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Whonami-How to Determine The Value of Your Domain Names

The Value of Your Domain Names:

Here are a few guidelines to help you understand the potential value of your domain name…

A) Do you receive unsolicited offers to buy the name?

If you get emailed offers to buy the domain name without it being listed for sale anywhere, that clearly shows it has SOME value to somebody. Essentially, you have a new base price when trying to establish a valuation: the amount of the unsolicited offer.

B) Is the domain name a “.com” name?

.com is still king of the domain name hill. Generally, a .com domain name will have 5-10x or more the value of the same name with any other extension. Cars.com may be worth millions – but nobody’s going to pay millions for Cars.net!

C) How long is the domain name?

Generally, the shorter the better when it comes to domain names – as long as this shortness doesn’t come through throwing away words or letters, or substituting numbers for letters. GoForIt.com is a nice little domain name, with some value. Go4It.com is worth less than that. GoFrIt.com is essentially worthless.

D) Is the domain name hyphenated?

Sometimes, hyphens help to preserve clarity, but generally they reduce the value of a domain name. Sports-Cars.com will most likely sell for less, even much less than SportsCars.com…

E) Is the domain name spelled correctly?

If there are any misspellings in the domain name, you can knock 99% or more off the price of most domain names. SportsCars.com (to wear this example a little thinner) is a nice domain name. SpertsCars.com most likely wouldn’t fetch $50. If in doubt, always consult Dictionary.com

F) Is the “thing” the domain name refers to generally a singular or a plural “thing”?

This is one of the hardest value factors to consider, given how subjective it is. Still, the effort can be rewarding. BuyTicket.com is most likely worth less than BuyTickets.com, but Chat.com is most likely worth more than Chats.com.

G) Does the domain name resort to prefixes or suffixes?

Prefixes or suffixes can REALLY hurt the value of a domain name. For example, add an “e” or “i” or “my” in front of the domain, or a “site” behind it and you’ve just destroyed most of its value. (Exceptions exist of course, such as EBay.com which is worth millions of times Bay.com, but that is because of the tens of millions of dollars poured into branding the domain name. Seen totally independently of the site/service it relates to, eBay.com is worth much less than Bay.com)

H) How many words are there in the domain? How common are these words?

Generally, the more words in the domain name, the less it is worth. But common two-word expressions are worth more (sometimes MUCH more) than rare one-word expressions. And common three-word expressions can be worth more than rare one-word expressions. Example: SportsCars.com is worth more than Semantics.com. FreeEmailAddress.com is worth more than Superiority.com.

When comparing domains with the same number of words, think of the likely audience and the commercial applicability of the domain name. Example: Cars.com is a very obviously commercial one-word domain name. Semantics.com, while having some value, doesn’t have a very clearly defined audience or potential use, and is much less commercial. Cars.com might ultimately be worth more than a thousand times the value of Semantics.com, yet they’re both one-word domain names.

Just because a domain name is in the dictionary, it doesn’t automatically make it valuable! It’s a frequent myth on many domain name discussion and auction sites that any one-word domain name must be worth thousands – WRONG!

If the domain name has no COMMERCIAL value, it generally has little or no value, period.

Example: “Gerontocracy” is in the dictionary, but you’re not going to get rich off Gerontocracy.com

Armed with the answers to the above questions, you can at least get some idea of the value of your domain name.

At one end of the scale, if you receive frequent unsolicited offers to purchase your correctly-spelled one-word commercially valuable .com domain, then you may be sitting on a real winner.

FAR off to the other end of the value scale (at the $0 point), if your domain name has 4 words in it, one of which is misspelled, you’re out of luck.

You may be feeling frustrated at this point with the whole concept of trying to establish a value for your domain name…; It’s worth persevering, since without even a ballpark idea of value, you’re going to find it much harder to locate a buyer for the name and close a deal. And if, after taking a long, hard, as-objective-as-possible look at your domain name, you come to realize that it’s not worth anything, then either:-

A) Develop a website using the domain name (this adds value to it)

B) Sigh, make a mental note that the domain name is not worth RENEWING (!) and move on to considering other domain names.

(Written by Igoldrush)

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Whonami-Top 20 domain names sales, Car.info Takes the Checkered Flag with Biggest Domain Sale Reported during March 23, 2015 – March 29, 2015

Top 20 domain names sales, Car.info Takes the Checkered Flag with Biggest Domain Sale Reported during March 23, 2015 – March 29, 2015.

This week with Sedo’s $76,000 sale of Car.info leading the elite list. That is also the second biggest non .com gTLD sale reported so far this year, trailing only the $120,000 sale of Move.org in February.

This was a much needed shot in the arm for the non .com gTLD category – the first time in three weeks the group has produced a sale above four figures. This week they had two of them with #8FHB.net also taking a place on the top half of the Big Board with a $14,888 sale that Maz Ghani completed through Afternic.

While the .coms did not get their customary penthouse suite this week they still flexed the most muscle overall, piling up 16 of the 21 chart entries (the extra spot resulted from a tie for the final position). Heritage Auctions led the .com onslaught with #2Import.com at $66,000. Flippa.com followed with an impressive Daily Double, banking $60,000 for #3 Goliath.comand $50,000 for #4 Consoles.com.

Sedo rounded out the first five with Cyberobics.com at $22,500 and they went on to sweep 16 chart entries overall. Their roster included a pair of 3-letter .com sales –  #7 TKQ.com at$15,011 and #13 (tie) WSX.com at $11,880. Sedo also rang up all three of the ccTLDs that earned places on the leader board. That trio was led by #16 Portfolio.me at $10,700.

(Reported by DNJournal)

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Whonami-Pair of Six-Figure domain names sales during March 16, 2015 – March 22, 2015

Pair of Six-Figure domain names sales during March 16, 2015 – March 22, 2015.
DomainNameSales led the way with a $150,000 sale of CurrencyConverter.com. DNS broker Alan Crowe moved that name for seller Garry Chernoff. DNS came through for Garry on a second name too, with broker Mohammed Khan moving #3EscapeArtists.com for the legendary Canadian domain investor at $60,000.

Sandwiched in between those two was the week’s second six-figure sale – one of those very popular 3-letter .coms – this one an ultra-rare repeating letter version – VVV.com – that went for$136,400 at NameJet.com. The other four 3-letter .coms on the leader board were all sold by Sedo with #8 JUR.com leading their acronym quartet at $16,055.

Sedo, who swept 16 chart entries overall, also accounted for all five of the ccTLDs that crashed the Big Board. #6 VisitDubai.ae (representing the ccTLD for the United Arab Emirates) led that category after changing hands for $29,800 in one of the ten biggest country code sales reported so far this year.

Two other venues helped power the .com onslaught with Mike Mann’s DomainMarket.comselling #5 MissCandy.com for $30,000 (a name the Mann said he acquired for just $75 in 2012!) and Michael Berkens’ MostWantedDomains.com moving #7 MakeItPop.com for a cool $25,000.

(Reported by DNJournal)

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Whonami-The Non .Com gTLDs didn’t have any five-figure sales reported this week – Mon. Nov. 2, 2015 – Sun. Nov. 8, 2015

DNJournal reported: Non .Com domain names sales during Mon. Nov. 2, 2015 – Sun. Nov. 8, 2015

The Non .Com gTLDs didn’t have any five-figure sales reported this week but the top sale -JRR.org – just missed, going for $9,888 at Sedo. Sedo wound up sweeping all 20 positions on our latest weekly Non .Com gTLD Top 20 Sales Chart. We have seen them do that before in the ccTLD category (one they traditionally dominate) but it’s a first for this category.

They were aided by 13 three-letter .net sales. While Bigan.net took the #2 spot at $4,500, the next seven in a row were all 3-letter .nets, led by #3 WRJ.net at $4,140.

With all of those 3-letter .net sales, the .nets obviously scored an easy win in the extension race, taking 15 of the 20 entries. The remaining five spots all went to .orgs. Here’s how all of the Non .Com gTLD leaders stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Nov. 8:

No Domain Sold For Where Sold
1 JRR.org $9,888 Sedo
2 Bigan.net $4,500 Sedo
3 WRJ.net $4,140 Sedo
4 BYS.net $3,000 Sedo
tie
4 TZB.net $3,000 Sedo
tie
6 BJW.net $2,999 Sedo
tie
6 BJY.net $2,999 Sedo
tie
8 RLR.net $2,599 Sedo
9 KSD.net £1,700 = $2,584 Sedo
10 Cong.net $2,377 Sedo
11 6G.org €2,051 = $2,195 Sedo
12 GWN.net €2,000 = $2,140 Sedo
13 KJP.net $2,111 Sedo
tie
13 RTY.net $2,111 Sedo
tie
15 HQC.net $2,050 Sedo
16 776.org $2,000 Sedo
tie
16 KrollBondRatings.org $2,000 Sedo
tie
18 JHT.net $1,955 Sedo
19 BDJ.net $1,933 Sedo
20 HealthSpark.org $1,850 Sedo
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Whonami-Short Domains Names Continue to Dominate – Week’s Top 5 Sales .Come in at 4 Characters or Less

Highest Reported Domain Sales – Mon. Nov. 2, 2015 – Sun. Nov. 8, 2015 by DNJournal. Short Domains Names Continue to Dominate – Week’s Top 5 Sales Come in at 4 Characters or Less.

Short domains Names have always appealed to domain buyers but their popularity has never been higher than it has been over the past year. That trend continued this week with the top five sales and 11 of 20 entries on our latest all extension Top 20 Sales Chart coming in at four characters or less.

A representative from the always in demand 3-letter .com group -DCR.com – set the pace with a $42,000 sale at Sedo. One of the year’s ten biggest ccTLD sales, single letter X.de, was right behind at $40,000, followed by another country code domain,Wine.mx at $25,001. Sedo posted the latter two sales as well.

NO Domain Sold For Where Sold
1 DCR.com $42,000 Sedo
2 X.de $40,000 Sedo
3 Wine.mx $25,001 Sedo
4 7076.com $25,000 GGRG
5 1104.com £10,000 = $15,200 Sedo
tie
5 InnoChina.com £10,000 = $15,200 SnapNames
tie
7 Vertrag.de €12,000 = $12,840 Sedo
8 7256.com £7,500 = $11,400 Sedo
9 ChallengerBrands.com $10,000 Sedo
tie
9 Crave.io $10,000 Park.io
tie
9 FriendsNeighbors.com $10,000 Sedo
tie
9 Pose.co $10,000 Sedo
tie
9 XXJR.com $10,000 Sedo
tie
14 BeTheChange.com $9,988 Sedo
15 JRR.org $9,888 Sedo
16 JP.tv €8,200 = $8,774 Sedo
17 CigarOfTheMonthClub.com $8,500 TVAds
18 DraftPicks.com $8,000 Sedo
19 QBIT.com €7,350 = $7,865 Sedo
20 Maixia.com $7,760 SnapNames
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Whonami-You can sell domain names on auction sites

You can sell domain names on auction sites

Auction sites can sometimes give sellers a huge advantage, even propelling the selling price far above the market value for a domain name. Alternatively, it can leave the seller without a single bid. While auctions can be quite unpredictable, there are a few things you can do to pull the odds in your favor.

If you’re selling a quality domain, you should use an auction site known for selling domains, not a consumer-based auction site like eBay. If it’s a good investment domain, other domainers are more likely to see a domain’s real value than the end users.

On the other hand, if you are selling a name that comes with a developed website and if the domain name itself has very little investment value, then an eBay auction might be more promising.

The starting price for an auction is instrumental in determining whether or not anyone will bid. Starting very low seems like the ideal way to start a bidding war, but a very low starting price can just as easily create a low-value perception in the minds of bidders. If you’re auctioning off a number of domain names, you want the bidders to perceive your portfolio as valuable and worth their money. If all your domains have rock-bottom starting prices, people may simply assume that the names are worthless, especially if the auction involves many inexperienced buyers.

Experienced buyers will price the domain name on its own merits, probably ignoring the starting bid or the reserve price. They’ll decide on the highest price they’re willing to pay for the name and use that as their top bid. The more experience the bidder has, the less likely they are to enter into a bidding war with other bidders, though that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Domain auctions, like any other auctions, can create a water-hole mentality that drives people into a bidding frenzy. When an auction has zero bids, the name is more likely to be ignored by both the experts and beginners alike. But several bids on a name can attract attention. When people see that other people are interested in something, they’re much more likely to become interested themselves. If nothing more, they’re more likely to take a moment to investigate.

This behavior pattern often tempts people to bid on their own domain names for the sake of raising interest. Not only is this a questionable technique, but it also often fails. If no one else bids on the domain name, the seller/buyer ends up paying a commission to the auction company just to keep their own domain. If there are several domains involved, and if the bids are high, this commission could add up to a sizable amount.

When selling at an auction, play it safe, play it fair, and earn yourself a reputation among the other domainers as someone who can be trusted. It might not help you make a lot of fast bucks, but it will help you build a solid domain name business and add overall value to your portfolio.

(Written by Igoldrush)

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Whonami-The way to sell your domain names via a broker

The way to sell your domain names via a broker

A number of different companies provide services selling domain names. As the market for domain names is still somewhat young, it is difficult to rank the services offered by these companies in an absolute way. Not only that, but the brokers with a lot of experience and who have a good track record, often won’t deal with a novice or anyone without a large number of premium names.  Follow this three-step plan to help you select which company to use.

-Visit the various brokers ; explore their sites thoroughly to get a feel for layout and mode of operation.

-Send an exploratory e-mail to the contact address on each site. Explain your interest in selling your domain names, and ask any relevant questions. Check how long it takes for a representative to contact you, and how appropriate their reply is to your requirements.

-Choose a site after reviewing the information acquired through steps 1 and 2.

You may decide that none of the companies fit your exact requirements, in which case you’ll have to trust your own instincts and skills, and sell your domain name independently.

Less and less people are using domain brokers, but they still serve a vital role in the domain name industry. If you own a large number of domains, you might try splitting them up between yourself and a broker, to see which option will work better.

Now let’s discuss the most important part of buying and selling in the secondary market – negotiating.

(Written by Igoldrush)

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Whonami-#1 Luxe.com at $172,500 of Top 20 domain names sales during March 2 – March 8, 2015

#1 Luxe.com at $172,500 of Top 20 domain names sales during March 2 – March 8, 2015  by DNJournal.

No Domain Sold For Where Sold
1 Luxe.com $172,500 Heritage Auctions
2 Generational.com $70,000 Sedo
3 SmartWatches.com $35,000 Heritage Auctions
4 MNB.com €22,500 = $23,850 Sedo
5 AdTheory.com $23,688 Sedo
6 Expekt.gr €20,000 = $21,200 Sedo
7 Sell.org $20,000 Flippa
tie
7 Titin.com $20,000 Sedo
tie
9 True.co $17,000 Sedo
10 Getir.com $15,000 Sedo
11 BusinessInsider.de €14,000 = $14,840 Sedo
12 MyLearning.com $14,000 Sedo
13 MyHomeValue.com $12,000 Sedo
14 Himtec.com €10,000 = $10,600 Sedo
tie
14 IrishWhiskey.com €10,000 = $10,600 Pvt Sale
tie
16 Shiting.com $10,001 Sedo
17 BabyBottles.com $10,000 Flippa
tie
17 Recharger.com $10,000 Sedo
tie
17 SolarMill.com $10,000 Sedo
tie
20 EGB.net $9,888 Sedo
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Whonami-Trio of six-figure sales of top 10 domain names sales – Feb. 23, 2015 – March 1, 2015

Trio of six-figure sales of top 10 domain names sales – Feb. 23, 2015 – March 1, 2015 . That trio, led by NL.com at $575,000, fills the first three slots on this week’s all extension. HA claimed the next two spots on this week’s elite list with Classic.com at $172,500 and 8.co at $115,000. 8.co is the 2nd biggest ccTLD sale.

No Domain Sold For Where Sold
1 NL.com $575,000 Heritage Auctions
2 Classic.com $172,500 Heritage Auctions
3 8.co $115,000 Heritage Auctions
4 Buying.com $69,200 NameJet
5 SIE.com $27,600 Heritage Auctions
6 YRY.com $25,022 NameJet
7 Xixia.com $19,488 NameJet
8 ZIC.com $18,400 Heritage Auctions
9 EZPR.com $14,500 Sedo
10 QUK.com $14,301 NameJet
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Whonami-Top 10 Country Codes domain names sales stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Oct. 11 by DNJournal

Top 10 Country Codes domain names sales stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Oct. 11 by DNJournal.

Sedo’s $10,000 sale of  domain name Lola.co set the pace to claim the top spot on our Country Code Top 10 Sales Chart.  The biggest sales from this group that you haven’t seen yet are #4 TShirt.nl at$5,415 and #5 Eating.de at $5,130 with Sedo booking both of those sales.

No Domain Sold For Where Sold
1 Lola.co $10,000 Sedo
2 Fede.es $8,550 Sedo
3 LM.uk $6,123 DomainLore.co.uk
4 TShirt.nl $5,415 Sedo
5 Eating.de $5,130 Sedo
6 Juwelier.be $4,902 Sedo
7 H.ai $4,788 Sedo
8 Salma.ch $4,001 Sedo
9 Moov.in $4,000 Sedo
10 Allergie-Ratgeber.de $3,990 Sedo