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Taking Valuate.com for a Test Drive

Elliot Silver
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13

When I visited Domaining.com yesterday, I saw the headline announcing the launch of Valuate.com, a sister website of Domaining.com and a domain valuation tool that is run using Estibot 2.0. Users are allowed to look up 50 domain names if they aren’t registered users of Domaining.com and 200 if they are logged in to their Domaining.com account. This is the Beta version of the site, with the full launch expected to come in December.

One of the easiest ways to do a comparison of domain values is to compare recent domain sales from DN Journal with the results from Valuate.com. Since a domain name’s actual value is derived from what someone would pay for a domain name, one can infer that the recent sales price is close to its valuation. I wanted to take the new site for a test drive to see the results, and I figured using recent sales would be the most fair way to compare.

Below are some recent sales along with their prices and the Valuate.com valuation. I also added a few of my domain names to see how they are valued.

Domain Name | Sales Price | Valuate.com Valuation
Resumes.com | $400,000 | $910,000
Candy.com | $3,000,000 | $3,080,000
Bubbler.com | $10,000 | $10,000
Exterminator.com | $600,000 | $620,000
Ticket.com | $1,535,000 | $2,600,000
Luck.com | $675,000 | $690,000
Voodoo.com | $300,000 | $320,000
Jets.com | $375,000 | $620,000
Christian.com | $600,000 | $1,300,000
ChinaTours.com | $200,000 | $210,000
800.com | $250,000 | $260,000
Physicians.com | $250,000 | $700,000
DiamondRings.com | $228,420 | $1,970,000
Brazil.com | $500,000 | $630,000
FreeQuotes.com | $210,000 | $220,000
Snowboards.net | $30,000 | $31,000
Science.org | $20,000 | $29,000
LMK.com | $58,500 | $60,000

Some of my companies’ investments:
Torah.com | N/A | $110,000
Burbank.com | N/A | $160,000
Dreidel.com | N/A | $25,000
AthensVacations.com | N/A | $15,000
DubrovnikVacations.com | N/A | $1,000
CabCompanies.com | N/A | $2,200
CatOwner.com | N/A | $1,200
Oenophiles.com | N/A | $4,100
TropicalBirds.com | N/A | $2,800

Overall, some of the values seem to be fairly on point, although I wouldn’t sell a few of them at close to the valuation (TropicalBirds.com for example).   My domain names were private acquisitions (except for Lowell.com), so there probably isn’t an element of human intervention with these values.

One thing I disagree with is the disclaimer, “We DON’T valuate businesses, we DON’T valuate sites.” Although it may not provide valuation on websites, the value takes traffic and incoming links into consideration. By default, developed sites have more of these valuable attributes, which could cause the value to increase. One could argue that the domain name ElliotsBlog.com is worth a few hundred dollars to someone else named Elliot who wants a blog. However, Valuate.com gives ElliotsBlog.com a valuation of $9,200, presumably because of the traffic and site ranking.

One way to really test its accuracy will be to rate the values of pending domain auction names before and after. This will let you see how accurate the system is – and it will also tell you if there are human filters correcting errors.

Here are some Valuate.com valuations of domain names that are up for auction this week during the Traffic show:

40.com – $62,000
900.com – $12,000
Arbitration.com – $250,000
Bands.com – $520,000
Boy.com – $620,000
CigarBars.com – $6,200
DataCenters.com – $27,000
EuropeanVacation.com – $35,000
GolfClubs.com – $410,000
Hookahs.com – $15,000
Marketers.com – $2,000
OfficeSupply.com – $110,000
Penpals.com – $22,000
QB.com – $15,000
ScubaDiver.com – $9,700
SecondMortgage.com – $140,000
SkyDiver.com – $4,100
TreasuryBonds.com – $40,000
WineCellar.com – $56,000
Zimbabwe.com – $410,000

Clearly, some of these valuations are way off. I’m no baller, but I would buy Hookahs.com, Marketers.com, QB.com, 900.com, ScubaDiver.com, SkyDiver.com, and WineCellar.com at those prices right now without even thinking about it twice.

A while back, I discussed Estibot and how I don’t think you can ever rely on the results of an automated website to get accurate domain valuations. I still agree with this, but I think Valuate.com can provide an additional sanity check when buying a domain name.

Francois recently put Domaining.com up for sale with an asking price of $3,000,000. Valuate.com only pegs the value at $110,000. As we all know, the only real way to value a domain name is by offering it for sale and seeing what someone will pay for it!

Can Development Decrease the Value of a Domain Name?

Elliot Silver
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25

My friend Mike is in the middle of building out my newest domain acquisition, and I am getting psyched to launch the website in the coming weeks. I am not ready to reveal the name publicly yet, but I am sure some people might think it’s not great, while others will agree with my opinion that it’s a great name with an obviously workable business plan. I am excited to share – but just not yet.

Within a couple of days after I bought the domain name, I began receiving inquiries. In fact, I received an email from the owner of a similar domain name, just in a country code extension. I told him the domain name is not for sale, and that I am in the process of building it out. He also sent me a Twitter message, and I replied the same.

Last week, I put up a coming soon page with the new logo I had created. In the past week, I have received two additional inquires about this domain name. I receive unsolicited inquiries for my geodomain names on a frequent basis, but I don’t recall getting three for the same one in less than a week. The most recent one was received this morning, and after I said no, I received a follow up asking me if there’s any price at which I’d sell it. Of course, the answer is yes, but that’s simply because everything has a price.

So, that leads me to the question, “can developing a domain name decrease its value?” Would it be possible to make a domain name worth less with true development? Of course if its the source of major spam, spyware, or other thing of the sort, it could potentially have less value, but that wouldn’t be the case here.

I really believe I have a great domain name, solid business plan, and a solid marketing plan that is fairly aggressive but wouldn’t really require additional work from me because I am involved with it almost every day. But the question remains, could my developing this domain name diminish its value?

I also think there are two things at play here.

1) Can the actual developed website hurt its value?

2) Can development make it less likely that a company will want to make an inquiry about a potential sale?

Does Microsoft Need to Watch Out for AOL?

Elliot Silver
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1

I missed the article in TechCrunch on Tuesday until just now, but AOL’s Sphere, the self-dubbed “next phase in the evolution of AOL News,” is undergoing a rebranding effort. The new name of the brand will be Surphace, and the company will use Surphace.com as its domain name.

Of course, when people tell their buddies to check out “Surphace.com,” many of their friends will inevitably head to Surface.com instead, which happens to be a domain name owned by Microsoft, which redirects to the Microsoft website.

With AOL currently embroiled in a lawsuit against Advertise.com for trademark infringement, one can amusingly ask if AOL will believe that they deserve the Surface.com domain name to go along with their renamed brand. It surely would be a head scratcher, but I wouldn’t exactly be shocked. I wonder what Microsoft thinks of this.

On another note, I still don’t understand why some companies – especially large companies – still create brand names that are difficult to spell. This can only lead to brand confusion, lost traffic, and potentially even litigation. One would think they could find another brand name and buy the .com if they think it’s worthwhile.

See WIPO UDRP Cases as They Are Filed

Elliot Silver
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7

Although I generally learn about UDRP cases after the decisions are made, I occasionally look through all of the WIPO UDRP cases that have been filed. The World Intellectual Property Organization, which oversees UDRP cases, lists all of the cases filed by year, and it provides a status update next to each case – from pending through decided and everything in between. This is in addition to being able to search for cases by domain name, complainant, and respondent.

One reason I monitor filings is to stay ahead to see if there are certain companies that are aggressively and/or over aggressively protecting their brands. I particularly pay attention to geodomain names, acronym domain names (2 and 3 letters and 2 and 3 numbers), and other generic domain names. Whether or not a majority of these cases are awarded to the complainant doesn’t really impact my reasoning for monitoring. I watch them to proactively protect my domain names and be mindful of certain companies when making future acquisitions, because a UDRP defense can be expensive and can only negatively impact the value of a domain name.

Below are recent UDRP filings for seemingly generic domain names:

Hostess.com – filed by Interstate Bakeries Corporation

QUE.com – filed by Plastic Logic, Inc.

ENX.com – filed by ENX (European Network Exchange) Association

WiFiParis.com – filed by Ville de Paris

MID.org – filed by The Royal National Institute for Deaf People

WhyPark Charity Auction

Elliot Silver
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1

WhyParkI received an email from Craig Rowe, President of WhyPark, announcing a charity auction the company will be running in December. Full details about the auction can be found on the WhyPark Auction page.

At this point, they’re looking for high-quality domain submissions to be auctioned.   All domains will be donated for the auction with the proceeds going to the charity chosen by the highest single bidder. So, if you support a certain charity, it’s a good incentive to bid a little higher on a domain to be able to choose the recipient of the full auction proceeds.   WhyPark will   verify that it’s a socially-responsible charity.

This is a 5-day domain auction set to begin on December 7th and end December 11th. Approximately 50 domains will be chosen for the charity auction, and all domains will start with no reserve. At the close of the auction, the single highest bid from all auctions will be able to choose the charityto receive all net proceeds.

Still Registering New Names

Elliot Silver
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31

Even though my primary focus is on buying quality domain names in the aftermarket, I do spend some time researching new domain names to purchase for registration fee. I use Google’s Keyword Tool, personal knowledge about the subject, current events, and the amount of advertisers who pay for marketing campaigns in search engines.

I think I am most influenced by things happening around me for the registration “inspiration.” I had a friend that spent many hours per week looking things up on Wikipedia (at work) during his spare time. He would receive an email from a friend or see a news article on the BBC, and he’d immediately search Wikipedia for more knowledge.

I am sort of like this with domain names. Instead of searching for more knowledge about a subject of interest, I search for available .com domain names that might have eventual value. Although most of my purchases are speculative, it can be more enjoyable than gambling… well maybe as enjoyable as blackjack 🙂

Here are some of my recent domain registrations:

PorcelainInlay.com
PorcelainInlays.com
RedBelliedPiranha.com
RedBelliedPiranhas.com
CoalAshRecycling.com
CoalAshDisposal.com
HockeyGoalieHelmet.com
HockeyGoalieHelmets.com
CelebrationOfLifeParties.com

What have you recently registered?

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