F.A.Q :
Selling Domain
Names
I own
domain
name abcd.com -- how much is it worth?
The harsh reality is that if you are not already aware of a domain
name's
worth, it is probably not worth as much as you would like. In other words,
if nobody has beaten a path to your door to buy it, you probably won't be
able to give up your job after a single sale.
Domain
names have sold for anything between
$200 and $150,000+. The price you can get depends on how quickly you want
to sell, as well as how much interest you can generate in the name.
Current domain
names are priced at anything
up to $7,000,000! It is inconceivable to imagine any company spending that
kind of money on a single domain
name.
Better to go for realism rather than
madness. I suggest that you price your domain
name between $500 and
$10,000 unless there is an exceptional case for pricing it higher. Don't
waste your time selling a domain
name for much less than $500, as the
effort will not justify the reward. |
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Please tell
me how much you think "abcd.com" is worth
In the past, I have answered a very large number of such requests.
Regrettably, I no longer have the time to do so, and such requests will be
ignored. Instead, here are a few tips to get you started:-
- See what price similar names are being
offered at by looking at the lists on the various
broker sites.
- Price realistically -- although it is
possible to make a real fortune, as the recent case of "business.com"
($150,000) shows, this is very much the exception rather than the rule.
- Price to sell -- your pricing scheme
should be very different if you are trying to sell a name in three
weeks, three months or three years.
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I heard that
an offer of $50,000 was refused for Television.com. That's a lot of
money. Is it true?
Yes it is. And yes, it is. The offer was made by CNET, the owner refused
thinking he would get more... You can find more details of the domain
name, and why the owner refused to sell it, at
television.com |
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What is the
highest price a domain
name has sold for?
Two domain
names have sold recently for very large sums of money.
internet.com was sold for a sum rumoured to be around the $100,000 mark.
And topping even that princely sum, a couple of weeks later business.com
was sold for a staggering $150,000. |
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What is the
highest price a domain
name is being offered for?
The asking price for some domain
names has been reaching out of this world
proportions, although with no sign of corresponding sales. Some names have
been listed for sale by their hopeful owners for several million dollars!
Greed is a powerful motivator, but one that will not help the owners when
they have to renew their names again... and again... and again... with
InterNIC when no buyers appear! |
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Are domain
names going to make me rich?
No. These high-price sales are the tip of a very large iceberg. Most
transactions take place somewhere in the depths of the 'berg, well below
the water line. You may make some money if you pick a good domain
name,
but you are not going to get rich by selling domain
names. There's more
potential in leveraging domain
names into another business, like starting
a mailing service such as "MailBank"
or "iName",
or becoming a domain
name broker. Some people may be able to make good
money from selling domain
names, but don't approach them as a
get-rich-quick scheme; that kind of luck only happens to a very few
people. |
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What is your
view on the current state of the domain
name market?
Difficult to tell. On the one hand, there have been a number of
high-profile sales recently. However, a survey carried out by Internet
Gold-Rush in late April found that 11 domain
brokers had clocked up a
total of only $287,000 in sales, corresponding to the sale of 68 names. It
would appear that there are many more sales being transacted on a 1-2-1
basis, but it is difficult to get precise figures for such sales |
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Which domain
broker is best?
Ah, you're not going to draw me on that one. Their services are broadly
similar, although it is clear that some brokers are larger than others,
BestDomains for instance. Some brokers provide extra services such as
virtual domain
name hosting, e-mail addresses, even license plates of your
domain
name [DomainMart].
Be careful -- some of the sites advertising
themselves as brokers actually provide a domain
name listing service only,
similar to the
Domain
Showcase on this site. Once you find a client, the actual sale
will be up to you. Other brokers take care of every stage of the
transaction. |
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How can I
choose which broker to use?
Check out the cost of doing business with each broker. Find out if the
broker has a track record of sales completions. The domain
name market is
still very new, and many of the brokers are less than a year old. There is
a lot of information on the different domain
name brokers on this site.
You will also want to visit each site to compare features.
I would suggest that you pay attention to
the following:-
- Their commission rate. This seems to
vary quite widely between brokers.
- Does the broker charge buyers for
placing bids? This could hinder their business.
- Does the broker have a track record of
sales? Since the business is relatively new, most brokers have sold a
couple of names, at best. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
- How many names are listed on the site?
There are two conflicting factors here: your name will stand out more
prominently if the site only lists a few names; on the other hand, you
may prefer to go with the perceived "security" of a larger site.
- How easy will it be for buyers to
navigate around the site to find your name? If the site is badly laid
out or difficult to navigate, buyers are likely to go elsewhere. After
all, there are plenty of choices.
- How much are the domain
names that are
already listed at the site? Are there some in your prospective price
range, or are they all above or below that range. Does the site quote
prices for domain
names, or only "make offers"?
- Remember, you can often do business with
more than one broker. Increase your exposure as much as possible. H)
Finally, don't be greedy. Even a cursory glance at the brokerage sites
will show you that thousands of domain
names are on sale. Don't price
yourself out of the market.
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I had a good
experience with "Broker X".
Please tell me about it. The domain
name market is still very young, and
any criteria for distinguishing the various brokers would be very useful. |
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I had a bad
experience with "Broker Y".
Please give me as many details as you can. I will try and get to the
bottom of the incident, and if necessary post an advisory on this site.
Please note that I will not fight legal or other battles on your behalf,
but simply collect information. |
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Somebody
wants to buy my domain
name, and I want to sell it, but I am worried
about them cheating me. What can I do?
Although I have not used their services, I know that
Multimedia Realty offers a $250 escrow service whereby they take care
of all the payment and domain
name exchange details. |
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I want to
sell my domain
name privately, but I don't want the hassle of changing
my registration at InterNIC and making sure the money gets to me. What can
I do?
Multimedia Realty offers a $250 escrow service. They will collect the
money from the buyer, hold it until the domain
name has been transferred,
and then release it to you. This service may be worth it if you feel you
can get quite a high price for a domain
name. The commission you would pay
most brokers is much higher than $250. |
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I sold a
domain
name.
I would like to hear from anyone who has sold a domain
name, either
privately or via a broker. I am interested in how easy it was to sell the
name, how you promoted the name, etc. |
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How can I
increase my chances of selling a domain
name?
Here are some things you can do to improve your chance of making a
sale:-
Read the "5
Golden Rules" of domain
name selection.
Some domain
name brokers accept multiple
listing of domain
names i.e. you can post the same domain
name with
several brokers. Current information about domain
name brokers can be
found
here. Post your sales notice with as many brokers as you can. The
increased coverage can only prove beneficial.
Quantity is important. This is not so
relevant if you can only afford one or two domain
names. If you are
thinking of buying a number of domain
names, try and build up a small
portfolio of names. Don't choose all your names from the same "target
market", such as travel or entertainment. Instead try and be as diverse
as possible.
Consider an example:
Person A buys one domain
name and puts it
on the market for $2,000.
Person B buys 19 domain
names and puts
them on the market for $2,000 each.
Assuming that person A and person B are
equally adept at choosing domain
names, then person B has 19 times as
many chances to sell a name as person A. Person A can make a tidy profit
by selling the one domain
name. However, person B is guaranteed to make
back the outlay all 19 names with the very first sale.
NOTE: Naturally, there is more exposure
to risk when purchasing more domain
names. Remember that the value of a
domain
name tends towards $0 as the expiry date of the contract
approaches.
Finally, if you have registered a
once-in-a lifetime domain
name, try approaching a company in your
prospective market directly. After all, if the domain
name really is
that good, they will be glad to have the chance to buy it off you.
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What do you
mean, "expiry date"?
Remember that a domain
name is yours to do what you like with, but
only for a limited period of time. During that time period you can use it,
buy it, sell it or do whatever you like with it. At the end of the time
period you have to pay again. Current pricing is $100 for the first two
years of ownership [payable in advance] plus $50 per year after the two
years are up. |
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I've been
trying to sell my domain
name for X months, and there has been no
interest at all. What can I do?
Keep waiting. The domain
name market is growing from a base of zero
only a few months ago. Currently, by far the most active aspect of the
market is the registration of new names. There are thousands of domain
names for sale, and only a few buyers. As more companies are coming onto
the Internet every day, the demand for good domain
names can only
increase. |
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Do you have
a sample contract I could use to sell my names?
Not yet, this is something I am working on. Please be patient, and
come back to this site often.. |
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F.A.Q : Selling Domain Names
