closed www.villas.com

[steveatvillas]

Hello all:

New to this forum, and some of you will recall this thread posted in the wrong place yesterday.

So, please let me clarify: If the right offer comes along, I will sell VILLAS.COM.

I'm not here to play cat and mouse with anybody, I am a serious player. But, before that can happen, I need to get my head around what it is truly worth. You guys are all pro domainers. I'm a print publisher now web publisher, and a good businessman.

In just a few days on the forums, asking about values, I've received a wide range of offers from 100k to 250k (and one for 5k...which I respectfully declined), a wild swing of values given from 60,000 to 1,000,000, and a whole lot of "what do you want to sell for?"

Well folks, if I knew what I was selling for, then that would be that. Guys, I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. I've been buying and selling real estate since I was 18, and I'm 55 now, I've made and spent millions. Like any commodity, Domain Names have an efficient marketplace, just like Adam Smith said.

So let's be professional with each other. I will be pleased to entertain offers, all in good time.

Maybe I'm too honest, but I publish my traffic stats on my site:

http://www.villas.com/enterprise/siteMetrics.html

Can anybody out there help me appraise this beast?

Thanks to all,

Steve

 

[denny007]

That $250K offer seemed to be pretty on recent market (factoring the natural traffic and bid prices on "Villas" terms). But if this domain would be properly developped and marketed, could make millions of annual earnings...

 

[gizawy]

Yes this domain is a fortune if attached with a well developed site.

 

[steveatvillas]

Thanks so far to denny and giz.

Valid points. And that's just my take on this whole thing. In only a few months, the evidence of traffic stats suggest that VILLAS.COM would much more lucrative re-positioned as a site or portal for the Travel & Holiday industry. Both my on-site search tool and keyword searches on all of the SE's yield results that there are many, many more people in the world looking for reasonably priced vacations than multi-million dollar homes in the most expensive markets in the world.

Trouble is, this is not my bag. Could I make it my bag? Sure, in time. But my thoughts are to let someone else do this, off the back of an incredible name that has a one-two knockout punch in marketing and branding from the get go. Think of the money and time saved by not having to educate the public that some irrelevant acronym actually means Travel and Vacations. Yeah, gimmick names work... with a ton of effort and loads of cash... but this name works better, at a price.

At last count, there are some 24,000 domain names out there that use some permutation of the word "villas" in the name. There is only one VILLAS.COM, now and forever.

I'd like to benefit from this with a fair price based on what the future revenue stream will clearly be. I'm not greedy, let the next guy make millions per year, and God bless. But at the same time, I recognise what a killer branding opportunity this is.

I appreciate the feedback so far. I encourage more opinions, please, and hope this clarifies my position a bit further.

All the best,

Steve

 

[Mr. Pim]

You could also start a joint venture with a company that knows the market and has a lot of cash to spent.

 

[Dorin]

Very good name, don't let it go so easily.
Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 70408]

Steve,
In my opinion, I would have your name professionally developed to maximize the value . Increase the traffic volume and you will have a winner.

The reason you see such large discrepencies in price appraisals is that domain name sales is very hit or miss. As you know, with real estate, you can pretty much pinpoint the value of a property based on previous sales of similar properties. However, with domain name sales, many sales are not publicly recorded. Also, with domain name sales, there is a big split between resellers and end-users. If you sell to an end-user, you can expect much more than if you sell to a reseller. It can be difficult to find an end-user who can afford a premium price as they would need to make a business case for spending a great deal of money to buy a name like Villas.com when they could just register their company name for much, much less. In 2006, there have been only 14 sales recorded for $100k or more (On.com, Blue.com, Brown.com...etc).

Farm.com just sold for $200k, so I would estimate your name to be less, since "farm" is a term that is used more frequently than villa. My best guess for an undeveloped Villas.com, is about $75,000.

 

[simon]

Yea EJS is right. The value depends if the buyer is determinded to make profit out of the name and has further funds to invest in the name. Suppose if i were to buy then name i wouldnt pay more than 100K as my intention would be to resell the name not to develop it.
Good luck

 

[A D]

I offered 100k and he turned it down, he is looking more in the 250K and up area.

I believe the site in its currecnt state and estimated traffic numbers is worth right around 125K so I will up my offer to 125K.

-=DCG=-

 

[denny007]

I would also appraise bellow $100K, but as "steveatvillas" wrote he got "offers from 100k to 250k", I thought 250K was very generous offer.

 

[Dorin]

Only in forum, you can not get more than 250K.
Try to find the enduser if you want to get more.

 

[Olney]

Hey guy glad you listened to my advice
I knew you'd find a better understanding of what you're worth here...

 

[Deleted member 70408]

If I received an offer for $250k for that name, I would take it and use it to buy myself a nice villa in the Caribbean.

 

[domainicanicanica]

I'm not sure Farm.com is a good comparable. If you said "Farm.com" to someone, what image would that conjure? Is it a website that sells farms? Farm equipment? Farm products? Farm animals?

With Villas.com, you can be pretty certain that the site is about buying, selling or renting high-end properties. This, I think, makes it more commercially applicable than Farms, which is a very general term.

I'm assuming that if the name is sold, the site goes along with the name. When I visited the site, I saw that it was very well laid out, I saw that business ties were already developed, traffic was growing and the potential for much more business was at hand. I don't know all the ways in which the site generates income, but I'm thinking a "finder's fee" for each property sold or rented, which would be a small percentage of the agents' commissions, could perhaps bring in an extra $75K to $100K per year. Multiply that by a few years and you could get a decent approximation of value.

My guess? $350K-$400K.

 

[kyfarmer1]

Well, I am no expert, but I made an offer of $100k for Farm.com and got turned down. I would much rather have that name than villas.com for the simple point that farm is more general and the income potential is much larger than your name. If you got offered $125k for villas.com I would jump on it.

 

[steveatvillas]

Thanks to all so far for the very interesting responses, it's very enlightening.

And before I forget, thank you Adam for deleting my ill-purposed thread of yesterday, this current thread is a much more civilised affair, ¿no?

I suppose if I were really desperate and needing money, I would take DCG's offer... after a bit more negotiation... but, you see, I'm way cool in the financial department. My social life is a shambles, but think of the money I'm saving by not having a girlfriend?!? and the state of my tré bachelor pad (it's dour)

I certainly respect the entrepreneurial spirt embodied on this forum. I mean, I was just on another DN thread this afternoon and joined in a discussion of a certain foreign word that has crept into common usage in English, and not at all exploited. Ran to my registrar and snapped up a bunch of really cool names on spec. I'm a quick learner, and you folks all seem to know how to make a living and have fun at the same time. And, that's what it's all about, ¿no?

EJS, unfortunately, 250K doesn't buy much in the Carib. Visit my site and navigate to the Caribbean section for a shock.

So, whilst I'm nowhere near finished in my valuation process, I really appreciate the info, dare I say sage wisdom of you who have come before me.

With respect to all of you, who appear to be the resellers of the world...and I haven't coughed up yet to enter the sancto sanctorum of the exclusive club...I have to make the deal that is best for me. If it takes time to find a super switched on end user who sees what I see in terms of Branding, Marketing, and Financial Analysis (my fort&#233 then so be it.

I've made millions by buying real estate very low and selling very high. So in my own way, I'm just like all of you, it's just another product. Again with deepest respect, you've all got to understand that I'm not gonna sell to a reseller.

So, let me make a counter proposal to you all, to see if we all can't make peace and play for the same team. Rather than you guys buying low and selling high..and getting me all riled up... why not help me find that über enduser and make a super sale and you get a cool commission? A comission isn't as big of a chunk as the buy-sell, but it's still a trade. And if we find that right trade, together we all make an über killing.

I trust my frankness hasn't offended, if so I sincerely apologise, as it's not meant to. But this makes a heck of a lot more sense to me, ¿no?

Comments?

Steve

 

[kyfarmer1]

Sounds like a plan. I like your style. Good luck with the .com and thanks for sharing the name with us.

 

[steveatvillas]

kyfarmer:

My pleasure.

Steve

 

[Biggie]

Hi

I think it's a great name, but it's rarely used in everyday conversation among those that don't own "villas" or plan to vacation in one soon.

I peeped at the site and was curious as to why no 'adsense' ads on the site?

unless i missed them.

even though the site is geared to "high-rollers" imo, i don't they would be turn ed off by one ad as a minimum.


also, even though DCG ( The owner, and only person who can make or break the rules ) has made an offer via this thread, please keep in mind that this is an appraisal forum, and advertising or solicitation for offers to sell or broker your domain is prohibited!

Thanks

 

[alldig]

I would value this name at about 20-25 years revenue. I'm guessing it gets around 200 uniques/day. At a reasonable 200RPMU (revenue per thousand uniques) it would make around $40/day.

Given those parameters and current market conditions I would value Villas.com at $292,000-$365,000.

Good luck Steve, you have a monster.