Contest: I’ll Try to Help You Sell a Domain Name Using Domaining.com

Elliot Silver
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217

I’ve used Domaining.com sponsored headlines to sell several high value domain names, including one yesterday afternoon (Sayings.com). I think it’s a great tool to reach a wide audience of targeted domain buyers. Here’s sort of an informal contest to try and help you sell a domain name.

Post one domain name you own and have for sale in the comment section of this blog post with your price. I will choose the best domain name at the most reasonable price to feature in a Domaining.com sponsored headline. You will post your domain sale in a sales thread on DNForum at the specified time, and I will pay for a 24 hour sponsored headline for your sale and link it to your post on DN Forum.

Here are the rules of this contest:

  • You can only post one domain name for sale with a price in the comment section of this post (if you post more than one, you are disqualified)
  • I will select the best domain name at the most reasonable price by Friday morning at some point (my judgment only).
  • At the specified time I tell you via email (likely mid-week next week), you will post a sales thread on DNForum with the domain name and the price listed. I may even give you advice on what to write in your post if you would like.
  • I will pay for a 24 hour sponsored headline on Domaining.com, which will link to your DNForum post.
  • You absolutely must follow through with the sale if someone agrees to purchase the domain name, although I cannot be held responsible if buyer or seller fail to honor the deal.

Remember, you MUST post just one domain name and MUST list the price (please don’t ask if I or anyone else thinks your price is fair). If you do not wish to follow these rules or the rules above, this isn’t a contest you should enter.

ActingCoach.com for Sale

Elliot Silver
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3

One of my personal favorite logos I’ve had created for one of my websites is the one for ActingCoach.com. It’s simple, creative, and it fits the theme pretty well. I never really got around to promoting ActingCoach.com much, but I think the domain name has significant potential.

At the moment, ActingCoach.com is a hybrid directory site on Domain Apps. In addition to the logo, there was a bit of custom work to set the site up and allow acting coaches to list their businesses on the site. As you can imagine, it’s not one of my core websites, and I never did much/any promotion to help get the site ranked.

Stage and screen actors pay considerable amounts of money to acting coaches. Not only do amateur and up and coming actors pay for coaches, but also professional Broadway and Hollywood actors have acting coaches as well. The best acting coaches make a lot of money, and I think there is an opportunity for a niche directory website or possibly even a sale to an acting coach.

The price of ActingCoach.com is $6,800 and we will split escrow. Of course you can also keep the logo, and I would recommend keeping it on Domain Apps for the time being until you fully develop it. You could also leverage the Domain Apps platform to build your website… it’s your call.

Please don’t comment on this sale unless you are buying the domain name.

BTW, someone asked why I am selling so much today because I seem “desperate” to sell. First, I paid for a sponsored thread on Domaining.com for 24 hours, so I might as well use it. Second, I make my living selling domain names, and that’s exactly what I am doing.

Sayings.com for Sale

Elliot Silver
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0

Sayings.com has been sold (pending payment)

Guest Post: Why Priced Domains Sell Better, Faster

Elliot Silver
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10

This is a guest post from Jason Miner, who oversees Afternic’s Sales, Business Development & Customer Service departments while also guiding the Product and Development teams. With over 6 years at Afternic and more than 15 years of senior management experience, Jason brings adept leadership skills to the helm of Afternic.

Online Pricing Models:   Auction/Un-priced vs. Buy it Now

For over a decade, online companies including eBay and Amazon have experimented with “buy it now” (BIN) pricing vs. auction/un-priced listings. The auction/un-priced model may be falling by the wayside though, as online shoppers have come to expect that websites will offer the ability to make online purchases instantly. This only makes sense since the majority of ecommerce sites are set up like this.

One major indicator that online shoppers prefer “buy it now” (BIN) pricing is that eBay – the world’s most famous online auction platform – dedicated a large portion of its marketing budget in 2011 toward a “Buy it new. Buy it now.” marketing campaign; and, in 2011, 62% of eBay listings were BIN prices vs. 43% in 2008!

Why Choose Fixed Prices for Domains?

Web design best practices include limiting the number of actions a visitor must take to accomplish a purchase. Requiring a potential buyer to bid or request a price before they can make a purchase just adds an extra step to the purchase process – one that some customers may not be willing to take.

This is one of the main reasons why priced domains sell faster and for higher average sales prices. Pricing your domains up front makes transactions faster and easier for both parties because priced domains meet domain buyers’ expectations for a smooth, fast purchase process.

Fixed Prices Mean Higher Sales Prices

Buyers are always looking for a deal. If there is no price, you are likely to get an offer far below the figure or threshold you have in mind. This is why setting price expectations by setting a fixed price usually eliminates the need to entertain lowball offers.

When the price is set by the seller, the buyer understands the expectations and will usually make a more reasonable offer, resulting in better negotiations and eventually a higher sales price.

Fixed Prices Give You a Larger Audience

Afternic’s Domain Listing Service (DLS) offers domain sellers the largest audience for their names. Only priced domains are eligible to participate in Afternic’s Premium Promotion program, however. Premium Promotion puts your names in front of over 35 Million potential buyers per month across a network of partner sites.

This unmatched exposure to buyers who are actively seeking for domain names, greatly improves the chances that your domain will sell faster.

Send an email to Afternic to learn more about how to price your domains.

Why a Winning Bidder May Become a Non Paying Bidder

Elliot Silver
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36

Just about every domain sales venue and platform has to deal with non-paying bidders on domain listings, sales, and auctions. It’s happened to me before and I am sure it will continue to happen to others as well. Frankly, it’s frustrating as hell when you reach a deal to sell a domain name and the buyer fails to follow through.

One slimy tactic I’ve witnessed and heard about are people who agree to buy a domain name (whether it’s at an auction, aftermarket venue, or private  acquisition), and before paying, they try to sell the domain name to other companies.  If they can’t find a buyer for the domain name at a profitable level, they don’t pay for their purchase.

I’ll share an example of this with you. Recently, I was involved in an auction at NameJet, and someone offered to sell me the domain name before the auction was over. The person ended up winning the auction but was a non-paying bidder, presumably when he couldn’t find a buyer. NameJet lost out, and someone who bought it to re-sell it likely lost out since this person probably reached out to many prospects already.

Recourse for the domain owner is generally limited to litigation and/or having that user banned from the platform in the future. Litigation can be expensive, so most people generally let it go without doing much of anything. It’s very frustrating to have a deal fall through, and it’s especially annoying to find out that the buyer has gone out to contact leads for your domain name, potentially hurting your chances of selling the name in the future.

In my opinion, trying to sell a domain name you don’t have the intention of buying unless you can flip it is wrong. If you are new to the domain industry, I caution you to not do this.

DealDash Buys Swoopo Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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2

A few years ago, I learned about Swoopo, an interesting type of online auction website that had bidders pay for bids. As I recall, there was some controversy surrounding the type of auctions on the site, because a $100 item that sells for $10 could conceivably have hundreds of dollars worth of bids to get to the final sales price.

You can read a couple or articles about the controversy surrounding Swoopo  here and here. There are plenty of others that I could find, but I think those two articles summarize the issue pretty well.

According to an entry on Wikipedia, “in March 2011, Swoopo’s website became inaccessible, and a notice page claimed that Swoopo was experiencing “technical issues.” On March 26, 2011, Swoopo’s parent company filed for bankruptcy. There is no information regarding whether the site will reopen or permanently close.”

It looks like the later part of that excerpt has been answered when you have a look at Sedo’s weekly sales report (via TheDomains.com). Last week, Swoopo.com sold for 10,000 EUR (roughly $13,000 USD). When you visit Swoopo.com, the domain name forwards to DealDash.com, which appears to be a penny bid auction website.

According to the DealDash website, “DealDash is the longest running penny auction site in America. DealDash ´s Buy it Now option removes the risk of losing from penny auctions by allowing losing bidders to purchase the product at a fixed retail price and get a full refund of all the bids lost in the auction.”

This seems to be a wise (and cost effective) acquisition for Deal Dash, since there seem to be a significant number of references to Swoopo and quite a few inbound links. I don’t know if the company purchased any other intellectual property, but the domain name was a smart purchase.

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