BuyDomains secret revealed !!

[wohl]

Originally posted by safesys
Wohl, negotiating the best price where both parties are happy is not ripping them off - its called business. I find it odd when other people feel empowered to determine what is a fair and equitable price level for something they do not own that is used in a manner with which they may not be familiar.

Nobody is forcing them to buy the domain - its hardly a necessity in the same way food and water is.

Of course domain sellers ask more than they would pay for the domain, otherwise there would be no margin.

Maybe your own price level is more indicative of your name quality/negotiation ability moreso than any moral stance.

Your view of what is a fair price for a domain name is misguided or perhaps you just don’t want to know the truth. A domain seller has the monopoly on a particular name. Whilst there is a market to set domain prices in general, if the seller asks a high price for one particular name and the buyer has a particular requirement for that, he has nowhere else to turn. If you wouldn’t pay $100 for a domain yourself, it is blatantly unreasonable to ask $1000 for it. If you don’t think you can make a worthwhile profit without ripping people off, you don’t need to buy.

The average quality of my names is higher than any of the big domain seller sites, as I only registered names where I could justify a $300 or above price tag. I have sold 300 domains equals a quarter of my collection in the last year, that says it all.

And it doesn’t take any negotiating skills to get lucky and sell a domain for a high amount, just try to persuade the buyer that you think that the crappy name is actually very ‘memorable and descriptive’ and only drop the price once it’s clear you’re getting nowhere. Preferably have a site up that makes it look like you’ve put a lot of effort into the domain too, and say that you're not that bothered about selling as the domain is already bringing in revenue (never mind that it's only a few dollars per year).

 

Once again you are saying that selling at a price higher than *you* (alledgedy) choose to is "ripping people off". I disagree.

If both parties are happy with the price, then that it is a good deal - if the buyer doesn't want to pay, they don't have to. Afterall, they are looking to use something that I already have in use and am happy with.

My core revenue is from ppc conversion, so unlike you I do not seek to sell such a significant proportion of my domains - the sales I close are just additional income and as I said, I pick and choose deals and generally I sell to bigger companies who can afford the asking price (where it may be an absolute fraction of their marketing budget)

The page layouts are not to try and make people think work has been put into them to inflate the price - the page designs are there for the core ppc revenue. From my own experience, development of a name has little bearing on its sales value as the buyer invariably wants to just use the domain with their own web site/marketing.

I do question whether your sales values are by choice or imposed by the market on you. Can you give an example of a great domain you sold for such a low price to illustrate your charitable nature towards the business community at large.

 

[Drewbert]

>Well, I have 1,200+ domains all pointed to one place and have had various for-
>sale notices on and off on that page over the last 3 years, and I've never had a
>C&D or URDP action against me.

Now you've done it - gone and jinxed yourself.

>It all depends on how you select your names, how generic they are, and
>whether you check for potential "nasties" like trademarks at registration time.

Tell that to the poor sod who regged canadian.biz

 

Originally posted by wohl
A domain seller has the monopoly on a particular name.

That's like saying someone has a monopoly on the land where his house is built. While true, it's much different than having a monopoly on all the real estate in one region...say the entire state of New York.

If people want to live exactly where you live, then yes, they have to match your price. But if they want to live anywhere else, even next door to you, then your selling price doesn't affect them.


Whilst there is a market to set domain prices in general, if the seller asks a high price for one particular name and the buyer has a particular requirement for that, he has nowhere else to turn.


There is always an alternative domain name to a name desired, although the alternative may not be as short, memorable or marketing-friendly. That's where added value comes in, the prime principle of all legitimate market transactions.

The only exception here is where someone owns the domain corresponding to a company's exact and unique business name. If the domain registrant does not have a legitimate use for this domain, then there is a problem, but there are a number of well-established legal rememdies for legitimate Intellectual Property issues, such as this particular issue.


If you don’t think you can make a worthwhile profit without ripping people off, you don’t need to buy.


Who's being ripped off? The function of a domain name is very straight-forward...there's no sawdust in the transmission. What you see is what you get.

As for what you may feel to be high prices, that's the way a market economy works. Other than essential goods (like staple foods or life-saving pharmaceuticals like insulin), a free market is the best way to determine the true value of any good or service. If a certain price is negotiated between two parties, then that price is the fair price.

This economic freedom, the freedom to sell at any price you want (again, making an exception for essential goods and services, which specific domains are not), is an essential element of our overall political freedom. Freedoms which, in North America, have been hard-fought and hard-won.

This is such a fundamental element of market economics, I can't believe it is being labelled as somehow unfair. Try living in a command economy for a few years (as my parents did in Eastern Europe), and you'll see what unfair really feels like.


And it doesn’t take any negotiating skills to get lucky and sell a domain for a high amount...


You must be the greatest salesman of all time.

If you find selling domain names for too much money easy, you should drop everything and hit the lecture circuit as a sales guru.

Anyone who finds selling domains so easy that he actually has to control himself from selling domains for more than he thinks he can get should be out there teaching the world to sell--and he'd make a fortune. (Although it may take him a little longer to make a fortune than someone else with the same talent but less scruples, since he wouldn't want to charge too much.)

A Mystified Miles


[edit for typo]