DOMAIN SELLING

Domain name trading is very close to real estate business. Investments are made for future profits. A good domain name can be as expensive as a condo in Manhattan. This analogy will help you understand the domain business for optimum results. If you are selling real estate then there are many factors you would consider before you price it.

Most important is location. If you have 2000 sq ft in Kansas farm v/s in Manhattan the price will differ greatly. Similarly if you have a .com v/s other TLDs you can expect a huge price variation. The landscape, size and design of the house are also key factors. Just like a house needs appraisal based of various factors, domain names need appraisals too.

You will have to invest your time to research- What are similar sites selling for, Where are they being sold? Who are the buyers?, etc. If you put a unrealistic price tag on domains, you will drive out potential buyers, similarly if you put a lower price tag, you will feel the pinch when your name sells for thousands of dollars.

Professional appraisal services give confidence to both buyers and sellers. Buyers can see the authenticity of the price tag and sellers can demand the price they want.

Domain selling is not for everyone. You need skills and expertise, patience, acumen, anticipation and be abreast with events & news. You also need insider tips to make a sale happen. Conventional selling strategies may work, but experience shows that domain selling requires smart efforts, which are seldom found in majority of domain sellers. This website is an attempt to give you some strategies so that you can succeed in domain selling.

So you have a domain name and you want a Quick Sale?. Well Auctions are the best place to look for.

The most commonly used auction sites are TDNAM & E-bay.. You can even try to auction your domains on Forums like NamePros , DNForum, DomainState etc.

Remember auction is mostly for quick sale and if you are willing to lower your prices to what would attract bidders. If you don't get any bids , chances are that you have quoted a high price, reduce the price appropriately.

♥ Once you have listed the domains in auctions you can market your auctions and send emails to potential buyers or post in Forums ( For sale / Auction boards ) etc. The more you market your auctions the better chances you have to get more bids and selling for a good price.

♥ If you have already got a bid the above tip will be very effective as it gives sense of urgency to other buyers.



Are you trying to sell domains but not receiving any responses?

Get advice by appraising. Domain appraisal does not necessarily have to be a paid service. You can get expert advice free on forums like Namepros, DN Forum etc.

• To start with post for appraisal in forums to get the feel of what others think of the name.

• DO NOT rely on these appraisals. Most of these don’t have any base. But if your domain is good then you will get lot of responses in forums.

• If you are still not able to put a price tag, get paid appraisals. Generally Godaddy, Sedo etc have fair appraisals.

• Beware of Appraisal Scammers. Read more in forums on which appraisal service NOT to choose.

• Check on Sedo, Afternic, DNJournal, Namepros, Greatdomains, BuyDomains, TDNAM, to see what similar domains are selling for.

Once you are convinced about the price tag, you are all set to go to the next step, which is Listing your domains for sale.


Do you want to give buyers a quick glance to all your domains?

Domain portfolios are a great way to get coverage for all your domains. You can use the portfolio link and send it to potential buyers.

If you list your domains for sale on sedo or twnam.com then you get a link to your portfolio, you can use this link to send it to your prospective buyers. What’s good about sedo portfolio is that if you have parked you domain on sedo the portfolio also gives a quick glimpse of your domain traffic.

How to create a portfolio on TWNAM.com

1. Register for FREE account on TWNAM.com
2. Click Sell domains to add domains individually or use paid bulk upload service.
3. Login & Goto My account . Your user number will appear in address bar eg: http://twnam.com/user/21 , where 21 is your number.
4. The link to your domain portfolio is http://twnam.com/portfolio/21 . Go to this page and see how you can filter domains by category, Price or TLD. Send the link in address bar to your customers and reap benefits.

*
Whenever you get an inquiry for a domain, you can slip in your portfolio link in your replies so that buyers can glance through and check if anything catches their attention.
*
Use the portfolio link in your signature in forums and emails.


Tips on Marketing your domains:

Let enough people know that your domain is available. This will increase your chances of selling and getting potential offers. Use some marketing strategies to boost your sales:

• Put your domain names in your signature, in emails and in domain forums so it gets noticed.

• Post in domain forums, help others and seek answers from experts. This will build your reputation and give exposure to domains.

• Many forums have for-sale message boards, where you can post your names for free. Make sure you actively post there.

• Submit your domains to search engines. This is generally free and it pays well at times. Your search engine ranking will determine how much your domain is valuable.

• List your domains in directories. There are many directories that accept domains for free. Make sure you list there and day by day you will get more exposure to your domains.

• Use your domain name as your username in forums, and other websites. When other people notice the name of website there is often a tendency to visit to site.

• Invest in your domain by building a one page blog or creating some banners.



If you are new to domaining business then you probably got less than 10 domains and are trying to actively sell it.

I used to do that and learned a lesson after sometime that my domains were just not good enough , no matter how hard I tried, they were not worth the price I was asking or they were not catching the attention of right buyers.

Don't be discouraged, as we said before this is an exciting business and requires patience and persistence.

One way is to increase your domain inventory and give more choices to your buyers and a larger domain portfolio.

Once i increased my inventory i noticed that I learned more about this industry and I was in a better position to judge the value of names and bought even more good names.

I want to mention here that, the suggestion is to increase your inventory of GOOD domains not just any domains. Don't waste your time on domains that are not receiving responses, move-on.

The famous 80-20 rule applies here too. 80% of your income from domain will be from 20% of your inventory. Some domains will just expire while some will get offers immediately.



So you have received an offer and the buyer is asking the domain for a reasonable price OR , the buyer is requesting you to quote a selling price. If the price offered by buyer is acceptable but you want to find out if you can ask more for that domain. How do you handle this ?

Before you make an offer to the buyer, make sure you have done the following:

1. If you own a good domain, try to spend some money on professional appraisal now. Then respond to buyer with the appraisal certificate.
2. Temporarily Unlist the domains from all the website you are selling, till you have completed the negotiation.
3. If you have already put a price tag on your domain, respond with exactly that price as the buyer can do a google search and still find out how much you had listed the domain. For eg:

* If you had listed your domain for $1000 , don't make an offer of $5000 to the buyer. This may mean loss of integrity and it may reflect bad.



If you have made an inappropriate offer, the buyer may not respond or may respond saying that he is not interested. Do NOT lose hope, after a week or two, you can again contact the buyer with a polite note saying....

Dear Company,

Thank you for your interest in xxxxxyyyy.com. I am willing to consider some counter offers on this domain to reach some mutual agreement. The asking price I had mentioned @ $YYYYY was meant to be a starting point for our further negotiations. If you are still interested in this domain I am willing to work with you. Thank you for your time.

With Best regards:

If you still don't get any response, Move on. Don't lose the lesson and make the success happen next time.
domainsellingtips.com