Do domaines really know what there property is worth?

dcristo · Nov 5, 2006

My guess is 99% of them do not.

Pretty much every response I get from an email asking for a price or range, I get the canned response, "What's your offer?".

Are they just waiting for that one sucker, or more to the point, do they just have no idea what their name is worth and they are trying to get a feel for what the interested buyer may offer?

I'm thinking the latter...

Sonny · Nov 6, 2006

The same name can sell for $100, $5000, or zero. This industry will never get to the point where you can pinpoint a price-range within say 30-50 percent. There are certain "rough estimates" that can be made in a few areas (mostly by resellers), but there are just too many variables that come into play for appraisals/values ever to be totally relied upon. Besides, each name is totally unique.

This creates great opportunities to those who know what the hell is going on and are in tune with the market every day. Most people do not know the correct way to approach people and acquire the great names, and most people have no clue how to extract maximum value from their own sales. That's what makes it a great business. If there wasn't a lot of clutter then you would be able to develop a computer program to trade names and you could train a monkey to do it.

To be successful you have to be able to maneuver and adjust on the fly.

Theo · Nov 6, 2006

You can sell high, if your domains are worth buying. If they fall in the junkyard category, it doesn't matter what your "range is".

True though, negotiations can be stressful:

Me: make offer
Sedo: $1,000
Me: $8,000
Sedo: $2,000
Me: $7,000 final
Sedo: $2,222
Me: Cancel

I've held onto domains for years, to make thousandfold revenue in the end. The secret is to find a niche, stick to it and make money while waiting to sell.

dcristo · Nov 6, 2006

I don't think I am a bad negotiator, but negotiating goes both ways as well. I find the majority of domainers to be impersonal and unprofressional. Makes buying domains that much harder.

Rockefeller · Nov 6, 2006

Its true. I've had domain names that I thought were junk. They were just sitting in my account waiting to expire and a guy emailed me offering $2,000. On the other hand, you could have a great name and just be in the wrong place at the wrong time and never get a great offer and end up selling it low.

A domain name is only worth what someone is going to pay for it. (excl. PPC)