Wow Over The Weekend It Looks Like I Won The Award For The “Most Overpriced Domain Sale of 2011″
Well over the weekend it looks like I won an award from DomainNameMojo for having the “Most Overpriced Sale Of 2011″”
Well thanks
Where can I pick up the award?
The blogger goes on (and on) to state:
“As you may already know, WWMI sold BoatingIndustry.com for $25,000 on Afternic.”
“The domain is far overpriced. ”
“Afternic evaluates the price of domains to protect the integrity of their domain name sales platform. In no way, shape or form is this domain even worth 10% of the sales amount.”
“CampingWorld.com paid $25,000 to acquire BoatingIndustry.com. The domain stats are mediocre at best, especially when it was originally registered back in 2002. Afternic has notified me to reduce the price of several domains that are worth far more than the domain they allowed to sell at multiple times its worth.”
“Afternic claims they evaluate domain prices to protect the integrity of their sales platform.”
“What I don’t understand is how they let an overpriced domain such as BoatingIndustry.com to sell for $25,000. There is no way to justify the sale.”
“I consider BoatingIndustry.com the most overpriced sale of 2011.”
“In my opinion, WWMI and Afternic overprice their domains to take advantage of the end-user. End-users don’t stand a chance in the face of these companies. These companies have a used-car salesman mentality, which makes it hard for average domainers to function without experiencing conflict when contacting an end-user.”
“IMO, WWMI and Afternic seem to focus on maximizing every sale to the fullest instead of running a fair system. ”
“IMO, as an end-user, you can’t expect to buy a domain from these domain companies at a fair price. Be prepared to overspend to acquire a domain.”
“In my opinion, they will take advantage of the end-user until they get the price they want.”
“I respect TheDomains blog owner for maximizing his sales, but it does nothing to improve the quality of our lives.”
“The domain offers he rejects sometimes infuriates end-users to point in which they are unprofessional to average domainers. The WWMI owner already overcharges internal tourism bureaus on visit (city or country) dot com domains.”
So you got me.
I’m in business to make money.
Yet in my defense, I’m not one of those domainers that tell every end user that comes along that I will only consider offers into the six figures as some do and have done for years.
If we overpriced all the domain we had would we consistently sell seven figures of domains every year, year after year?
Would companies be able to buy a domain for chump change, or what the blogger would consider a small fortune and then move on to win the TechCrunch Disputer award and the $50K cash price or become a site that is seen on every TV program for several weeks.
So my contribution back to the domain community comes not from giving my property away for pennies on the dollars but by publishing TheDomains.com and giving all who want to read it some insight into the business of domaining, hopefully to improve their bottom lines.
To that end here’s a couple of more thoughts:
Has anyone you ever sold a domain too for too little come back to you and thanked you?
Offered you extra money, a bonus for giving them the chance to acquire a domain for a bargain basement price?
Has anyone in a overwhelming sense of guilt sent you more money after they hit it big on a domain you sold way to cheap?
I didn’t think so.
Are you still selling domains based on “The domain’s stats?
Really in 2011?
“The keywords are not even searched 1,000 times per month. ”
Who cares.
If you have a brandable and/or memorable domain, or one that covers an industry for chump change, then you’re a chump.
Now back to that award.
Feel free to engrave
I will proudly display it right next to the Domainer of the Year Award and the Domain Hall Of Fame plaque that sits proudly in my office.
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Jason
Do you have your domain names listed for sale at Afternic.com?
@Jason
You don’t need a “reputation” to sell at high prices, you need domain that are of a high quality or names people specifically need/want.
“For example, I send an e-mail to congratulate a buyer of a domain. I then offer 3 domains to the buyer at $300 less than what he paid for his one domain. He responds back with a price request.”
I’m not sure why people think this strategy would work. A buyer buys something they specifically need, then someone emails them trying to selling something “similar” (which usually isn’t really similar in quality) and wonders why it doesn’t sell. For the people who aren’t selling regularly (or getting regular interest) the problem is the domains.
@Mike,
I have 80-100 domain names up for sale at Afternic.
@ Snoopy,
The strategy has worked. That is only one technique. I’ve used several strategies. I sold a nice builder domain to a high traffic resume company, several tax domains, movie domains, two dozen job domains and others, and others.
People do want the domains. Price and too much information is the problem.
I once offended another due to the price. However, I managed to repair the situation to make additional sales.
Your comments suggest that I don’t know the difference between a quality domain and a bad domain. At least you’re consistent.
The person who I recently contacted wanted the domains. People don’t request prices if they don’t need a domain. I also receive rejections passing on domains.
I never offer what a person/end-user doesn’t need. I’m not going to offer a movie domain to a taxi company or a job domain to an education company.
I do sell regularly, but I don’t produce the prices that most get on Afternic. I have received good prices in the past. You seem to judge my experience based on me mentioning those two industry domains. I can’t shake those domains off from any discussion.
If I share too much information about why I’m selling a domain, then many end-users use that to deny me a sale. I lost several sales being too personable. I can’t mention student loans, struggling, unfortunate events, and etc.. In the business world, people will use your weaknesses against you.
I research companies to offer relevant keywords they use. Your argument is that quality is the problem. However, there are many domains on many platforms that are of quality and don’t sell. Reputation, contacts, trust and past business deals have a lot to do with making good sales. Luck matters too.
In my opinion, I believe my dependence on selling domains to survive has put me in a position to lose sales. If domains were only a hobby, I’m sure I would have better results. The worst part of domaining is losing out on a sale you need, especially when a people contacts you to ask for the price. You should never lose a sale when there is interest to acquire the domain.
I know the difference between a quality domain name and a bad domain. You can test my knowledge and determine whether I can differentiate various domains. I don’t think my lack of making consistent big sales is due to owning the wrong domain. Some businesses don’t want to spend the money.
If you own keywords these companies use and depend on, then how am I offering a domain they don’t want and need? My problem is dependence. Things never work out at the right time. Two top 10 have told me to either network or to not take up on domaining when I have limited resources. Showing any signs of needing to sell a domain will put you in an inferior position.
If the DNJournal reports a dot info or dot info to the dot com or dot net you own in that exact name, I don’t think I’m offering less quality. What if you are asking far less than they paid for their name?
One domainer told me they would not compete against or reward another that beats them to various domains. People will reward domainers who manage to retain a domain name for a long period of time (domain age is important).
I’m sure you’ve seen less quality domains sell at much higher prices than your domains. You assume that my interpretation of quality is the problem. One past buyer noted they overpaid on a domain; they were not in a position to purchase another domain.
Another who left a comment on this blog wanted one of my dot org with 6 million average keyword results and 80,000 exact searches. However, they didn’t have the funds available to make the investment, even though the domain would help fuel their project.
@Mike,
I have 80-100 domain names up for sale at Afternic.
@ Snoopy,
The sales strategy has worked. That is only one technique. I’ve used several strategies. I sold a nice builder domain to a high traffic resume company, several taxi domains, movie domains, two dozen job domains and others, and others.
People do want the domains. Price and too much information is the problem.
I once offended a few end-users due to the asking price. However, I managed to repair the situation to make additional sales.
Your comments suggest that I don’t know the difference between a quality domain and a bad domain. At least you’re consistent.
The person who I recently contacted wanted the domains. People don’t request prices if they don’t need a domain. I have also received many rejections passing on domains.
I never offer what a person/end-user doesn’t need. I’m not going to offer a movie domain to a taxi company or a job domain to an education company.
I do sell regularly, but I don’t produce the prices that most get on Afternic. I have received good prices in the past. You seem to judge my experience based on me mentioning those two industry domains. I can’t shake those domains off from any discussion.
If I share too much information about why I’m selling a domain, then many end-users use that to deny me a sale. I lost several sales being too personable. I can’t mention student loans, struggling, unfortunate events, and etc.. In the business world, people will use your weaknesses against you.
I research companies to offer relevant keywords they use. Your argument is that quality is the problem. However, there are many domains sitting on a few domain platforms that are of quality and don’t sell. Reputation, contacts, trust and past business deals have a lot to do with making good sales. Luck matters too.
In my opinion, I believe my dependence on selling domains to survive has put me in a position to lose sales. If domains were only a hobby, I’m sure I would produce better results. The worst part of domaining is losing out on a sale you need, especially when a lead contacts you to request the price. You should never lose a sale when there is interest to acquire the domain.
I know the difference between a quality domain name and a bad domain. You can test my knowledge and determine whether I can differentiate various domains. I don’t think my lack of making consistent big sales is due to owning the wrong domains. Some businesses don’t want to spend the money. Offering 90′s domains to some companies that don’t understand the value is a problem.
I contact past buyers on the DNJournal sales list because apparently they understand the value. You don’t have to invest time into explaining the value of the domain name to them. One person who purchased Frank’s domains would have bought a few domains if I owned two resume keywords he wanted. He didn’t need additional service domains.
If you own keywords these companies use and depend on, then how am I offering a domain they don’t want and need? Mayne they don’t want to spend the money. Their budget may not permit them to spend. One city wanted all my city domains in their area; however their operating budget didn’t allow for a purchase. One of the domains was the dot org of their city, a GEO city rentals, apartments and hotels dot com.
My problem is dependence. I’m willing to drop prices way down during times when I need to make a sale. Things never work out at the right time. Two top 10 have told me to either network or to not take up on domaining when I have limited resources. Showing any signs of needing to sell a domain will put you in an inferior position.
If the DNJournal reports a dot info or dot usto the dot com or dot net you own in that exact name, I don’t think I’m offering less quality. What if you are asking far less than they paid for their name? Have you considered that? Some people have limited funds available to make purchases.
One domainer told me they would not compete against or reward another that beats them to various domains. People will reward domainers who manage to retain a domain name for a long period of time (domain age is important).
I’m sure you’ve seen less quality domains sell at prices must higher than your domains. You assume that my interpretation of quality is the problem. One past buyer noted that they overpaid on a domain; they were not in a position to purchase another domain.
Another who left a comment on this blog wanted one of my dot org with 6 million average keyword results and 80,000 exact searches. However, they didn’t have the funds available to make the investment, even though the domain would help fuel their project. I would have negotiated a good deal.