This was a question posed to me by Jeff Schneider, a fellow domainer and a member of Rick’s Board, the other day in response to a post I wrote.
At the time I told him that was a great question deserving of a post to answer.
There are of course many reasons why a domainer would sell their names at a TRAFFIC auction or a Domainfest, snapnames.com auction.
These live auction which are a part of domain trade shows are very good venues to liquidate domains and turn them into cash.
These venue sell millions of dollars in domains in just a few hours. The prices achieved at these live auction events have traditional been better than one’s at purely online auctions conducted by sedo.com, greatdomains.com, afternic.com and godaddy.com.
We certainly can’t speak for all domainers and the multitude of reasons people have for submitting domains into show auctions.
We can only give you our reasons.
Even through we do sell domains at retail, we still place some domains in these Large Auctions.
We price most to sell with reasonable reserves. We sold three at the last live traffic auction.
Could we have gotten more for these domains at retail.
Definitely.
So why do we do it?
It’s good for the industry.
To have a domain auction, you need to have domains.
The domains have to be priced to sell. Putting domains in with pie in the sky prices, doesn’t help.We think the auctions are important for the industry.
Most domainer’s believe these auctions are important for the industry.
The ability to turn domains into cash is important. It makes for a liquid market.
Having a liquid market is vital for the continued appreciation of domain values.
The TRAFFIC auctions and the DomainFest show auction garnered a lot of press. Many articles were written on these auctions almost all are very positive and highlight the value of domains.
These article cause additional people to come into the domain industry and to invest in domains,
Sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Somethings are more important that getting top dollar for every single domain you own.
You have to give back.
If your part of an industry, you have to do something to further the industry, not just your personal financial situation.
So we blog. We accept no ads, we make no money from it, and it takes at least an hour of my day, everyday.
We think its important for the industry to have voices, so we joined other domainer’s, late last year to express ours.
So we submit names to the auction that people will buy, because they are priced right and will help make for successful auctions.
So we buy at the auctions, not because all the domains we buy are the greatest bargains, although some are, but because it’s important to the industry for these auctions to be successful.
You can’t just take you also have to give.
I’m saving your post for the next time I make an offer on one of your names 🙂 🙂
byw…thanks for the time you put into your blog…if no one blogged most of us would be clueless about the undercurrents in the industry…that goes double for Ron Jacksons DNJ
Great post you have there.
Keep up the GREAT Work.
Great reasoning I hadn’t thought of and wasn’t expecting to hear . . . yet makes perfect sense.
Even when we don’t receive top dollar when when we sell . . . or pay bottom dollar when we buy.
In my zeal to support domainers I say many things from the heart. I realize that wars must be fought and people think, they must die. But is this really the reality or is it just something our ancestors told us that its just the way of the world.
We, including me, have been fed a lot of bull. I’m just wanting to let all the pioneers in this industry to know, that it is not patriotic to sacrifice their domains for peanuts. If you own .coms and they are comprised of meaningful letters, just ask yourself when is the next time they will create the alphabet? Yes some soldiers will become cannon fodder!, does it have to be you. I respect your opinion, I hope you can respect mine.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider P.S. I appreciate your forum Thank You
Domains are so interesting.
You may own many premium domain names that are unknown to me, I don’t doubt that…but there are many people who would question whether any WORDebiz.com is even worth a reg fee. I have many registrations that others would say are worthless too…in fact I have sold names others would claim worthless…zingbling.com, bargainist.com, etc – I think we all have.
There are various strategies. We sell names at “below wholesale” but pricing is always arbitrary unless the domain is a true ultrapremium with multiple offers coming through on a steady basis. And, there are less of these names that we all believe.
Many times, I will sell a name for $3000 that yes, maybe can be argued was worth $40,000 but if I can take that $3000 and pick up 6 – $500 domains of equal quality it makes for a great trade.
IN direct reference to the names that started this follow-up, many of the domains that are selling have little to no direct navigation PPC value. Thus development is needed. Were they GREAT buys, sure, but many of us then have thousands of great buys in our portfolios, yet sometimes they need to be set free just to validate any value whatsoever.
The names that sold were all very good names with definitely a higher value at some point, yet a spot sale was what occured.
Greg my friend, In your brilliant well researched personal attack. You left out a very important fact?
My response to you is any KEYWORDeBiz.com that is Branded, Short, and memorable, that reaches a target market is most valuable.
Time and patient truth will bear this out. Thank you for your opinion. CHOW , Jeff Schneider / USeBiz.com
Jeff
As far as your comments go, I think you are taking my post way further than It was clearly meant.
All I said is that sometimes you have to leave a few bucks on the table for the good of the industry.
I did not say you need to throw yourself on the sword for the greater good.
I did not say to sell and domain for $1,000 thats worth $50,000. I never said sell your names for peanuts.
I sold officemanager.com for $30K at the live auction. Could it have sold at $50K one day retail, probably.
The domain did not sell for peanuts, but I do think it sold for less than it could have retail.
What I am saying is that if your in an industry, and you believe something like the trade show auctions is important to the industry, then you have to do something, in furtherance of the industry.
Sell, buy, bid, do something.
Likewise if you believe we need a voice in government, representing our industry, then you have to give money to the ICA.
SO the point is support the activities that you believe will more the industry forward.
Without the hard work of Ron Jackson, Rick Schwartz, Frank, and may others, this would not be an industry.
Jeff –
NO desire for personal attacks; it does little good, but I reread my post and agree – in paragraph 1, that can be inferred for sure. I take accountability. And I fully agree with your last line with domains in general…”Time…will bear this out”.
Here are other examples that are not directed and could have been better used.
A personal example – hyperplanes.com and hyperjets.com: Are these names valuable – I think so, but selling them today may make them worthless or very little.
Another company, shop360.com sold AC360.com for $12k+ last week. I doubt I woud choose this 360 strategy, but I do have some 365’s. But, I think VR360 is cool.
The real point is, we all have strategies – some good, some bad. Last week we bought dad.net for $21,000. 99% of people think that was a stupid buy and I definitely do not argue it…not a huge .net fan myself and please people don’t send me your .net lists at $20k now – we are not in the market. But we wanted this name. So, it worked for us.
I am gonna close as I got off the point of this thread. Jeff I wish you the best, whether we agree or not, it all comes to personal strategy.
My other belief is a domain portfolio millionaire is really broke if the only valuation given is his own.
“My other belief is a domain portfolio millionaire is really broke if the only valuation given is his own.”
—so even a $300 per domain sale at least solidifies a value versus a $7 expense.
I suspect whoever sold these names also has a multi-thousand name portfolio and wanted some liquidity and peace of mind.
Greg
I agree with your statement
“The real point is, we all have strategies – some good, some bad”
There are so many ways of investing in domains. So many theories, so are bang on, some are less so but still successful. Others may not pan out.
We all have a different way of looking at the business, and success can come many directions.
continuing with the good vs bad strategy…
Even the guy who registered all combinations of the 6 letters in a circle around a focal letter on a qwerty keyboard, for Ex: G – bhytfv.com or hytfvb.com and 500+ combinations more. I believe this idea is genius on some level, but idiotic on another.
I personally would not waste the annual reg fees on these domains, but the value for this guy is he has EVERY combination possible. Due to that fact and some amazing marketing, maybe it is sellable.
The cool thing about domains is there is just ONE. That fact alone makes a name I believe is worthless whether it is a KEYWORDeBiz, 360, juygbn (around J now) sellable for thousands if just one guy registered it and now JUST ONE other guy really wants it. It only takes 2 in this business…the registrant who really like the name and a party who wants it even more.
I know for a fact, we own at least 500 domains I like and value somewhat highly (say even $1000) that in reality most likely never sell. But at $7 reg fees, I only need 1 of 142 to sell to break even…and those odds with good keyword and brand domains I like.
This is a great business. Many minds, different strategies, and the a bunch of opinions.
. . . and it is exactly because this market is so imperfect, fragmented, idea, and yes–even opinion–rich, that it is as vibrant as it is.
So many options. So many ways to profit. So many paths to success.
You can have the stock market.
I’ll take domains instead.
Good context to read which delivers information regarding the topic and very useful information to hang out with
Yes, I too believe that the original post and follow-up comments are truly insightful and provide very valuable and thought provoking information.
Wow!!! No plug, but while writing last parts of the above paragraph, it just flashed across my mind that I most probably got the domain ThoughtProvoking.info sometime last year. Off to check, and may be to start developing it!
Before I go, thank you for this thread, everybody.