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Domain summit 2024

Anyone tried out the Namecheap Marketplace?

accurate

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I've been bidding on the new NameCheap Marketplace. Seems like it has some work to do but they clearly want to compete for expired domain dollars and not give it all away to GoDaddy Auctions.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
Domain summit 2024

amplify

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I'd really like them to have a filter to sort by time ending as well as bids placed. This would help uncover the top names to put in a bid first and then have plenty of time to scavenge other names.
 

accurate

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Yeah they have a lot of work to do with filtering.

You can sort by one or the other.

I'd really like them to have a filter to sort by time ending as well as bids placed. This would help uncover the top names to put in a bid first and then have plenty of time to scavenge other names.

Hopefully can find some deals others don't see.
 

amplify

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Hopefully can find some deals others don't see.
You usually can, on all marketplaces. I just find the sort by ending time and bids to be the easiest to get in, try and get, and get out. The rest of the time would be spent finding those deals.
 

bhartzer

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With the NameCheap, my impression is that most of their customers want "a deal" on a domain, a cheap domain. A lot of my friends mention NameCheap because of the 'deals' they can get there. So, most would be 'bargain hunters'.

So, with their marketplace, it seems as if it would be a good place to buy (to get a deal on a domain) and not necessarily sell a domain. If the buyers there are all "bargain hunters" then you may not end up selling your domain there for a decent price.
 

accurate

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This is probably a good lesson why it is a bad idea to use the word "Cheap" in branding. 😄

With the NameCheap, my impression is that most of their customers want "a deal" on a domain, a cheap domain. A lot of my friends mention NameCheap because of the 'deals' they can get there. So, most would be 'bargain hunters'.

I think they are going to mostly target domain investors @bhartzer. Regular folks don't know or care about expiring domains.

You have to spend $5 a year to participate in the NameCheap Market expired domain auctions.

So, with their marketplace, it seems as if it would be a good place to buy (to get a deal on a domain) and not necessarily sell a domain. If the buyers there are all "bargain hunters" then you may not end up selling your domain there for a decent price.
 

bhartzer

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>> I think they are going to mostly target domain investors @bhartzer. Regular folks don't know or care about expiring domains.

That's good--I suspect that many buyers will be domain investors. However, I am seeing more and more people (end users) complain that the domain they want is "taken". So, you're naturally going to get the bargain-hunter end user who is going to NameCheap to get a $2 domain. They'll find it's taken, probably stumble over to the marketplace there, and buy a cheap domain there.

For domain investors, it's a good opportunity. There's nothing wrong with buying 1,000 cheap domains and then reselling them for double or triple what you paid for them.
 

accurate

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With Sell-Through Rates (STR) typically being between 1% - 2% on average selling for 2x or 3x would not produce a profit Bill.

We need to sell for 1000x - 5000x for low-mid tier domains. Higher tier would be a smaller multiple.

For domain investors, it's a good opportunity. There's nothing wrong with buying 1,000 cheap domains and then reselling them for double or triple what you paid for them.
 

bhartzer

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With Sell-Through Rates (STR) typically being between 1% - 2% on average selling for 2x or 3x would not produce a profit Bill.
Guess I've been doing better than the 'average' sell-through rate of 1 to 2 percent then.

I'm curious, where did you get the "sell-thru rate of 1-2 percent"? Is this a widely-known metric for selling domains? I've been buying/selling since the late 1990s and haven't heard of that before, to be honest with you. I would have thought that it would be much higher than that if you're picking the right names as a domain investor.
 

accurate

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Good for you. :)

Guess I've been doing better than the 'average' sell-through rate of 1 to 2 percent then.

The stat has been quoted numerous times for passive inbound sales. For people who do outbound or use brandable domain marketplaces, such as SquadHelp, I've been told the STR is higher.

I'm curious, where did you get the "sell-thru rate of 1-2 percent"? Is this a widely-known metric for selling domains?

I guess you are better at picking good domains.

I've been buying/selling since the late 1990s and haven't heard of that before, to be honest with you. I would have thought that it would be much higher than that if you're picking the right names as a domain investor.
 

amplify

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Is this a widely-known metric for selling domains?
I don't think I've ever seen this (proprietary) information discussed by any domainers. It sure would be nice to know a handful of investors' rates in order to set goals, but it doesn't seem feasible to get many on board to give us this information.
 

accurate

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Most don't track closely enough to tell us. They just care about profit and covering renewals.

I don't think I've ever seen this (proprietary) information discussed by any domainers. It sure would be nice to know a handful of investors' rates in order to set goals, but it doesn't seem feasible to get many on board to give us this information.
 

bhartzer

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I don't think I've ever seen this (proprietary) information discussed by any domainers. It sure would be nice to know a handful of investors' rates in order to set goals, but it doesn't seem feasible to get many on board to give us this information.
I agree, would be definitely nice to know this.

Seems to me that a basic survey could begin to answer some of those questions. I know it's not going to be 100 percent accurate, but I could come up with a few questions that I think domainers would answer without having to reveal too much:

- how many domains do you own?
- how many domains did you buy in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell on (epik marketplace, afternic, sedo, namecheap, squadhelp, DAN, SAV, etc.?)
- how many domains do you have listed on domain marketplaces?
- how many domains did you sell via private sale in 2021 (i.e., via outreach or inbound sales, any way other than listing on a marketplace)?

The survey wouldn't necessarily need to include pricing data, the point is to get the average "sell thru rate". And, I'd be interested in seeing the results year over year to see if domain sales are up overall or down, etc.
 

DomainsGENERAL.com

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It has to be noted you can sell at a fixed price on Namecheap's marketplace, but you CANNOT sell at auction (at least for now). I don't know where exactly their auctioned names come from (and didn't try to figure it out), but they are not seller listed (Namecheap common customers, I mean.)

I did ask the support where these come from when I asked about the possibility of listing (can you, after paying $5? Nope!), but it had already been complicated enough for the person to find the base answer that I didn't insist any further (ah, supports...)
 

accurate

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Too many questions Bill.

I agree, would be definitely nice to know this.

Seems to me that a basic survey could begin to answer some of those questions. I know it's not going to be 100 percent accurate, but I could come up with a few questions that I think domainers would answer without having to reveal too much:

- how many domains do you own?
- how many domains did you buy in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell on (epik marketplace, afternic, sedo, namecheap, squadhelp, DAN, SAV, etc.?)
- how many domains do you have listed on domain marketplaces?
- how many domains did you sell via private sale in 2021 (i.e., via outreach or inbound sales, any way other than listing on a marketplace)?

The survey wouldn't necessarily need to include pricing data, the point is to get the average "sell thru rate". And, I'd be interested in seeing the results year over year to see if domain sales are up overall or down, etc.
 

Neoget

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When I had my domains there it helped for Domain Liquidation, did not sold anything of high price, had to move, I also told them that they don't deserve such name due to high prices.
How can a company NameCheap itself when the prices are higher than of Sav, Porkbun or Epik?
The answer, when popularity hits the head and you have allot of staff, you put high prices, something similar to Godaddy beast.
 

DomainsGENERAL.com

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How can a company [Name itself] NameCheap itself when the prices are higher than of Sav, Porkbun or Epik?
I guess they're still "cheap" and cheaper than some (+cheaper than the leader: GoDaddy). They never claimed to be the CHEAPEST.

They seem to just have changed the link structure for the names on sale on their marketplace, which is good. Before, the link was very specific to each sale (with a bunch of numbers and characters). When a sale expired (it can be for a duration of 90 days max) and you put the name up for sale again, the link wasn't good anymore and changed. When you want to change the price, you can't (still the case :/ ). You have to delete the sale and put up a new one: The link was changing too.

Now, they did like Epik: "https://www.namecheap.com/market/DOMAIN.TLD/". The link is tied to the domain and always remains the same, even if you renew, delete and recreate, etc.

Interestingly enough, things were pretty immediate before. When you put a domain for sale, deleted a sale, or changed it, you could see the changes on their marketplace right away. Now, there seem to be a small lag of several minutes (maybe 10 or 15 minutes, even). Not very important. I had set up a new sale and wanted the link (in order to redirect the domain to it, which is something you have to do manually). In any case, you can now anticipate easily what it will be (which wasn't the case before. At all)

As for the marketplace itself, it may be quite good for cheap sales (or "liquidations"). I guess having marketplaces on registrars themselves has the advantage that some people directly have money in their account. It must facilitate a little the buying act. And you get your purchase right away, for sure, without having to pay a 1 year registration (or transfer price, really). I just had a $99 sale this week-end.

Namecheap is also supposed to show the names for sale on their marketplace to people searching for available domains. That wasn't always working in the past. Maybe it does now. Namecheap is quite a big registrar. So, lot of customers with money on their accounts and lots of searches.

(There is an argument all this is done by afternic too, but the number of partner registrars showing names on sale on Afternic seems to have gone down quite a bit compared to what it once was...)
 

amplify

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- how many domains do you own?
- how many domains did you buy in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell in 2021?
- how many domains did you sell on (epik marketplace, afternic, sedo, namecheap, squadhelp, DAN, SAV, etc.?)
- how many domains do you have listed on domain marketplaces?
- how many domains did you sell via private sale in 2021 (i.e., via outreach or inbound sales, any way other than listing on a marketplace)?
I honestly don't think we'd get these answers, and it might even be hard to get them from GoDaddy/NameFind (as a public company and as an investor).
 

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