For many of my domain names listed for sale, I have a “Make Offer” option next to the buy it now price. Domain name pricing isn’t science for me, and if I miss the mark by a considerable amount, a prospective buyer may simply choose an alternative domain name. I rely on domain name sales to fund the majority of my business, so I would prefer to give someone the option to make an offer rather than pass over an overpriced domain name.
Darpan Munjal, Founder of Squadhelp (a branding agency with a focus on domain names), shared an observation that domain investors may wish to consider when listing their domain names for sale:
Adding a Make Offer option next to BIN price leads to an immediate dilution of domain value (by almost 40%)
When setting a BIN price, avoid adding a Make Offer option because you are signaling to buyers that you are willing to accept much less than BIN price pic.twitter.com/eScniUv51r
— Darpan (@darpanmunjal) October 16, 2022
When I have the “Make Offer” option available on a sale listing, a prospective buyer will regularly make an offer rather than hit the BIN button. These people must assume the owner would consider an offer since the option is available.
I tend to price my names a bit on the high side, so there is often room to negotiate. If I receive an offer and think the BIN price I set is too low, I will usually tell the buyer the BIN price is firm and the price will be increasing soon to induce a sale. This has worked in the past.
Domain investors should assume the Make Offer field will lower the chances of completing a BIN deal on the domain name. Darpan’s quantitative data backs this up.
You could change “Make Offer” to “Inquire” with the same effect? or I am just a stupid old “OK Boomer” 🙂
Disagree. Set your BIN price at a premium, say 40%, then you have best of both worlds, BIN and Make Offer. Don’t limit your sales potential.
“Make Offer” implies:
#1) Fire Sale
#2) Ammo for a UDRP on that domain OR a different domain
#3) In the end most legitimate offer come thru GoDaddy’s platform or Sedo
I get lots of sales thru make offer or inquire because it opens the path of communication.
Making sales is always about compromise, communications and negotiations.
This is where afternic shows a min floor price also, I always thought showing this number was not a good idea.
This is classic Occam’s Razor territory.
It’s the willingness to accept a lower price that’s the cause of lower prices and NOT some silly “Make Offer” button..
The 40% “dilution of value” is far more likely explained by domainer inexperience in pricing their inventory or in negotiating domain sales.
Also, a “price dilution” may reflect a domainer’s need for cash now, versus cash later. Most solid deals take time and some folks cannot afford to wait.