People are getting fooled by GoDaddy appraisal

[Arpit131]

I have been watching a lot of posts referring to Godaddy appraisals.
They have a typical appraisal range of $1399 and above for very crappy names. A lot of these can be found in n number of facebook groups where people expect to sell domains for $4500 kind of range in reseller market!

A lot of newbies are falling in trap by seeing that an available name which has a 4-figure estimated value is available for registration fee.

This is where they tend to purchase 10 names and above for $10+ each. Then they wonder why they are not able to sell it.

Do you trust Godaddy appraisals even 1%?

I feel that it is misleading newbies and a lot of domainers into trap with the appraisal value.

Thoughts are appreciated!

 

[ResoluteDomains]

Strange. It still works for me (although mine is through the Canadian GoDaddy interface).

I just got it to work again. What I did was cleared my cache and cookies and it came back with a result.

 

[Name Trader]

All the auto evaluation tools don't provide true value but some, like GoDaddy's, do offer historic averages that can be useful. The problem is when end-user/buyers take them at face value (and don't read the fine print). Here is an article on the balanced view of auto evaluation in your appraisal of domains. Auto eval will never replace human judgement.

Agreed. Anyone buying domains based on auto evaluations, probably should not be buying those domains

Nice referenced article. If a tad dated. Still, it got all the basics right.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

"18.2% chance of selling in 20 years"

Why am I sceptical that the number is not known to the 18.2% precision! Although seriously I did not realize that anyone was already stating it this way, so it is a good start, I guess. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DotKing]

GD appraisal tool is very useful for them. Reputation, good manners and honesty is not.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

But sometimes it does the exact opposite. I was trying to sell a medical instrument name to a client who REALLY wanted it, but refused to pay penny more than the $325 that GD said it was worth.

I agree entirely. I think we need to follow the tool and limitations even if for no other reason than to counter arguments like that by understanding some cases where the tool is way off. Excellent point, @NYJimbo
Bob

 

[DomainRecap]

But sometimes it does the exact opposite. I was trying to sell a medical instrument name to a client who REALLY wanted it, but refused to pay penny more than the $325 that GD said it was worth.

But come on, that's just a cheap SOB who is trying to use grade school negotiating tactics to get a lower price, and it's not like he's absolutely tied to GD like it's his or her God. If not GD, then Estibot or other valuation tools could be used, but at the end of the day, it's still lowballing.

If they REALLY wanted the domain, and actually have the capital to run an actual business, then they know the deal and would pay the asked amount or at least stop the "it's cuz GD says so" idiot-lowballing.

 

[NYJimbo]

But come on, that's just a cheap SOB who is trying to use grade school negotiating tactics to get a lower price, and it's not like he's absolutely tied to GD like it's his or her God. If not GD, then Estibot or other valuation tools could be used, but at the end of the day, it's still lowballing.

If they REALLY wanted the domain, and actually have the capital to run an actual business, then they know the deal and would pay the asked amount or at least stop the "it's cuz GD says so" idiot-lowballing.

Yeah, I get all that. But he is using GD appraisals like a weapon. A lot of people do it.

 

[DomainRecap]

Yeah, I get all that. But he is using GD appraisals like a weapon.

Sure, but if GD dropped their valuation tool, then off to Estibot they go or whatever valuation tool gives them the best ability to lowball you.

And if all the valuation tools suddenly disappeared, then the lowballers would then cherry-pick past sales at Namebio that matched their price range, or find similar domain auctions at GD, SN, DD, or NJ that slipped through the cracks.

It's the lowballers that are the problem, not the tools.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

I just want to be sure what we're talking about here.

Do you actually believe that if the GD Appraisal Tool did not exist, that this buyer would have just smiled and paid your full asking amount?

No, where did I say that?

 

[ResoluteDomains]

That's why I asked, as it's pretty obvious the guy's a lowballer who is clearly abusing the GD valuation as a way to get your domain for a cheaper price.

I've seen it all, people pretending to be college students, researchers, not-for-profit charities, etc. and I'm not going to start blaming colleges, research facilities, or charities for this behavior.

I've seen it all too. Been there, been cursed at and even threatened. If I could write, I'd write a book about it. Not sure who'd buy it though.

When I get the "college student" I always suggest that they could probably ask their department head for permission to spend more than $20 for a domain. I have a 100% rate of failure with that, however.

I dont blame the buyer either. What I was saying, and I think we agree, was that if these valuations were not available then it may not cloud a buyer's judgement / perception of what they would be prepared to spend for that particular name.

I dont blame them. If I had budgeted $3500 for a domain that I needed for a business I wanted to start but then saw a $1500 GD valuation on it, I'd also start my bidding at $1000 and hopefully "save" $2500. Like I said, its dangerous (to us sellers).

There is another thread where this is being discussed, sounds like these two threads are naturally merging..

 

[Ostrados]

if you were to actively try to sell the domain for 100 years there is about a 60% chance it will sell at a price within $1000 of the appraised value.

What does that mean "60% chance to sell within $1000 of the appraisal value"?
+-1000 error margin or something else?

 

[marcreative]

It's like any other tool that you can take parts of to use in your overall investment strategy. I like the sale history they list for comparable domains, as well as if the domain has sold before on GD, and I do think they hit the mark in overall terms of "X domain is worth more than Y domain" far more times than they're wrong.

Anyone who is looking at a $10 hand reg with a valuation of $1,583 USD and thinking they'll get that tomorrow doesn't understand appraisals - these are just estimates of what an item may sell for, but you may also have to wait years or even decades to sell it.

No one has a "magic formula" that tells you what all domains will sell for down to the single-dollar and no one ever will. Trends change, the economy changes, and the world is in constant flux.

I find it useful for my purposes as I ignore the raw dollar value and concentrate on the underlying data. For example, I found a 5-letter domain I liked (I have to like a domain to buy it), watched it, compared the comp sales, and then noticed it had previously sold for ~$2K+ and had been off the market for a while. I ended up getting it for $25 or so + reg and maybe 8-9 months later ended up selling it for $1500.

So to me, if you just use GoDaddy appraisals as just one more tool in your shed, and not base your decision on the raw and very specific $$$ amount, then it can pay off.

so so very agreed, only for datas.

 

[Jason76]

It seems like most stuff on GoDaddy Auctions sell for around $100 (based on NameBio data).

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It seems like most stuff on GoDaddy Auctions sell for around $100 (based on NameBio data).

Actually in the nonpublic NameBio under $100 there are more sales than above $100 in .com by a fair factor. For example in last month in .com GoDaddy 6135 sales above $100 and 32,300 below $100.
Bob

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Which prompts the question. Is this domaining business, and the valuation business which supports it, just a complete sham? Should we be doing something more worthwhile with our time and money? Like what?

It's a sham ok Stu, but there's money to be made in this industry if you don't fall prey to the hoarder and scalper mentality. This industry is a big joke starting with many of the registries and registrars. I thought it pretty cool to find a registry right in my hometown Dominion.Domains...they're the ones who re-released the .homes nTLD about four months ago.They're also the ones who I gave/gifted the domain DominionDomains.com to just because I thought they should own it, but the thanks I got was zilch Then when I casually mentioned I liked a domain HomeSweet.homes they had for sale last year for $190, upon the re-release I didn't see it for sale at GD so I inquired why? Well, they held it back and when I inquired again they told me in an email (which I have in safe keeping) that it's now $64,000....Holy Crap!!! Then to add insult to injury when they realized how outraged I was, they offered to give it to me. I'm guessing they were more than a little surprised that I refused it, but I wasn't about to stoop that low.

There's more to this story, but I'm hoping they'll sue me so I can get the news media involved, and that's when the real fun begins It reminds me a lot of the false allegations made about me as a result of mistaken identity here on NP a little over a year ago. This industry as a whole is rotten to the core, but despite that, I love it

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Well the data seems to suggest that there are a number of domainer to domainer transactions for each domsiner to end user transaction. Those are generally lowish $$ so the economics can still work out. I think most of us like to search for names so not surprising lots transactions. I don't see the estimation tools have much influence on this. I think the real challenge is to get end users to buy from the aftermarket. If we could achieve that many more sales, better throughput, higher ratio end user sales. The under $100 numbers were an eye opener though.
Bob

 

[Name Trader]

[B]@Bob Hawkes[/B] - I don't know where NameBio get all there data from. I hadn't realized that it included GoDaddy sales. Where do they get that data from? I'm not sure that GoDaddy would be providing all that valuable info freely. But those stats do tend to support @Arpit131's original post in this thread. To me. It looks like a lot of churning at the bottom end. You can easily lose your shirt there. And it needs a lot of luck (and skill) to get out of that quagmire. IMHO. Agree about your thought that those under $100 sales were an eye opener.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I have been watching a lot of posts referring to Godaddy appraisals.
They have a typical appraisal range of $1399 and above for very crappy names. A lot of these can be found in n number of facebook groups where people expect to sell domains for $4500 kind of range in reseller market!

A lot of newbies are falling in trap by seeing that an available name which has a 4-figure estimated value is available for registration fee.

This is where they tend to purchase 10 names and above for $10+ each. Then they wonder why they are not able to sell it.

Do you trust Godaddy appraisals even 1%?

I feel that it is misleading newbies and a lot of domainers into trap with the appraisal value.

Thoughts are appreciated!

Arpit131...i'm sure I'm not one of your favorites, but about 2/3 of my domains are registered at GD for a number of reasons, of which their appraisal and keyword valuations are important to me. Let me give you an example of the only domain I registered today via GD. It was/is CatchGourmet(.)com...first let me say, I live in the largest resort city on the Atlantic Ocean, Virginia Beach, Va. Second, I've caught Tuna, Sailfish, Shark and Dolphin offshore. Third, there are probably no fewer than a hundred seafood restaurants within 50 miles of my home, and there are thousands throughout the US, Canada and around the world. Before I get into GD appraisals just two more things, there is already a restaurant in my home town named Catch 31 and they own the domain Catch31.com if you care to check it out. They're owned by Hilton, and I know their restaurant, that's on the Ocean Front, grosses over three million dollars a year. btw, the "31" I believe is the number of the closest ocean buoy. Finally, I own a business called Domain Gourmet and "Gourmet" also happens to be a keyword.

Now, on to GD appraisal info for CatchGourmet, GD appraises it for $1,427. Then they go on to provide the following sales information for domains using the keyword "catch";

thinkgourmet.com
Sold for $1,021
popgourmet.com
Sold for $1,000
lazygourmet.com
Sold for $1,500
ezgourmet.com
Sold for $1,450
tablegourmet.com
Sold for 1,795
catchfashion.com
Sold for $2,499
catchnature.com
Sold for $1,888

Then GD values the keyword "catch" for $1,868

Arpit131....i already knew CatchGourmet might be better than the "crappy" domains my critics here on NP accuse me of hand registering, but I just consider the source I own several more domains with the keyword "catch", and you're chances are far greater making a sale referring to GD's appraisals than not referring to them.

CatchGourmet™ most likely won't sell itself via Afternic, Uniregestry, Sedo etc. I can confidently say none of the potential "end users" have ever heard of these clowns brokers.

Finally, I hope some of what I had to say might help a "newbie". There's good, bad and ugly in most things in our life, but I choose to work with the good side of GD appraisals.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think all GoDaddy auction data at any price level is included. Whether NameBio get it freely I never thought about. When NameBio started subscriptions they said there was a lot of data in the sub $100 and there certainly is.

I am still trying to get my head around what it means but this is my thinking. Let's say an end user sales ratio is 2% per year, so order 50 years. But most domainers tire after a few years of no sales with a name and try something new. If they kept a domain on average 5 years and then dropped it and tried something else there would be about 10 to 1 ratio a bit more than we see. I might have this wrong as just doing it in my head.

All the churn is good for GoDaddy, Dynadot Auctions, etc. Also a lot of Park.io but those are mainly just under $100 (I think their minimum is higH).

Bob

 

[ResoluteDomains]

Not sure if anyone has noticed but their valuation service has been throwing an error since Thursday (for me at least). This is the 4th day now.

Error is:

 

[cogger]

Im renewing equityDOTmoney, I almost did not. Rolling the dice with this one. However GD's historical data shows equityDOTeu selling for $7,605. So tell me GD where is your proof of sales? Or are we sheeple just suppose to take your word.

 

[sevamaster]

I trust Godaddy appraisals partially.
If I like domain name, I see this tool. If the price is above $1500, I can buy or register it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Im renewing equityDOTmoney, I almost did not. Rolling the dice with this one. However GD's historical data shows equityDOTeu selling for $7,605. So tell me GD where is your proof of sales? Or are we sheeple just suppose to take your word.

That particular one is in NameBio so verified. Here is link:
https://namebio.com/equity.eu