Why do names not sell on forums but sell well as a drop?

[David G]

A question I feel experts may be able to give a good answer about.

I have been hard at work trimming my too large portfolio down to a more manageable size. Seeing the poor success rate of selling on forums by others I have not tried too hard to offer them for sale on forums and the few times I did was basically unsuccessful with rare exception.

However, and this is the issue, upon randomly checking a number of them I see the majority were picked-up by others (ranging from domainers to places like BuyDomains, etc) probably as they dropped.

So the big question is why does that happen? Why would a name you are willing to sell at say $20 or whatever usually not sell on the forums but often does sell for $60 or even a lot more at places like Snapnames and other venues. That's a real mystery

[axeman]

Why would a name you are willing to sell at say $20 or whatever usually not sell on the forums but often does sell for $60 or even a lot more at places like Snapnames and other venues. That's a real mystery

Maybe because Snapnames is a highly trusted marketplace of the highest integrity.

[Banned: theinvestor]

There are several reasons but the main reason is the psychology behind it.

People would rather make the registrar money rather than the actual owner who quite often expects more than what it is worth.

[think]

yep. it's psychology. drop and auction fever.

[GeoOwners]

its the same with used cars...people probably feel like they are buying something more valuable from a "brand" like snapnames or carmax.

[Gerry]

I have seen the same results - picking up at a much higher cost than being offered on the forum.

I actually think a big reason many are not viewed to begin with.

How many times have we seen never ending lists for sale?

Yes, I do it too. If someone has 299 names listed for sale, that is pretty overwhelming at times. Add in several of those lists at one time, then the matter is multiplied.

[Domainator]

Ability to search for key words.....

[draggar]

Most of the names I drop end up being registered within a day of them droping, even after I try to sell them here for as low as $5.

[hugegrowth]

The drop companies have more people looking, and you can search easier.

Plus I think it is more 'exciting' to catch a name that's dropped, than to buy it from an owner - so I agree with the psychology thing.

You can find good deals in the forum though if you are willing to do a lot of searching through random lists.

[biggedon]

The drop companies have more people looking, and you can search easier.

Plus I think it is more 'exciting' to catch a name that's dropped, than to buy it from an owner - so I agree with the psychology thing.

You can find good deals in the forum though if you are willing to do a lot of searching through random lists.

i can agree with that, though most of the excitement is when you catch it for a steal and then find out later that the domain gets traffic and revenue!


but another point about sellling or "not selling" on forums that i see is ...


if members are bumping "5 to 10" of their previously posted sales threads every day, then you may have to start bumping to get more exposure.

otherwise the domain that you're selling for cheap may get missed.


in contrast, the domains on drop lists don't get bumped back to the top of the que....like they do here on the forum.

imo...

[katherine]

Most of the names I drop end up being registered within a day of them droping, even after I try to sell them here for as low as $5.

Same here. But it could mean we are doing something right

Ability to search for key words.....

Good point. I also think Snap and the likes have more exposure. Not all domainers are on DNF.

[DTalk]

It really is a mystery.....happily paying $60 for a domain someone else paid reg fee for - and, then dropped 'cos it didn't cover reg fees in income...!


But we've all done it...


We're all dysfunctional numbskulls in this game, I reckon....

.

[DomainsInc]

majority of the time people have no idea they were on a forum for sale.

[Acro]

There is no real answer, other than it depends on the particular domains being dropped.

Dave, keep track of the ones you dropped and 60 days from now see how many were picked up. Whatever you decide to do, it's an experiment that will help you gauge future registrations/renewals/sales

[Gerry]

It's all the same in live auctions in nearly any commodity.

Having been in the antiques business for nearly 25 years, I have had items sit idly in shops for months but when run through auction houses the item would bring 3-5 times what I was asking for it. It boils down to a matter of competition - there has to be a winner and some folks want to win at any cost which is not always a smart business decision. When people start paying more than retail for an item they end up taking a hit and sitting on it for extended periods of time and often take a loss just to unload it. Domaining is no different from the antiques market. Just a different form of commodity/merchandise.

[Fearless]

It's simple. It's easier to buy from 3 or 4 sources after a drop than from thousands of different owners before a drop. You also know if a drop company gets a name, it will sell to the highest bidder. Hunting down owners of expiring names is hit or miss and generally a waste of time.

[Acro]

That's like saying one goes to the same restaurant to eat every ethnic food there is.

[IBN]

Seeing the poor success rate of selling on forums by others I have not tried too hard to offer them for sale on forums.
So the big question is why does that happen? Why would a name you are willing to sell at say $20 or whatever...........

Please feel free to PM me with names that have not been listed before you drop them as I may buy some.

[onlinestoreca]

I believe it's simply exposure. There are probably 50-100x more people watching the drop than this board.

I am tired of having ALL my dropped names picked up for $60 minimum, so I am trying to renew everything. Eventually we will find markets as good as the drop market.

I believe that 90% of domains bought or held are domainer speculation, so it will be 7-10 years before the end users are the majority and demand approaches supply -jmo.

[patroiz]

I think it is because you can't really see how much traffic and revenue the domain gets when you are bidding on an expiring domain. When you see a domain "randomkeyword.com" on a forum for $20, you already know the traffic stats (if any). But if you see the same domain on NameJet, many people would analyze the domain on different terms and some would simply bid on the domain hoping that it is a high traffic domain based on the keyword.