LinkedIn Search Stats Can Help ID a Prospective Buyer

Elliot Silver
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2

I was looking at LinkedIn this afternoon, and I realized their search stats tool can be invaluable in helping to identify a prospective buyer for a domain name. LinkedIn shows users the number of times their profile appeared in their search stats. It also shows “Where your searches work.” This can help identify a prospective buyer.

Let’s say you own Example.com. One day you look at LinkedIn and see that someone from a company called Example Capital found you in a LinkedIn search. Assuming your name is in the Whois record, it is very likely that the company was doing some due diligence to learn more about you in an attempt to buy the domain name.

I have found that larger companies tend to use brokers and/or brand protection companies to acquire domain names. This is done to stay stealthy. The point is to ensure the domain owner doesn’t have any idea who is behind the inquiry. If the domain owner saw

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Domain Appraisal Section Can be a Good Place to Find Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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5

There are many people who own domain names that have no idea of what they could be worth. Some of these people may have bought a domain name on a whim while others bought a domain name for a project that didn’t take off or didn’t get started. The domain name appraisal section on forums like NamePros and previously DNForum are some of the most popular sections, and they could be a good place to find a domain name to buy.

When someone with a great domain name asks for an appraisal, it is because they either received an offer to buy their domain name or they are ready to sell it. By publicly posting their domain name in the appraisal section, they can get an idea of what domain investors believe the domain name is worth. I think some of these people also do it as a means of generating a bit of publicity for their domain name.

From my perspective, this can be a great buying opportunity. On occasion, I have seen a great domain name posted for sale in the appraisal forum, and I have reached out to try to strike a deal privately. If it looks like the domain owner would like to sell a domain name I want to buy, it doesn’t make sense not to connect and see if a deal can be struck.

A key thing to keep

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Recency and Venue Are Important for Comps

Elliot Silver
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5

I was discussing the price of a domain name with a seller, and he shared a few public comparable domain name sales to justify his asking price. One of the comps seemed abnormally high to me. Although the sale price was apparently accurate, the domain name sold many years ago and the market has changed since then.

As a buyer, it is important to look beyond the sale price of the domain name. The date and venue are also important considerations that should be made by the buyer to understand more about the sale.

A domain name that sold

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Tip for Using DomainTools’ Domain Search Tool

Elliot Silver
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I use quite a few tools from DomainTools. One of the tools I like best for prospecting is the Domain Search tool. This tool allows me to see all of the domain registrations in a specific keyword, making it easier to target prospective buyers who own domain names with a keyword similar to mine.

To give you an example, I own KitchenConsultant.com. I think other businesses with longer tail domain names might want to upgrade to KitchenConsultant.com. For instance, if someone owned BestKitchenConsultant.com or KitchenConsultantNYC.com, they might want to purchase the domain name my company owns. Searching “kitchenconsultant” will yield all of the registered domain names with that particular search term.

One thing I like to do when using this tool is to alter my keyword a bit to broaden the number of prospects. Instead of searching

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Keep Track of Your Marketplace Listings

Elliot Silver
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4

Earlier this week, I received an offer for a domain name that had its BIN price listed on its landing page. I proceeded to negotiate with the prospect, and I told him he need to come up to a certain number to get a deal done. A couple of hours passed, and I received an email from Afternic telling me the domain name sold for the BIN price, which was lower than the BIN price on my landing page but in line with what I had emailed to the prospect.

I don’t typically have two different buy it now prices for my domain names. I think it is more fair for buyers if my prices are consistent across platforms, and I think it bring up questions if that isn’t the case. It is a case of fairness because a person would be (rightfully) upset if they paid $10,000 to buy a name via Afternic but found out that same name had an active BIN listing on Sedo at $7,000 after they already paid.

When I received the initial offer, I should have first looked at

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Year-End Domain Investor Checklist

Elliot Silver
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0

With the year coming to a close in a few days, I want to share a few things I have either done or plan to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. There is still some time to get things done before the books close on 2017, and I am taking advantage of the remaining few days to get some things done.

Here are 5 things to do before the year ends:

Renew domain names and transfer domain names – I am renewing domain names I know I plan to keep for a while, and I have also been transferring some domain names to other registrars to consolidate my holdings. This is also a good time to turn off auto-renew on domain names I don’t want to keep.

Buy office equipment and supplies – I wanted a new laptop for

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