How To Auction Domain Names

Choose An Avenue To Sell Your Domain

When selling a domain name, its wise to avoid putting all your eggs into one basket. Many sellers use domain listing sites along with person-to-person sales to sell domain names. Here is a list of reputable domain marketplaces. Afternic, BrandBucket, NameCheap and Sedo are also good marketplaces to use.

Another venue you can use is auction sites. GoDaddy Auctions is among the most popular domain auction sites around. You can also encourage buyers to contact you for more info, and then have them enter their bid on the auction site if theyre considering purchasing the domain. Many auction sites will deduct a commission from your selling price, but the peace of mind you get will always be worth the price you pay, as many auction sites have their own transaction security measures in place.

As with every other transaction, however, its also wise to do your due diligence on the buyer. Some marketplaces have a review feature. Read the seller reviews on the buyer. The reviews can give you a good idea of whether your potential buyer is trustworthy. Dont do business with anyone youre not completely sure about. Its not worth the risk.

Determine And Set Your Domains Value

After youve done your research on the market, its time to attach a price tag to your domain by setting its value. But just because the market says one thing and you believe that your domain is worth a certain amount, its still possible that youre over or under-valuing yourself.

Thats why there are domain appraisal tools that can help you figure things out. Something like Estibot can calculate your domains value using an algorithm that considers a number of factors, like:

Unfortunately, these machine-based appraisals arent ironclad. Thats why some owners get their domains appraised by an expert. This is especially wise if the automated service and pricing history are providing you with high amounts. Its best to make sure these results arent too good to be true.

Domain name brokers can provide you with a bias-free assessment of what youre working with. They know the market well and can usually predict future trends. If they believe that waiting a bit will only increase your domains value, it might be wise to hold off.

Remember that hiring a professional appraiser will cut into your profits, as its an added expense.

Additionally, you can share your domain through free online domain buying and selling forums. But this is a public forum that anyone can post in, so keep that in mind when youre seeking advice.

Fix A Price Based On Your Domain Name Value

Now that you have a better idea of your domains value, its time to put a price on it.

Getting to a fixed price is more of an art than a science.

I like to start off by seeing what other domains have previously sold for that are similar to the one I am selling.

You can then add to the price based on the value that you calculated in step 1.

Head over to Godaddys domain appraisal tool to get a quick appraisal of your domain.

Godaddys algorithm uses machine learning and real sales data from similar domains to give you a price estimate.

Knowing what buyers are already paying for similar domains gives you a lot of information on what yours is also worth.

Word of warning: Dont just take Godaddys appraisal price and go with that.

Godaddys algorithm doesnt take into account things like:

• Domain name SEO authority
• If the domain makes money already
• Current traffic to the domain

Thats why we need to add your calculated value on top of the Godaddy price estimate.

If you just take Godaddys estimate, you will likely be underpricing your domain by a good chunk.

With both of these things in place, you should be able to come to a specific price.

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Research Recent Comparable Domain Sales

Before you can accurately price your domain, you must look at the current market. Even if you think your domain is worth a lot of money, if the market is oversaturated and comparable sales are far lower than your projection, you might need to re-evaluate your goals or wait for a better time to sell.

You can use a resource like NameBio to check on recent domain name sales. This includes historical data combing through domain sales with a combined worth of $1.5 billion. The database is updated daily and is a great way to check the industry temperature to see what some of your rivals are making on their domain sales.

Filters can be applied to your search, including the extension of your domain, any keywords that are included, and even domains of similar length.

Lets say you have your heart set on making upwards of $50,000 for your domain. When you use a tool like this, you can check to see how similar domains performed. If theyre selling mostly for around $30,000, youll quickly realize that your goals might be a little lofty.

When that happens, expand your search parameters. NameBio lets you look back as far as five years in the past. If you see that the market for terms like these shifts over time, it might be best to wait it out. However, if you see that the current $30,000 average is on the higher end historically, then it might be time to strike while the iron is hot.

Things That Can Have A Positive Impact On Domain Value

• If the domain is a .comDespite the availability of hundreds of new domain extensions, the old standby .com is still king. When you look at the top 100 domain sales of all time, 96 of the 100 domains were .com.
• If it is shortGenerally speaking, the shorter the domain, the higher the price. One, two, or three-letter domains are historically among those that bring the highest prices.
• If it is easy to spellDomain names that include common words or regular abbreviations will fetch a higher price.
• If it is a single dictionary wordAlong with short domains, generic single word domains also top the charts with all-time high sales numbers. The logic here is obvious: there are a limited number of generic words that everyone knows.The average native English speaker only knows or uses about 20,000 words. Maybe half of those are generic. There are 142.5 million .com domains currently registered, which means only 0.007% of all registered domains are generic English words that would be known to most native speakers.If you own one of those domains, you have a rare quantity that has commensurate value.

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Direct Selling Domain Names: A Better Alternative

Domain name marketplaces are good if you want to get a listing out fast, and hopefully even some offers. But isnt it better to just sell the domains directly to whoevers interested?

It can be. The problem is that its not always possible. Besides being active on forums like NamePros, or other similar communities, theres no way to gauge buyer intent and realize when someones interested in a domain name you have. Thats why marketplaces are very helpful, and we recommend them as the first destination when you want to sell domains.

Moreover, direct selling comes with a risk. You dont get any buyer/seller protection that you would on the most popular domain name marketplace. So if both parties want to be completely at ease, youll need to pay for an escrow.

Regular trade etiquette can be enough. Just make sure that you only transfer the domain rights after the payment is cleared. But its still not ideal from our point of view.

But if you have a backlog of domain names, some people are bound to be interested at some point, and contact you directly.

So the only thing you want to do is set your WHOIS information public. Just dont solely rely on this as a source of customers. It wont be enough.

Prepare Your Domain Listing

Once youve chosen your marketplace its time to optimize your listing. A lot of sellers just upload their URL and call it a day. However, you can maximize your chances of selling your domain by making it more attractive.

For example, does your domain have any existing traffic? Does the domain have considerable age? Does your domain have any existing authority?

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Tell The World Your Domain Is On Sale

Your domain isnt going to sell if you dont tell anyone about it.

To do this effectively you need to list it in the right places. There are a few things you can do to get maximum exposure.

Create A Dedicated Landing Page Indicating That Your Domain Is For Sale

One of the first things a buyer will do when interested in your domain is type it into their browser to see if its available.

Creating a landing page to display when someone visits your domain is a great way to generate leads.

Make sure that you include all of the important benefits that make your domain valuable.

This includes:

• Any current revenue being generated
• Backlink profile
• SEO keywords in the domain name

You want to highlight the benefits of your domain which helps increase value in the buyers mind.

Register Your Domain On Domain Listing Sites

When selling your domain name, you never want to put all of your eggs in one basket.

Most people start looking for a quality domain name through domain listing sites. A good strategy is to register your domain on a popular domain listing site.

The best domain listing sites are:

Its not uncommon to use both domain listing sites and person-to-person sales through your landing page to sell your domain name.

In some cases, a buyer will see your domain on a domain listing site and end up contacting you through your landing page.

You have to meet the buyers where theyre at.

List Your Domain On Domain Auction Sites

Heres why:

The two best domain auction sites are:

How To Make Money With Domain Names

Domain names are hot commodities in today’s tech-centric world. The $16 million sale of ‘insure.com’ to Quinstreet in 2009 may have set the world record, but even lengthier domain names are routinely sold for hundreds of dollars every day. The result is a unique opportunity for investors to invest in domain names that can be sold for a profit in the future.

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Why Buy A Auction Domain

• For individuals, a .AUCTION domain name can be extremely useful for forwarding to an eBay listing or store. Rather than a long and confusing eBay URL, you can direct people to a memorable .AUCTION domain.
• If youre creating a new auction website, a .AUCTION domain is a great option because theres great availability and it immediately brands your website as an online marketplace.
• .AUCTION isnt just for online auctions. A .AUCTION domain is also beneficial for agricultural auctions, machinery auctions, estate sales, real estate auctions, and more. Theres great availability, and anyone who sees the domain will immediately know that theyre going to a website that relates to auctions.

List Domain Name With A For

When someone thinks of a domain name and wants to see if its available, what do they do? They type it into their browser. And if you dont have a crystal clear this domain is for sale message on your domain name and an easy way for a potential buyer to contact you, youre losing out on the biggest opportunity to sell your domain name.

A For-Sale landing page will let any visitor immediately know that your domain name is available for purchase and how to get in touch. There are several ways to create a For-Sale landing page for your domain name.

If you have an existing website you can simply redirect each domain name you own and want to sell to a landing page on that site with an inquiry form. Or you can use a For-Sale landing page from one of the domain marketplace sites such as Sedo or Afternic.

The disadvantage of using those pages is that they often display advertising that can confuse visitors. And when you sell your domain name through a marketplace you have to pay them a commission for the sale, ranging anywhere from 10 up to 30% of the total sales price, even when your buyer came directly through the domains own landing page.

Last but not least, you can use a commission-free, domain name sales platform like Efty. Efty does all the updates, keeps your For-Sale landing pages up and running, and their pages are optimized to help sell domain names.

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Set A Price For The Domain

After you have a good idea of what your domain name is worth, the next step in how to sell the domain name is setting a price for potential buyers. Many aftermarket domain sales fall in the $2,000 range. Some sell for more, but the majority sell for under $5,000.

However, if youre sitting on a premium domain, domain investors may be willing to pay a lot more, perhaps even five or six figures. If this is the case, we highly recommend setting a realistic buy-it-now price. Research from Sedo, todays top domain name marketplace, suggests buy-now domains are 300 percent more likely to sell than domains with a make offer listing.

That said, if your domain name is a good one and you dont mind a little negotiating, it may be worth going the make offer route instead. Doing so will allow you to receive multiple offers on the domain, perform a little due diligence on potential buyers, and see how much theyre willing and able to pay for it.

With a lot of potential money on the line, this is one of the most important and exciting steps in how to sell a domain.

Why Is Com Still King

The internet started with seven top-level domain extensions . Of those seven, you, as an unaffiliated early Internet user, could only register a domain on .com . The others were reserved for institutions or computer networks.

Its worth noting that while .org and .net were intended to be restricted to non-profit organizations and computer networks, those restrictions were never enforced.

Its interesting that .com retains so much of its old-school glam luster since most web or internet users werent even around when .com was the only game in town. In fact, more than a billion internet users werent even born when the first new TLDs were introduced in 2001*.

But much of the early writing about the Internet used, or centered around, the phrase dot com. All of the early Internet businesses were on .com domains . When the bottom fell out of the Internet economy in 2000, it was referred to as the dot com bubble bursting.

So it seems to me that history is the only thing propping up the perceived value of a .com domain. Theres no technical or practical reason for a .com to be worth more than any other TLD.

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Designing A Domain Listing

If you have chosen a platform where you want to advertise the available domain, create an entry there. Like with other sales, there are a few rules to keep in mind: If you state your domain name and price, you probably wont attract too many customers. The platform entry might not be attractive enough. However, those who provide additional information are more likely to encourage prospective buyers to make a purchase.

While it might seem silly at first, you can also add a product description to a domain. For example, you can enter information about the domains previous ranking and provide information about what kind of areas the URL is appropriate for. Even adding a picture is possible: a graphic reworking of the domain name or a screenshot of the former website encourages marketplace visitors to consider your advertisement. If possible, you can also comment on the existing or expected future value of the domain, justifying a required price.

Not all marketplaces offer you the opportunity to store extensive information. However, in those cases, no-one can take advantage of this, so it doesnt necessarily have to become a disadvantage for your listing. Instead, many platforms allow you to promote your domain for a fee. So, if you assume that your domain name will fetch a decent price, it can be worth investing in the additional advertising.

Domaining Tips And Tricks

Thus far, I have covered several methods on how to make money with domain names. All of the above mentioned methods can work great if they are executed successfully. Now I would like to change gears and give some tips & tricks about domains that I have learned from my own personal experience. These can help save you money, boost your sales, and more.

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How To Auction Domain Names

To list a domain name for auction, youll first need to determine the domain sale price. You can do this by looking at comparable domain name sales . You can also set a minimum price for your domain if youre unsure and hope that bidders will raise it to a fair market price. Once you have a price in mind, you can list your domain on an auction site, such as ours.

The process and requirements for listing domains will vary depending on the where you list the domain. Through Dynadot, the process is as easy as unlocking your account, finding the domain you want to auction under the My Domains -> Manage Domains page, selecting the domain and choosing the Sell Domain option from the action settings. Then you just need to select Auction from the dropdown and determine your starting price! You can learn more about the process and requirements through our help page.

Keep Realistic Goals in Mind

One tip regarding listing your domain for auction is having a realistic target price in mind for your domain name. Once you understand the value that your domain provides the owner, look for domains that you consider to be of similar quality that has sold in the past as a reference point. You can see the many criteria that can make a domain name value in our domain investing guide . Being honest and realistic with yourself on pricing will help provide more consistency when trying to sell domains.