I don’t love having buy it now prices on my domain names, but I want to share a reason why you might consider changing your current listings to buy it now. Keep in mind this applies to domain names that have received offers via Sedo in the past.
Back in 2010, I bid on a domain name that was listed on Sedo. I didn’t even receive a reply from the owner with a counter offer. The bid thread expired without any further dealings.
Yesterday evening out of the blue, I received the following email from Sedo:
Thank you for your interest in the domain name [redacted].
We would like to inform you of some great news. The owner of the name you are interested in has set a Buy Now price for the name. That means that you have the ability to purchase this domain with no negotiation necessary!
This is the opportunity that you may have been looking for; no pressure, no haggling, and no wondering if your offer will be accepted. Simply agree to the price and the domain is yours.
The domain name was listed for sale at a reasonable price, and I bought it. Had I not received the email, I likely wouldn’t have known about the price change, and I probably would have been surprised if it had sold for that price and was reported on DN Journal.
If you have domain names that received offers on Sedo in the past, it might be a good idea to make them “Buy It Now” listings – even if it’s only for a short period of time. Sedo will automatically ping the companies and people who made offers on the name in the past, and perhaps you’ll close a deal.
Interesting concept. My turn to spam the lowballers via Sedo! 😀
LOL… Not sure if it sends more than one notice if you keep turning on the BIN switch.
I plan to find out just that 😀
Congrats on buying redacted.com Elliot…not sure how you plan on mentizing it though, but I’m sure you’ll find a way
🙂
LOL
Elliot, the only thing worth knowing here is the domain name, but of course you withheld that, and it’s price.
I disagree. The only thing worth knowing to YOU is the domain name and price would be more polite and correct.
How much was it listed for?
Switching something to BIN can be a great tactic toward the end of a negotiation if it’s clear that the person wants the name, but isn’t quite at the level you’re counteroffering. I’ve had a couple of bid threads go dormant after several offers/counteroffers tossed back and forth, and rather than use “this is my final offer,” I marked the name as BIN as soon as the offer period ended.
If the person understands how Sedo works, this can contribute to their sense of urgency, as they realize that anyone can come along at that price and take the name.
Of course, I’ve probably left money on the table, but these were names I was happy to sell at those prices. I’d still keep your best names as “Make Offer.”
That’s a great twist, Nadia. I’ll try it tonight with one of my pending offers. I hope that it will drive them nuts! 😀
Buy It Now is a big mistake, I had one I had priced probably over a year ago bought my a major corp, who would have easily paid x3 more, then again I have direct contact links on my parked pages, yet people still make offers on sedo, rather than clicking a contact link…
You can always overprice your domain name, and after a few days you can take it down. What I’m saying is that people who made an offer via Sedo will receive an email to remind them about the name and let them know a price was established. They may not like the price and not buy it, but it is a good way to reinitiate a negotiation.
What do you have to lose?
The other thing I considered was that circumstances may have been different when you previously negotiated with a potential buyer on a domain name. You may be more inclined to sell right now than you were when the offer was initially made. This would allow you to reengage the potential buyer.
As a rule, I’m against BIN pricing, and explained why: http://acro.net/blog/domains/fixed-price-listings-at-sedo-it-doesnt-work-for-me/
That being said, the particular method that Elliot is referencing, is brilliant.
I agree this method is great for getting talks going again, really is hard when the buyer is anonymous.