When I get to the checkout screen on a website and see an empty field for a promo or discount code, I tend to take a moment to search Google for a valid code to use. I know other people do this because years ago I made thousands of dollars via affiliate link on a website I operated because my site ranked very high for a discount code offered by a company that was doing affiliate advertising.
People expect to be able to find and use a promo code when they see a promo code field, and similarly, domain name buyers expect to be able to have their offer considered when the “Make Offer” field shows up on a landing page. I want to share a paraphrased discussion I had with a prospective buyer this week.
The domain name is listed at DAN.com with a $1,299 buy it now price. I use their older landing page option which has the price listed, allows a buyer to purchase it in installments, and there is a link to make an offer. The prospective buyer offered $800, and I countered at the list price. I told the prospect that I thought the price was already very good, and I would honor it for the week, although it was going to be increased in the near future.
The prospect responded by telling me he didn’t know why I am allowing offers if I expect full price. I told him he made a good point, but the platform does not allow me to turn off the “Make Offer” option on a domain name basis, and it is a setting for the entire account. I ended up offering to take $100 off the price as a courtesy, but the deal has not closed.
As a consumer, I always assume there is a promo or discount code out there when I see that field on a checkout page. Domain name buyers expect to be able to get a better price when they see the Make Offer field. Domain name sellers should price their domain names accordingly or at least understand what a buyer would assume when a Make Offer field is listed. As DAN works on its roadmap, I hope they allow sellers to make changes on a per-domain name basis or at least set up different groups of domain names with different landing pages. (See update below)
Update: Here’s how to keep the “Make Offer” field enabled but prevent it from showing up on specific domain names:
"but the platform does not allow me to turn off the “Make Offer” option on a domain name basis"
If you set the price and min offer the same there will be no Make Offer option shown.
— domains21 ☕️ (@domains21) September 17, 2020
Totally agree with you Elliot. Some will say to mark up price to cover the extra discount but that will turn off more potential buyers.
The same logic goes for adding parking links (Dan/Bodis). I may want to do that for some domains but not others. Needs to be on a per domain basis.
From what I understand, you are able to choose to park individual domain names with Bodis via DAN. Once the setting is enabled for parking (in your DAN account), there will be the option for each domain name to show PPC ads. I was told this by DAN on Twitter yesterday: https://twitter.com/Undeveloped/status/1306247133276889088
Sedo is even worse, they show the minimum offer without making it clear its the minimum offer I recall. It should be “Buy now” or “Submit your contact details”.
Sedo shows too many things they should not be showing…
For those who want to keep the Make Offer option on their account but have names where the price is NOT negotiable, they can set the minimum offer to be the same as the buy it now price, and the offer field will not show up: https://twitter.com/domains21/status/1306600702941245445