Atom.com recently enabled its Instant Domain Appraisal tool to show amounts above $1 million. Prior to the change, the maximum appraisal amount was shown as > $1 million. This is a neat change for some who hold 7 or 8 figure assets, but it’s a bit of a vanity feature since an automated appraisal on a domain name at that level is unlikely to have much bearing on its actual sale price.
I am unsure when Atom made the change to its appraisal tool to show figures above the $1 million mark. I was recently using the tool to evaluate a couple of acquisition targets, and it capped at $1 million. When I checked again yesterday, I noticed the change.
GoDaddy recently made some major changes to its GoValue appraisal tool. Andrew Allemann wrote about those changes in a blog post last week.
Automated appraisals can be useful in showing that a domain name has value – and sometimes substantial value. They may even help prospective buyer decide to make a purchase or choose to renew a domain name. At the end of the day, though, a domain name is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
An automated appraisal can put a valuation on a domain name, but it cannot account for the specific buyer, their budget, their need for the domain name, or how much they value it or expect it to help their business. I think automated appraisals are interesting and occasionally useful, but ultimately pretty meaningless when it comes to determining the actual market value of a domain name.
