There are millions of domain names being offered for sale on the domain aftermarket. However, as more and more people are realising, a great percentage of the domains listed in most marketplaces are worth less than their registration fees.

As the owner of a domain marketplace where domains are vetted for quality control at submission before listings, I know firsthand what is it like to sift through countless domain submissions. It is hard work.

You tend to find that only about 3% are gems. I am convinced that people blatantly ignore listing rules just to take the piss!

Regardless of the fact that there is no universal set or rules that define a quality domain name, it cannot be that difficult to determine quality from average, and average from crap domains. Some people simply seem to think that marketplaces that sift domains prior to listings are biased.

To control the problem of crappy domain submissions at eBusinessDomains.com we implemented a few procedures.

Firstly, we eliminated the domain submissions via email. Wow. Thank God for such wisdom!

We created a page detailing the domain submission rules.

We created a user control panel where users can sign up and submit their domain names.

Before users can submit domains for sale they have to be validated. Validation involves providing all contact details and paying $1 via Paypal.

Although the $1 is not a cost, but simple a deposit on account, it has helped significantly in stopping people in their tracks from submitting average or rubbish domain names.

When domains are submitted, they are either accepted or rejected. Users get an email confirming the outcome regardless of acceptance or rejection. You can read our listing criteria here.

One user called us thieves for charging $1 and then rejecting his domains names. I don’t think his $1 (refundable at any time) will buy us a private jet any time soon.

We are not perfect. Our marketplace is called eBusiness Domains (dot) com. We sell domains that can be used to brand ebusinesses. Hence any domain name we list for sale should be able to successfully brand an online business.

Our other focus is on how resaleable the domain name is. Every domain will be able to change hands I assume. However, it profits us nothing in listing domains that won’t sell in the next 12 years. We rather focus on those that can be easily sold within 12 months.

A domain name should not only hold potential in the mind of the registrant. The test for me is 7 out of 10. If you ask 10 people if they think the domain is worth something, at least 7 should give some sort of positive feedback.

Some of the domain names that we reject actually do have some value. Some domains are best marketed in domain forums, some in marketplaces, and while some would do well in respective auction formats. There is a time and place for everything.

Lets take for example, ElephantUrine.com. Of course elephants urinate, right? But just what kind of business would you build with ElephantUrine.com? The term may make sense, and it does. But could it brand an ebusiness? Hell no!!

Unless scientists find some sort of cure for a disease in the urine of elephants, and subsequently an active market for elephant urine is developed, then such a domain name is just an insult to one’s intelligence. And by the way, I can’t foresee such a scientific breakthrough happening in the next 12 months.

I hope I have clarified at least something with this post.