From $99, TaipeiVacations.com, MiamiCruises.org & More….
By A on Aug 21, 2008 in Domain Auctions, Domain Values, NameJet, SnapNames
Quite a few people have emailed and said thanks for publicly stating my opinion on the quality of the FixedLoans.com domain so for domainers of all experience I would advise to go through the list of names in auction at SnapNames instead of solely focusing on what others are bidding on at NameJet. Granted, every auction house has their stupid names which get bid up for no logical reason but if you compare the names in auction at Snap compared to those at NameJet you will be pleasantly surprised…..
The fact is MANY deals exist within the SnapNames platform.
Wait – one more thing … for the Newbies and smaller investors…
Think about the upside of domains purchased under $1,000. Owen Frager has a great idea and a potentially great brand with the project - grandnames.com – This price point has incredible upside potential.
Spending $3,5 or $8,000 on a name with NO brandable quality and a “hope” of traffic is just silly because you have to ask yourself one question.
Who will you sell this to????
I’ve mentioned this before - domains with quality keywords ALWAYS have tangible value outside of the domainer community.
Domains with wrong tenses, unpopular terms or made up names DO NOT.
If a domain has no traffic AND no brandable value – who is your customer????
No one.
Quality keyword names (regardless of traffic) can never go wrong at minimal price points under $1,000. The upside is huge….
It’s a new game – plan for the future – Do not plan to sell to domainers forever. It’s a trend – not a lifestyle. Look for quality, don’t follow the herd.
Seriously, I’m back on hiatus now …. we have our plan … do you?
Peace….
Marty | Aug 22, 2008 | Reply
I agree that having keywords in your domain is important and can help you in many ways. “quite honestly its entirely irrelevant who owns the domain” I think it does matter because I bet 95% of those domains are owned by you. You can be honest and tell people you are promoting your own domains or just keep doing what you are doing.
admin | Aug 22, 2008 | Reply
**NF** I guess we see things different. We do own some of the names - as I said - but not 95% and it is absolutely irrelevant in our calculation. Absolutely 100% irrelvant.
Do we know the owners of most of these names - yes but again - If Elliot or Frank or Kevin owns a name is it worth more than a name held by you or me? No offense guys but….
Bullshit - not a chance.
With an UNDEVELOPED NAME even doubly so…
Any buyer - a domainer or non-domainer - is basing thier price on the potential value of a name according to thier development plans, thier valuation method and what or any buyers they have in mind for the domain.
Every domainer is an INVESTOR at first and keyword values are a KEY element in value.
If someone wants to overpay for a domain because it was in a book or because one of the kings of the internet owned it before then I will find a bottle of water touched by Posh herself and sell it to you for $10,000. You will end up with a bottle of water and I will have new jetski. There is no “celebrity value” to domain names owned by “domain celebrities”. The ownership of a name is so irrelevant that its never worth mentioning.
Take MiamiCruises.org - YES, we own this name. A travel agent familar with the interent would easily pay $1,000 or $2,000 for this down the road or even today. You think that travel agent is going to ask who owned the name before. The only benefit would be if another travel agent company did - NOT any one of us domainers.
Why do we sell names - like anyone else, we can’t develop the entire portfolio we own - some go, some stay. We never say we don’t own a name but on the other hand we don’t heavily promote all our sales either.
My point was simply for the buyers who are looking for quality keyword names with resell value to not always follow the herd.
Scott | Aug 23, 2008 | Reply
I tend to disagree on something. I think who owns the name does play into the perceived value of that name.
If Joe Domainer is selling a name that no one wants to buy, and then Rick Latona tries to sell that same name, Rick will sell it. The perception (and reality) is that he knows something about domains and there is a reason why he bought it in the first place. The domain will certainly sell for more if Rick Latona sells it.
There isn’t a doubt in my mind.
And that has nothing to do with his newsletter or blog. If Rick posts domainexample.com on a forum and I post domainexample.com on the same forum, Rick will sell it faster and for more money than I could.
That’s certainly not a lash out on Rick or anyone else, it’s just how the human mind works.
It’s called the halo effect. And it very much applies to domain names too.
admin | Aug 23, 2008 | Reply
Scott,
Very true but this is called good salesmanship and having a loyal following. Buyers need to understand that the value paid because you bought it from XY or Z will never carry over in a sale - and thats the part of being an INVESTOR rather than a domainer.
I don’t know one domainer who would pay a premium because XYZ owned a domain before and people outside the industry would certainly say Rick Who? Frank Who?
No disrespect to anyone (especially Rick and Frank) here but the industry is still in the first nine weeks of birth in many way so if a new buyer is investing - remove the percieved value and concentrate on the real value would be our advice.
This is not to say Rick doesn’t have good names - he certainly does.