I don’t want to “jinx” things, but 2012 is off to a rocking start. Â I don’t think the world economy is getting much better, but I do think consumer confidence is higher than before, and I also think domain investor confidence is growing. Â I looked through my records from the last several years (since 2006), and I have never had a better February than this one.
– Economist and internet entrepreneur Thies Lindenthal is  definitely  on to something when it comes to the IDNX he developed in conjunction with Sedo. As the stock market continues to climb, it seems that people are spending more money on domain names. See next bullet for more details.
– I closed three end user sales this past week, one of which was for 3x my asking price (see next bullet for a tip). One sale was made as a result of an email I sent to the prospective buyer, another was an inquiry from the website, and the third  was an inbound price request from the Voodoo landing page. There is obviously something to be said about having a bright “for sale” notice on the top of parked pages. Lots of lowball offers that way, but it’s a great way to open a dialog and make some deals happen.
– I agree that priced domain names sell faster, as Afternic’s Jason Minor wrote, but when you have your domain names listed for sale and you receive an offer via a different means (email from the landing page), be sure to either quote your price in line with the BIN price or take down the BIN price before quoting. I got lucky recently and was able to sell a name for 3x it’s BIN price.
– The sale I made as a result of an inquiry from the website contact form will be detailed in a press release in a couple of weeks. It’s a site I haven’t updated in a while, and the timing was right because I realized I’d probably never be able to give it the attention it needs. When you see who bought it, you’ll see why I am excited for the buyer and think it’s a win/win.
– I got very lucky last Sunday. My wife looked down at her engagement ring, and the center stone was missing. She panicked as we looked around and couldn’t find it. I went back to the restaurant where we had lunch a half hour before, and I saw the diamond on the ground where we ate. I brought it back to the jeweler, and he fixed the ring for free. Apparently, my wife had broken off the top of one of the prongs. If you need a great jeweler, you should check out Jacob & Co. Â and if you do, see Craig. The store is beautiful (especially the watches), and they treat you well, even if you are like me and aren’t a celebrity.
Hope you have a nice weekend.
My Jan-Feb has been the worst ever. Lots of inquiries, but no buyers/sales. On the good side, I have been picking up good domains on the drop, but for me, prospective customers are still in that “belt-tightening” mode.
@ Spike
I hope it improves for you.
Glad your February is going well! I’m currently trying to close two deals.
@ James
If I wanted to mention the name I sold, I would have done it 😉
Elliot,
Must be some big diamond that you were able to find it. You are definely a very lucky guy. My wife has the same problem with her ring. I guess the prongs are not strong enough.
@Elliot
Good point – feel free to delete that comment!
@ Poor Uncle
It looks beautiful on my wife’s finger 🙂
@ James
Thanks
Always have inquiries for my domains regardless of any economic situation
Wow, it’s amazing that you were able to find it! It’s wonderful that the year has gotten off to a good start for you. I honestly haven’t put enough effort into sales, but I’m at the point where I don’t have a choice anymore. Time to get my contact forms, floor prices, and emails all set. This is inspiring….thank you!
I remember a TV series “Mr. Lucky”
That guy looked just like you… Yup.
@ Donald
Yeah, finding the diamond was pretty lucky, especially since we had lunch at a restaurant on 72nd St, which is a pretty busy area.
You aren’t a celebrity ?
@ Adam
You have a far higher celebrity status than me.
why don’t we have news about this
this weekend ?
.CO Internet take on industry titans .com
http://www.worldfinance.com/markets/co-internet-take-on-industry-titans-com/
@ Cline
Perhaps you should start your own blog. Then you can choose what to post and not post.
Last year I had to drop my wife off in Coral Gables for an appointment and look for parking nearby. She didn’t realize it at the time but she had taken off her ring to put lotion on her hands and forgot about the ring as she got out of the car. After the appointment was over she realized the ring was missing and we were trying to backtrack her steps to figure out where it might have fallen. I found the band in the street and she began to cry because the solitaire which fits in the middle was nowhere to be seen. I kept looking in the general area and eventually found the solitaire underneath the door of a car parked on the street. Both the band and ring were damaged by cars which apparently had run over them but miraculously a diamond ring dropped in a busy part of Coral Gables was still recovered after laying there perhaps a couple of hours. Fortunately the store repaired the ring for free.
I’m hoping to close a pending sale early next week. When this happens, it will also be my best month ever. All (4) enduser sales, including the one that was posted on your site recently.
Have a nice sunday!
While youre going to Jacob the Jeweler Im going to Jared! Congrats man.
Sales seem to be picking up all over the place.
Mostly selling low names but moving them.