Most people who send end user domain sales emails use Whois information to contact potential buyers. People use services like LeadRefs and Estibot to “harvest” email addresses of potential buyers, and while both of these services are valuable, without purging some of the email addresses, you run the risk of annoyance.
Although most people have sold obscure domain names for high prices when people have inquired, it’s rare that you’ll be able to sell an obscure domain name to a domain investor unless there are extenuating circumstances. Unless a domain investor has a great interest in a particular topic, it’s unlikely that he’ll be interested in a very specific domain name (like ReconstructiveOrthopaedics.com for example).
I’ve personally found that most domain investors these days are generally only buying great domain names on the aftermarket. From this experience, I generally shy away from sending emails to other domain investors on names that are for niche verticals and would only excite people who are in that line of business.
One thing you should do if you are selling domain names using Whois email contacts is to learn the Whois information of domain investors (like Mike Berkens and Frank Schilling), privacy services (like Go Daddy’s Domains By Proxy), hosting companies (like BlueHost), and large domain investment companies (like Huge Domains and Buy Domains).
I don’t usually mind receiving emails offering very good domain names for sale, but there are some people who constantly send me crap, and I don’t even read their emails anymore. If someone marks you down as a spammer, they will likely ignore all of your emails.
With tough economic times and domain investors rarely buying average names on the aftermarket, I would become familiar with their Whois information and purge their email addresses from your sales lists.
“If only I had a brain ” – the Scarecrow aka the domain spammer
Hi Elliot,
Points all well taken and logically true.
Bottom line though, my friend, and hard to admit when you have lots of established corporate domain entities advertising everywhere, is that if our industry doesn’t establish a system (shared and utilized with their clients) of reaching END USERS, then this game is almost over.
There is no more “domain auctions” when the sellers and the auction sites are abusing their huge lists of domain buyers for potential “buyers’ in their auctions. I know that the biggest domain sellers NEVER sell their domains anymore through domain auctions, especially when they want you to believe that another domain investor is going to pay you what your domain is worth.
All domain auction sites, listing sites, etc, either have to start actively revealing how they are reaching END USERS for their domain auctions and listings, or they too, very soon, will begin to lose money and fade away when another company finally spills the beans on how Buydomains, Frankie, DH, Sedo, etc etc… use special procedures to reach END USERS to sell their domains.
And trust me, they aren’t ready yet to “share” that info with Johnny Domain Investor who doesn’t have a clue.
Thanks for the article and hope you have a great week.
Hello elliot. I wish to know how I can sell my domain name faster. I have domains listed with sedo since 2months now and I have not gotten a single bid. I even tried the godaddy 7day public auction twice, yet I made no sale. Kindly let me know how I can reach potential buyers myself. Below is a my domain portfolio link. http://www.tinyurl.com/d5emvfy