A reality check needed on domain prices?

[Edwin]

I have seen many threads over the past few weeks with variations of the following: "Looking for a name for a client. Budget £x-£xx" or "Budget low £xxx maximum".

I think you're doing both your "client" and the domaining community a disservice if you nod along and agree with them that it's realistic to expect to find a commercially useful domain name for £xx. If you really are working on behalf of a third party, surely it's commonsense to spend a few minutes (using DomainPrices.co.uk, DNJournal.com and other sources) on expectation management.

You'll be able to do a better job of SEO, PPC management or whatever core service you're offering them if you can get them a domain name that will REALLY help their business. And unless they're super-super-niche, £xx-low £xxx doesn't cut it!

In fact, I'd go as far as to state that if you're engaged as a consultant and specifically provide a "domain acquision service" as part of your overall service offering, you should flat out NOT let them proceed with such a commercially meaningless budget under the guise of securing a "decent" domain for them. You're basically operating under false pretenses by doing so. They're paying you for your expertise, and an important part of that expertise is knowing the market and its pricing.

Am I alone in thinking this? I don't mind going out on a limb on my own, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be a more widely shared impression...

IMPORTANT: While I freely admit that my pricing is "end-user", this is not specifically about my domains! What I choose to charge has nothing to do with the validity of the comment above so please don't let that sidetrack the wider discussion...

 

[rob]

In fact, I'd go as far as to state that if you're engaged as a consultant and specifically provide a "domain acquision service" as part of your overall service offering, you should flat out NOT let them proceed with such a commercially meaningless budget under the guise of securing a "decent" domain for them. You're basically operating under false pretenses by doing so. They're paying you for your expertise, and an important part of that expertise is knowing the market and its pricing.

Internet marketing guru shysters operating at a hobbiest price bracket take note

Most will not care about the domaining community or what their actions mean to it.

Most will not be here in three years time and will be on to the 'next big thing' which will get them nowhere (as usual).

 

[Pred]

99% of domains wanted threads are a waste of time
even when sending quality names people don't have courtesy of giving an answer either way

or their crocked budget of xx doesn't even warrant an offering imo
if thats your budget go and handregister something
i think a lot of the time people want to know what you got and to give them ideas for handregges

as for the 'buying for client'
yeah right.
the client sitting next to you that wants her catfood put down in half an hour. lol

 

[DomainManagement]

In Agreement

Edwin as usual you are correct ;-)


Maybe Docking a reputation square or two might do the trick

 

[Edwin]

i think a lot of the time people want to know what you got and to give them ideas for handregges

I have noticed that quite often the .org.uk of somebody's suggestion in the "Wanted" threads will appear in the "For sale" threads after an interval of a few days... so I think you have a point there!

 

[GreyWing]

Does it hurt anyone for others to have their own business models, why do people have to use yours. People should just ignore the thread and move on if they can't supply names at that price.

Has one of my end users ever contacted me and said "well there is this thread on acorn that values these names at xxx in the wanted section. So I'm valuing this at the same."

Nope, ever likely too, nope.

 

[DomCollect]

As a salesman i appreciate the need to reduce expectations to the seller, maybe that is what they are doing?

On the other side when i see some one looking for domains up to a specific budget and i feel my domain is in that remit but outside the budget, i send it anyway and have had a bit of luck. Inevitably the buyer sees the potential and increases expectations.

The buyer needs to decide on the value against budget, and if the buyer is getting the kind of quality the client is looking for then good for them. But with the right education to the client surely the buyer can not only gain a larger budget but his own commission would increase, the client may see greater rewards and business through recommendation would increase, snowballing until the seller is out of that low end business and into the high end acquisitions business.

I ignore £X to £XXX as this would be most of my portfolio and i just do not have the time

 

[domainseller200]

You can't educate a client who doesn't understand it.

You bat for both sides of the team Edwin, as you are the first person to show off your lists of 100's of daily hand regged domains for £x which you then proceed to price up as £x,xxx within seconds of aquiring them

So surely your statement which says "I think you're doing both your "client" and the domaining community a disservice if you nod along and agree with them that it's realistic to expect to find a commercially useful domain name for £xx" could also also applied to your hand regged names

So either there ARE commercially useful domain names for available £x or £xx or every name you are hand regging youself is a pile of rubbish.

You can't have it both ways.

Picked up cosmeticveneers.co.uk for £20 a few weeks back from here - would you say that was a crap buy for £20 ?

I am not saying you are 100% wrong in what you are saying, but as Greywing says just because everyone doesn't use your business model doesn't mean they are wrong.

 

[Nigel]

I've never responded to one of those cheap 'wanted' ads but can't see a problem in someone making the request. Acorndomains is a place to pick up bargains - After all haven't we all found some nice sub £100 bargains here from time to time? It's a community to serve all from the sub £100 bargain domains all the way to the £100k mega deals.

I suppose Edwin's main gripe is that some are saying they are doing it for 'a client'. Perhaps it's for a friend, relative or a mate down the pub. If so I think that reason would sound better and more credible.

 

[DomCollect]

You can't educate a client who doesn't understand it.

Is that not what education is?

Teaching them to understand some thing they do not understand. I do it every day and have been doing so for many years.

Admittedly it is not always easy and by no means always successful, but in the best cases one achieves prices well over expectations.

Sorry but i am with Edwin there, i agree that we all have our own business models but educating the client is paramount not only for them but for this business.

 

[websaway]

There is as usual merit in what Edwin has to say, but if someone wants a domain at £x to £xx price then it's there prerogative to seek one and although they will normally get a low value response, on occasions they may pick up a domain. What should also be taken into consideration is the low value names that some domainers portfolio's consist of, any chance to offload some of these names is important to them.

 

[domainseller200]

Is that not what education is?

Teaching them to understand some thing they do not understand. I do it every day and have been doing so for many years.

Admittedly it is not always easy and by no means always successful, but in the best cases one achieves prices well over expectations.

Sorry but i am with Edwin there, i agree that we all have our own business models but educating the client is paramount not only for them but for this business.

Sorry I should have clarified what I meant a little better.

It is impossible to educate someone with a £x budget on why spending a £x,xxx - £xxx,xxx is better for them in the long run

If it was easy, we wouldn't all be trying so hard every single day

 

[DomCollect]

Sorry I should have clarified what I meant a little better.

It is impossible to educate someone with a £x budget on why spending a £x,xxx - £xxx,xxx is better for them in the long run

If it was easy, we wouldn't all be trying so hard every single day

But we have to try!

 

[brum]

look a domain is worth what somone is willing to pay for it .

if you had money.com and felt it was a £5million pound domain but if i was the only buyer ...

and i thought it was worth £5 pound and there was no other buyers then it's worth £5 that's life .

you as the owner of the £5..£5million pound have a few choices

1 don't sell keep it devlop it and show why it could be worth more
2 keep it and wait for another buyer to come along who recognises the value and will pay more

3 or sell for the £5 offer

there is no point being upset .... it's simple supply and demand .

as more people in the future understand about domains and appreciate their value cheap domains will be picked up and will no longer come on the market . but at the moment there are 10's if not 100's of new domains being droped and comming on to the market for very little money and quite simply not enough buyers for those domans and that is why the price is so low .

instead of buying money.com for 5 million if i could get poker.com for a £5 then how much is money.com worth ?

since i can get another similar potential domain for £5 .

this is the problem we face the domains on the market are worth a lot and have lots of potential ... but there are so many of them that anyone can pick and choose which one they want to develop.

this will continue until more people understand and so there are more buyers or until fewer domains are on the market.

end users pay more because they don't know about places like acorn and therefore think that there are not as many domains availaable that they would want.

anyways that is my two pence worth hope it helps

 

[mat]

I dont see a problem with asking for sub £100 domains.

There are plenty of niche domains for around that price that are a good deal for both buyer and seller.

Buyer has often hand regged and making 10x what he paid for it, for a domain that he can do nothing with. Buyer can add the name to his revenue portfolio.

Edwin, have you thought about any negative impressions that may be given by your pricing structure?

 

[donreeco]

Some people hand reg names and charge £xx for them. Others immediately put £xxxx on them. Neither is right or wrong – they are just different business models.

From a personal point of view, I would find it hard to tell a “client” that it’s impossible to find a “commercially useful” name for less than £xxx, if I had just had just hand registered hundreds and hundreds of domains for £x, in the belief that they were all “commercially useful”.

 

[Blake]

I agree with Edwin on the 'unrealistic expectations' point but until business and the general public 'get' the intrinsic value of domain names, we are relying on a small pool of educated buyers/domainers to carry the entire aftermarket of decent names.

It also p*sses me off when you go to the trouble of replying to these £xx threads there is no communication from the OP either way.

 

[DomCollect]

It also p*sses me off when you go to the trouble of replying to these £xx threads there is no communication from the OP either way.

LOL Probably too busy trying to sift through the hundreds of crap domains to find the time to reply

 

[DomainManagement]

my little comment was based was based on £ x offers

as i have to admit to trying to get domains @ £ xx

so maybe my last post was a little unfair

nothing like a hot coffee and a shitty cat story to wake you up

maybe a new thread " what the least you have paid for a domain "

and free is not allowed

 

[Edwin]

I suppose Edwin's main gripe is that some are saying they are doing it for 'a client'. Perhaps it's for a friend, relative or a mate down the pub. If so I think that reason would sound better and more credible.

Yes, that was my main issue.

People can ask for domains in whatever price range they like if they're doing it for themselves or as a favour. I have no problem with that (I just won't contact posters whose budget doesn't match my own expectations)

But if they post "looking ON BEHALF OF A CLIENT" and they're really doing it for a 100% genuine business client who is paying them (explicitly or implicitly) for their knowledge and experience of the domain market, that's where the whole "expectations" issue rears its ugly head!