The One that got away :-(

[britishbulldog]

I was out at work and missed on a domain on tdnam sold for $124 then i saw it sold for $11k on sedo this week :-(

Has this ever happened to you ???

 

[CamMK27]

wow!! that must have been some pain to handle... Do you mind sharing the domain?

 

[Onward]

This has happened to me many times...once it was a $5 BIN that I got to too late and I saw it sold in a month for 7k.

How long was the turn around for yours?

 

[mediawizard]

Yeah, would be really interested to know what the domain was.

I've sold a few tdnam closeouts for $xxx, but not even close to $xx,xxx.

Looking forward to hearing about the domain, if at all possible.

 

[britishbulldog]

Yeah i think the time gap was just a handful of weeks the domain in question was "roofrack.com" reggd in 2003 with all major tld's gone,i could understand the plural going for so much but the singular.......yeah it was sickener but it has happened the other way around for me as well,i was going debating wether to bid more than $200 for a domain and i did and when i won it i sort of regretted it until i sold it 2 day later for 5k euros...

so it does swing it roundabouts,you win some you lose some but to be honest this was the first time loser for me what i found out about no doubt there has probably been loads of private sales i have lost a fortune on but i can't afford to buy every domain i bid on but when i missed out on one through forgetting about it pisses me off the most.

 

[KING]

hehe happened to me ... I held domain for like 3 years never really done much with it .. good solid domain... Finally i decided to let it go so i sold it to "ours truly" ACRO hehe .. At resell price he contacts me a month later saying he sold it for a mid X,xxx amount hehe I was mad and laughing at the same time .. but good for him ...

Acro you greek frrr

 

[WebMaster]

I wanted to buy one domain for 5k usd who after year been sold for over 200k usd. its not new. Also i have been buyed one domain for 120 usd who sold after 2 years for over 11k usd. Nothing special here .

 

[tekz999]

I bought one domain at $7 then sold for $3k, I sold multiple domains for $20, then see it re-sold for $30 and $40 on the same forum. It is vision. You have vision, then you buy. Don't think.

 

[KING]

WebMaster and tekz are u guys drunk???

 

[tekz999]

No I am not drunk. It is all about domain flipping.

 

[namestrands]

If you can buy a domain for $10 and sell for $20 then its a profitable business.. however if you buy a thousand domains at $10 and sell one for $1000 then the business becomes less profitable. I am sure we all think we have that 6 figure domain in our portfolio, and we tend to forget that what makes this industry so exciting is that fact that a domain can be unknown. If you missed out on a sale then, clearly you were not all that into it, If I was so sure about a domain then I would stick on it like shit on a stick to get it.. however we never really know the true value until someone makes an offer on it.

Flipping domains can be profitable, developing domains are the way to make the real money.

Like any realworld business, you will only ever get out what you put in. If you are willing to get on the phone and talk to potential buyers, then this is how you will start to make real money. If you see a domain for sale, then you should be looking at who would be interested in such a domain. Buying it cause you like the sound of it, can pay off, however the odds are against you. Buying a domain because it has development potential, or could have potentially 20 buyers within one or more industries, then you can work out the domains estimated worth.

If you plan to sell it, then you get yourself a pitch together, decide on advance a price, and then invite companies to place a "Closed Bid", give them a guide price and then tell them the highest bid gets the domain. I bought a domain on namejet for $8k because I saw that some 60 companies used it in their own company names. I held onto it for 3 months, researching and contacting companies to register their interest in coming closed auction. Out of the 32 companies I contacted 11 responded with an interest. Once the guide price was posted 8 companies submitted offers, with 3 of them choosing the guide price of $35k

As this was a threeway tie, each company was asked to submit a final bid to secure the domain. The highest bid was $41,200.

Now. The alternative was to park the domain, and profit from the PPC, however that is making the domain work for you, with a return of investment taking 5 or more years. Domainers need to work for themselves, they need to research the domain, research the client base and if all else fails they need to finally research development. Parking domains, flipping on forums and sedo like auctions, will make money. However if you want to make a real living then you have to spend less time talking about it and more time making it happen.

 

[WebMaster]

No. I am not drunk.

 

[britishbulldog]

If you can buy a domain for $10 and sell for $20 then its a profitable business.. however if you buy a thousand domains at $10 and sell one for $1000 then the business becomes less profitable. I am sure we all think we have that 6 figure domain in our portfolio, and we tend to forget that what makes this industry so exciting is that fact that a domain can be unknown. If you missed out on a sale then, clearly you were not all that into it, If I was so sure about a domain then I would stick on it like shit on a stick to get it.. however we never really know the true value until someone makes an offer on it.

Flipping domains can be profitable, developing domains are the way to make the real money.

Like any realworld business, you will only ever get out what you put in. If you are willing to get on the phone and talk to potential buyers, then this is how you will start to make real money. If you see a domain for sale, then you should be looking at who would be interested in such a domain. Buying it cause you like the sound of it, can pay off, however the odds are against you. Buying a domain because it has development potential, or could have potentially 20 buyers within one or more industries, then you can work out the domains estimated worth.

If you plan to sell it, then you get yourself a pitch together, decide on advance a price, and then invite companies to place a "Closed Bid", give them a guide price and then tell them the highest bid gets the domain. I bought a domain on namejet for $8k because I saw that some 60 companies used it in their own company names. I held onto it for 3 months, researching and contacting companies to register their interest in coming closed auction. Out of the 32 companies I contacted 11 responded with an interest. Once the guide price was posted 8 companies submitted offers, with 3 of them choosing the guide price of $35k

As this was a threeway tie, each company was asked to submit a final bid to secure the domain. The highest bid was $41,200.

Now. The alternative was to park the domain, and profit from the PPC, however that is making the domain work for you, with a return of investment taking 5 or more years. Domainers need to work for themselves, they need to research the domain, research the client base and if all else fails they need to finally research development. Parking domains, flipping on forums and sedo like auctions, will make money. However if you want to make a real living then you have to spend less time talking about it and more time making it happen.

Quality post,if only i had the vision like yourself i would be wealthy from domains........

 

[DomainsInc]

If you can buy a domain for $10 and sell for $20 then its a profitable business.. however if you buy a thousand domains at $10 and sell one for $1000 then the business becomes less profitable. I am sure we all think we have that 6 figure domain in our portfolio, and we tend to forget that what makes this industry so exciting is that fact that a domain can be unknown. If you missed out on a sale then, clearly you were not all that into it, If I was so sure about a domain then I would stick on it like shit on a stick to get it.. however we never really know the true value until someone makes an offer on it.

Flipping domains can be profitable, developing domains are the way to make the real money.

Like any realworld business, you will only ever get out what you put in. If you are willing to get on the phone and talk to potential buyers, then this is how you will start to make real money. If you see a domain for sale, then you should be looking at who would be interested in such a domain. Buying it cause you like the sound of it, can pay off, however the odds are against you. Buying a domain because it has development potential, or could have potentially 20 buyers within one or more industries, then you can work out the domains estimated worth.

If you plan to sell it, then you get yourself a pitch together, decide on advance a price, and then invite companies to place a "Closed Bid", give them a guide price and then tell them the highest bid gets the domain. I bought a domain on namejet for $8k because I saw that some 60 companies used it in their own company names. I held onto it for 3 months, researching and contacting companies to register their interest in coming closed auction. Out of the 32 companies I contacted 11 responded with an interest. Once the guide price was posted 8 companies submitted offers, with 3 of them choosing the guide price of $35k

As this was a threeway tie, each company was asked to submit a final bid to secure the domain. The highest bid was $41,200.

Now. The alternative was to park the domain, and profit from the PPC, however that is making the domain work for you, with a return of investment taking 5 or more years. Domainers need to work for themselves, they need to research the domain, research the client base and if all else fails they need to finally research development. Parking domains, flipping on forums and sedo like auctions, will make money. However if you want to make a real living then you have to spend less time talking about it and more time making it happen.

nice though my experience reaching out to companies myself has never been anything like this. they assume you want to get rid of it and they can get it for a steal. i've had much better luck when they contact me.

 

[namestrands]

DomainsInc, this is where the initial "Register your interest" call comes into play. My approach is:

Hi my name is (Your Name), I am calling from my Company Domains Inc, we are a premium domain brokerage service, perhaps you have heard of us? (they normally say no) Ok, my company is all about matching domain names with new owners, our service to you is entirely without cost as we recover costs from the seller, which brings me to the reason for this call. We have been instructed by our client to auction off the domain name "domainname.com", considering your company's fantastic reputation we are approaching you as a possible new owner of this domain name. Our client has instructed us that he only wants this domain name to go to a company of your high caliber, and a company whom will indeed make good use of it as a long term investment.

Of course this does seem like an odd request, however you must understand that some domain owners treat their domain names as pets, you may laugh but in this business I have seen some amazing things.

I know you are an intelligent man, so I will not insult your intelligence by going into details of how a premium domain name such as this, can make a big difference to your companies bottom line, I have to be honest when I thought about domainname.com, your company immediately came to mind, so you certainly know all about branding and marketing.

(at this point they will either ask you for a bit more information or they will simply agree, either way you have their attention)

Ok, I dont want to take up any more of your time as I have another 30 odd calls to make today about this domain. All I need to know from you is, would you be interested in taking part in a closed auction, we dont need anything from you right now, and dont worry this is not like ebay or anything likfe that. The process is simple, we will drop you an email in the coming weeks with a link to the offer page, you will be able to see what the guide price is, at which time you can make an offer of any amount. We will only ever contact you again if your bid is tied with anothers.

Also if you were to be the lucky winner of the domain name, then rest assured that we will assist with the transfer while also acting as escrow agent for both parties to ensure that the domain transfer is 100% secure, no monies will be released until you are 100% happy and in control of the domain name.

Let me take your email address, and as I said there is no obligation for you to take part, once the auction opens, drop by and make up your mind then.

Great Speaking with you, and I honestly wish you the best of luck.


(now you will see that what I was doing through out was making it all sound like a competition, I was also appealing to their vanity, lots of positive suggestion going on, and this was very much a no pressure pitch. I would then follow up with a well researched email, citing search stats, conversions, and stuff like using compete to compare the company to its biggest competitor..)

All sales are about creating a need for something, creating the illusion of success and that the buyer will get laid more or indeed be richer for taking part in this. I kind drop little comments like, "Owning this domain, is the difference between driving along in your Crysler or Driving an Aston Martin.. people trust names, and people search semantically.. if your company was called Jedsshop.com not many people are going to simply type that in if they are looking for a DVD player, chances are they would type into google something like DVD Players, have a descriptive domain such as DVDPLayer.com really would be the difference between 1 sale a month and 1000 sales a month..

but try not to oversell... especially if you have a client that is interested.. it can often be easy to talk them out of it, but you getting to excited about it.

 

[CamMK27]

DomainsInc, this is where the initial "Register your interest" call comes into play. My approach is:

Hi my name is (Your Name), I am calling from my Company Domains Inc, we are a premium domain brokerage service, perhaps you have heard of us? (they normally say no) Ok, my company is all about matching domain names with new owners, our service to you is entirely without cost as we recover costs from the seller, which brings me to the reason for this call. We have been instructed by our client to auction off the domain name "domainname.com", considering your company's fantastic reputation we are approaching you as a possible new owner of this domain name. Our client has instructed us that he only wants this domain name to go to a company of your high caliber, and a company whom will indeed make good use of it as a long term investment.

Of course this does seem like an odd request, however you must understand that some domain owners treat their domain names as pets, you may laugh but in this business I have seen some amazing things.

I know you are an intelligent man, so I will not insult your intelligence by going into details of how a premium domain name such as this, can make a big difference to your companies bottom line, I have to be honest when I thought about domainname.com, your company immediately came to mind, so you certainly know all about branding and marketing.

(at this point they will either ask you for a bit more information or they will simply agree, either way you have their attention)

Ok, I dont want to take up any more of your time as I have another 30 odd calls to make today about this domain. All I need to know from you is, would you be interested in taking part in a closed auction, we dont need anything from you right now, and dont worry this is not like ebay or anything likfe that. The process is simple, we will drop you an email in the coming weeks with a link to the offer page, you will be able to see what the guide price is, at which time you can make an offer of any amount. We will only ever contact you again if your bid is tied with anothers.

Also if you were to be the lucky winner of the domain name, then rest assured that we will assist with the transfer while also acting as escrow agent for both parties to ensure that the domain transfer is 100% secure, no monies will be released until you are 100% happy and in control of the domain name.

Let me take your email address, and as I said there is no obligation for you to take part, once the auction opens, drop by and make up your mind then.

Great Speaking with you, and I honestly wish you the best of luck.


(now you will see that what I was doing through out was making it all sound like a competition, I was also appealing to their vanity, lots of positive suggestion going on, and this was very much a no pressure pitch. I would then follow up with a well researched email, citing search stats, conversions, and stuff like using compete to compare the company to its biggest competitor..)

All sales are about creating a need for something, creating the illusion of success and that the buyer will get laid more or indeed be richer for taking part in this. I kind drop little comments like, "Owning this domain, is the difference between driving along in your Crysler or Driving an Aston Martin.. people trust names, and people search semantically.. if your company was called Jedsshop.com not many people are going to simply type that in if they are looking for a DVD player, chances are they would type into google something like DVD Players, have a descriptive domain such as DVDPLayer.com really would be the difference between 1 sale a month and 1000 sales a month..

but try not to oversell... especially if you have a client that is interested.. it can often be easy to talk them out of it, but you getting to excited about it.

Excellent Post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.. I am sure you have had a lot of success with end user sales. Do you broker domains?

 

[namestrands]

Cam..

Its a no on the domain brokering for others. The reason being, there is no person better than yourself to sell a domain. A broker is motivated only by money, where as you yourself will be motivated more as you get ALL the money. You will also have an inside knowledge of the domain, and a passion about it that can not be bought.

I tried a well known brokerage service once to broker a $300k domain, their approach was to EMAIL companies using the WEBFORMS and email addresses listed on the site such as info@ and sales@ I had to hand hold them by letting them know that in order to target the right people they should be using resources such as LinkedIN.com..

I would advise anyone serious about domain selling to Have a professional paid linked in account. Target your Whales, Marketing Directors and CEO.. join groups in their industry as this will give you access to directly add them to your network. Once they are in your network you will have access to their phone number and email address.

Try to avoid contacting them via LinkedIN but do call or email them directly. I would always recommend a call.. but make sure you know what you have to say before hand.

 

[britishbulldog]

One word for namestrands......BRILLIANT !

Thanks mate !

 

[CamMK27]

One word for namestrands......BRILLIANT !

Thanks mate !

I agree. Thanks very much. I appreciate the tips. We can learn a lot from people like
you who help and give away tips and knowledge to make this community better, stronger
and richer ( although not all the time it might be monetry riches but knowledge as well).