What's a Very Old, Very Good Domain Name Worth?

[Steve Robertson]

I just had someone make me an unsolicited offer on my oldest domain name. I know that domain names are often valued based on their annual income. But there must be some great domain names that have never been used in a way that maximizes their income.

Do you think that a very good domain name can be valued based on its potential for creating income?

Steve R.
R.A.M. Video

[Gary Huynh]

Absolutely. For example, someone could value that domain based on the potential for type in traffic.

Another person could value the domain based on the fact that it fits into their business plan.

There are a variety of factors...

[Travis Wade]

The value of a domain is only as much as someone is willing to pay for it. I had a guy offer me $2500 bucks for a really stupid domain name that I had sitting around. I had this domain forwarding to a parking page. The only reason I held on to it was because I had registered it for 5 years when I first got into buying and selling domains. This guy found me through the whois info of the domain. Why would he offer me so much money for this domain name with no traffic? Because it fit his business and in his mind he was determined he needed my domain name to succeed... so of course, who am I to argue, I let him have it! My point is simply this, sure a domain can be valued by potential!

-Travis

[VinceNouvel]

Dont know.. But I just paid for xxxxx.com domain (12 years old) for 1500...
If you are happy with what you are paying, then its worth it.

[Steve Robertson]

Are there any really good domain name marketplaces where there are enough buyers to establish some competition?

Steve R.

[Gene Pimentel]

Steve, The best way to get a feel of the value of your domain is to compare it with other similar domains that have actually sold in the past. You can do that with this tool:
DN Sale Price- Domain Name Sales Price and History

It will show you the actual recorded sale price of domains like yours since 2003.

[primuskannan]

Originally Posted by Steve Robertson

Are there any really good domain name marketplaces where there are enough buyers to establish some competition?

Steve R.

There is Buy, Sell, Appraise and Auction Domain Names at Sedo, the #1 domain name aftermarket, broker, reseller, and appraiser! and

SitePoint Marketplace - Buy & sell established web sites, startup and turnkey websites and more and

some forums like dnxpert and namepros and dnforum where experienced domainers hangout.

You could post your name and ask for an appraisal. These forums also have good marketplaces.

[Steve Robertson]

Originally Posted by narsticle

could be worth a lot. Why not get it professionally appraised?

As I said earlier, I've never tried to maximize the income from this domain name. It seems like an appraiser would need something to work with - such as annual income. It would be difficult for an appraiser to state a value based solely on the potential income generating power.

I did find some interesting figures on past sales at DN Sale Price. One of the more successful sales was handled by a company called Moniker. They run some interesting live auctions at major events. They recently auctioned gasprices.com for $255,000!

Steve R.