listing a name for more than 10,000 USD at sedo

[fatter]

sedo can correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I do, I list some names for 10,000 euros which converts to 12,880 dollars USd. and 10,000 uk pounds which converts to about 18,000 usd. granted rates flucuate, but rather than paying for an appraissal it gives the oppurtunity to list names in the 10k-18k range USD, just make sure you select the correct currency when updating

 

[Theo]

Just make sure the buyer understands that too :-D

 

[fatter]

the symbol shows up right next to the price on landing page, granted some like myself didnt no what the symbols stood for(i do now)but being sedo is an international forum, worse thing that could happen is buyer withdraws his offer

 

[Domagon]

The price restriction is silly ... leads to silly work-arounds, such as using a different currency.

Whenever I see a listing on Sedo, I don't even bother making an offer, since practically every listing is "make offer"; Sedo's negotiation system is flawed in that offers often aren't binding at all for either party, so why bother with Sedo anyways ... what value is Sedo adding? None really, and so I just contact the domain registrant directly and deal.

Digressed a bit there ... if Sedo insists on a price limit, then set it to a level that won't affect most listings, such as $120,000 Euro (~ $160,000 USD) ...

$10,000 USD / Euro is nothing these days ... I bet many domains listed in DNJornal's Sale list would appear to Sedo to be unreasonably priced - point is that Sedo's price restriction should be changed, since it's dated and doesn't reflect the reality of the domain market today.

Ron

 

[Gee]

i think if you are sure your domain worth more than 10,000 $ you wouldn't mind paying the 39$ appraisal fee

if they changed it many people will try to advertise their domains by listing them for millions and that will confuse the buyers while searching for domains

the market hasn't changed ....it is the same ( around 90% of domains worth less than 10,000$ )

and it wouldn't happen that 90% of domains worth more than 10,000$ ...and if it happened i would say removing the limit is the right decision.

 

[MediaHound]

I agree 100% -
Time to get with the program and raise the limit.
If the thought is that it would cut into your profits cause people wouldnt buy as many appraisals, I disagree. Your profits would go way up cause the comissions would be greater and more sales will occur.
Fact is, SEDO is cutting themselves short cause people arent adding gems like they could be, cause most domainsers are too stubborn to shell out the fee to appraise their names. With all the appraisal scams nowadays, people are being schooled into avoiding buying appraisals, anyway.
Either way, you wouldnt know what will REALLY happen till you test it out.
Anyone else agree it's time SEDO should raise the bar?

 

[SedoCoUk]

Hello there,

I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with gotasale. In the same vein that I answered this question the last time it came about, I would simply ask you to go to sedo.com, click on 'advance search' and filter by Price "10,000-100,000" and Date Added "Last 2 days" i.e. the weekend.
Now tell me, really, how many of those are worth $ 1,000, let alone $ 10,000 and who knows what they would have been listed for if the user was allowed to ask whatever price they wanted? The fact remains that the majority of sales are under the 10,000 bar whilst a vast number of people still expect inflated 'business.com' prices for their domains.
We are well aware of the 'gems' that get added to our site every week and sellers are well aware that Sedo is the web's favourite place for sales, as reflected by the 1.9 million names listed in our database as well as our huge presence every week and in the year's top sales list on http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm

Fatter, what you mention is a way around the 10,000 barrier, but US buyers could be put off by a listing in GBP.

If you have, feel free to contact me. [email protected]

Ed
Key Account Manager
UK Marketing Associate
_______________________________________________

SEDO.CO.UK :: Buy and Sell Domain Names and Websites
tel within UK 0871 900 8450 :: fax 0871 900 8451
tel +49 221.420.758.156 :: fax +49 221.420.758.11
tel (US) (877)-349-5902 :: fax (212)-202-3951
email: [email protected] :: http://www.sedo.co.uk

_______________________ :: make a name for yourself.

 

[MediaHound]

You say that you agree with these statements wholeheartedly?
"if they changed it many people will try to advertise their domains by listing them for millions"
WRONG - nobody asked the bar to be removed, rather raised a notch.
and this:
"the market hasn't changed"
WRONG
It sure has!
Also, you link to DNJournal - however, all the recent sales pages contradict you.
The market IS seeing levels like NEVER before.
Some recent headlines for those that havent read up lately:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales-archive.htm
I think this feedback should be escalated to other executives at Sedo so we can get a CONCENSUS on Sedo's stance on the matter.
I'm not denying that your not familiar with the market, heck, its what you do -
but your agreeing with comments that are nowhere near true - well, that takes me.
As for acknowledging the loophole - thanks, but really - there's a simpler solution, and that's just raising the limit.

You guys are choking a market thats bursting at the seams.
Dont make veal when you can make steak for thousands.

Does anyone else agree?

 

[ukbackorder]

To a serious buyer a domain appraisal doesn't mean a thing. The internet is full of 'appraisals' that are ludicrously high. Forcing someone to pay $39 to get sedo's 'opinion' on the value of a name doesn't help the seller at all. Having been told quite rudely in an email from sedo the 'opinion' of the value of one of my domains (without my request) and then selling it for three times that price at sedo it leaves little confidence in a paid appraisal. If we price our domains too high they simply won't sell. That should not be sedo's business. A $10,000 cap in light of recent sales and the growing interest in domains is low. I have sold a few for over $10k that I doubt sedo would deem worth it. Obviously they have been sold outside of the system and not listed there. I'm sure other people are experiencing this too. Also I would go one stop further and disagree slightly with the last poster. I don't think sedo *do* know the market. They know what sells via their own listings but it would seem to me they don't factor in all the reasons for sale prices. Evaluating a domain solely on revenue doesn't cut it anymore as recent out-of-sedo sales are showing.

 

[SedoCoUk]

Ok mediahound, I admit that I may have chosen my words slightly unwisely.

I agreed with the fact that
"if they changed it many people will try to advertise their domains by listing them for millions" - OK, maybe not millions, but you can understand what he's getting at.
and
"around 90% of domains worth less than 10,000$"

'Wholeheartedly' may not have been the greatest word to choose here.

The fact is that you seem to have overlooked my direction to the domains listed for 10,000 over the weekend. Some of those are so outrageously overpriced that it simply leads one to believe that, were the limit to be raised, not lifted, the amount of stupidly-priced domains would simply go through the roof. Remember, these domains were listed in the last 48 hours. Just imagine how many overpriced domains are listed every week, every month.

At the end of the day, our job is to achieve a sale for a happy seller and a purchase for a happy buyer. By capping domain listings to 10,000, we simply ensure that the marketplace remains vibrant and active. Many people who list their domains at unrealistic prices are simply not aware, or blindly ignore how much their domains are actually worth. Domains listed for outrageous prices would do far more to stifle the market than our 10,000 cap. I'm sure that all of you have looked at domains for sale and thought 'How can they possibly be asking that much?'

The fact is, and the second part from gotasale that I agree with, is that the vast majority of sales are still under the 10,000 mark.

I believe dnjournal completely backs me up here. Yes, the market is having a great, great year. Not as amazing as the 90's boom, but this year has seen some huge sales, many of them with us. However, for the normal Joe Domainer, this has little bearing. For example, look at last week's top sales: Excluding drops and private sales, that leaves 4 Sedo entries and one Afternic entry. Of these 4 Sedo entries, only one of them is well over 10,000, the other being $ 339 over. Last month, we had around 1,000 sales. In the month of March, we had 10 domains in the top sales listing over $ 10,000. This works out that a mere 0.01% of the sales made through Sedo were over $ 10,000. However, it also proves that we are supporting the market's biggest sales and that our $ 10,000 cap only serves to keep unrealistic pricing strategies realistic without negatively affecting big sales.

As you can see from DNJ, the market is on the rise. The 'new' TLDs, such as .biz and .info are having a ball this year and there have been some whopping weeks for sales this year. Sedo has been at the forefront of this and we do not feel at all that we are stifling the market.

I am not trying to contradict you, mediahound, I just think you jumped more on my word 'wholeheartedly' rather than taking in the rest of my argument.
We continue to see little reason why we should raise the bar over 10,000 to ensure a healthy market.

I hope this explains our stance a little better.

Thanks,

Ed

 

[MediaHound]

Not only that, ask them to give you HALF what they appraise the name for - and I'll bet you that most of the time, they'll decline to purchase it from you for even half what they state it's worth - tho they'll stand and watch as you wait it out on your own and make double or triple or laps more than what they think it's worth.
I can't believe companies like this still dont get it. Their goal is to drive prices DOWN not UP. Their interest is in quantity not quality. Cause the more $100 sales they make, the more $50 bills of yours they can stash away.
Seems like the real business is 1. selling appraisals (an opinion that's [as proven by the last post] misleading and worthless), and 2. getting more (alledged) cheap names listed (read: inventory) and taxing the heck out of those.

Raise the bar and let us sell our names for what the market is begging for.

 

[SedoCoUk]

Just a little note to add on that: speaking to our head broker, Nora, who brokers deals of anything up to $ 500,000, bids on domains, even ones of the absolute highest quality have extremely low starting bids. In her experience, very, very few domains - even in the 6 figure category - actually have starting bids of over $ 10,000. We simply try to keep the market vibrant by preventing over-pricing. If you have a serious buyer, they will be well aware that the domain's actual value lies over $ 10,000 and, if you keep out the lowballs by setting your minimum offer to 10,000, then you will only get serious bidders who won't have any reason to be surprised when they find out you also are aware of your domains' value.

The fact is that a buyer is always trying to get the best deal for himself. If he makes an initial bid of 10,000 or over, then he is automatically guaranteeing himself that he will have a massive price to pay in the end. It is surely better to get three bids at 10,000 than no bids at 75,000?

Feel free to email me if you have any further questions.

Ed

 

[MediaHound]

I'm sure that all of you have looked at domains for sale and thought 'How can they possibly be asking that much?'

Right, and a lot of these people voice their thoughts.
Only to eat their foot when the name sells for multiples of what they thought it would fetch. I can cite examples of selling names for THOUSANDS more TIMES than what self-proclaimed professional domainers thought they were worth. Many of these people have never tasted the real deal and they do not know it exists.

The fact is, and the second part from gotasale that I agree with, is that the vast majority of sales are still under the 10,000 mark.

Of course! Most are at $6.95 ~ $8.95 reg fee level
When we get into levels of 7K - 30K and above, at these levels, there is plenty of milk left in the cow when the deal is done.

Last month, we had around 1,000 sales. In the month of March, we had 10 domains in the top sales listing over $ 10,000. This works out that a mere 0.01% of the sales made through Sedo were over $ 10,000.

err, my math makes that 1.00% - take it a step further, anyway, QUITE a healthy number if 1% of all the 1.9M names could be sold for such.

In time it will be easier to see all the $ you guys forced to be left on the table.

 

[SedoCoUk]

Further to the $ 50 comment. All of our parked .com/.net/.org etc. domains have 10% commission, so, obviously, the higher the price the better it is for us. Encouraging low sales doesn't benefit us in any way. We don't aim to drive prices down ($ 470,000 for a .de this year doesn't seem to support this). We aim to create a healthy market where all sides win.
Our appraisals are normally very realistic and we make a point of not over-apprasising. There are enough appraisal services out there who stroke domain owners' egos by saying how fabulous their 5-word .biz is. Our appraisal team carry out thorough research for every single appraisal they do. Obviuosly, a domain is only ever worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. Appraising a domain is an extremely tricky business, far harder than pricing a second-hand car, for instance. However, we believe our people- , not machine-generated appraisals are among the best in the business. If you are unwilling to pay the $ 39 for the service, I would suggest listing for 10,000, as mentioned before and wait for the bids to come in.

I hope you can appreciate that we only have this cap in an attempt to maintain fair pricing by our sellers. We do not try, in any way, to 'influence' market prices. The higher the prices, the happier we all are!

Regards,

Ed

 

[MediaHound]

if you keep out the lowballs by setting your minimum offer to 10,000, then you will only get serious bidders who won't have any reason to be surprised when they find out you also are aware of your domains' value.

I wont even set the minimum bid at 10K on an name thats worth 40K - I'll just leave it at 'make offer' and fight away $60 bids all day long, rather than mislead someone into thinking that I'm ok with a bid starting off at 10K. And thats why you have so many names that aren't set with a min bid - cause why would I set the min bid to 10K on a 500K name? Just dosent make sense.

The fact is that a buyer is always trying to get the best deal for himself. If he makes an initial bid of 10,000 or over, then he is automatically guaranteeing himself that he will have a massive price to pay in the end. It is surely better to get three bids at 10,000 than no bids at 75,000?

Nope. I wouldn't even want 6 people in line POOLING TOGETHER with 10K each for a product worth 70K.

I think we are having a very constructive discussion here.
Hopefully we can BOTH get some value out of it.

Having been told quite rudely in an email from sedo the 'opinion' of the value of one of my domains (without my request) and then selling it for three times that price at sedo it leaves little confidence in a paid appraisal. If we price our domains too high they simply won't sell. That should not be sedo's business.

Worth repeating.
It's clear where the money is made here.
Don't think for a second that Sedo is "on your side".
Record sales or not, Sedo is still stifiling the market by charging for the opportunity to hang a pricetag on a domain for more than 10K.
Take eBay for example.
If morons can sell moldy cheese for a million bucks, and eBay is one of the greatest success stories on the 'net, - you think there's nothing to be learned by their listing & pricing model?
They dont try to value the goods beforehand. They leave it up to the marketplace.

 

[Edwin]

Of course it's all "in the eye of the beholder" but having been in the domain market since 1996 my own experience has been that Sedo dramatically under-appraises the most valuable domains. So much so that I've permanently given up any idea of requesting more Sedo appraisals.

Sedo is great for a lot of things, ok for some and lousy in places. Excellent parking program, with a very nice bonus for us DNForum-ers. Decent enough sales process, if you can make the buyer pay up (not always obvious). So-so search engine. The gaping holes are the working-for-both-teams paid negotiation service (which I've already posted about previously) and the loooow appraisals on top domains.

Not to leave my comment about appraisals "hollow", they appraised my Maps.co.uk domain at 8,000 Euro in late August last year and suggested the domain was "comparable" to Salon.co.uk which they had sold for 9,000 Euro. I practically fell off my chair when I saw that.

 

[ukbackorder]

What is this very nice bonus for us DNForum-ers? :-O

 

[fatter]

What is this very nice bonus for us DNForum-ers? :-O

a while back they offered dnf members a monthly bonus for parking domains
with them

 

[MediaHound]

I think this thread deserves a re-visit.
Sedo accounted for seven sales that topped the 10K mark this week according to the weekly report, with more five figure deals reported to the wire EVER since track has been kept.
The tide is rising boys and girls. Time to raise your prices.

@ Sedo, I still feel (now more than ever) that it's time to raise the bar up a few notches and stop stifiling the marketplace.

According to the report - "Sedo CEO Matthew Bentley told us this was the largest number of five figure sales he can recall for a single week at his company."
You think Sedo would have more if they actually ALLOWED the casual seller to list them in this bracket?
The answer is clear as daylight.

 

[LewR]

SEDO needs to wake up - they are trying to be the Wal-Mart of domains - limiting prices to produce a volume of sales. BUT - they are shortchanging the sellers - and therefore - their own profits.

The market will bear what the market will bear. List any name for a billion $$ - NP - but what if someone wants to buy? Who then is the fool? Or then they can negotiate from scratch?

Limits as dictated by SEDO are why a very few of my more than 4k names are listed there - they need to re-work the portion of the business that sees only bottom line dollar sales.