Should I bother with the DNFauction, or go straight to Ebay? Is DNF still worth $50?

[kristoph]

Hello folks.

I am a newbie, so this is a question more than an opinion...

I wondered how a forum can thrive asking $49.95 membership? I mean, without platinum you can't do much--so I assumed, this is a place where domains can be "moved..."

Well, on the DNFauction, it seems you are lucky to get a bid of $1... and the "live auction" seems no better...

My "suspicion" is that maybe once upon a time, it was well worth $50 to join this forum. And even with my limited experience, this clearly IS the best "domain selling forum." But that is not saying much...

Well I would like some opinions on this:

1. Why join DNforum for $50 when you can get good "advice" and "contacts" at other forums for free---and as for selling domains, people here seem to feel lucky if they can get $40 for a domain... so why not just spend the $50 to pay the listing fees at Ebay, where there seems to be much more action?

2. Even though I have paid the $50 here, should I waste my time with the DNFauction or the live auction? My general impression is that it is a complete waste of time, and I should just try to move my better domains at Ebay.

3. I don't know the history here, but my guess is that the $50/year fee is a dinosaur from days of yore when domains sold fast and furious---and that today, a fee of $15 for platinum would be much more appropriate.

Or are there serious other advantages to membership here that I have not caught on to...?

Perhaps the crux of the matter: what are the membership statistics? Is platinum membership in DNforum growing, or is it declining?

Those with more experience than I, your comments will be appreciated. I am a newbie and perhaps I sound like a rude upstart---but I am just trying at least to learn something about the true reality here, in return for the $50 I have spent. Thank you.

 

[Mr Webname]

Sorry but posts like this just make me want to yawn!
Nothing personal, like you say you are a newbie - 14 posts - and already you are complaining.
Why did you come here? Did you imagine that there was some secret formula available? Or that here were a load of fools ready to buy every name available?
There are millions of domain names in circulation and thousands more dropping every day - we are not in a scarce market and people are more careful with their money than they were even a few months ago.
The truth is that good names still sell and this forum has produced many $1k+ sales in recent weeks. Do you have any good names to sell?
I visit a number of forums and they are all the same in respect to domain sales - limited, but with DNF the difference is the GOOD names available - just check some that have been offered in recent weeks.
As has been said before and will no doubt be said again - if you can't recover your DNF Membership Fee in a year from sales here, you should not be selling domain names.
Just my personal opinion you understand.

 

[Honan]

Yes Kristoph, don't wate your time with the auctions.
Put your names in the for sale forum here.
If they have prices, dates and registrar then you might sell.
Once you have sold a few, you will have a different view on the DNF platinum annual fee compared to Ebay's listing and sale fees

 

[tassos]

i sold name for 900$ here nad i had many offers for around 200$-300$ for my other domains. i visit all domain forums , but i got the offers only here.

 

[tassos]

..and by the way...
this is the only place you can buy domains for 1 $.......
then you can sell them to ebay...

 

[kristoph]

Originally posted by Mr Webname
...Nothing personal, like you say you are a newbie - 14 posts - and already you are complaining....

Not complaining--just asking for tips and opinions. Can't get ahead if I don't know the score...

I have studied the names for sale here---I could spot little of value---and the DNFauction seems to have only a dozen names listed, and definately not where any action is.

Well, thank you everyone for your insights. You all seem to think using the "for sale" subforum here is a good place and better than Ebay auctions? Well that's encouraging.

I am going to give Ebay a whirl, just to see how it goes. Then if that does not pan out, I will come back here and use the "for sale" subforum more seriously.

But as for the DNFauction.com --- someone please tell me, if that should not be changed to domaincemetery.com...

 

[ToastyX]

There are a lot of sales around here that you don't see, mainly through private transactions. The live auction is pretty much dead now, but that was never a source for big sales. DNFAuctions.com wasn't around before, so you can't include that if you're comparing the past. If you haven't given eBay a whirl, what makes you think it would be better?

 

[kristoph]

Originally posted by ToastyX
If you haven't given eBay a whirl, what makes you think it would be better?

Not saying I think so.

All I can say is, when I asked around about selling URLs, half the people said, "Try DNforum.com," other half said, "Try Ebay..." So what takes me now to Ebay, is the same thing that brought me here...

If anyone is interested in how my Ebay experience pans out, give a holler, and I'll keep you posted here...

Or if anyone else has tried Ebay, let me know here or by PM, we'll compare notes...

http://sedo.co.uk is another site that pops up now and then... they even sent me an email saying they were eager to list my name "vitaminshelf.com"... but not sure I want to bother...

Then of course there is Afternic. I tried that a year ago. The rigamarole and fees were very discouraging. I have been advised that Afternic is a place for when you have a domain of clear value, know exactly what you want to get for it, and have plenty of time.

 

[Jack Gordon]

Kristoph, your questions are reasonable, and I don't think you should have been jumped on for asking them.

The truth about this place is that the $50 platinum fee seems to weed out a lot of the kids and losers, and leaves a smaller but more serious group of people to deal with. The moderation team is also top notch.

The dnauction site was practically stillborn and the live auctions petered out after an exciting few weeks in existence. If you have domains to sell I would not recommend ebay or the sales forum here. Instead I would spend some time researching old posts and then going out in search of end users. If you are serious about selling domains, you'll never make it selling to resellers. The only reason to do that is to weed out domains that you can't sell but maybe someone else with a better focus on a particular niche could.

Because there is a more serious group of resellers here, you will probably also find better quality names to buy here than at other forums, if you are in acquisition mode.

Best of luck! It's a tough market to break into, despite the relatively low cost of entry. My best advice is to be persistent and focus on a niche you are comfortable with.

 

[peter]

trust me man. If you can't make your $50 within a small period of time after joining, I promis you that ebay isn't going to be better. The "for sale" forum has more sales than most other places

 

[kristoph]

Originally posted by FrontRow
...If you have domains to sell I would not recommend ebay or the sales forum here. Instead I would spend some time researching old posts and then going out in search of end users...

Thank you for the serious tips FrontRow, IceHole, and others...

I never intended to be a serious "domain reseller." Over the past 3 years, family and financial problems caused my site-building plans to get sidetracked. Now I am left with a hoard of "good" names, but not specifically intended to be resold.

Well, out of 500 names, most will be allowed to expire. I have perhaps 50 that can be resold. So I am giving this a try. I already sold one domain for US$1,500 (not here though). A few more sales like that, and maybe I can break even.

But time is money, too. I suspect that if most of the "successful" resellers here were to pay themselves by the hour, they would find their time better spent behind the counter at MacDonald's... So I do not intend to spend all my time posting ads here, etc...

Also, everyone here at DNforum seems to say no to Ebay. Maybe you are right, but at other forums I have heard differently. I suspect this is because DNforum has developed a certain niche attitude, which I suspect is a bit out of touch with the popular market. It seems to me that if a name is catchy, it has a chance of getting attention at Ebay. Also it makes sense that a "loose" buyer just might be found at Ebay, such as could not possibly be found here at DNforum.

So thank you all for the advice. This has been helpful and informative. As you folks here advise, I will "seek out the buyers" here and also post a few ads in the sales subforum...

...But it certainly does not cost much for me to give Ebay a try, especially with certain names that I think will be appropriate for that market. Well, we'll see how it goes...

 

[Jack Gordon]

Good luck. I have rarely seen any legit sale worth closing happen on a domain name via ebay. But you are right - you never know when you might meet a sucker

 

[BG]

I would have to say $50 is nothing when you consider the calibre of people you can actually communicate with on dnforum, you have some of the best domainers, if not the best domainers in the world chatting on a day to day basis on there boards.

It's a great place to network

You wont be thinking of the cost in time to come, your just be thinking of what a great marketing strategy dnforum was and how you can make money in the same way

Happy Domaining and best of luck in the domain world.

 

[GiantDomains]

Originally posted by NicBid.com
I would have to say $50 is nothing when you consider the calibre of people you can actually communicate with on dnforum, you have some of the best domainers, if not the best domainers in the world chatting on a day to day basis on there boards.

It's a great place to network

You wont be thinking of the cost in time to come, your just be thinking of what a great marketing strategy dnforum was and how you can make money in the same way

Happy Domaining and best of luck in the domain world.

Glad to see a newbie with such a positive attitude Welcome to dnforum!

 

[lotsofissues]

Auctions dead.

$15 worth it.

 

[Biggie]

Welcome to DNForum!

I have always tried to speak my opinions here, so I will give it to
you straight.

There are quite a few names sold here, from 2 letter.com's to 3 and 4 worders. I've seen hyphenated domains sell here, even if they were not .com's. The .org extention, as well as. .co.uk have seen popular days at DNF.

The sales trends are up and down, just like the nasdaq/dow500 and other exchanges.

However,domain sales is NOT the only thing DNF has to offer. Even though sales are often made in the "Domains Wanted" section.

This forum has tried to cover all aspects of the domain biz, and thru it's life has spun-off other forums, now owned and moderated by present and former members.

If you have some decent to excellent names.....you can negotiate some sales, but in the process of marketing, you will also gain knowledge!

Good Luck

 

[AhmedF]

Being a newbie is counted by the state of mind, not by the number of posts

Otherwise I am currently the biggest newbie here ho ho

 

[BG]

Many wise words are spoken in these forums

 

[NexSite]

Whether a platinum is worth $50 or not is a matter of opinion. My opinion is no. Most of us bought our platinums under an old owner and at the time the $50 seemed reasonable, especially after most of the functionality of the site were turned off to non paying members. The regime change has certainly altered many a plat member views, and many have been deported for expressing these views. It is easy to get a thread killed here if the mods disagree. It is still the best forum regarding domains however, based on the quality and quantity of the memberships holdings and knowledge. I think a plat my be overpriced by about 50% but thats only my opinion. If you are new, and know nothing about domains, you can certainly get your moneys worth just in the amount of time you will save by learning many of the insiders tricks of the trade. It also depends on how much time you spend here. For those in the know already the value may certainly be diminished. If making your $50 back is the benchmark for deciding if its worth it, then it is definately worth it, because it's not that difficult. As for auctions? Nah.

 

[dotcom]

Even though my membership states I joined quite a while ago, I have only recently started buying names again. So I log in with the old trusty user name and password, and well !!! "No Access" to all the great forums I remembered.

It didnt take me long to invest the $50- , because as I see it, there are so many helpfull people here that had saved me $$$$ by not regging useless names, I have paid for my membership for years already

I still recognise many a nickname and all have been more than helpfull with their opinions.