closed Best channel to sell undeveloped two word .coms? E.g sightlive.com, carhabit.com...

[benn]

I've read much of this forum any many sources, but still not clear which of the many options would be best to sell a handful of decent domains - would appreciate any input.

I've acquired these over the years for startup projects that never started, so they generally have zero traffic, years old registration, zero SEO history (good or bad), and have had trademark clearance and generally make sense as marketable company names. I'm not sure if they qualify as "premium", but they seem to be better names than many sales I see going through sedo/afternic/dnjournal news.

A few examples (all .com):

car habit
loud hawk
find buy own
just buy this

I don't have an urgent need to liquidate, but will never have much time to develop them. Is there any value in "brandable" outside of super-premium domains? Any chance to get a broker handling these? List them on sedo/afternic/every random marketplace? Post on forums? Pay someone to develop them?

Ben

 

[Jack Gordon]

Muxt,

Others may disagree with me on this, but I have to be brutally honest with you.

None of those domains have any inherent value. It is highly unlikely, in my opinion, that you will find an interested buyer for any of them, much less a broker willing to get in the middle.

If you have no interest in developing them, your best bet is to let them expire and keep moving forward with whatever you've got that does make you money.

I see names dropping every day that have more potential than any on this list. You are just not going to get a worthwhile return on any effort you choose to put into this endeavor.

I am sorry to be so blunt, but if you follow my advice, you'll be much further ahead.

 

[katherine]

I agree.
I don't see much resale value in these domains.
Develop them. Or trim your portfolio if you won't be using them.

There is value in brandable domains, but yours do not really fit my understanding of brandable.

PS: welcome to the forum

 

[benn]

Thanks for the swift replies! I'd always suspected there wasn't much resale based on brand potential (I've been holding them for personal projects), however I keep seeing oddly high sales for similar names pop up. Are those legit reports, or part of an elaborate scheme enacted by the healthy domain speculation industry?

E.g. from http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm -

buylive.com $10,000 sedo (undeveloped, no rank/traffic)
viewhouse.com $10,000 afternic (ditto)

I can't imagine paying for those based on metrics, and they they don't seem particularly strong on keywords or brandability...

 

[Jack Gordon]

Do you play the lottery?

If those sales are real, and they probably are, they are examples of the combination of the right keywords finding the right buyer at the right time. However, those are better keywords that make more sense than yours. And the ones that are more comparable to yours are two words, not three.

Is there a chance that yours could sell? Yeah. Is it something you should gamble on? You could, but I wouldn't.

There is no harm in throwing them up on Sedo or Godaddy auctions or whatever. Just keep your expectations in check, because those marketplaces are overflowing with overpriced mediocrity, and yours won't stand out.

 

[benn]

Makes sense. I'm not acquiring names to flip, and plausibly will use these eventually (unlike a non-winning lottery ticket), so I'll continue to let them hang out there. FWIW, I recently listed on sedo and afternic, but got fewer pings that simply throwing up a "domain may be for sale" static page. Sedo seems to be best at getting the attention of appraisal scammers. I've offered them all a great deal on my personal appraisal service, but so far no bites. The next one I plan to agree to the appraisal, but as we go through the process explain that I need help getting the payment to the appraiser from funds stuck in Nigeria. Hopefully they can help me with that.

If you mind a couple more - Any more value in short-non-word-yet-pronouncables? (for lack of a better term, I assume there is an industry one I don't know). E.g,

LVLL.com
LLVL.com

Or domain hacks?

Again, I'm not investing other than renewal, and only in names I have may plausibly use. Or give to someone who wanted to do something awesome with them.

 

[katherine]

Many sales are one of a kind. But some domain names are clearly better than others. Accordingly the likelihood that they will sell is higher.

 

[Theo]

A large portion of Frank Schilling's portfolio consists of two-word .com 'brandables'. I ascribe to the same model as well, and have sold many over the years for $x,xxx+ a piece. A few recent examples, all .com:

music hits
advance capital
nano sites
molon lave
novo tempo
new york places
survey media
kiss bank
data storm

The key is in the words themselves, they have to make some sort of sense. The ones you listed aren't exactly great combinations. Both Flippa and NameJet are good listing venues (the latter requires an invitation) and end user sales via 'cold calls' might work as well. Best of luck!

 

[Biggie]

could have best leverage, if someone contacted you for loudhawk.


i ignore hacks

Good luck!

 

[benn]

Thanks Theo, that gives me a much better sense. Seems like finding the right buyer is key, as someone starting a big data company is going to love "data storm", the way I loved "car habit" when thinking about a car enthusiast site. Of course, odds are a big data company founder is working with a lot more cash than a car enthusiast founder. ($8 was definitely in my budget).

A couple of yours seem much more keyword than brand though - e.g. "music hits", "new york places". Were those developed at all? Did you find buyers going after that space or speculators?

Cold calls seems to be the best so far for what I have. Getting a great hit rate on people who call themselves "Miyk" on Facebook.

 

[Domain Master]

... I've offered them all a great deal on my personal appraisal service, but so far no bites. The next one I plan to agree to the appraisal...

DO NOT DO THIS. DO NOT AGREE TO THE APPRAISAL SERVICE... ever... it is a scam...always IMO

 

[benn]

DO NOT DO THIS. DO NOT AGREE TO THE APPRAISAL SERVICE... ever... it is a scam...always IMO

I think you missed my jokes

My agreement (in jest) was contingent on them wiring me money prior to my purchasing the appraisal service. They seemed to immediately understand my not so subtle comparison of their effort to a classic Nigerian scam, and stopped replying. I must give them credit for the quick pickup on that.

 

[Theo]

A couple of yours seem much more keyword than brand though - e.g. "music hits", "new york places". Were those developed at all? Did you find buyers going after that space or speculators?

No, none was developed at the point of sale; they were all parked.

 

[Magnatolia]

I think findbuyown and justbuythis could have potential. The first imo has potential in any product sale comparison project. Or perhaps a financial loans website. Justbuythis could be a potential recommendation site. Although it would be tricky as there are already big sites out there. One thing I do is I use AdWords search data to find keyword domains that have decent monthly searches. However these phrase searches don't get a lot of traffic so you would need to target different keywords in your SEO.

 

[Jack Gordon]

Any domain can have value once successfully developed. The OP's dilemma is in liquidating domains that are undeveloped and lack any inherent value in their quality.

Many try, most fail. It is an exercise in futility with domains like these.