Domain valued at $23K by valuate/estibot, true estimation?

[Icenevermelts]

Hello all,
I ran by a domain recently that was sold for around $400 and I was about to buy it, it was appraised at valuate for $23K, I just want to know how true is this appraisal? I know that far not all good keyword domains can be valued that much with estibot or valuate. Should I have bought that domain name ?

 

[stewie]

without knowing the domain its hard to say if it's worth $400 or not ,,,,, but the appraisal at valuate for $23K... to me is worth nothing.

JMO

 

[amplify]

Same without knowing the name.

However, if the ROI is good on your side and an end user with fat pockets comes by, you can start negotiations there.

 

[Theo]

Estibot might appear to be a hit or miss at times, but more often it produces numbers closer to what a domain should sell for. It can't be the sole source of determining a domain's true value.

 

[amplify]

Estibot might appear to be a hit or miss at times, but more often it produces numbers closer to what a domain should sell for. It can't be the sole source of determining a domain's true value.

Tell that to Alex.

 

[Theo]

Tell that to Alex.

Any tool that is imperfect can be used to prove one's point.

 

[amplify]

Sure can, sold me on Estibot appraisals. Time to hit up Flippa and grab me some $23k domains with developed websites for $100!

 

[Theo]

Sure can, sold me on Estibot appraisals. Time to hit up Flippa and grab me some $23k domains with developed websites for $100!

But I never said you should treat Estibot as gospel. When it's accurate, it's quite accurate and when it fails, it does so miserably.

 

[Diabro]

Icenevermelts there is no automatic domain appraisal tool that is accurate. Sure, at times they may give a true valuation from time to time but I do not wear my broken watch because it is right twice a day.

 

[katherine]

^ sums it up pretty well

Any automated appraisal is for entertainment purposes only (like the daily horoscope).

Should you have bought that domain name ?
Maybe, if you are certain you would have fetched 23K or more. Would you ?

Without knowing the domain in question, we can't tell if fair value is closer to $400 or 23K.

 

[Skinny]

Estibot might appear to be a hit or miss at times, but more often it produces numbers closer to what a domain should sell for. It can't be the sole source of determining a domain's true value.

There are a ton of factors that go into how one may put value in a name, and without knowing the name it would be hard to really tell you what it's worth or if you should have bought it.

Estibot is just one factor, but with everything it needs to be taken with a grain of salt?

Just because Estibot says a domain is worth $23k does it mean it's actually worth 23k? No.
Just because Estibot says a domain is worth $23k does it mean you will sell it for 23k? No.
Just because Estibot says a domain is worth $23k does it mean you won't sell it for more than 23k? No.

Estibot is hit and miss, but I use it more as an indicator of a good vs. bad name, instead of a hard valuation.
And even having said that Estibot is not always accurate.

So much goes into valuing a domain (not in order):

- Extention: Preference for the .com
- Length: The shorter the better
- Niche: Growing vs decreasing niche
- Age of Domain: The older the better
- Ad Competition: The higher the better
- Other TLD Extentions taken: The more the better
- Term(s) Used: The more common the better
- etc.

Those are just a few. I've probably missed some.
Also some domainers do well buying and selling names that fly in the face of everything I just listed.

So there isn't one recipe and you definitely can't blindly believe what Estibot spits out.

But I think it can be a useful tool if it's used as a part of a bigger picture of evaluating the value of a domain.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Johnn]

If I can sell what Estibot appraise then I should be a Billionaire now.

I stay away from MessMeBot for the time being to make sure that I am not a Billionaire yet!

 

[Icenevermelts]

The domain was DownTownSandiego.com

 

[simon]

The domain was DownTownSandiego.com

although the name is 15 years old, I dont see much value in the name. 400$ is the maximum that I would pay for this name...

 

[katherine]

This domain has expired. Please renew it at Dynadot.com

The price is quite high, assuming the sale is legit (where was it reported ?), it may have been a developed website and not just a domain sale.
Many sales are flukes too, a domain may sell for a good price once but never sell ever again. This particular domain is not high value in my eyes, but everything is possible with domains.
But it seems extremely unlikely that such a sale would repeat itself.

 

[Skinny]

Alright so let's review now that you have listed the domain.

By just looking at Estibot.com you would think that the domain is a great domain that will sell for $23k.

However, let's look at a number of other factors.

Extention: .com (good)
Words: 3 (not great)
Length: 16 characters (not great)
Niche: Geo
Age of Domain: 15 years (good)
Ad Competition: Medium (not great)
GKAT Exact Match Local Searches (US): 4400 (good)
Google's Avg CPC: $2.68 (pretty good)
Other TLD Extentions: .org is developed .com and .net are dropping (not good)
Ads displayed in Search Results For Term in Quotes: 1 Ad by Booking.com related to hotels (not good)
Has this name been offered to end users: Possible as the last .com registrant was a domainer. (not great)

So in total we had 4 positive points and 6 negative points for this name. Not all of which are weighed equally. (e.g. The CPC might be nice, but pretty much no ads are being purchased which is more important).

The last step is answering the following questions:

Who is my end user?

I would say that your end user for this name is likely the .org registrant who runs an organization for the development of downtown San Diego or someone who wants to develop a blog or site devoted to all the cool stuff happening in downtown San Diego.

Because of it's genericness I don't see this name appealing to any specific end user (e.g. Hotels/Travel Co for SanDiegoHotels.com) and so I don't think there would be a lot of demand.

If I am the End User would I buy this domain and for how much?

This answer highly subjective, but you have to think like a real end user running a business and NOT a domainer.

If I'm the .org registrant I'd probably be interested at a price point less than $1000, better even if it's less than $500 to capture traffic from the .com or to prevent someone else from using it.

If I'm a web developer, I don't think they would pay more than $500 for this name unless they really wanted it.
They would have other options too (e.g. SanDiegoSpots.com SanDiegoGuide.com, etc.)

So finally ...

After going through this who exercise does it seem that the domain is worth $23k. IMHO no it does not.
Hopefully, this exercise showed that there is more to evaluating a domain than just a number that Estibot puts out.

It can at times be an indicator, but shouldn't be used as THE sole reason why you want to buy a domain name.

Hope that helps. (And sorry for the ridiculously long post).

 

[Diabro]

I would not be surprised to see that domain sell for $23K but I would not expect it. I would not pay that for it, unless I needed that EXACT name because it is long. SANDIEGOCITYCENTER.COM and MIDTOWNSANDIEGO.COM are not registered as of this time.