discuss Some differences in domain sales I have noticed in 2022.

[twiki]

I have just posted one $788 sale in the reported sales thread, I'm re-posting part of the comment here for everyone to be able to discuss. Feel free to comment and please do share your insight as well.

Note, this is just my own perspective / observations AND is a bit related to my portfolio as well. So it might not be the same for everyone else. But I'm very curious to hear your current perspective too. Anyway, see below.

1) For some reason, discounting domains to clear in the low-to-mid XXX range has gradually faded in the last part of 2021 and died this year.

At least for me. And in 2022 it has basically stopped. Whenever I discount a domain below $788, even if thousands of names are discounted at the same time, the effect is the unintended one - there is no sale further.

I have therefore decided to stick to the following prices:

- Regular price: above 1.48k: $1488 (the cheapos, non-renewables), $1688 (meh ones), $1988 and more ( good) etc etc.

- Discount price: $788 (but feel free to use $799 as well). Fixed price. (Edit - although I sometimes play with adding some min offer there but it still doesn't do anything)

I have no pricing between the two or below $788 anymore. Reason? They don't work anymore. Even at 1K, 1.2K, $500, whatever, everything in these price points did NOT sell anything for me (guess I had some measly $499 at some point but not worth noting).

Side note I only use Afternic and the GD lander (ns5/ns6), because this setup brings me the best results.

The $788 price has worked great in the past and it still works well for my clearances.

2) Having a min offer no longer brings offers.

My current strategy is to use fixed price everywhere (min price = floor = BIN). If someone wants a discount, they will reach me anyway via the broker. I sometimes get offers via DomainAgents, GD etc, but having a min price at Afternic is pointless nowadays.

Please note that I also have the ability to switch to the Afternic Bin and min lander I talked about in the past where there is both min and bin but even there there is no offer. (note, I get most sales via Fast Transfer anyway, so lander based sales are still a minority).

3). $299 and $199 prices = zero results. This is in sharp contrast with the past. And it doesn't depend on domain quality, good or bad, if you put such price you're wasting time (at least I'm wasting time).

And I know 100% sure that Afternic still promotes and sells such domains (for example at GoDaddy Auctions they are still listed in 45-day ranking increasing order until the 45-day windows resets).

I'm not sure what the reason is exactly for this. I can assume though that this was the pricing where small businesses and individuals purchased my names (it's the market range anyway) AND they either don't have purchase power now, OR, more likely, are to scared (or stingy, or can't afford etc etc) to spend $300 on a name anymore. So this market segment might be having a stroke or something.

The more I discount below $788, the worse it gets. Fast.

This has never been like this and I'm still baffled about why this thing which started in 2021 has gone here. I blame the pandemic effect (economy) + the war now. Anyway I personally also see a big reduction in XXX range sales in the reported sales thread too.

4). 4-fig sales still rock. Especially high ones up to 5-fig. It appears this segment has grown, while going weaker and weaker the lower you get with the price.

Takeaway = get less, but higher value names.

Edit: Also try a bit higher pricing - you might be surprised to see it actually increases the sale % as the domain might be perceived as having more value.

5). There is a weird (or not?) correlation between NASDAQ and domain sales. Whenever NASDAQ goes up, Bitcoin goes up, well, guess what - domain sales start going up. Whenever it goes down even by small percentages (say 3%) sales halt - at least for me.

Yeah, it was like that in the past too, since I have tech and finance names mostly anyway. But it hasn't been that strongly correlated before.

I bet its market panic, mood swings and the fight between greed and fear = the only 2 emotions that matter in life.

6) This is not new, but it has sharpened in comparison with the past: If you put a price just a bit too low on a domain you have, it will kill the sale. It used to be like, you reduce the price and it sells faster. Not anymore. If I have say a domain at $1488 (meh domain) and I put it at $1200 or $1K it won't sell anymore, but if I put it up I get a better chance to sell it (but not if I get too high up).

So you have to hit the nail in the head with the right price, and the window seems narrower than it used to be. (note I have mostly 1-word, 1-word modified and 2-word .COMs if that matters.)

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

Had a brief DM conversation with Abdul Basit (thanks again, @AbdulBasit.com for all your posts and advice etc) and he also said last month was really weird with no sales for some reason; which is not common for him. I had a slightly different interval but it overlapped with his pretty much.

Note, also in the last 2 weeks this month I had very few sales (I can consider that zero), and it seems to be driven by the NASDAQ wind. So now I watch this index closely and hope for some fresh sales when it gets momentum (heard Meta is up 15%, that woudl be good for us ). I had good sales though in the first 5 days of the month which covers my monthly profit. But then there has been an eerie silence.

There might be other things as well but this is what I recall at this point.

As a side note about my own portfolio size, I have reduced it to 8k and intend to go below 5k names while improving quality. I'm focusing on .coms mostly and at least for the near future, intend to keep it that way. 95% of my names now are .coms.

Feel free to ask me anything and comment. Thanks!

 

[blogspotter]

How are you getting bargains?
Do you set alerts for names when they drop prices.

I often wonder how domainers snap names as soon as someone drops price on a name on afternic etc

Auction prices are showing no slowdown whatsoever. Pathetic affair. WHy don't they all go by ens domains..

People buying at a sub 1K price are generally other domainers. Other domainers are diversifying their holdings with ENS handshake etc domains and NFTs. They are buying less traditional names right now.

They are equally or more into crypto than they are into domains. Its FOMO and its multi faceted.

They are liquidating or dropping even really good names to fund Web3 stuff. I have gotten some crazy good bargains.

The underlying theme to be concerned about for anyone flipping is are they permanently losing interest in normal DNS domains or is it temporary.

If thats the case many might be forced to or choose to trim their portfolios.

An unsteady economy is contributory but 2021 was the year of the NFT and Meta boom and its not a coincidence sales might be dwindling in correlation to peoples money going elsewhere.

 

[infosec3]

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

This is exactly how my sales go. You are kidding and describing reality at the same time. Thanks for the insight.

 

[twiki]

Hi

that's so true.

as a beginner, one may struggle to find their way or niche'. especially in today's times, with so many distractions to keep them focused.

everyday, there are reported sales, which can steer some off-course or put some on the right course.
but, making a choice to stay your course or change directions, because of those headlines, could be a game changer in either direction.
that typically happens when one starts to feel like they are missing the boat on the trend, so better get in...before it ends.

once you "get it" though, and start stacking some sales history, then maybe you can afford to delve into uncharted waters.

i look at sales over the long term, like my 401k investments
over last 10 years, passive str has held steady @ 2%
only holding about 200 names, and have already hit that percentage this year.

for sure, years ago, i could catch a name at 11:00am for $6.95 and sell it by 2:00pm the same day for $100
but back then, str wasn't even a metric of consideration.
now, i catch a name for $$> $$$ and prolly wait 5 to10 years before it gets sold.

so, to me, no big difference noticed in sales for any years.
it's not like one doesn't have opportunity to make a sale or haven't received an offer, just sometimes you walk away and keep waiting.

imo...

Domaining is a long game.

 

[lovely4ever]

.

 

[blogspotter]

What I mean is what I have seen lately is more decent names that normally would be bid up are cruising into the bargain bin at GoDaddy bidless which is good for anyone who doesn’t want to get into a bidding war like me.

Ah.. True that.
I was thinking of good names getting liquidated and wanted a piece of the action

 

[twiki]

Love is all you need.

In the commercial context, selling. Nah, no love there.

 

[scithe]

Yet some very disappointing NASDAQ news (BTW NASDAQ went tumbling down today, 5.5%) :

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/05/tech-selloff-puts-nasdaq-on-pace-for-worst-day-since-june-2020.html

This is not good for most domainers, including myself.

Buy the Dip™. I had shares in VIG which I think most people hold long term...it was at 163 a couple weeks ago and I was going to dump it because I could feel it was going down. Now it's at 153. I'll wait a little bit more and increase my position. Should be a new dividend next month :D

 

[deepak2512]

I have just posted one $788 sale in the reported sales thread, I'm re-posting part of the comment here for everyone to be able to discuss. Feel free to comment and please do share your insight as well.

Note, this is just my own perspective / observations AND is a bit related to my portfolio as well. So it might not be the same for everyone else. But I'm very curious to hear your current perspective too. Anyway, see below.

1) For some reason, discounting domains to clear in the low-to-mid XXX range has gradually faded in the last part of 2021 and died this year.

At least for me. And in 2022 it has basically stopped. Whenever I discount a domain below $788, even if thousands of names are discounted at the same time, the effect is the unintended one - there is no sale further.

I have therefore decided to stick to the following prices:

- Regular price: above 1.48k: $1488 (the cheapos, non-renewables), $1688 (meh ones), $1988 and more ( good) etc etc.

- Discount price: $788 (but feel free to use $799 as well). Fixed price. (Edit - although I sometimes play with adding some min offer there but it still doesn't do anything)

I have no pricing between the two or below $788 anymore. Reason? They don't work anymore. Even at 1K, 1.2K, $500, whatever, everything in these price points did NOT sell anything for me (guess I had some measly $499 at some point but not worth noting).

Side note I only use Afternic and the GD lander (ns5/ns6), because this setup brings me the best results.

The $788 price has worked great in the past and it still works well for my clearances.

2) Having a min offer no longer brings offers.

My current strategy is to use fixed price everywhere (min price = floor = BIN). If someone wants a discount, they will reach me anyway via the broker. I sometimes get offers via DomainAgents, GD etc, but having a min price at Afternic is pointless nowadays.

Please note that I also have the ability to switch to the Afternic Bin and min lander I talked about in the past where there is both min and bin but even there there is no offer. (note, I get most sales via Fast Transfer anyway, so lander based sales are still a minority).

3). $299 and $199 prices = zero results. This is in sharp contrast with the past. And it doesn't depend on domain quality, good or bad, if you put such price you're wasting time (at least I'm wasting time).

And I know 100% sure that Afternic still promotes and sells such domains (for example at GoDaddy Auctions they are still listed in 45-day ranking increasing order until the 45-day windows resets).

I'm not sure what the reason is exactly for this. I can assume though that this was the pricing where small businesses and individuals purchased my names (it's the market range anyway) AND they either don't have purchase power now, OR, more likely, are to scared (or stingy, or can't afford etc etc) to spend $300 on a name anymore. So this market segment might be having a stroke or something.

The more I discount below $788, the worse it gets. Fast.

This has never been like this and I'm still baffled about why this thing which started in 2021 has gone here. I blame the pandemic effect (economy) + the war now. Anyway I personally also see a big reduction in XXX range sales in the reported sales thread too.

4). 4-fig sales still rock. Especially high ones up to 5-fig. It appears this segment has grown, while going weaker and weaker the lower you get with the price.

Takeaway = get less, but higher value names.

Edit: Also try a bit higher pricing - you might be surprised to see it actually increases the sale % as the domain might be perceived as having more value.

5). There is a weird (or not?) correlation between NASDAQ and domain sales. Whenever NASDAQ goes up, Bitcoin goes up, well, guess what - domain sales start going up. Whenever it goes down even by small percentages (say 3%) sales halt - at least for me.

Yeah, it was like that in the past too, since I have tech and finance names mostly anyway. But it hasn't been that strongly correlated before.

I bet its market panic, mood swings and the fight between greed and fear = the only 2 emotions that matter in life.

6) This is not new, but it has sharpened in comparison with the past: If you put a price just a bit too low on a domain you have, it will kill the sale. It used to be like, you reduce the price and it sells faster. Not anymore. If I have say a domain at $1488 (meh domain) and I put it at $1200 or $1K it won't sell anymore, but if I put it up I get a better chance to sell it (but not if I get too high up).

So you have to hit the nail in the head with the right price, and the window seems narrower than it used to be. (note I have mostly 1-word, 1-word modified and 2-word .COMs if that matters.)

7) There are huge variations from one month to another and there are gaps of say 2-3 weeks where I sell nothing (zero or say one sale) then in a few days I sell quite a lot of names. Is everyone getting paid in the same day over the world? (just kidding) .

Had a brief DM conversation with Abdul Basit (thanks again, @AbdulBasit.com for all your posts and advice etc) and he also said last month was really weird with no sales for some reason; which is not common for him. I had a slightly different interval but it overlapped with his pretty much.

Note, also in the last 2 weeks this month I had very few sales (I can consider that zero), and it seems to be driven by the NASDAQ wind. So now I watch this index closely and hope for some fresh sales when it gets momentum (heard Meta is up 15%, that woudl be good for us ). I had good sales though in the first 5 days of the month which covers my monthly profit. But then there has been an eerie silence.

There might be other things as well but this is what I recall at this point.

As a side note about my own portfolio size, I have reduced it to 8k and intend to go below 5k names while improving quality. I'm focusing on .coms mostly and at least for the near future, intend to keep it that way. 95% of my names now are .coms.

Feel free to ask me anything and comment. Thanks!

Thanks Twiki for sharing your exp, I always follow you.
One qs I guess you don't share the majority of your sales here but only a few of them, right?

 

[scithe]

I have no pricing between the two or below $788 anymore. Reason? They don't work anymore. Even at 1K, 1.2K, $500, whatever, everything in these price points did NOT sell anything for me (guess I had some measly $499 at some point but not worth noting).

Looking at the completed names it looks like you've gone back to pricing below 788 for some clearance names. I was just curious why you didn't try to clearance them at 788 instead?

 

[twiki]

For everyday domains, say mom and pop ones, low tech,less pretty niches, low xxx range works well - but for a longer while I did not have any of that expiring anymore because I got out of doing volume based investing and gone retail only.

 

[twiki]

This is exactly how my sales go. You are kidding and describing reality at the same time. Thanks for the insight.

I can also confirm it continues to be like that. Many sales at once, then no sale for 2-3 weeks.

The money pipe is clogged, apparently... fortunately not completely

 

[Sjpals]

I only have a small portfolio of about 85 domains for sale. First started to try selling them in febuary. I haent sold a single one. I thought the prices were too high and literally decreased them all yesterday to $499 or $1000 (dependent on the domain). Maybe I need to put a much higher price on them, rather than reducing them!