discuss Why Domain Names are Tough to Sell?

[Prateek0761]

Dear Friends,

I want to know what problems are you facing while selling your domain. May be we can help each other as a group

 

[MKA]

Presupposing you're getting offers on a domain, they're not tough to sell at all. It's only a matter of agreeing on the price.

If you're not getting offers it's for one of three reasons:

1. Your domains aren't good enough.
2. Your domains are overpriced.
3. Your domain portfolio isn't extensive enough.

 

[johnn]

In order for a name to be sold, it must meet the following conditions:
- Taking in more than 200 extensions
- Godaddy appraises $10,000 or more
- Less than 10 letter
- Must dictionary word
- No mixing letter/number
- Squadhelp approved
- Brandpa approved
- 20 Years old or more
- Selling price from $5-$100,000

 

[A1EX]

I see the same thing all the time... (Example.com for sale, $100,000) then a year or 2 later they let it drop because in reality its a $200 domain. People, please stop wasting your time doing this. Stop listing every name thinking that is whats going to buy you a private island... (Not every buyer is Amazon or Nike) If your name isn't selling, and you are going to drop it anyway, list it for a reasonable price, or at least wholesale it and break even, then you wont be so discouraged and think it's impossible to make money! There may be someone out there who would have no problem giving you $500 for a name you got for 20 bucks, but when they see a $100,000 price tag, they just walk away. In reality, it takes money to make money, your not going to invest $100 and walk away with millions, if that's the goal, go buy a lottery ticket.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

What a superb summary by @MKA of the key factors - thank you!

If you're not getting offers it's for one of three reasons:

1. Your domains aren't good enough.
2. Your domains are overpriced.
3. Your domain portfolio isn't extensive enough.

The only thing I would add is names are not being seen by those who might be the buyers. Some really good names will get sought out even when not actively listed anywhere, but most need to have a route to acquisition that the potential buyer will find and have trust in.

There also is the factor of what names have a market at this time. A quality name that is not over priced may still not sell for some time, due to market conditions. Some 'trendy' names only have a market for s short time, as others have noted in the discussion.

-Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

So my question to you or anyone else....how would you propose this name best be monetized? Thanks Bob, and Happy New Year!

First of all, best wishes for the new year to you too!

I think it probably is best monetized if you could find a buyer who would like to brand on the name. While I guess there are other possibilities, such as some sort of directory, reviews, services site, and a keen developer might find interest, I think most of us do not have those skills. Certainly I do not.

I did a quick check at OpenCorporates, and while Seafood is obviously popular (more than 24,000 active businesses have that as part of their name, or also known as name. I also checked Karma, with more than 7,000 businesses use that, also popular. Somewhat surprising none have used the combination, but there are no businesses currently listed as active with the combination.

I used my SH account to do a Domain Insights query. As well as restaurants, food delivery and a seafood marketplace, it also suggested things such as a recipe site (which makes sense) or a monthly food box service, that I had not thought of. I think the karma works nicely maybe as a recipe site, but would take development work and no idea how lucrative such are in terms of revenue.

My point is, the likely hood of anyone finding it via GD, Sedo or Dan is slim and none imo.

I think it is true that most names that are not already a business name have low chances of being found. However, I think if you activate GD Fast Transfer (after 60 days holding) it may get proposed on the registrar page of any of the registrars in their premium network that increases your chance of the name being proposed and maybe bought instantly. I definitely recommend that.

The other way to get some eyes is through a brandable marketplace like BrandBucket, SquadHelp premium, or BrandPa. These are tough to get names accepted at, and their commissions are high, and they have restrictions (except BPa) on listing elsewhere, but a name there does have the advantage that a buyer looking for a specific niche, like seafood, will be presented with your and other names, so it is less lost in a sea of other names like on the big general purpose marketplaces.

I did look at BrandBucket and the keyword seafood has 191 listings, some that include the specific term, so a possibility. They take 30 days or so for decisions typically. BPa will give instant decision. SH take a few days if you use a coin on submission. They have 65 for keyword karma, a number include specific name. You can similarly search SH to see if they tend to handle names like this.

I have only dabbled in the food niche mainly aimed at takeout/fast/low end, as I recall less than 5 names in total ever. I have not announced the sale yet until I look at ToS of the marketplace, but I actually sold (not for a lot) a name in the niche this week. It is already in redirection use, but not directly for food, but rather an AI startup to give intelligence to restaurants, a use I never thought of. This just goes to show sometimes there can be applications we don't first think of. Your karma might find some use a bit broader like that, but the odds of any one name selling are very low (under 1 in 100 per year for brandable type names in .com I think). I had this name actively listed for a few years, and only sold after I reduced price and gave marketplace a lot of leeway in negotiating after several years of no offers and not much traffic. There is part of the market, and I think food is one, where there is price sensitivity I think. So as mentioned above, pricing right is one key part.

Sorry this got so long. I wish you best with this, and other, names. Remember seeing you in 2019 at NamesCon in Vegas. It seems like a long time ago. ICA are meeting there this week.

Happy New Year.

Bob

 

[bmugford]

If it was easy, everyone would do it.

@MKA explained it pretty well.

Brad

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Squadhelp, unless of course they used AI to get the kind of exposure needed to sell a name like this

I'm not promoting SH or anyone else, but they do use AI and advertising exposure quite a bit for premium names. They do marketing at I think something like 12 different social sites. They also do retargeting, if someone views the name then Google ads for SH with that name featured show up in the feed (clearly depends on cookie and privacy settings by browser and ad blocking). They also use AI supposedly to choose names to present (I don't think yet very well) and they personalize using AI the presentation of each name. For example, I have a name Ventster with them. If you said you were looking for a social media name, they would describe how it could be built around the idea of expressing opinions and venting. However, if the person said they were looking for a HVAC services, then the description and presentation would stress air quality, venting, etc. And so on. They also will use AI to generate a number of possible brand taglines for that name and again suited to the application of the person searching for a name.

Whether all of this is yet generating more in terms of sell-through rate to justify commission is I think not yet established, but they definitely are spending the marketing dollars and also using AI in many different ways. The categorization, keywords and description are also all done by AI, although the seller can edit or change them.

-Bob

 

[dizzibooster]

Selling domain names can be challenging due to market saturation, subjective valuation, time requirements, competition, legal hurdles, and other challenges. Despite this, success is possible with careful domain selection, realistic pricing, active marketing, and patience.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Well while not a popular opinion but it has worked for me once,

If you're a developer and can attach a working version of a project relevant to that domain then you can get good offer's and can sell that domain pretty quick,

and yes No Marketing or even SEO Needed,
Just have to make sure that you really have a working version of that particular project deployed on that domain and that usually helps (Atleast did for me)

While I'm not a developer (wish it was one of my talents), you are spot on imho. Having started and named dozens of businesses, there's a business idea behind 80% of the domains I own. When David Castello of the Castello Brothers seen here; https://www.castellobrothers.com/ told me they had developed, but now develop themselves a "working version of a particular project deployed on that domain", I just new their idea had merit. They sold Whisky.com to some German's for 3.1M back in 2014, and to think Whisky spelled without the "e" is made/distilled and distributed solely by the Scots from Scotland. That said however, the Germans seem to be operating a successful business behind Whisky.com despite not being Scottish or having a fully developed/operating business behind the name.

The larger point I want to make here is that David Castello personally told me that if I wanted to be successful selling my domains and ideas that I should learn Wordpress
I'm sure he's right, but at 70+ years old that's a bit over my head, thus until I partner with a developer I'll continue to struggle selling domains the old fashion way

 

[DmytroK.]

To me, There are 2 BIG problems, making domains hard to sell. But they both can be fixed.

Problem 1. It's very hard to explain to unrelated person(potential buyer) why he or she needs a domain(first domain in his or her life). What is a domain, what advantage give right domain, etc. But it's important!

Problem 2. You need right domain. With market value. That's all.

 

[Sjpals]

Presupposing you're getting offers on a domain, they're not tough to sell at all. It's only a matter of agreeing on the price.

If you're not getting offers it's for one of three reasons:

1. Your domains aren't good enough.
2. Your domains are overpriced.
3. Your domain portfolio isn't extensive enough.

Exactly!
My domains arent good enough and im dropping most of them
I have dropped the price of them all to $99 and they are starting to sell

 

[MKA]

Increasingly end-users / creators are paging the platforms instead of domaining the internet.

I'd argue that there's more a demand for (good) domains than there's ever been. Any platform is going to be inherently limiting. While a platform page it's a great starting-point to build up a community, if you want to expand or properly monetize your work you need your own site.

 

[killshotroxs]

Well while not a popular opinion but it has worked for me once,

If you're a developer and can attach a working version of a project relevant to that domain then you can get good offer's and can sell that domain pretty quick,

and yes No Marketing or even SEO Needed,
Just have to make sure that you really have a working version of that particular project deployed on that domain and that usually helps (Atleast did for me)

 

[iAdam]

In order for a name to be sold, it must meet the following conditions:
- Taking in more than 200 extensions
- Godaddy appraises $10,000 or more
- Less than 10 letter
- Must dictionary word
- No mixing letter/number
- Squadhelp approved
- Brandpa approved
- 20 Years old or more
- Selling price from $5-$100,000

I sold domains that don't meet not a single one of these requirements.

 

[eyedomainous]

Increasingly end-users / creators are paging the platforms instead of domaining the internet.

the total addressable market of the creator economy could roughly double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027 from $250 billion today. The analysts expect spending on influencer marketing and platform payouts fueled by the monetization of short-form video platforms via advertising to be the primary growth drivers of the creator economy.

 

[HotKey]

I've invested in extensions that don't get much support from other investors but have managed to find homes. It's hard when others don't see your vision but nice when an end user does.

4. Support from fellow investors.
5. Eyes. Sometimes it's a matter your DN being found. Consider presenting it to someone rather than waiting.
6. Your domain name might be great to you, but reality bites.

 

[J.R.]

Increasingly end-users / creators are paging the platforms instead of domaining the internet.

They'll eventually need their own EMD website.
Dependency on 3rd party platform is lazy, inefficient, dangerous.

A great example of this danger comes in the form of username rug pulls by the platform.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musks-takes-x-handle-longtime-twitter-user-rcna96074

Who owns your 3rd party platform identity and audience is the question every brand or startup should ponder before allowing EMD dotcom to be purchased by another party (see Shortcut, formerly Clubhouse).

Looks like Elon Musk's answer is clear, all X Twitter handles are the property of X Twitter.

 

[wh0isthis]

Selling domain name is not the purpose. The purpose is to maximize your profit.

 

[eyedomainous]

In theory I agree its best to have both, your domain and platform pages.

In practice, buying, building, maintaining and equipping a 'good' domain with platform page features is, increasingly, a bit much for many creators.

Also, the scale of platforms allows them to offer high end services like video production, AI features, target market ad services, and so on.

Of course 'good domains' will always sell, but sales are down and the profits from domain sales is counted in the millions where as profits from creator platform pages is increasing and counted in the Hundreds of Billions!

They'll eventually need their own EMD website.
Dependency on 3rd party platform is lazy, inefficient, dangerous.

A great example of this danger comes in the form of username rug pulls by the platform.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musks-takes-x-handle-longtime-twitter-user-rcna96074

Who owns your 3rd party platform identity and audience is the question every brand or startup should ponder before allowing EMD dotcom to be purchased by another party (see Shortcut, formerly Clubhouse).

Looks like Elon Musk's answer is clear, all X Twitter handles are the property of X Twitter.

I'd argue that there's more a demand for (good) domains than there's ever been. Any platform is going to be inherently limiting. While a platform page it's a great starting-point to build up a community, if you want to expand or properly monetize your work you need your own site.

 

[J.R.]

In theory I agree its best to have both, your domain and platform pages.

Also, the scale of platforms allows them to offer high end services like video production, AI features, target market ad services, and so on.

For creators, maybe so.
Domainers should be focused on selling to companies.

But none of that scale offered by platforms matters if their TOS is completely arbitrary and subjective.

3rd party platforms own @Username rights and can delete, suspend, or seize your username with no recourse to an administrative body.

I wouldn't gamble on a multi-million dollar brand under those circumstances, w/o the EMD dotcom.

 

[killshotroxs]

While I'm not a developer (wish it was one of my talents), you are spot on imho. Having started and named dozens of businesses, there's a business idea behind 80% of the domains I own. When David Castello of the Castello Brothers seen here; (website name) told me they had developed, but now develop themselves a "working version of a particular project deployed on that domain", I just new their idea had merit. They sold Whisky.com to some German's for 3.1M back in 2014, and to think Whisky spelled without the "e" is made/distilled and distributed solely by the Scots from Scotland. That said however, the Germans seem to be operating a successful business behind Whisky.com despite not being Scottish or having a fully developed/operating business behind the name.

The larger point I want to make here is that David Castello personally told me that if I wanted to be successful selling my domains and ideas that I should learn Wordpress
I'm sure he's right, but at 70+ years old that's a bit over my head, thus until I partner with a developer I'll continue to struggle selling domains the old fashion way

Appreciate the input on my answer, and i would also like to say that i still truly believe you can learn basic web design and deploy static web pages on your domain very easily, I would also like to do it for you in a budget as it would be a very good chance for me to learn and apply my knowledge in a practical work load.

Let me know what you think.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

First of all, best wishes for the new year to you too!

I think it probably is best monetized if you could find a buyer who would like to brand on the name. While I guess there are other possibilities, such as some sort of directory, reviews, services site, and a keen developer might find interest, I think most of us do not have those skills. Certainly I do not.

I did a quick check at OpenCorporates, and while Seafood is obviously popular (more than 24,000 active businesses have that as part of their name, or also known as name. I also checked Karma, with more than 7,000 businesses use that, also popular. Somewhat surprising none have used the combination, but there are no businesses currently listed as active with the combination.

I used my SH account to do a Domain Insights query. As well as restaurants, food delivery and a seafood marketplace, it also suggested things such as a recipe site (which makes sense) or a monthly food box service, that I had not thought of. I think the karma works nicely maybe as a recipe site, but would take development work and no idea how lucrative such are in terms of revenue.


I think it is true that most names that are not already a business name have low chances of being found. However, I think if you activate GD Fast Transfer (after 60 days holding) it may get proposed on the registrar page of any of the registrars in their premium network that increases your chance of the name being proposed and maybe bought instantly. I definitely recommend that.

The other way to get some eyes is through a brandable marketplace like BrandBucket, SquadHelp premium, or BrandPa. These are tough to get names accepted at, and their commissions are high, and they have restrictions (except BPa) on listing elsewhere, but a name there does have the advantage that a buyer looking for a specific niche, like seafood, will be presented with your and other names, so it is less lost in a sea of other names like on the big general purpose marketplaces.

I did look at BrandBucket and the keyword seafood has 191 listings, some that include the specific term, so a possibility. They take 30 days or so for decisions typically. BPa will give instant decision. SH take a few days if you use a coin on submission. They have 65 for keyword karma, a number include specific name. You can similarly search SH to see if they tend to handle names like this.

I have only dabbled in the food niche mainly aimed at takeout/fast/low end, as I recall less than 5 names in total ever. I have not announced the sale yet until I look at ToS of the marketplace, but I actually sold (not for a lot) a name in the niche this week. It is already in redirection use, but not directly for food, but rather an AI startup to give intelligence to restaurants, a use I never thought of. This just goes to show sometimes there can be applications we don't first think of. Your karma might find some use a bit broader like that, but the odds of any one name selling are very low (under 1 in 100 per year for brandable type names in .com I think). I had this name actively listed for a few years, and only sold after I reduced price and gave marketplace a lot of leeway in negotiating after several years of no offers and not much traffic. There is part of the market, and I think food is one, where there is price sensitivity I think. So as mentioned above, pricing right is one key part.

Sorry this got so long. I wish you best with this, and other, names. Remember seeing you in 2019 at NamesCon in Vegas. It seems like a long time ago. ICA are meeting there this week.

Happy New Year.

Bob

Bob, thanks for sharing. Funny you would mention "food in a box". I'm currently researching OceanBox.com whose business model is to deliver fresh seafood to what I consider to be high-end consumers. I've already hookedup with a local what i call a seafood boutique that makes gourmet crab cakes and seafood soups and chowders to die for. And I'm working on a business plan/model to deliver premium fresh seafood to high-end consumers in my area who happen to be pretty affluent.

Like DoorDash, a 36 billion dollar company, I've already registered domains like FreshOvernite and DocktoYou just for the purpose of delivering fresh seafood to a cooler similar to the milk box coolers on everyone's porch when we were kids.

All that said, i still feel as though I'd be wasting my time listing KarmaSeafood with the likes of Brandbucket and Squadhelp, unless of course they used AI to get the kind of exposure needed to sell a name like this. Make sense?

Finally, while I haven't registered it yet, DomainXposure.com might just be the perfect marketplace to sell a name like Karma Seafood. Thoughts?

 

[zhangning]

Based on personal experience, there are several reasons:

1. People who want to buy domain names are unwilling to pay a reasonable price, while those who can afford it are not interested in investing in domains.

2. The domain names have passed their peak popularity, such as .vc, .ic, Bitcoin, blockchain, etc.

3. Low-priced sales by peers have eroded user confidence in domain names.

4. Many individuals are just testing the prices and do not have genuine intentions to make a purchase.

 

[eyedomainous]

^^ Virtually every existing company has a domain by now.

As 50 million 'Creators' have become the fastest growing type of business... in a Creator Economy expected to double in a few years... they are prime domain sales prospects that should be courted, not dismissed.

Of course platforms 'own' their domain's usernames, but -as Musk is proving, its not good business to take a user's name, so it rarely happens.

With billions of users on platforms there is no real fear of losing ones page.