1 hour per day. Why do they even bother?!?!
Bad…
I think the high listing price “appraisal”l should simply be …….. “approval” other than that it’s just a money grab. If a name is good enough it should simply be approved “inhouse” I do see their point, domainers are quite often dreamers and assume every name they own is worth a million. They don’t wish to clutter their marketplace with names that will never sell. However good names should just be approved without cost
Worst domain name company.
You have been warned.
Bullshit they are far superior to afternic who truly sucks.
Good
Largest marketplace, used to have decent parking revenue way back.
Bad
20% commission is steep.
Ugly
$10,000 limit is stupid, and same 10,000 limit in Euro and Pound.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for your comments and thoughts on Sedo. We appreciate you conveying the good, the bad, and even the ugly sides of things. Also, thank you Michael and Raymond for starting this series!
Allow us to comment on the two main complaints, just so you know where we stand at:
1.) The $10,000 USD limit is something we’ll be reviewing. We’re already working on a solution that we’ll be discussing in the coming weeks and months. We’ve been hearing that complaint on other sites as, well, e.g. on the NamePros forum, and we’re intently tuning in for feedback in this area.
Our intention with this limit is to ensure our marketplace won’t be flooded with domains being priced excessively high which could result in buyers shying away from bidding. Obviously we want to steer clear off scaring potential buyers from domain marketplaces because of inaccurate and false impressions because they may perceive prices as dubious. We know that this mostly applies to newbies, but it’s hard to find a limit or rule that works for everyone simultaneously. But now thanks to your input that this a major pain point, we’ll definitely reevaluate the situation.
In the meantime, please ask your account manager if you need a solution for domains priced above $10,000 USD.
2.) Some of you mentioned that we’re only interested in collecting fees and that 20% seems steep. Our fees start at 10%, so we do offer options to sell for less than 20%, see here: https://sedo.com/us/what-we-offer/price-list-for-services/#c2129. We do acknowledge that 20% might be higher than the fees charged by other domain name marketplaces.
But unlike other industry players, we do not buy or sell portfolios of our own; instead we focus on our clients’ domains, while having a commission based business model. What you get in return is our worldwide reach and local market expertise, bringing sellers and buyers together on a global scale, plus our personal service from our experienced staff.
We are a completely neutral third party service provider. Our high standard is to ensure our customers value our products and services and that you want to keep coming back to do business with us. We always aim to make transactions and the customer experience as easy and efficient as possible. But should you ever have a bad experience, please make sure to share it with us, either through our customer support portals or social media. That way we can address these situations and make sure we are constantly improving.
Oh, and one more thing: Pushing domains will be working with eligible registrars soon. The current situation is due to the ICANN transfer policy changes that took effect on December 1 (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/transfer-policy-2016-06-01-en) and these apply to all players in the market right now.
We’re in the process of finding out which registrars allow opting-out of the 60 day lock, so that we can activate the push again. Of course you can always contact our customer support or your account manager if you have specific questions regarding this topic.
Thanks for reading, and thanks again for your comments!
Best regards on behalf of the Sedo Team
Christoph Holler
PR & Marketing Manager at Sedo
“Oh, and one more thing: Pushing domains will be working with eligible registrars soon.”
Bull !!! Sedo customer service just told me today (12-13-16) they are looking into it. But, no promises.
“Pushing” is really the #1 reason I used Sedo. I make more when I sell direct and use Escrow,com
It is amazing how Sedo dropped the ball , knowing this was coming for months.. In the ‘real’ corporate world, people would be fired for dropping the ball on losing the ability to ‘push’.
Overall, my experiences with Sedo have been very positive. I would like to see some (video) tutorials on how to maximise Parking on their site – I still don’t understand it.
And perhaps some tutorials on maximising your domains “For Sale” presence.
Otherwise, I like the service and my sales have all been very smooth.
Many thanks.
The ability to sell domains as a package would be nice. Either through Buy Now or Auction.
I’ve been using Sedo for years and still like them, but here’s my critique:
PROS
– good default categorization when you first add a domain, and good selection of categories.
– ability to see how many people viewed your sales page for a particular domain (very underrated feature)
– they give you a purchase sales agreement and let you see the buyer’s contact info if they back out
– escrow agent message interface is clear, simple, and they respond pretty quickly
– nice sales landing pages with relevant images and photos
CONS
– ** that annoying feature where buyers can “request an invoice.” I’m paying Sedo an escrow fee, I shouldn’t have to draw up an invoice for every single sale. No other marketplace does this so there isn’t really an excuse here. Big turn off for me.
– $10,000 maximum price and minimum offer is too low. Another limitation that no other marketplace has.
– why can’t I change my login ID for security purposes?
– It doesn’t happen as often these days, but a noticeable number of buyers back out of sales after clicking “buy now” (more than other marketplaces for some reason, at least for me)
I learned something interesting today regarding Sedo.
When a domain is transferred to the gaining registrar (of the buyer), Sedo wants to see a change in the full whois.
However, not all registrars supply a full whois even though it is a violation of Icann rules. I have a domain stuck in the buyers registrar that does not supply a current, full whois . And, Sedo will not close the deal until they see a full whois.
Interestingly, if the buyer is not cooperative, Escrow,com will look further into it. And, if the registrar changed and the dns changed (to the buyers dns website), they determine it was transferred. NOT SEDO.
Another 24 hours have passed and Sedo will not close a transaction even though it is obvious the buyer is using the domain. They will not close it until the buyer acknowledges receipt of the domain or the registrar displays a full whois which the registrar does not do as a policy.
almost 3 weeks and we are just stuck.
Have you gone into a store you go to often and say “why did I bother going to this store. The customer service is terrible.”
GOOD:
Sedo is the best marketplace for buyers, IME. It’s the cheapest place for impulse buys. With their $10k price cap, it encourages sellers to price their offerings on a relative basis within that range. In other words, their best domains will be $10k, and their mediocre inventory a lot cheaper.
Their stealth acquisition process (for domains not listed for sale, e.g., for a .COM when you’re already using the .NET) has worked very well for me. Smooth, fast, cheap, and no problems.
On the sale side, their fraud detection and prevention system has worked properly to stop transactions attempted with (what I assume were) stolen credit cards.
Their page loading times for portfolio management are the best in the industry.
Sedo’s practice of publishing their weekly sales data gives everyone in the industry the best view of prices, price trends, and subject-matter trends. Sedo deserves a big round of applause for their transparency. Hopefully other marketplaces will improve their transparency. It will increase the level of trust that buyers and sellers bring to this industry, and will spur more transactions.
Sedo deserves praise for its marketing efforts to publicize domains in places such as SXSW, and for hosting other industry players alongside them there as part of its Domain Village. Hopefully they can expand these marketing efforts to other venues.
Sedo deserves credit for only handling third-party inventory. If they were pushing their own portfolios, it would be a different ballgame.
BAD:
Their traffic-statistics feature is good, but can be better. Statistics should be easier to download, more customizable, extend over multiple years etc., and allow sellers the option of making these statistics available from their landing pages on Sedo.
Why is it so hard for marketplaces to offer the option of clean, vanilla landing pages that list prices and buttons for “buy now” and “make offer” – but without ads?
The $10k cap on listing prices does not bar listings with only a minimum-offer price (i.e., without a buy-now price that exceeds $10k). However, since so many purchases are impulse buys, the lack of a “buy now” price for domains >$10k encourages sellers to shift to other marketplaces for that inventory. They may still list on Sedo, but without Sedo handling the landing pages in these cases, Sedo’s chances of making a sale are reduced. Some sellers don’t like pointing their domains to multiple marketplaces. It makes more sense for them to consolidate everything on one marketplace. Sedo is really hurting themselves with this price cap.
Some sellers have inventory that they don’t want to part with, except at a premium price. It could be for domains that represent their family name, or are being used with an active project, or for some other purpose that makes their “use value” exceed their “market value.” Sedo’s saltwater price cap discourages those domains from being listed for sale.
If you look at DNJournal’s weekly sales data, it’s obvious that Sedo is slotting themselves into the $4k-$10k section of the market. If you’re a buyer or seller where that price range makes sense for you, then Sedo is your go-to place. This is not the case for transactions above that amount.
What could Sedo do with the revenue from more sales above $10k? Pound the pavement in China (and other countries) and sign up more registrars to handle their inventory.
UGLY:
The lack of two-factor authentication for logins is terrifying.
I’m tired of people complaining about the commission rates that are charged by marketplaces. This is a people-intensive operation, and people aren’t free. This is also an industry that demands constant re-investment by everyone. At ≥20% commission rates, we can expect more. And we should expect more.
Among fine-art dealers, commission rates of 50% have long been the norm – if you can even find a dealer who wants to handle your work.
Ok,have blockchainpaymentsystems.com on Sedo three months not one visit a statiscal anomaly imo moving my domains to etsy.com at least I can run Google analytics to Know the truth.