I really did use to enjoy reading Ron Jackson’s report on the results of domain auctions at major domain conferences. It was really inspiring to see the top quality domains changing hands at life-changing figures.
Now, I barely track domain auction results. I have lost interest. Domain auctions have lost their splendour. I am not surprised to see a lot of words flying about regarding the lost appeal of domain auctions.
I personally did not have the domains like camera.com or computer.com to submit to these auctions so I didn’t even consider “wasting” my time submitting domains to these live auctions.
However, something changed over the past year. The domains lost quality and literally turned to rubbish! Domain auctions simply became just another crowded marketplace where one had to sift through loads of average domains to find gems worth bidding on.
In my opinion, it is like these domain auctions suddenly became an avenue for certain people to “dump” unwanted low-quality domains. Auctioneers seemed to believe that the grand aurora that domain conferences bring and the ever-shining spotlight would be enough to get away with trying to dump rubbish domains.
Every domain name should be able to go to auction of course, but not just any auction. There is a time and place for everything.
What really turns me off is when auctioneers make a lot of fuss about “premium domains” and then you look at the list and shake your head in disbelief!
Not everyone will be able to spend the high 6 figures or even the 7 figures at a domain auction. So, it is only right that auctioneers include domains of lower values. However, they seem to have dropped their standards way too low.
Domain auctioneers I would assume get a lot of domain submissions. It can be really hard sifting through countless domains. However, this does not mean that you should try and please everyone and put thousands of domains in one auction, even if it is an online auction.
Domain auctions should by all means have a different feel from an overcrowded domain marketplace.
Fusu.com conducted an auction for the Domain Convergence event last year of about 34 domains. The auction did not get the enough market exposure, but it was a brilliant model. You could simply sift through the list within 2 minutes, and the bidding process was as simply as saying the letters of the alphabet. It is such a pity that Fusu.com does not pursue domain auctions as part of their business strategy.
Domain auctions do not have to be complicated. Some of these auctions only possess senseless hype.
Thanks for the props! There will be another auction at this year’s DomainConvergence (August 13/14 in Toronto).
I absolutely agree that it’s the auction house’s job to act as quality filter and not just as sales platform.
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Domain auctions are a funny animal. With the high end “naturals” which usually start with a reserve of $500k, we all watch and wonder and celebrate the sale! Wow! Don’t we all wish we could drop $2 mill on a one word natural!
However, holding an auction with “mid-premium” domains is a lot harder to do. Why? Because nobody wants to “pick a minimum value” on a domain that could possible skyrocket in the final sale. Or not.
If you go through DNJournal’s sales history over the last four years, you’ll see domains in there that sold for prices that you would not and could not support today. So everyone is in the “dang, I would sell this domain for $2,500, but I’d hate to see it resold in six months for $30,000.”
With this type of thinking, most domainers will hold on to those mid premies and try to hope for an enduser sale, since I’ve been warning about “incestuous domain sales” for about three years now.
Bottom line: Domainers who need cash for whatever reasons, offer up your mid premies for a low 4digit amount as a reserve, let people fight it out and DO NOT LOOK BACK.
Unless you bought a domain in an auction or aftermarket sale, and you want to recoup that investment, most domain sales are going to give you at least a 100% – 5000% profit. SO GO FOR IT.
If somebody buys it and sells it for more later, who cares? You got your cash, and you’re moving forward (or should be). Never look back. Put up your med premies at a low price that gets you a profit.
I have filtered over 10,000 domains in the last 10 years down to about 4,000… based on future maturity and current PPC rev. Contrary to Rick Schwartz’s opinion (skewed cuz he’s always been dealing with big ticket domains), a domain that gets nothing in traffic today doesn’t mean it won’t be valuable in 2 years.
Domain auctions only need to do the following:
1)Advertise in online marketing websites to increase the potential amount of bidders, which is the FIRST key to having higher sell prices
2) Separate the domains alphabetically by extensions, so that each bidder will know when the domain they are interested in will come up, plus know where to look quickly to find some good deals cuz of “lower level” extensions.
Really, the top importance of a domain auction is spending at least $10k in marketing the auction to the business sector via marketing websites. We domainers want end users buying our domains, not other domainers who are looking for a “good deal”. That’s become the norm for domain auctions lately.
Good article, nice points. I’d like to get some feedback from the blog owner at my email address.
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Hi Stephen,
It is great to see you here!
Thanks for your very interesting comments. You have made some brilliant points.
I will send you an email by close of play on Monday, as it will be a very busy weekend.
Kevin
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Hi Kevin,
Thanks for contacting me… I like your site.
Just a quick tip. Make Francois happy and move that “domaining.com” button to the “first view half” of your homepage.
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