Time to wake up and take control!!!!

[omosquera]

the domain name industry is over

sell me all your dot com's today!!!

 

[mclovin]

Ok, so most places won't even know where to begin to file. Work it in your favor. I'll email you a little dialogue that seems to work for me that I use when on the phone.

Can of worms equal money too! :lol:

Sounds like a lot of experienced ppl here with regard to contacting end users and the sales process. I'm a newbie here trying to learn as much as I can in as short amount of time as possible, any advice would be appreciated

 

[Sonny Banks]

When a guy loose money, another guy rise some money.
This is the society we live.

For too much time domainers thinked we are a "secret society"...but we don't.

Just open your mind and find some potential companies out there...Internet growing everyday and we own the internet keys - domain names.

I agree with you Johnn, nice thread.

 

[Anthony Ng]

remember a domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it

Allow me to say this again (and again), a domain is NOT ONLY worth what a (potential) buyer is willing to pay, BUT ALSO what the owner is willing to accept. Price is determined by BOTH demand and supply , so don't rule out the seller in the formula. The keyword here is substitutability.

 

[Biggs101]

The only market that is suffering is the resellers market where prices have fallen over the past 6 months or so. But a recovery seems to be taking place going by sales trends since Jan-Feb 2009.
However there are many, many lazy domainers who just stick their names in the forums hoping for a high sale. These are the ones complaining about the economy and the fall in the market.
The REAL sales continue to lie in the end user market where the trends are in fact going UP. Small to middle-sized businesses are always happy (and have the financial means) to shell out $400 to $800 on a nice domain that could complement their business. I know because I sell to end users every week. Of course, finding end users who will pay mid to high $x,xxx is another story and takes more time and educated research. It is much easier to sell 10 good keyword domains (.com/.net/.org) to end users for $350 to $600 each than to sell 2 or 3 domains for mid to high $x,xxx to end users, even if they are bigger corporations.

Domainers need to stop being lazy and leave their comfort zone. It only takes an hour or so to send a clean email to 20-30 prospective end users. You'll get a 15%-20% response rate and it's pretty easy to land a sale out of those 4-6 replies.

 

[democrat]

The only market that is suffering is the resellers market where prices have fallen over the past 6 months or so. But a recovery seems to be taking place going by sales trends since Jan-Feb 2009.
However there are many, many lazy domainers who just stick their names in the forums hoping for a high sale. These are the ones complaining about the economy and the fall in the market.
The REAL sales continue to lie in the end user market where the trends are in fact going UP. Small to middle-sized businesses are always happy (and have the financial means) to shell out $400 to $800 on a nice domain that could complement their business. I know because I sell to end users every week. Of course, finding end users who will pay mid to high $x,xxx is another story and takes more time and educated research. It is much easier to sell 10 good keyword domains (.com/.net/.org) to end users for $350 to $600 each than to sell 2 or 3 domains for mid to high $x,xxx to end users, even if they are bigger corporations.

Domainers need to stop being lazy and leave their comfort zone. It only takes an hour or so to send a clean email to 20-30 prospective end users. You'll get a 15%-20% response rate and it's pretty easy to land a sale out of those 4-6 replies.

word!

 

[denny007]

It only takes an hour or so to send a clean email to 20-30 prospective end users. You'll get a 15%-20% response rate and it's pretty easy to land a sale out of those 4-6 replies.

And occassional ban from hosting for spamming

 

[Biggs101]

You cannot and will not get banned for sending personalized emails to companies who could benefit from owning the domain you are offering them

 

[mclovin]

Small to middle-sized businesses are always happy (and have the financial means) to shell out $400 to $800 on a nice domain that could complement their business.

For small and mid size businesses it's usually easy to find out who the principals are to contact, but what do you do when the end-user you are looking for has no definitive person as a point of contact? Where do you guys start on the corporate ladder/food chain?

 

[Biggs101]

Your best chances, based on my experience, is the who.is "email" (75% of the time, you'll find an email there). But 9 times out of 10 you can find the appropriate email on the "contact us" page of any given website. Most of these emails land at the admin/secretary desk and then (usually) gets forwarded to the appropriate department(s). That's one of the main reasons why sometimes it can take anything from 3 days to 1-2 weeks for end users to reply.

 

[mclovin]

Your best chances, based on my experience, is the who.is "email" (75% of the time, you'll find an email there). But 9 times out of 10 you can find the appropriate email on the "contact us" page of any given website. Most of these emails land at the admin/secretary desk and then (usually) gets forwarded to the appropriate department(s). That's one of the main reasons why sometimes it can take anything from 3 days to 1-2 weeks for end users to reply.

Thanks for sharing, I would have to agree. What about a really huge company, like 3M or Lowes for example? There I get quite lost...

 

[Biggs101]

The fastest and most reliable solution I have found is to simply

1) call the admin/secretary
2) explain that you are now selling a domain name that could be of interest to their business
3) ask for the email/direct ext. of the appropriate dept. so you can send your message to the right place (and thus avoid wasting other employees time)

takes about 2-3 mins of your time.

You can of course endevour to search online to try and pinpoint the exact person/department that you feel needs to receive your message. But this can waste alot of your precious time and you may just end up back at square one. Your time could have been better used to sell other domains to other end users

 

[mclovin]

The fastest and most reliable solution I have found is to simply

1) call the admin/secretary
2) explain that you are now selling a domain name that could be of interest to their business
3) ask for the email/direct ext. of the appropriate dept. so you can send your message to the right place (and thus avoid wasting other employees time)

takes about 2-3 mins of your time.

You can of course endevour to search online to try and pinpoint the exact person/department that you feel needs to receive your message. But this can waste alot of your precious time and you may just end up back at square one. Your time could have been better used to sell other domains to other end users

Thanks Biggs. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Biggie]

Originally Posted by biggedon
remember a domain is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it

Allow me to say this again (and again), a domain is NOT ONLY worth what a (potential) buyer is willing to pay, BUT ALSO what the owner is willing to accept. Price is determined by BOTH demand and supply , so don't rule out the seller in the formula. The keyword here is substitutability.

i agree with how you broke it down


that was my point in saying that, "prices are not going down, but that sellers are accepting less."

it's the scenerio where the price is stated, listed or given, then the seller accepts an offer which is lower than sellers asking price.


that is completely different than a seller who states, lists or gives a certain price.
then later they state, list or give a lower price.

some may not see the diff, but it tells a lot about the sellers pricing habits and potential cash flow problems, when they consistenly drop pricing to encourage a sale.


imo...

 

[Onward]

Domainers are not buying (for the most part) - The last traffic auction shows that ....and subsequently prices are down (and people are still not buying). There were simply put - amazing deals that did not get scooped up at traffic SV.

Many of the 'big boys' are also selling. I have not seen better buying opportunities since my eyes have been fully opened (I have been in the domain market since the late 90's but truly did not have my eyes fully opened until maybe 2005). Some people who in the past would 'never sell' (AKA some of the big boys) you now may be able to peel a name or two away from them (at a decent price) - a name that may not fit in their core niche(s) and they use those funds so they can continue to buy in a more targetted way (as they fully recognize the buying opportunities)...in effect they 'trade up'.

My sales are not what they used to be primarily because I have not gone down in price for names that are important to me ....although I will sell some other names at quite a discount (that are great names) so I can buy in other areas I am more familiar with or have a direct plan for.


About a year ago, I started to almost strictly develop...using sales and Parking proceeds (although I have never been reliant on parking) to basically develop. I am reconsidering my descision to sink my money into development...as the buying opportunities are just so good. But I am still buying quite a bit...but at what I would consider great deals.

I think this buying window will dry up and it will dry up before most recognize it. IMO there just such an amazing opportunity to invest 10-20K in 1-3 great names that will cost 10x that when the economy catches up.

As for 'end user' sales - I think domainers have to understand that most 'end users' coming to them are not the 'pie in the sky' well funded fortune 500 company (or close to it)...The endusers I am seeing are just like you and me - entrepreneurs - may be very tight on money - who see tremendous opportunity in a bad economy and are trying to 'start up' the next big thing....they may recognize that they need your name, but can only do what make sense for them operationally speaking. This signals a lot of opportunity for sales in the 500-1500 area...not the 5 figure area. When I have one of these companies or startups come to me asking about a name of mine I would consider 5 figs....and can only do 1k - Instead of casting them off and being insulted...I have tried to discover what they are doing and see how we can help each other and then betting on both of us winning down the line. I am doing that right now with a couple of my names.

that was my point in saying that, "prices are not going down, but that sellers are accepting less."

I agree with this except that a result of sellers accepting less is a price drop for the buyers.

 

[tomh]

President "Bobby": Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?
[Long pause]
Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.
President "Bobby": In the garden.
Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
President "Bobby": Spring and summer.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
President "Bobby": Then fall and winter.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
Benjamin Rand: I think what our insightful young friend is saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we're upset by the seasons of our economy.
Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring!

 

[Biggs101]

Agree with you 200% Onward

 

[Raider]

Good post Onward.

Question for you all; What years would say were the best for the reseller market?

 

[Biggs101]

Not sure about the resellers market.

For the buyers market, I would say 1985 and 2009

 

[Onward]

I think the reseller market was huge in the late 1990's and maybe a bit into 2000.

I think the same could be said between 2005 into maybe early 2008. I have a hard time figuring out how it was in 2002-4 as I was asleep during that time....but I did sell a few names - I would say that time period was the best buyers market the industry has ever seen post 1996.