How Will Google Domains Impact the Secondary Market?

Now that it seems that Google will operate a public domain registrar, I am curious how this will affect the secondary market for domain names. Reports suggest that Google’s primary audience for domain name registrations might be the small businesses because the company’s research shows that 55% of those companies do not have a website yet.

In my opinion, the vast majority of small businesses who sign up for Google Domains will want to get a domain name that matches their business name. For instance, Jimmy’s Clam Shack will probably want to hand register JimmysClamShack.com. If that domain name wouldn’t be available, Google might suggest Jimmys.Restaurant or ClamShack.Menu.

Although these options will be good for the vast majority of small businesses, there will probably be

Know Your Asking Prices

There are many ways a person can inquire about a domain name. I have found that many buyers visit the landing page and inquire directly after seeing a “for sale” message on the page. Many people also have success selling domain names via marketplaces such as Afternic and Sedo. When you quote a price, be mindful of the buy it now prices you’ve set elsewhere.

Buy it now pricing is encouraged at domain marketplaces. It makes it easier for a buyer to complete a purchase, and it is faster for all parties. It probably makes buyers more comfortable knowing that the price is set and it is not going to increase based on who they are (how much money they have). One issue I face on occasion is when I quote a price on a direct inquiry that differs from the buy it now price elsewhere.

I don’t have a great pricing system. I have started to put

GoDaddy Hiring Aftermarket Manager of Outbound Sales

I want to share a job opening that might be of interest to someone who has experience selling domain names. GoDaddy is looking to hire a Aftermarket Manager of Outbound Sales, and the position will be based in its soon to open Cambridge, Massachusetts office. The person that is hired will most likely be working with the Afternic team to sell domain names via outbound marketing channels.

According to the job listing that was posted earlier today, “As an Aftermarket Manager of Outbound Sales at GoDaddy, you will be responsible for building, developing and leading a team of Outbound Sales Consultants in our Domains Aftermarket department. Along with your director, you will work to develop and improve the processes, environment and results of the team.”

One of the most interesting things about this job listing is that

GoDaddy’s Alan Shiflett Takes Position at Afternic

Since GoDaddy acquired Afternic in September of last year, I haven’t seen all that many changes at either company. I just learned of a personnel change that will bring GoDaddy Premier Services Supervisor Alan Shiflett to Massachusetts to become Partner Sales Manager at Afternic.

I’ve worked with Alan for a couple of years, and have always found him to be proactive with my account and responsive to my requests (no matter the time or the day of the week). His addition at Afternic will be a loss for GoDaddy, but hopefully they will replace him with someone who is equally as helpful.

I jumped at this opportunity to take on this new role as I feel that the domain aftermarket will continue to grow and am excited to focus in on the sales side of domain investing,” Alan told me. “In this role I will maintain a close relationship with Premier Services as many of their clients are already using Afternic as a sales solution. I will also have the opportunity to foster new relationships with those whom I have had little to no interaction with in the past.”

Although Alan is

Managing Sale Listings Post-Inquiry

I assume that most people with domain name portfolios have sale listings at marketplaces like Sedo, Aftermarket.com, and Afternic. If you’re like me, you list some domain names for sale at BIN prices and others are of the make offer variety. On occasion, I will update the prices as the market dictates, although I often “set it and forget it” in the words of infomercial star Ron Popeil.

Oftentimes, inquiries for my domain names either come from the domain name’s landing page or as a result of my emailing potential buyers. Because of this, many prospects don’t see what price a domain name is listed for on a marketplace, so there could be a price difference – sometimes more or sometimes less depending on market and business conditions.

When this happens, a prospect could

How To Sell a Domain Name

I am often asked “how do you sell a domain name?” or “can you sell my domain name?” and I want to share some advice on how to sell a domain name. If you own a domain name or a portfolio of domain names and you would like to sell them, there are several ways to sell a domain name. Of course, this list doesn’t include selling a domain name when someone inquires about buying a domain name because all that is required of that is a negotiation.

Listed below are 5 ways to sell a domain name and some advice about each method. I personally recommend using an escrow service (Escrow.com for example) when selling a domain name, even if a domain broker is involved.