Why prohibit buyers asking about your stats?

[David G]

I see someone posted this regarding a name for sale with a minimum offer of 1k: "Do not ask questions regarding traffic, or other time wasters" and to that I say a potential buyer considering possible traffic (which a name of interest may or may not get) is not wasting time, it's called due diligence, research and taking everything into consideration regarding all aspects of an investment.

Of course I realize many domains are not sold as traffic names. However, with that said it's still a buyer benefit to know if the name gets any traffic. For example, just a few visits a week would be considered good since that indicates the name gets at least a bit of traffic and it could be typeins so that indicates a little better potential when developed.

Even very low traffic makes some buyers more likely to bid, especially a 1k plus domain. Personally, I would not make an offer for 1k plus without any stats knowledge. That does not mean I would not still buy it without any traffic or revenue if it's a strong keyword name, but I still want to know.

In the past I have also seen other sellers also say don't ask about traffic but why? If it gets none just say so up-front, or say traffic/revenue is not a consideration in sale, or whatever, but still reveal stats if asked without saying you won't allow the questions? What's the big deal about discussing that aspect anyway?

 

[DN BROKER]

i post all the time AS IS - no questions or comments

from experience to much time goes into providing stats, etc and buyer never has the courtesy to reply back... so i decided to make it easy and make AS IS

when your dealing with end users is different... unless you own a generic .com or a .com that gets crazy traffic then get into details , otherwise i find it to be a waste of time... for me I really dont care if the domain sells or not on a forum, majority of my sales are with end users

 

[DomainsInc]

when they say that, i just assume no traffic. if the seller wants people to assume otherwise they would provide stats.

 

[Gerry]

Personally, stats do not affect my buying decision (much).

I want strong keyword domains, whether a single word, acronym, or multiword.

Traffic stats are also very misleading and can be easily manipulated and inflated by the seller.

Some people go as far as posting image of stats as if that ads validity to their claims (it can) but everyone needs to make a decision based on the merits of the name itself.

If someone posts an image of tens of thousands of hits on a 2 month old domain - does that no raise suspicions?

 

[Theo]

Stats and revenue can make or break a deal, however there are a couple of valid reasons not to bring stats into play:

1. No traffic whatsoever
2. No amount of traffic high enough to justify rolling that parameter into pricing.

 

[Biggie]

most times if you list a domain and post stats, then many will make offers based on those stats and not even consider instrinsic value of domain.


i've posted quite a few lll.org domains here and rarely will someone make an offer based on both attributes

if resellers see a domain making $5 > $10 a month all they wanna offer is $300, regardless to the letters or terms of the name

if they don't see stats and you ask them to make an offer before giving stats, then they hesitate.

yet, when resellers bid on names at namejet, snap, gd, etc, they don't see any stats, other than what they dig up, but they won't find out if the domain produces traffic or revenue until they buy it.


so, that could be why some say 'don't ask'

 

[Theo]

Don, Namejet and other drop/auction sites are populated by:

1. End users
2. Educated long-term investors
3. Domain flippers with a good budget

That's not your average forum crowd of domainers.

 

[David G]

most times if you list a domain and post stats, then many will make offers based on those stats and not even consider instrinsic value of domain.....

Good point and I am sure it can easily happen. Intrinsic value of course is usually more important vs traffic/revenue. Nevertheless, if buyer asks about stats I believe it should be given.

End users rarely if ever ask about stats.

 

[WhoDatDog]

It is becasue the stats add no value to the name, so that means that the seller doesn't want to mention them. If the stats were good he/she would list them as a selling point. They make a mistake when they do that, though. The more legitimate information you provide the better chance you have of getting a good sale. If you act like you have something to hide you will often miss out, and often times the stats are better than the buyer might have expected.

There are plenty of names with very little traffic that are worth a lot of money. There are also times when the seller has an inflated view as to the value of the name, as well. It is similar to the "educated offers" nonsense you will often see. Like it is an inside secret as to why this name has tremendous value. Mostly white noise and stop signs for me. On the flip side, there are lots of people who really exhaust sellers with meaningless requests, so to each his own.