Do “Precise” Prices Work Better?

When some of my domain names are approved for Premium listing status at Atom.com, I’ve noticed the suggested prices don’t always seem to follow a clear rationale. In some cases, it looks like the suggested prices are influenced by the asking prices I have for the domain names at Afternic, but the exact numbers often feel somewhat arbitrary and contrary to what I’ve generally assumed.

In reviewing my last 13 approved Premium listings, 3 of them came in just above what I would have considered a natural pricing threshold. For example, one domain name was suggested to be priced at $3,099 instead of $2,999, which I would have expected. With a relatively small portfolio, I don’t have enough volume to test this in any meaningful way, but I’ve always assumed that “charm pricing,” prices just under round-number thresholds, was the smarter strategy for listing domain names. Some sellers even prefer -88 endings for their domain names.

I asked Atom CEO Darpan Munjal about the pricing, and he shared some insights about “precise” pricing rather than charm pricing:

We’ve tested price endings like 95 and 99 across a large dataset and found no meaningful difference in STR. Interestingly, more “precise” prices like $3246 sometimes perform better, though that could be anecdotal – we haven’t tested it at scale.

That said, broader psychological…

— Darpan (@darpanmunjal) August 27, 2025

Taking discounts and scheduled price increases into account, my domain name prices likely end up being of the precise nature rather than charming. In looking at some of the sales shared by others, perhaps the idea of charm pricing for domain names is overinflated. I really don’t know.

If you’re a believer in charm pricing, you may want to modify your Atom pricing a bit before approving. If you think Atom’s algorithms are better at correctly pricing your domain names, perhaps you’ll approve them as is. Perhaps Atom will evaluate sale prices to understand if pricing thresholds matter.