What happend to DNFORUM...

[Biggie]

Of course, I know what you're talking about. But think about how that would affect the atmosphere on here. PM-ing an ironic comment gets 2 thumbs up from me. But posting disparaging remarks in somebody's sales thread? That's like walking into a store where other people are shopping just to sneer loudly at the merchandise in front of the shopkeeper and the customers. Not precisely gentlemanly behavior! And pretty soon everybody on DNForum would be tense and vindictive.

Let's keep that good-humored distance. It's like an open mike: You don't have to give a standing ovation or even clap, but please don't boo and throw tomatoes. Remember, you're up next.

that's just too much common sense



but it could be done, IF...and that's a big if, members were more considerate and professional with their comments.

on the other hand, it could unfairly position those threads above others where there was no conversation, as they would keep getting bumped to top of que.

then you'd have sellers trying to "engage" others in convo, just for that advantage.


damned if you do and damned when you don't

 

[DN BROKER]

Lets just all hold hands and sing KUMBAYA MY LORD!

 

[Theo]

I only entered the domain industry 9 months ago;

I thought you said you own thousands of domains, or am I wrong?

About the quality of domains being listed, it's all about the early bird getting the worm and one's experience of spotting gems inside a lump of coal.

 

[ImageAuthors]

Lets just all hold hands and sing KUMBAYA MY LORD!

I'm not advocating rainbows and gumdrops. Just professionalism with a minimum of backstabbing and b *tching.

Constructive criticism is needed badly--especially by domainers who are selling junk ... and especially if they are STILL buying it. But there's a good rule of thumb (from my previous career as a submarine officer): Praise in public; Criticize in private. There was another saying too: A b *tching sailor is a happy sailor. I guess domainers are the same way. But after a certain point, all that complaining is a lot of wasted energy.

---------- Post added at 09:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 AM ----------

I thought you said you own thousands of domains, or am I wrong?

True. I acquired about 1000 per month.

About the quality of domains being listed, it's all about the early bird getting the worm and one's experience of spotting gems inside a lump of coal.

Agreed.

 

[Stian]

I can´t really pinpoint why there´s not a lot of public activity on DNF anymore, but there´s definltey a lot going on in the background. Last week I sold an LLL.com for $12,5k, a .info for $2,750 and brokered an NNN.com for $32k. Unfortunately, none of the deals was initiated here on the forum.

That still doesn´t mean that there´s not a lot of business to be done here. This is still the best forum there is for domainers, whether you´re looking to buy, sell or just absorb knowledge. Every venue has its ups and downs and I´m sure there are some really great times ahead here on the forum.

Ergh, I was a little too quick when posting this. The .info was definitely sold here on DNF.

 

[Biggie]

True. I acquired about 1000 per month.

don't think i've ever owned more than a couple of thousand domains at one time, and that accumulated over some years.


come renewal time, hope you don't get domainer stress too

Good Luck with them!

 

[David G]

ditto and lots of luck renewing 9,000 names. How much do they currently earn?

---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 AM ----------

don't think i've ever owned more than a couple of thousand domains at one time, and that accumulated over some years.


come renewal time, hope you don't get domainer stress too

Good Luck with them!

 

[ImageAuthors]

domainer stress

If I had it to do again, I probably would have operated on a smaller scale. Obviously the renewal fees are a factor. Yet I'm not afraid to drop domains if they're not of the same value as something else I could register. After all, $8 spent on hanging on to old mistakes could have been $8 spent on a new and better hand-registration--or saved. The main issue I failed to foresee, however, was listing problems at Sedo, GoDaddy, and Afternic that have held my domains hostage for months. Literally. My original plan was to get the marketing machinery up and running faster while having everything listed passively and then to hire a few interns. Oh, well.

 

[Anthony Ng]

99.99% of end users won't come here for domains.
...
Many end users are too afraid to look into buying a domain from someone because they feel that they're going to be overcharged (yes, the greedy reputation is still there in many people's eyes) ...

This is exactly what we miss here - a HUGE market of end-users who are spending like tens of MILLIONS of dollars a month. And if DNForum could emerge as a trusted platform where ordinary people are comfortable buying pre-owned domains, we'll all benefit here.

 

[ImageAuthors]

This is exactly what we miss here - a HUGE market of end-users who are spending like tens of MILLIONS of dollars a month. And if DNForum could emerge as a trusted platform where ordinary people are comfortable buying pre-owned domains, we'll all benefit here.

We all want more publicity and transparency for end users. But I'm not sure any domain forum--particularly a domainer forum where domainers routinely ask each other how best to negotiate with end users to maximize profit--is suitable for the majority of end users. The average person who plans to build a website is impatient to get the specific domain they've already thought up, or else they want a marketplace with convenient lists of domains to browse; and the only advice they'd probably care about is how to lower the prices. If end users stumble across any domain forum, they'll be bombarded with unsolicited solicitations; and they'll very quickly run away.

 

[Biggie]

This is exactly what we miss here - a HUGE market of end-users who are spending like tens of MILLIONS of dollars a month. And if DNForum could emerge as a trusted platform where ordinary people are comfortable buying pre-owned domains, we'll all benefit here.

We all want more publicity and transparency for end users. But I'm not sure any domain forum--particularly a domainer forum where domainers routinely ask each other how best to negotiate with end users to maximize profit--is suitable for the majority of end users. The average person who plans to build a website is impatient to get the specific domain they've already thought up, or else they want a marketplace with convenient lists of domains to browse; and the only advice they'd probably care about is how to lower the prices. If end users stumble across any domain forum, they'll be bombarded with unsolicited solicitations; and they'll very quickly run away.

since "end-users" or what is perceived as the lack of them on dnf, is a concern, i dug around and found this relevant thread that expresses some viewpoints about whether or not there are end-users on dnf.


http://www.dnforum.com/f557/dnf-end-user-thread-329421.html


resellers can be end-users too

 

[ImageAuthors]

resellers can be end-users too

I guess we should distinguish between "domain professionals" (i.e. domainers--whether full-time or part-time, clueless or clever), who can certainly become end users by developing their domains, and average-business-type end users who want to get past the domain aspect of their business as quickly and painlessly as possible. The latter group wouldn't enjoy sifting through DNForum, in my opinion.

Nice thread reference, by the way.

 

[premiumtap]

There should be a forum $1K and above, a forum $10k and above, another $100k and above. Maybe one for > $1 M
I think this will have people post more premium names.

Best idea I have read challenging this problem.

These forums should tightly moderated.

 

[tldrental]

http://www.dnforum.com/f557/dnf-end-user-thread-329421.html


resellers can be end-users too

... lol that is an old thread I started... forgot..

bring that forward to today... I think your right... but very few domain name traders IMHO are end user and see a site to the final stage.

I am of the opinion more domain name traders should be end users.. in a way of developing something to the final stage for daily ROI.. until the final flip. .. I may be perceived as an end-user in regards to the inflatable niche... but for me I am still just a domain name trader focused on cultivating a well round portfolio of developed names for a future big flip of developed internet properties.

 

[mvl]

Domain valuation is very subjective. When you go through the sales lists at DNJournal you will regularly see sales that would probably be marked as highly unlikely to happen in a discussion topic on DNF. Besides: domainers always try to buy low and sell high.

Be honest, what would you have paid for names like this? (If you scroll down you will see what they sold for)

torc.com
neomobile.com
slotcity.com
21questions.com
smore.com
e-liquid.com









torc.com $68k
neomobile.com $58.5k
slotcity.com $56k
21questions.com $35k
smore.com $28k
e-liquid.com $25k

 

[ImageAuthors]

Domain valuation is very subjective. When you go through the sales lists at DNJournal you will regularly see sales that would probably be marked as highly unlikely to happen in a discussion topic on DNF. Besides: domainers always try to buy low and sell high.

Be honest, what would you have paid for names like this? ..............

torc.com $68k
neomobile.com $58.5k
slotcity.com $56k
21questions.com $35k
smore.com $28k
e-liquid.com $25k

Excellent point. As buyers, we'd all love to visit DNForum and find only mega-traffic, mega-CPC, category-killing .com domains priced for less than the cash in our wallet. But obviously that will never be the case. And one person's junk is another's treasure. Sometimes sellers who are incredibly lucky + incredibly stubborn encounter buyers who are incredibly rich + incredibly stubborn, and enough money changes hands to put the rest of us to shame. I doubt I'd have the guts to ask for prices like those on more than 1% of my portfolio, and I'd have surrendered far "better" domains for 1/10 of those prices.

 

[David G]

torc.com $68k
neomobile.com $58.5k
slotcity.com $56k
21questions.com $35k
smore.com $28k
e-liquid.com $25k

Mostly dubious value looking names. Probably sold and for such amazing prices because of luck. Out of the many millions of names listed for sale at the time, just by chance a deep-pocket enduser happened to want the domain for whatever reason and was willing to pay almost anything for it. P.S. Still surprising sellers managed to hold-out so long to drive prices up so much unless I am missing something. SlotCity.com likely the best. Maybe a casino?

 

[ImageAuthors]

They only sold and for such amazing prices because of luck.

We all agree with you there. That's the point of the original post.

Still surprsing sellers managed to hold-out so long to drive prices up so much. Maybe buyers simply started real high?

What buyer would start out anywhere near $56k for SlotCity? Or $68k for Torc? I only have 2 guesses. One is that somebody had started a thriving business with those names years before, had neglected to file a trademark, and felt they didn't have any choice. The other is that some behemoth company that can't count its pennies (or its $XX,xXXX's) gave the task of acquiring a domain to somebody without giving them any incentive to save costs. As a former military person, I can attest to this happening with big organizations! Enough tax dollars are wasted in the DoD, for example, to circle the earth many times over!

 

[tldrental]

Be honest, what would you have paid for names like this? (If you scroll down you will see what they sold for)
e-liquid.com
e-liquid.com $25k

I love this example... e liquid is hot right now... it is used to refill ecigarette cartridges. This name sold under value huge.. This is huge money... huge money... $25g's is a bargain. I have an intimate knowledge of what one of the largest and oldest ecig's retailers... monthly sales are..

... best of all it is a developed ecommerce site selling e-liquid now.. on its way to killing it....I dont think their is anything dubious about e-liquid.com sale price other then... all the money is made as a enduser..

For every Cha-Ching a domain name trader takes to the bank an End User is depositing a larger Cha-Ching.. especially when it comes to monetizing and leads.. revenues.


... Bringing the OP's topic back center.. "What happened to DNforum?"

.... evolution... very simple and sweet.

 

[mvl]

I love this example... e liquid is hot right now... it is used to refill ecigarette cartridges. This name sold under value huge.. This is huge money... huge money... $25g's is a bargain. I have an intimate knowledge of what one of the largest and oldest ecig's retailers... monthly sales are..

I'm a non-smoker, maybe that's why it did not ring a bell

---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 AM ----------

Mostly dubious value looking names. Probably sold and for such amazing prices because of luck. Out of the many millions of names listed for sale at the time, just by chance a deep-pocket enduser happened to want the domain for whatever reason and was willing to pay almost anything for it. P.S. Still surprising sellers managed to hold-out so long to drive prices up so much unless I am missing something. SlotCity.com likely the best. Maybe a casino?

Those are all on DNJournals 2012 top 100 highest reported sales to date list. So while those names may be a bit of an exception they still form a small but significant part of all domain sales. If we take out e-liquid.com then the remaining five account for 5% of the highest reported sales so far, and there will be more names like that in the list. I would not ignore the fact that at least one out of every 20 big bucks sales is for a "dubious looking value" name.

And there is another reason why names, at least to potential buyers, sometimes tend to look overpriced. Amongst domainers a very common perception bias can be observed: they tend to value a name higher when they own it than when someone else is owning it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and apparently the same is true for domain name value.