See What The Prior Price Was Before Buying

I was backordering some domain names at NameJet when I decided to see what brought them to the auction block. Specifically, I wanted to see if the domain names were expiring or if they were being offered by a private seller. After doing a Whois search on DomainTools, I noticed that they had been owned by a large portfolio owned because of the screenshot shown on DomainTools.

There were two important pieces of  information that I could see to help guide me on my backorder and my bidding strategy:

• I could see the domain names from the prior had been listed for sale for a number of years
• I could see the asking price and historical asking prices using the  Screenshots.com Screenshot History Tool

This was critical information for me. If the prior owner could not sell the domain name(s) in the time it owned them, even with the purchase price listed, why should I think I will be able to sell them? Perhaps the pricing was too high or maybe the domain names were simply not desired by prospective buyers. Both of these factors weighed on my backorder decision and ultimately on my bidding strategy.

When I saw the list prices on the names was a little over $1,500, I determined  how much I would be comfortable bidding for the names. Aside from auctions, it has been quite some time since I privately sold a name for less than 4 figures. I don’t have the desire to deal with contracts, escrow, domain pushes…etc for less than a couple grand – even the least valuable of my names. I would be willing to take a small gamble that a buyer would be interested in these names in the future. I put in my backorders and set my max bid when the auctions started. I won one of the names yesterday.

If time permits, I try to check on the history of questionable domain names I am considering at auction. This is especially the case if there are no other backorders. If others have already placed a backorder, the three day private auction usually gives me additional time to research if necessary. This extra research can uncover valuable information that helps with my auction strategy.