Want to sell some domains, but...

[BrianTubbs]

Hey Everyone,

I've got about ten or so domains that I've not done much with, and I want to get rid of. But....

I don't have any stats for them. Don't even know HOW to measure the stats. I'm really a technophobe.

And...I have no idea how to put a value on them.

Some of them like....

www.ExtraMonthlyCash(dot)com

....have (I think) a lot of potential or promise. But it's unrealized potential at this point. Though, the site ranks #1 on Google for the search term 'extra monthly cash.'

I've got about 9 others, including...

www.NeedMoneyAsap(dot)com (which just has a sales page to a PLR product right now)

www.AmazingJobInterview(dot)com

www.BetterSelfConfidence(dot)com

And more.

I'm TRYING to learn site flipping, but I'm a slow learner on anything that's technical.

And these domains are currently add-on domains over at Hostmonster, so (from what I can tell) they're tricky to flip as separate domains/sites.

I'm transitioning to Hostgator and want to just get rid of some of these HM domains.

Any advice, help on what I should do is appreciated.

[bluegold14]

Brian, you can use 000traffic.com - Your Free One Click SEO Domain Analysis Tool to check some stats of your websites.
Also search Google for free domain appraisal sites.

[andymurray]

Maybe you could park them with services that
will pay you PPC earnings?

I bought Phil Craigs great course 'Domains Into
Dollars'. He might have another WSO somewhere.
Explains it all in there.

Andy

[sikaz]

Domain flipping could make you some money indeed.
However,pending the time the domain would be flipped why not follow andymurray's advice on PPC and get some cash into your bank account before the final cash - the big one? (Laugh!)

Try and see how good this is .


Sikaz

[Gene Pimentel]

Hi Brian, For the domains that have a decent website built on them, list them for sale at Flippa.com, SitePoint.com or right here on the Warrior Forum on the new website selling section of the WSO forum. Domains with or without websites can be listed for sale at Sedo.com and Afternic.com.

[BrianTubbs]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I didn't know about Sedo until this discussion, so thank you.

I registered an account with Sedo and listed the following domains for sale (price negotiable)....

www(dot)amazingjobinterview(dot)com
www(dot)betterhealthadvice(dot)com
www(dot)betterselfconfidence(dot)com
www(dot)easycashwithsurveys(dot)com
www(dot)needmoneyasap(dot)com
www(dot)saveongaswithwater(dot)net

I also signed up to "park" them with SEDO, opting to redirect the urls to SEDO.

Now, they are apparently frozen while SEDO "verifies" them. I guess I have to wait for the verification process to complete, before the listings go live.

I really have no idea how much the above domains are worth, so if any of you wouldn't mind sharing ballpark estimates on how the above domains might be worth, assuming NO traffic, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

[rlscott2]

Some good tips here. It's inspired my to get rid of some of my excess domains.

[babushka99]

If I can suggest something - turn your domain in blogs (if you can), but some articles on them, sell links on them, get backlinks and over one year you will have a domain name/site that is worth much more than it is right now.

[BrainDance]

I don't think major content needs to be added, I think a good domain name with a nice design can sell to someone who can use it. the buyer having a nice move in ready website is a positive thing.
Take the time to look at one, not all at once. develop it and flip it, then move on to the next one.
LB

[Gene Pimentel]

Automated appraisal services like Estibot are good some of the time, but they are quite often WAY off the mark. After all, it's all speculation. For example, I ran one of my domains through Estibot recently and it told me the domain was worth about $200. I sold it soon after for $24,000.00.

Why the huge discrepancy? Because a domain name is worth only what a particular buyer is willing to pay. To many, a domain may be worth $100 or $200. But the domain name may be MUCH more valuable to one or two particular buyers (as in my real-life example above). The challenge is finding the right buyer.

One of the best ways to get a true assessment of what your domain name is worth, is to compare it to other domains that have actually sold in the recent past. Compare it feature by feature... length, number of words, whether it's a .com or other TLD, the age, whether it has numbers or hyphens, and so on. How do you do all this? Fortunately there is a site that makes it easy (I have no connection to this site). Go to dnsaleprice.com and you can get a list of comparable domains, and see what they actually sold for. Price your domains accordingly.

[ecoverartist]

Gene,

Care to share what the domain was and how you arrived at that figure? Was it "just" a domain or did it already have some traffic coming to it?

[Gene Pimentel]

Originally Posted by WordPro

Oh come now matey, don't get her hopes up, we are bang in the middle of a huge recession, the domain market overall has gone as flat and as dead as a doornail.

Good grief. For you, I'm sure it has. If you want the reality of the domain market, please see: http://dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm

Originally Posted by WordPro

Giving her this kind of false expectation, that her domains could be worth thousands of dollars potentially, is just daft, no offence.

What false expectation? Please read my post again. I'm stating that automated "appraisals" like estibot should not be relied upon for an accurate value. You should only rely on actual sales that have taken place. This is where the true value of a domain is determined... in the assessment of the actual buyer. There is NO appraisal service, automated or human, that can give a better appraisal than the buying customer.

Originally Posted by WordPro

The likelihood that she is going to get hundreds of dollars for these domains, let alone thousands is millions to one.

I never said HE would. I'm simply trying to provide the clarity Brian has asked for. I've been in the domain selling business for over a decade, so I speak purely from experience. And you?

Originally Posted by WordPro

She has already stated that she is a complete domain newbie with no previous experience in the field - how the dickens is she going to know how to market these domains to their ideal emotionally charged buyer, let alone locate them in the first place?

He won't, unless he wants to take the time to learn the business. But I never suggested that. I merely pointed out the best way to determine the value of a domain name, and gave an example to make my point.

Originally Posted by WordPro

As regards Estibot, let's make it clear that Esa the owner of that site, is by no means some wet behind the ears programmer sitting in his bedroom, concocting up some tiny piece of code to give domain names false values.

I agree completely. Esa is one of the top domainers that I have come to respect and admire, after years of being a Staff Member & Team Member at NamePros.com.

Originally Posted by WordPro

The guy who owns that site is a very, very, VERY highly intelligent doctor of neurology with 2 PHD's to his name and is a programming genius

Yes he is. But no programming genius alive can develop a domain appraisal service more accurate than the factual prices paid by actual buyers of domains.

Originally Posted by WordPro

He admits the tools on his site cannot be 100% accurate all of the time, that is impossible, there are of course just too many varied metrics to take into the equation

That's exactly what I implied.

Originally Posted by WordPro

now and again of course, a domain will slip through such as yours which is grossly mis-valued.

And you know this domain was grossly mis-valued, how? Without even knowing the domain name in question? The same domain that is now likely earning the buyer far more than it's cost per year due to the very specific qualities of the domain? The same domain that I received multiple 5-figure bids for, from three different parties?

Originally Posted by WordPro

As Esa states, this should be used as a guidance tool only and that there is no real substitute for an experienced human appraisal.

Exactly. And by the same token, a human appraisal is is no real substitute for relying on the actual price that customers are paying.

Originally Posted by WordPro

For 99.9% of average domains, the tool at Estibot.com is more than adequate.

Actual sales figures disagree.

[Gene Pimentel]

Originally Posted by ecoverartist

Gene,

Care to share what the domain was and how you arrived at that figure? Was it "just" a domain or did it already have some traffic coming to it?

Hi Sherice, I can tell you privately, but I'm sure the buyer would not appreciate me divulging this information publicly. Yes, this was "just" the domain. No traffic to speak of, no website, no revenue.

[pdjsolutions]

Well,

Agreeing with Gene.

You cannot actually say that estibot is right all the time.

For example, if you have musclebuilding.com - if you get the right end user, even though estibot says that it has a particular value, the end user needs the domain any how and will therefore pay extra to get that domain.

But if you are selling it to another reseller, you might not even reach the estibot value.

Keyword Domains are very strong in todays market.

I am not saying these have potential of up 2 thousand dollars, but i guess to the right end user, he might actually pay.


Prateek.

[Gene Pimentel]

Fair enough. Multi-quoting is malarkey. I'm not an argumentative person. But it was necessary to answer your assumptions one point at a time.

To get back on topic, here is why it is not a good idea to use automated appraisals.
Here are some totally random tests I've just run:

RoofRX.com
Estibot Appraisal: USD 20
Actual sale price: $550

TopDogRealty.com
Estibot Appraisal: USD reg fee
Actual sale price: $800

RealEstateQuickStart.com
Estibot Appraisal: USD reg fee
Actual sale price: $750

BeaverHost.com
Estibot Appraisal: USD reg fee
Actual sale price: $750

LeadsPage.com
Estibot Appraisal: USD 170
Actual sale price: $595

Estibot is a great tool and has it's place. But I personally would never use it to determine the value of a domain in the true marketplace.

[FrontLineMentor]

AFAIK, estibot use several characteristics to
appraise domain values...also compare
with sale history (integrated with namebio)

[Dave777]

Just in case this one hasn't been mentioned. Another cool tool for getting a general overview on domain name pricing! Great database info on the history of all domain name sales...
DN Sale Price- Domain Name Sales Price and History

Dave

[txconx]

Originally Posted by Gene Pimentel

Automated appraisal services like Estibot are good some of the time, but they are quite often WAY off the mark. After all, it's all speculation. For example, I ran one of my domains through Estibot recently and it told me the domain was worth about $200. I sold it soon after for $24,000.00.

Why the huge discrepancy? Because a domain name is worth only what a particular buyer is willing to pay. To many, a domain may be worth $100 or $200. But the domain name may be MUCH more valuable to one or two particular buyers (as in my real-life example above). The challenge is finding the right buyer.

One of the best ways to get a true assessment of what your domain name is worth, is to compare it to other domains that have actually sold in the recent past. Compare it feature by feature... length, number of words, whether it's a .com or other TLD, the age, whether it has numbers or hyphens, and so on. How do you do all this? Fortunately there is a site that makes it easy (I have no connection to this site). Go to dnsaleprice.com and you can get a list of comparable domains, and see what they actually sold for. Price your domains accordingly.

I agree with most of this, but want to point out that the problem with sites like dnsalesprice.com, namebio.com and etc is these are only reported sales. Since many sales are not reported, it makes it extremely difficult to price based on other sales.

Always - it's worth whatever you can get someone to pay for it. If you have good keywords in the domain name, build a site and get backlinks and let it age, it may be worth something to someone who wants to redirect those links.