Is Estibot falsely inflating domain prices?

[dcristo]

It seems to be a common trend for me of late. Every reply I get when I request if a domain name is for sale goes something along the lines of this. Estibot.com says its worth that much so I want that price or something close to it.

Why are so many sellers placing so much weight on an automated tool, it just boggles my mind...

Don't get me wrong I am willing to pay a decent price for a name if I want it badly enough, but I find it ridiculous that people would place so much importance on an automated tool with no regard to what is actually happening in the market.

Sure, me contacting them shows them I am fairly interested in the domain. But I am not going after premium names... I just want decent domains to develop. I see value in them and these are names that won't find end users, so don't tell me they could easily flip the name to someone else.

 

[katherine]

Amen to that :yes:

 

[ukbackorder]

People only like estibot when referring to the value of their own domains. Once estibot is quoted as a source I move on. I find people relying on this tool generally don't have anything of any value or any clue about the domain industry.

 

[dcristo]

People only like estibot when referring to the value of their own domains.

Spot on! They rely on the tool to justify their absurd asking price because the name doesn't speak for itself.

 

[Tia Wood]

Is Estibot falsely inflating domain prices?

What an interesting question.

If it makes you feel better, I prefer to ask: Is Estibot filtering out the newbies for us?

See, it's not so bad.

 

[Skinny]

Yup, that's pretty bad.

They may be quoting Estibot because they might assume you are not a domainer so an average Joe might say well this tool says its worth $X amount so I guess I'll pay $X then.

This is almost as bad as owners who want ridiculous prices for their domains and aren't reasonable at all.

BUT at the end of the day they own the domain and can do this. . . so you either have to pay out or move on to another opportunity.

Skinny

 

[Biggie]

Is Estibot falsely inflating domain prices?

the short answer is no


why?

because they don't have the capability to provide "accurate" pricing


therefore, every amount is subjective



logically speaking....

 

[randomo]

In discussions like these, there's a large unanswered question about Estibot's valuation. Namely: what kind of price is it generating?

We all know there are different prices for domains, depending on whether you're a domainer looking for traffic, an investor looking to buy and resell a domain for its name value, or an end user who wants to use it for a business (or personal) website.

Estibot's valuations, I believe, are meant to approximate end-user pricing. So if you're trying to determine a domain-investor price, of course it will typically be much lower than the Estibot figure.

I find Estibot useful for checking the metrics on my domains (and for some of its other, non-price-related tools). But when I offer domains for sale to domainers, I usually ask a small fraction of the Estibot value.

 

[draggar]

The reason people flock to it is because people likw to find out their garbage is worth millions of dollars.

Just because you have a cigar box doesn't mean it's a 1909 ATC box, but Estibot would act like it was.

 

[katherine]

Automated appraisals are worthless and they won't make the domains look better than what they actually are.
The biggest problem with that type of automated 'tool', is not just that people have unrealistic expectations, it is that they will register tons of garbage based on meaningless figures they don't even understand. This is the #1 newbie trap.

I have seen people clinging to their domain liabilities like the Raft of the Medusa while they should in fact dump them all and even forget they ever owned them, because they are so bad. I bet half of them are nameboy/estibot users.
Sad.

 

[dcristo]

What an interesting question.

Are you saying I should bill dnforum for the linkbait?

the short answer is no


why?

because they don't have the capability to provide "accurate" pricing


therefore, every amount is subjective



logically speaking....

I always love your logical reasoning for everything.

 

[axeman]

With the current prices of domains being quite low i dont see how estibot is in any way inflating prices, personally i have never even used it and anyone who knows anything about domains knows the value of their domains anyway so wouldn't need it.

My question to you is if estibot claims this domain has value (albeit ridiculous maybe) and you yourself admittedly see value in this domain, what makes you then think this domain wont find an end user?

 

[dcristo]

My question to you is if estibot claims this domain has value (albeit ridiculous maybe) and you yourself admittedly see value in this domain, what makes you then think this domain wont find an end user?

I seek out domains most people would have no interest in. For the most part I am not buying domains to flip them for a profit, and because of that I am not going after names which most people would see inherent value in. I am mostly interested in buying domains for development and I guess you could say that makes me an enduser, but like I said I am not going after premium names.

 

[Brujah]

How about some actual examples?

 

[dcristo]

How about some actual examples?

Come on man. I maybe displaying the avatar of blanka from street fighter but that doesn't mean I have the naiviety of a 14 yr old.

 

[axeman]

No worries, im fully aware there are some real dreamers out there, anyway i hope you can get this domain for a reasonable price.

 

[katherine]

I like to have some brandable domains too, which of course evade automated tools completely.
The metrics is one thing, the beauty in the name is another.

I don't think estibot really inflates prices, because buyers are not stupid and do not rely on that kind of tool. In fact, they will pay whatever they can afford and deem reasonable - period.
The people quoting estibot appraisals with their domains are funny, I bet they would never pay the estibot suggested value for any domain... :lol:

On the other hand estibot must be inflating the volume of fresh regs :yes:

 

[Brujah]

Real examples are necessary because your statements are overly broad. Sure, there will be some cases where Estibot is reflecting an inflated price, but there will be some where the prices is seriously undervalued too. You can see the same example in real life, based on real sales every week at Dnjournal.com. I'm not convinced just because you think one thing, when actual examples and actual sales infer the opposite.

 

[MichaelJ137]

What an interesting question.

If it makes you feel better, I prefer to ask: Is Estibot filtering out the newbies for us?

See, it's not so bad.

Natural Selection in the domaining world. Awesome.....

 

[Raider]

Spot on! They rely on the tool to justify their absurd asking price because the name doesn't speak for itself.

Exactly... Not to mention it's downright insulting when a reseller quotes another reseller a price based on what Estibot appraised it at.