I think I sold a good domain for way too cheap. Need advice on what to do next time.

[Tygerwoody]

So I sold a domain recently that a very large company recently bought from my listing on GoDaddy.

So basically the domain I sold was Datsons.com . The word to me was just a last name, I didn't have any idea a company was named it. So I put it up for sale for 299 on Godaddy and this company bought it. Now that I see how big the company is, I'm wondering how big of a mistake I made.

I did buy the domain at a drop for $7, so I'm not THAT upset, but I still think I could have gotten a good sum out of it. So basically what I want is this. I want to know 1. How much could I have realistically sold the domain. 2. What could I do next time I own a domain like this.

Thanks

[Banned: theinvestor]

You will never really know what you can get from an end user. It is all about what you are willing to live with when you sell a domain. If you think $299 was a good deal then that's all that matters. I know many list there names for sale for a fixed price but this is one reason i don't. I only take inquiries - that's a big advantage in my opinion.

Although there are people who believe that if you don't list a price on something it is very hard to sell it. To each their own.

[TheLegendaryJP]

You set the price, youre to blame, actually the you were happy with a $200 profit so no looking back.

[Tygerwoody]

I'm not looking back, I'm looking forward.

I want to know what steps I might should take next time to help insure a "better" price when i list them. Obviously all appraisals are bogus. I pretty much just took my lump sum of domains and listed them for $299-$499. I'm moving an "ok" amount. Enough to keep the "hobby" going. If a thing is worth doing, it should be worth doing well. Just looking for a little advice is all. I figured that was the point of this forum....

[TheLegendaryJP]

I'm not looking back, I'm looking forward.

I want to know what steps I might should take next time to help insure a "better" price when i list them. Obviously all appraisals are bogus. I pretty much just took my lump sum of domains and listed them for $299-$499. I'm moving an "ok" amount. Enough to keep the "hobby" going. If a thing is worth doing, it should be worth doing well. Just looking for a little advice is all. I figured that was the point of this forum....

You based your list price on something, that was my point. If you didnt care what you sold or when you would have listed higher.

So as for advice, learn to sit and wait if thats your goal and hopefully some day it will come, keep pricing low and miss out on bigger end user sales OR rethink how you sale. If it was a simple lander with contact me at X you may have been able to know it was an end user and negotiate more.

[Acro]

The company is in India so that $299 was probably a lot to them.

I want to know what steps I might should take next time to help insure a "better" price when i list them..

Ask for more, simple as that.

[RatherGood]

So I sold a domain recently that a very large company recently bought from my listing on GoDaddy.

So basically the domain I sold was Datsons.com . The word to me was just a last name, I didn't have any idea a company was named it. So I put it up for sale for 299 on Godaddy and this company bought it. Now that I see how big the company is, I'm wondering how big of a mistake I made.

I did buy the domain at a drop for $7, so I'm not THAT upset, but I still think I could have gotten a good sum out of it. So basically what I want is this. I want to know 1. How much could I have realistically sold the domain. 2. What could I do next time I own a domain like this.

Thanks

Its naive to assume that due to the size of the company they would be willing to spend more. The more you raise the price, the more legal channels they may be willing to use to hijack the domain name from you especially if its their company name.

[Maxwell]

It's seller's remorse. You turned a profit of $292, less transaction fees. There's no such thing as a bad profit.

Any time you have a surname domain name, google around for it a little bit. I'm currently sitting on a surname domain name and a very large company's name is that very surname. Still contemplating what to do with it. The risk of WIPO is holding me back from approaching them directly.

To answer your questions...

1. It could have been any amount. Realistically, you would have been lucky to get high $xxx if you didn't know the buyer's identity... but if they really wanted the name badly enough you could have commanded a higher price.

2. To prevent this, do your research. Just keep in mind that large expenditures can often trigger corporate formalities, so if you were trying to ask $5,000, you would be at the mercy of someone at the C-level who may not have seen the value at all. I would have just taken the quick $299 and ran.

[Acro]

Let me repeat this: it's a company in India. They could not even afford the .in

[tekz999]

Embrace the sale price and buy yourself a good bottle of red wine. You have already hit the jackpot, now go celebrate, because no one else will buy it for $299. End.

[hugegrowth]

Looking quickly at the company's page, I think they got a great deal and could likely have gone higher. In the future, you could consider not listing names with a BIN price, just set a minimum offer and negotiate from there. Or just do this with your better names. You could also consider bumping up your BIN prices to say $1000. You might get fewer sales but the higher price might compensate for that. Better to sell one name at $900 than sell three names for $300 each.

[katherine]

It has happened to all of us. You still made a profit, don't look back.
If you don't know who you're dealing with, there is little you can do.
You put a BIN for a quick sale and that's exactly what happened. An end user grabbed it.
From the moment you put a price tag on an item the sales price is automatically capped.

[JohnZ]

enough return !

[gingeman]

Some companies in India may need 20 emails back andf forth before that is their final offer. Don't assume you could have had more, it was a fair price and no point worrying about it now. Unlikely anybody else would have paid anything for it so be glad you matched your domain to its "best" use without having to put in any real effort.

[biggedon]

Its naive to assume that due to the size of the company they would be willing to spend more.

just let this be part of your learning experience


but if you don't ask for more, you'll never get it


imo...

[draggar]

The main question is - were you happy with that sale price at the time of the sale?

If you were - then don't look back.

If you weren't then ask for more next time (and then why did you sell it?).

Why should the domain sell for more because a company bought it? Just because a large corporation buys something doesn't mean it should cost more.

[hugegrowth]

Good point you bring up, but I think if an entity is buying a domain name they plan to use to help make hundreds of thousands or millions in revenues with, then they should pay more than say a domainer reseller would, or someone who would use the domain for a personal site. It's not necessarily the fact it's a 'big company', but generally a big company inquiring about a domain means it will help them with their business, so it should be worth more to them.

So if you had a domain sales enquiry, you'd ask the same for the domain whether it was GE, Microsoft, or an average person wanting it for their personal blog? Most of the time you don't know, but if you did know it was a company like Microsoft, it would have some impact on your pricing I'm sure.

[Infoproliferati]

Setting a BIN is always tricky for a domain that is difficult to appraise. That's why it is a good idea to set a minimum price. Here's a good question you can ask before you set a BIN: Would I be happy with this price even after I've learned that the buyer was an end user?

This helps you set a BIN you would at least be comfortable with. It has to be a reasonable BIN. A too high BIN will just scare away potential buyers.

[draggar]

If I'm going to buy a computer - should I pay a different price just because I am going to use it to start a business as opposed to just checking email? (Same PC / same specs)?

How about a car - should I pay the dealership more because I'm going to use it for business as opposed to just drive the kids to school?

How do you think the public would react if a store / dealership did this?

Granted - we all want to get as much as we can for a domain but say a fair appraisal on a domain is $500 is it fair to ask $10,000+ just because Microsoft wants it for a new product as opposed to Ma&Pa who wants to put up their grandkids' photographs?

[hugegrowth]

Computers and cars aren't unique, but domains are. I'm not talking about jacking up the price on a commodity type item that sells everywhere, but on a unique property that will help that company or individual in a business. I think the domain market is one area where you can base prices based on who is asking and what they will use the name for, which is normally information you don't have anyway.

If you were selling a domain on a forum for $100, and Microsoft called up asking to buy the domain (but they didn't know it was listed on the forum), you'd only ask the $100?