Another End User Sale Detailed

Elliot Silver
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25

I am not going to share the names of the two domain sales I made this week to protect the privacy of the buyers, but they were both hand registered within the past 7 days, and they sold for $360 and $400. I have a third domain name, which is related to one of the two that sold, and I think that one is going to sell for a little bit less today.

I want to detail the domain sales process for one of the sales, as the second sale was was similar to the first (although it was made after just 2 emails).   For the first sale detailed below, as I was emailing companies based on a Google search of the product, I realized there was an alternate spelling to the product, so I registered that domain phrase too.   As of 11am this morning, I only sold one of these two names, but you’ll see more information below.

My initial email to around 30 companies and people in the business:

———————
I see that you sell custom xxxxxxxx, and my company is selling the domain name CustomXxxxxxx.com. The domain name is the exact match of the search term, and developing it could provide a SEO boost for your company in this market.

If you are interested in acquiring CustomXxxxxxx.com, please let me know. I am offering it to several xxxxxxxx companies in the next few days. Also, my company owns XXXXXXX.com and will be looking for partner opportunities in the near future, so if you have any ideas on how we could work together, please let me know.
———————

Half way through the 30 emails I sent, I added a line about the second domain name I bought, mentioning the fact that I own it as well and would sell it. I mentioned one of my domain names that I am looking to partner on, as it’s a very well known name in this particular business and I thought it would give me added credibility.

Out of the 30 or so emails, I received nine replies. Six asked for the price of the first name, one said she wasn’t interested but wanted to know the price, one said she didn’t sell this type of product any longer, and one asked for the price on the second name. I replied to the eight interested people with an email saying the names are $900 for both and it would go to the first person who replies. I didn’t get a positive response to this BIN offer (I got 3 “no thanks” types of replies).

Two days later, I sent out a second email with everyone Blind Carbon Copied:

———————
I am blind carbon copying the 9 people/companies who have shown an interest in CustomXxxxxxx.com and/or CustomYyyyyyyyy.com. I have opted to drop the price of the domain names to facilitate a quicker sale. Each domain name is just $360 to purchase. The domain names are registered at Moniker, a Florida-based domain registrar. If you would like both domain names, the price for the pair is $600, although I can’t sell the pair if someone agrees to buy one of the domain names first.

The first person to write back and say, “I will take it” will get the domain name. Payment may be made via Paypal.
———————

One lady replied within an hour and said that she would take the first name for $360, and the name was transferred within a day and payment was made nearly immediately. She opened a Moniker account and didn’t have any issues using them. In less than a week, the profit from the sale was $330 after Paypal fees and the cost of the domain name, and it literally took under 2 hours for all correspondence and research.

This morning, I received an email from the person who wanted to buy the second name, and he offered $500 for both (he also asked how much Moniker charges per year). I replied that I only had one of the names remaining, and I would sell it to him for $250 – and I gave him Moniker’s price. I also let him know I was going away tomorrow so I could hopefully close the deal before I leave. I will provide an update later.

So what did I learn from this and from other recent sales to end users?

  • Looks like sales under $500 are easier to make
  • Domain name should be the exact match .com of a high profit margin product (custom things are generally higher margin)
  • Almost all replies were from individuals or very small businesses
  • I previously mentioned that registering names at Godaddy made a sale easier because everyone knows Godaddy, but it worked fine with the names being at Moniker
  • Focus on one or two names at a time, sell those and repeat the process
  • You might not always get what you want for the names so be flexible in pricing
  • Don’t go for a “home run” with your price
  • Treat everything like a learning experience – test everything from emails to pricing
  • I still love finding new domain names and selling them. Yes, it’s thrilling to buy a $5k name and flip it for $10k, but when I bought the name I knew it was worth more than I was paying. Finding unregistered names that has value is more fun for me although I probably couldn’t run my business simply by doing this.
  • Not all valuable domain names are registered!

Testing Two Domain Sales Venues

Elliot Silver
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34

Although I prefer to sell domain names in private, I list domain names for sale on my blog and in a couple of other locations when my domain names don’t quickly sell. I have tested one paid venue for my domain sales, and I am going to test a second venue soon.

I recently tested three sponsored headlines at Domaining.com, which cost $80 for the day (each). Although none of the listings yielded a sale, they did bring additional traffic to my blog. I sold WanChai.com, although it was to a private client rather than as a result of the listing. A few people contacted me after the domain name was already sold, but I don’t know if it was a result of the Sponsored Listing exposure. I like the fact that a Sponsored Listing gets prominent placement for a day in the Domaining.com newsletter.

I am going to test another sponsored listing in another venue beginning later today or tomorrow. I am going to buy a “sticky” thread in DNForums Fixed Price sales section, which costs $200 per month. This thread stays at the top of that particular forum for 30 days, and it should give added exposure to domain buyers. I plan to list a wide variety of domain names for people of every budget to test the ROI.

As with just about everything I do, I will keep you posted on how the sale goes.

The $200,000 Sale of MonaLisa.com That Almost Never Happened

Elliot Silver
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9

Sedo just announced (via DNW) the successful brokerage sale of the domain name MonaLisa.com for $200,000. The domain name is currently registered to its Domain Transfer email, so I am fairly certain the deal is nearly completed.

If you have a look at the archives in DNForum, there’s a thread started by the “mysterious” Kuwaiti domain investor, elequa (also known as Thunayan Khalid Al-Ghanim of Future Media Architects). In the thread, Thunayan mentioned that he was bidding on the domain name at “NW,” a Dotster subsidiary, although he did not win. At that time, the domain name sold for around $15,000. Had Thunayan prevailed in the auction, the domain name would never have been resold, as his company does not sell any of its domain names.

Funny enough, someone who goes by the nickname “DomainGoon” (sarcastically) asked, “the real question is, how many years would take to make $15,000 back using that domain?” I guess the answer is 7 years, for more than 1,000% return on that $15,000 investment.

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PS: Thunayan – call me… I will be in your neck of the woods in 10 days. 🙂

Additional Hong Kong Domains for Sale

Elliot Silver
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13

Over the last month or so, I’ve sold two Hong Kong geographic domain names, WanChai.com and KwunTong.com, and I still have a few other domain names remaining. Instead of creating individual posts for each, I am going to save time by listing them for sale here.

Judging by the 2 emails and DNForum private message I received in the week after selling WanChai.com in which the writers told me they wish they bought it first, you should probably be quick if you would like to purchase one or more of the names below. If all three are of interest, I would consider an offer for the three domain names. Post “sold” in the comment section of the blog if you’re interested.

HK

YuenLong.com – Price: $6,500 US Dollars

References:

  • Go2YL.com – “Yuen Long has quite a lot to offer.” “The district is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and abundance of antiquities and monuments. Many traditional ceremonies and rituals are still observed by the people in Yuen Long, in spite of the coming of modernity of Yuen Long. Examples are Tin Hau Festival, Tai P’ing Ch’ing Ch’iao and basin meal.”
  • CNNgo.com – Why We Love Yuen Long “Dirt biking, strawberry picking and traditional basin meals are just some of the reasons why the rest of Hong Kong loses to Yuen Long“
  • Wikipedia – “It had a population of 449,070 in 2001“

Hong Kong

TaiPo.com – Price: $5,500 US Dollars

References:

  • Sam’s Exotic Photos of Tai Po – “Tai Po used to be a modest village town with historical relics and charming scenery. Now, it has been transformed into a thriving and prosperous new town. It is a marvel that the tranquility of its traditional villages have been preserved and coexist in harmony with the high-rise buildings of the bustling new town.“
  • Tai Po Football Club (Wikipedia) – “On 6 June 2009, Tai Po won 4:2 against TSW Pegasus, in front of 4,042 fans at the Hong Kong Stadium, to lift the Hong Kong FA Cup, marking the first time a district team has won the trophy.”
  • Wikipedia – “It had a population of 310,879 in 2001.“

Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

TsuenWan.com – Price: $7,000 US Dollars

References:

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Photo credits:

EverythingEverywhere.com Domain Sale Isn’t So Bad

Elliot Silver
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9

Earlier today, I wrote about the re-branding of T-Mobile and Orange into a new company called Everything Everywhere. I mentioned that the company also acquired the domain name EverythingEverywhere.com in private, and The Register had a story in which the domain owner revealed that the domain name was sold in private (for a “nominal sum”) via Sedo just before the news was announced.

Owen Frager had an article about the sale, laying the blame squarely on Sedo doorstep, “Sedo Throws Domainers Under the Bus,” and I don’t agree with this at all. Sedo doesn’t and shouldn’t personally interact with all buyers and sellers. In fact, I can’t remember one completed purchase or sale that I’ve been involved with that had a Sedo account representative involved during the negotiation process.

With hundreds of domain sales a month, it wouldn’t make sense for Sedo to monitor all domain negotiations. I could understand the anger if they misrepresented who the buyer was, but if an agent acted on behalf of the buyer, Sedo would have no reason to know if it was a huge conglomerate or a mom and pop shop. Likewise, if the buyer and seller negotiated using Sedo’s automated system, there would be no reason for a Sedo representative to be involved.

As badly as the former domain owner must feel about possibly leaving money on the table, I think he needs to take a step back and realize that he got the price he wanted. Someone else may have wanted more and possibly gotten it, but it is what it is.   The former owner probably bought it for registration fee, and if he sold it for a few hundred dollars, it’s more than he had before.

This reminds me of the ChatRoulette.com sale where people commented about the “poor guy” who sold the name to Adam Strong for under $1,500 only to see it sell for $151,000. At least in this case, there will be no further sale of the domain name, so the money left on the table is all imaginary and doesn’t exist.

Congrats to the former owner for thinking of and buying a great domain name. There are plenty of people in the advertising and marketing business who would love to know their idea for a big brand was used.

For the future, domain owners may want to consider checking other extensions to see what companies own those and may give an indication of who would want the .com.   Interestingly, EverythingEverywhere.net was owned by Buy Domains as late as March 23, 2010 before Melbourne IT bought it.

Offer a Payment Plan to Close Domain Deal

Elliot Silver
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5

I don’t necessarily like it when a buyer stretches out payments for a domain name, but offering it can be a smart move. I recently sold a domain name, and during negotiations, the buyer indicated that funds were a bit tight at the moment, but he wanted to buy the domain name. To keep the negotiation opened and to ensure that I was able to get my asking price, I offered him a payment plan, and we were able to come to an agreement.

Here’s what I recommend if you offer a payment plan or are asked to offer one:

  • Consider using an escrow service that Moniker offers or Escrow.com offers (need to contact them directly) to ensure both parties live up to their end of agreement with an impartial company acting as an intermediary.
  • Domain owner should keep possession of the domain name (or see above) until final payment is made. Owner can change DNS if necessary and asked.
  • Make sure everything is in writing so buyer and seller have the same expectations. I recommend having a domain attorney write the agreement, especially if it involves a considerable sum of money.
  • Be clear on what happens if buyer stops paying. In my opinion, the domain owner should keep all previous payments and the domain name.
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