Quality Domains for sale, Versus the Growing Noise level on Forums

[ksinclair]

There seems to be less and less sales on the forum. I dont know if there are any stats to check that but that is how it feels to me. There are so many bad domains listed, the noise level is just deafening. I think that discourages active buyers from spending time here, or at the very least, good domains get lost in the sea of lower quality threads. So many threads have zero comments, too.

So here is an idea for a solution. Have a Forum where there is a COST to post. ("Cost" to be defined below).

Before everyone starts screaming about this, remember: all the other subforums would stay. So everyone can keep doing their noisy business as usual, if that is what they like. This idea is for a new subforum. If people have to pay to post, there will be a lot fewer posts - and presumably, higher posts.

The COST to post would be any one of the following:

1. You pay 25 cents cash money
2. You pay in DNF$; amount?
3. You have a high rating on DNF, like 50 or above with 95%+ positive rating - your cost then, is to earn this level of rating

One option is this money and DNF$ are accumulated, and at the end of the month there is a drawing, and the winner is chosen randomly from those who posted during that same month. So the person who posts the most, has the most chance of winning.

Or Adam just keeps the $.

So this idea creates a form of curation, but its not by a person. Its by having a cost; there is a lot of precendent that in the world that adding a cost will help change behaviour for the better, and reduce the volume and the noise.

Kevin

 

[asfas]

The ability to filter out threads with 0 responses with 1 click might be another option to achieve this.

 

[ImageAuthors]

I both agree and disagree.

There are sales happening on DNForum. I've bought and sold domains quite recently. However, I definitely agree that the overall climate is cluttered with dead ends. Partly that's symptomatic of the domain industry as a whole, where wholesale domain transactions have been, for some time now, scarcer than they ought to be. The recession lingers, I'm afraid. It's also inevitable for a forum like this to see lots of action in the lower end of the quality spectrum. Personally, I only list my non-priority domains on here. Most domainers tend to reserve their best domains for development or for retail sales. So the sales listings in any forum will tend to reflect the lower half of people's portfolios. That doesn't necessarily mean that these domains are all junk. Plenty of stuff listed on DNForum today is good enough to sell to end users for $x,xxx on up. Unfortunately, there are simply 100 sellers for every 1 buyer. And I see no reason why that will ever change. It's the nature of the forum's role in the "domain ecosystem".

I completely disagree that having a paid section on DNForum would overcome these problems -- "problems" that I see as natural. Here's why: Take a look at GoDaddy Auctions. See all those featured listings? People paid for those. Primarily, domainers with lousy domains and no experience selling their domains have paid to list junk for $xxx,xxx. When I go to GoDaddy Auctions, I automatically ignore the paid listings. And I expect exactly the same thing would happen on DNForum. People with experience on here know how low the sell-through rates are for forum threads. Why would they pay extra? I wouldn't. Meanwhile, the junior members of DNForum would pay through the nose to list domains for inflated prices. And when those domains don't sell, they'd have a very sour experience with DNForum, which would cause them to leave it embittered rather than stay and learn.

As for the filter to remove threads with 0 responses ... I don't see any difference in quality between threads with 0 responses and threads with 1 or more responses. It's simply the case that sellers outnumber buyers by a factor of 100 to 1. So even quality domains will get 0 responses. Meanwhile, some of the worst domain sales threads on DNForum will be bumped over and over again. So I don't see any advantage in using such a filter myself. That said, of course, I may be wrong. And if such a filter option existed, it wouldn't interfere with me at all, since I could just choose not to use it. Meanwhile, other people who find it useful would be pleased to have that option.

 

[ksinclair]

What if we had a filter to remove threads from users with feedback rating under N, for some reasonable number N?

So we could see offers only from experienced or 'successful' members? Yes that can be gamed, too but it would
be rare, and would bring a focus to those with more experience.

Kevin

 

[ImageAuthors]

There's value in that suggestion, I think. More filter options hurt nobody.

 

[Johnn]

1. The idea may be good but it's impossible to implement.
2. Your names are always premium names. Other names are crap names
3. Cannot judge the name by member's feedback or Trader Ratings. There are some members with hundred of TR but all they sold were in the $1 auction
4. There are still a bunch of good names listed. We just want to buy good names at extremely cheap price
5. There is no response or offer for the name does not mean the name is not good. I am always buying via PM or email

The only thing we can do is trying to educate members to distinguish between good name/bad name ad pricing them accordingly.

 

[jaydub]

Quality is in the eye (and wallet) of the beholder.

I can see the value of "user pay" but it would require another forum. The model has been established here and it would be very difficult to implement and run as Johnn said.

People will catch on if they price a name incorrectly....the lack of market lets them know. It just has to be allowed to work.

 

[Focus]

Without the bad names to hide & obscure all the good ones hidden in there from time to time there would be no deals to be had! It's a self balancing act I think and people all operate at different levels in this business so let us not become too elitist that we assume non-premium names do not have value to someone. Remember, one mans trash is another mans treasure!

 

[Biggie]

Without the bad names to hide & obscure all the good ones hidden in there from time to time there would be no deals to be had! It's a self balancing act I think and people all operate at different levels in this business so let us not become too elitist that we assume non-premium names do not have value to someone. Remember, one mans trash is another mans treasure!

well said Chris!

 

[ImageAuthors]

Without the bad names to hide & obscure all the good ones hidden in there from time to time there would be no deals to be had! It's a self balancing act I think and people all operate at different levels in this business so let us not become too elitist that we assume non-premium names do not have value to someone. Remember, one mans trash is another mans treasure!

Definitely agree on both counts, Chris.

It's also way too tempting for some domainers to become fixated on the commercial value of domains. Some niches are very lucrative. And some domain categories are very liquid. So the tendency is for those of us looking for flips and investments to overlook domains that have a different kind of appeal. Some domains would be tough to sell, but they might be ideal (linguistically speaking) to define somebody's hobby or personal interests.


So with plenty of these DNForum posts that don't get responses, they're not necessarily junk; they may just be long shots within the context of a domain forum. Still, you never know who's in the audience, so to speak. People on DNForum share one interest (domains), sure; but most of us have unique hobbies and interests. So it's unpredictable what will appeal to whom.

 

[Theo]

Focus is older and wiser And presumably, "higher"

There are ongoing sales that fly under the radar. I'm buying all the time (check my iTrader for current acquisitions). While I do offer discounted domains on DNForum, the majority of my sales go to end-user buyers.

 

[Biggie]

Focus is older and wiser And presumably, "higher"

puff puff pass

There are ongoing sales that fly under the radar. I'm buying all the time (check my iTrader for current acquisitions).

i can co-sign that Theo, cuz i saw you post sold for a name the other day and i sold one a couple of weeks ago

 

[Johnn]

Remember, one mans trash is another mans pleasure!

I thought this only apply to girlfriends?

 

[Focus]

LOTS of selling and buying going on behind the scenes that is for damn sure. I am buying and selling names all year privately, only a very small % of deals are public anymore or on forums.

Johnn (ya sneaky letter switcher! lol), just remember to clean em up nice & good first before your pleasuring take place because they might still be a bit slippery if you know what I mean. That is of course unless you don't mind a little friendly backwash :uhoh:

The trashy part though you can't fix/clean, trust me I have tried! Like a nice sexy looking 3 letter .com with a damn Q on the end of it no matter how many times you look at it that damn Q stays there! One of my ex's was the same way, no matter how much I focused on that ass the trashy tramp stamp just never would disappear! Treasure to some, trash to another, but none of us would turn any of it down for free! :lol:

 

[Domain Master]

.... Like a nice sexy looking 3 letter .com with a damn Q on the end of it no matter how many times you look at it that damn Q stays there! One of my ex's was the same way, no matter how much I focused on that ass the trashy tramp stamp just never would disappear! Treasure to some, trash to another, but none of us would turn any of it down for free! :lol:

Cannot stop ROFLMAO

 

[angel69]

:rofl:

focus, you're a truly funny bad ass dude LMFAO.... you always manage to give me a good laugh, you're really funny, i wish i'd been here the 1st time you were around, those lines you wrote must've been priceless...

trashy tramp stamp .....ROFL yeah we all know about those...
:bump2:

.......The trashy part though you can't fix/clean, trust me I have tried! Like a nice sexy looking 3 letter .com with a damn Q on the end of it no matter how many times you look at it that damn Q stays there! One of my ex's was the same way, no matter how much I focused on that ass the trashy tramp stamp just never would disappear! Treasure to some, trash to another, but none of us would turn any of it down for free! :lol:

 

[Theo]

I don't fully agree, this lady has a nice RAQ.