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Domain auction process is fatally flawed and simply will not work well

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David G

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Some time ago I did a lengthy post regarding the fact my experience has been that auctions simply do not work for domains or websites. At that time I mentioned I had an excellent active website (this was several yrs ago when domains were in their heyday).

It had some great and costly Cold Fusion data based programming, it was up and running approx 2-1/2 yrs., had good traffic with about 35,000 (over 2 plus yrs) hits, was ranked well in the SE's, we even had more that 1,000 PAID MEMBERS who paid a $67-yr fee to participate and got some other benefits too, not directly related to the auction site,

Out of the 1,000 or so domains (some with developed sites) listed for sale (many good names), we had ZERO sales and few bids, that's right - no sales at all. Granted, the average asking price was more than the ridiculously low prices at DNF auctions, but I feel were still reasonable based on the overall quality of the domains.

The prices were NOT the problem except in only 1 case I was aware of. The fact is almost no one wanted to bid. Lots of traffic but little activity. We also sold finacial books on the same site and they always sold good. In fact, the books sold so well we ran out of inventory and stopped selling books.

After much thought and discussion and hearing from other domainers we came to the conclusion the domain auction process is totally flawed and fudamentally unsound. Few if any buyers want to engage in a bidding process on domains. I finally closed the website in disgust, after losing lots of money on it and untold thousands of hrs of time too over 2 plus yrs.

Why would buyers want to compete with others and drive up the price or deal with unknown buy prices beyond the reserve when there are zillions of names for sale? It is so much better to simply check Whois and send an email or PM and make an offer with no competition from others as in an auction environment.

It is a buyers market, not a sellers market, and auctions are often best used on something which is conceived as or is in short supply or a unique product and service, and in mostly a buyers market. Most of the domains are not that good and as such are far from being unique and in short supply as there are so many other options including similar names which are unreg'd.

These are reasons I have not been concerned about my total inability to even visit the live auctions since day one due to my computer setup not being compatable with the auctions Javascript. I would never use the live auctions as a seller or buyer, even if my Java worked so I did not worry about it.

P.S. I should make it clear my site was not a live auction site like dnf. It was an auction site but did not have bids only at certain times but 24X7, similar to Afternic. I really don't think that matters much, in fact I feel a live auction site may even be less successful overall, it simply is a flawed concept overall.

Just my opinion. Any thoughts from others, perhaps other domainers who had auction sites, I know there are several of them here (and understand they were also unsuccesful).
 
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beatz

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Disagree.

My main concern has never been to increase revenue for the DNF owners, sorry.Nothing against it, but it doesnt have to be my main concern as a member.
Neither did i ask for an ownerchange or that this forum is turned into a retail sales platform.

As said, this forum has been a place to interact with other domainers, which would not be the case anymore if retail buyers suddenly become DNF members.

Again, no one so far has been able to answer my questions regarding how you wanna calculate your asking price structure as soon as retailers are able to access the auctions and the for sale section.
 
Dynadot - Expired Domain Auctions

chatcher

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Originally posted by Tippy
Why would you punish someone because there name simply didnt sell.

Because a name that didn't sell was overpriced. (Some names are overpriced at $1.) Overpricing should be discouraged to improve the auction.

(When I say overpriced, I mean overpriced in this venue, i.e. reseller-to-reseller. Many "$1" names have been sold for $500 or more in other markets.)

My own preference would be that all auctions start at $1, no reserve, and let the bidders determine the value. Sellers who aren't comfortable risking selling for too low a price can use the for sale forum to sell.

When it comes down to it, buyers are what make an auction successful. Without them, the auction cannot succeed. With them, sellers will come in droves. The acid test for any proposed change in the rules is whether it will benefit buyers. If it does, in the long run it will benefit everyone.
 

Edwin

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Originally posted by chatcher
My own preference would be that all auctions start at $1, no reserve, and let the bidders determine the value. Sellers who aren't comfortable risking selling for too low a price can use the for sale forum to sell.

Interesting alternative! This could also reduce the number of names for sale while driving up the average quality...
 

Cash Is King

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Originally posted by beatz
Disagree.

My main concern has never been to increase revenue for the DNF owners, sorry.Nothing against it, but it doesnt have to be my main concern as a member.
Neither did i ask for an ownerchange or that this forum is turned into a retail sales platform.

As said, this forum has been a place to interact with other domainers, which would not be the case anymore if retail buyers suddenly become DNF members.

Again, no one so far has been able to answer my questions regarding how you wanna calculate your asking price structure as soon as retailers are able to access the auctions and the for sale section.

Beatz

You bring up some interesting points and tough questions. Thinking outside the box and using your words that this is a forum, I would consider eliminating the Domains for sale section completely. In its place could be a professional auction listing, similar to others on the web that can be used by the resellers only.

Then you would be able to discuss domains 100% as you wish at Dnforum.

As far as pricing goes on the live auction, a mix between wholesale and retail sounds fair for end users.
 

Tippy

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If I feel my Domain is worth $100 who gets the final say as to wheather or not its valid, the buyer, right.

I've listed a name for sale here on the sales thread for much less then what it went for on the Auction. Why the person didnt grab it at half price while it was listed for sale I don't know.

As they say a Domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it on that day, at that time.

A Domain that might not sell for $10 this week might sell for $50 the next, depends if the right person sees it and when.

Mike
 

A D

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A new committee to analyse the future business development of the site will be formed to resolve these issues.

Will consist of 10-12 people that have ideas on the direction of the site.

The committee will dicsuss the business developments of this site and future direction and report back to the members.

-=DCG=-
 

beatz

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Originally posted by WebHold


I would consider eliminating the Domains for sale section completely.

Well i'm not against a for sale section or auction in general, in fact it's quite nice to have them both - but only as long as its reseller to resellers only.

I'm totally against this nonsense idea of bringing retail people on this forum.

As said before, if the new owners feel they HAVE to bring retail buyers here, fine, just don't bring them HERE but build a sister site like DNFnames.com or something where we all can list our domains for RETAIL prices, have a RETAIL auction or whatever.

But not here.
 
Y

_Yakov_

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Originally posted by DotComGod
A new committee to analyse the future business development of the site will be formed to resolve these issues.

Will consist of 10-12 people that have ideas on the direction of the site.

The committee will dicsuss the business developments of this site and future direction and report back to the members.

-=DCG=-

Am I in ? :rolleyes:
 

Spider

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I would like to be one of the 10-12. Not sure if you already have a core group or not.

Thanks.
Jason E. Hopkins
 

Cash Is King

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Smart business decision DCG and thanks for listening. :)
 

izopod

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Originally posted by Gregr


I nominate Coolhost as chairman. :)

..but first. Let's take a poll!! :laugh:

j/k... CoolHost is a consensus builder!
 

CoolHost.com

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Errrr ... thanks!?! :eek: :D

But seriously ... THANKS DCG for listening to everything, sometimes even the whining and complaining can lead to some good "constructive criticism", or at least ignite discussion!
I look forward to seeing the results of the committee, whomever they may be (as long as it isn't comprised of formerly banned members). ;)
I appreciate you posting here, MORE than you can imagine.
Everything's now back to :cool: ... see you.
 

DomainOgre

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Are the 10 to 12 people going be to be members of this forum or people from the outside? IMO, it should be active members of this forum or at least have a few on the committee from this forum.
 

A D

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They will be a group of people that are here, understand this industry, can bring constructive ideas to the table and wish to profit from it.

-=DCG=-
 

CoolHost.com

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Originally posted by DomainOgre
Are the 10 to 12 people going be to be members of this forum or people from the outside? IMO, it should be active members of this forum or at least have a few on the committee from this forum.

I think the only requirements are that they may not be green, and have more than two teeth! :eek: :D
Just kiddin', Ogre ... I'm sure we'll be apprised on this aspect shortly.
Things are definitely looking up.
 

DomainOgre

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LOL CoolHost. Who on earth could you be talking about?

DCG, sounds great then. I am glad you are taking the bull by the horns on this one and getting something done.
 

CoolHost.com

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Originally posted by DomainOgre
LOL CoolHost. Who on earth could you be talking about?

DCG, sounds great then. I am glad you are taking the bull by the horns on this one and getting something done.

Errrr ... I dunno! LOL, Ogre. :D
PS. Yes, thanks DCG.
:cool:
 

Duke

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This IS Wednesday. What changes were announced before today? From the auction list for Sun. night 5-11 , looks like everything is the same for this week.
 
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