The Real value of professional appraisals...

[OnSpec]

The real value of appraisals ???
I'm going to go out on a limb here and state unequivocally that fully 100% of all "professional" domain appraisals are unrealistic, unreliable and only serve to:

1) Line the pockets of savvy marketers that hold out the illusion that they are somehow more "knowledgeable" because of their extensive proprietary data bases, past sales experience, length of time in the business, intergalactic algorithms blah blah blah!

2) Appease the pent-up fantasies of the majority of domain owners who still hold onto the dreams and hopes that they actually possess something of true value

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for savvy marketers plying their trade in an open market. And I doubt that anyone is holding a gun to the heads of those who actually shell out their hard earned cash to get an "official" domain appraisal certificate, just so they can proudly display it or show prospective purchasers when they ask for $$$$$ for their domain.

And yes I admit that I have actually paid for appraisals in the past myself (it's part of our "tuition"). But never did I ever get anywhere near the appraised price at sale time.

Take a look at this: http://www.afternic.com/appraisal.php?id=523

Is this realistic? Drug.us just sold for $2,000. Is movie.us worth $164,000.00 more at this point in time???

I'm not debating whether it is wiser to hold this domain, lease it, sell it or whatever. And it may well eventually be worth a substantial amount of money. But I have a hard time believing that if it were put up for sale right now, that it would fetch anywhere near the "professional" appraised value.

And this: http://premium.greatdomains.com/

Outlook.com is pegged at $500,000. Why not $750,000 or some other number?

Movies.org is priced at $50,000. I realize that it is plural and that it is a .org, but how is that valued in comparison to the singular movie.us above? And who are the brainiacs that are would have us believe that movie.us is $116,000 more valuable than movies.org?

Ballet.tv and opera.tv are both valued at $15,000 each. How come dancing.tv is valued at $20,000? Isn't ballet "dancing"? Are we being led to believe that dancing is somehow better or more valuable than ballet and opera?

It is very positive to debate these issues. It's fun, it's stimulating and it contributes to the overall knowledge of the domain community. These discussion boards, where the "man-on-the-street" looms, are probably as good as any place to look for wholesale and retail market value of domains. But even so, we are still all over the map when it comes to accurately trying to predict the true value of cyber real estate.


In my opinion, any professional appraisal is not worth the paper (or email) it is written on. For those unbleached souls that still cling to false hopes, please keep this in mind the next time you line the pockets of your friendly neighbourhood “professional” appraiser. (A suggestion to all “Newbies”, you would be well advised to do an awful lot of lurking and questioning here before reaching for your credit cards for professional appraisals.)

Fortunately the market is maturing and the “players” are getting smarter. But it's high time that we in the domain industry grow up and realize that the only value of any domain does not rest in algorithms and crystal balls. The true value of any domain will only be dictated by the market, a market made up of willing sellers, and more importantly, of willing buyers who are prepared to PAY for our product.

Unfortunately, we’ll only know the true value of any domain after the check has cleared or the credit card authorization number is issued.

 

[URLtrader]

The real value of a domain is the amount of cash a buyer is willing to put on the table and say "Take it - and give me the domain".
Period.