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.