When selling domains, does your own domain/website influence anything?

[Murray]

Something I've wondered is, when someone wants to buy a domain and they look who to contact, do you think the sellers own domain & website can make any difference to their approach?

If you're selling from a impressive domain/email like say, giraffe or SJ come to mind, do you think people are going to think you're more professional/established so they will need to offer more?

I've always wondered if I should bother using a better domain I already have, or possibly buy one and put up a more professional looking site rather than just a wordpress contact form

I would guess it probably doesn't make much difference to be worth it

What are your guys thoughts?

 

[dragon]

100% worth it imo. Imagine going to we buy any car to sell a car, or a local garage who has cars for sale, must be sold'.. Compare it to walking into a bmw/audi/aston dealership... you know it's going to be 'expensive' but also quality.. Something i'm working on as well!

 

[aZooZa]

Helps with the 'reassuringly expensive' ploy for sure.

 

[dee]

Id say it helps. Its like anything, first impressions count for a lot, and whether we think it or not we're all susceptible.

 

[DomainManage]

This is one of the reasons I started domainmanage.com.

Many domainers are geared to domainer to domainer sales this is great if you want to sell everything at wholesale prices , but I wonder how many lost end user sales are from the result of dodgy, non resolving domain sales pages and amateur looking websites.

On the whole I would say it depends on the buyer and the value of the domain being purchased. Non technical, non domainer types, venturing into the domain buying wilderness for the first time ever, who probably have no understanding about what is involved might run a mile, when you look at the confusing sales pitches and spammy looking domain landing pages/sites on offer.

I think the UK 'newb' domain buyer might expect to see something slightly more credible. At the end of the day you want to have the best chance of making a sale - it must make sense to present your domains to the end user to give maximum confidence - after all, at some point you'll be essentially asking these people to deposit sums of cash into an unknown entities bank account based on trust.

 

[bonusmedia]

If I come across a domain I want to buy and it's linked to a domainer's website/email I'm happy, because it means there's a fair shot at acquiring it. There have been a fair few where I've never even got anywhere with finding the owner.

However I'm not bothered how 'professional' your own site is - a fancy site just makes me think you've spent a few quid on it.
I just want to get in touch and start talking price asap.

In fairness I probably know more about the domain business than the average buyer

 

[Blossom]

I think if an end user wants a domain, they want a domain. As others have said, super nice site indicates higher prices, which may put some potential buyers off if there's no guide/starting price.

IMO the only things I want to know are:

1) Is it easy to contact the seller?)
2) Is there a guide price? (Not necessarily a dealbreaker but helpful)
3) Does it look legit? (i.e. not autogenerated spam).

Extra points if you look like you care about the domain to some level, e.g. it's not filled with a ton of spam links/ads that might make it difficult to reinstate trust.

 

[DomainManage]

I think if an end user wants a domain, they want a domain. As others have said, super nice site indicates higher prices, which may put some potential buyers off if there's no guide/starting price.

IMO the only things I want to know are:

1) Is it easy to contact the seller?)
2) Is there a guide price? (Not necessarily a dealbreaker but helpful)
3) Does it look legit? (i.e. not autogenerated spam).

Extra points if you look like you care about the domain to some level, e.g. it's not filled with a ton of spam links/ads that might make it difficult to reinstate trust.

I don't entirely agree that 'super nice' means high prices. Do you have example of super nice.

We have to consider that not all end users are after a bargain, not all end users are looking for a £50 quick and dirty reseller purchase. Premium domains are an exception. If you present mediocre as tat expect tat prices, but take a look at brandbucket and you see the value of polishing turds can pay off!

 

[Skinner]

I'm not sure it makes a huge difference, I have 4 recent offers, 3 of those names are parked on my script which includes easy contact, and 2 of them came via Sedo. So I think if someone knows of sedo, they can't see the domain forest for the sedo tree's in the way.

I suspect the same is true of other markets, if the use sedo, dns, etc they will continue too, but you prob snare more with landing pages, and sell more with a listing on your main site.