By Tiffany Cuddihy, Marketing Associate
Many domain investors continually miss the mark when it comes to pricing their names to sell. Even the most savvy domain owners are often guilty of under or over estimating the value of their assets, leaving them vulnerable to making less than ideal sales out of desperation or frustration. As you prepare to sell your domains for a profit, you need to first focus on connecting your expectations with those of potential buyers. Read on for a few tips on how to attract buyers by selling smarter.
Tip #1: Fixed Prices Attract Buyers
It’s true! On Sedo’s marketplace more and more buyers are moving fast on domains that are set at fixed prices. In fact, the percentage of fixed price domains sold through Sedo has tripled since January of this year. Also, on average, sellers who fixed-priced all of their domains have on average experienced a 3-4 times higher inventory turnover, without any dips in the average prices. It seems that by setting clear expectations as a seller, you make it easier for buyers to feel confident in conducting business with you. Just as you may be hesitant to list a concrete price for your domains, buyers are just as reluctant to make a seemingly random offer for it, especially if it hasn’t been pushed to auction by another bidder. So, take the initiative and see how fixed prices can attract buyers that suit your needs as a seller.
How Sedo can help:
Starting in 2010, Sedo is opening up its SedoMLS to all of its members. This will allow sellers with fixed price domains to become a part of SedoMLS, where their domains will be exposed to new buyers through partnering registrars. To help prepare for this new opportunity, you can currently list your domains for fixed prices on Sedo. We encourage you to test your domains with fixed prices, especially for domains worth under $10,000. If you aren’t sure how to price your domain, you should try Sedo’s free price suggestion tool, which offers a suggested price for your domains based on factors like the length of the domain, its extension and the selling price of similar domains that have sold through Sedo.
Tip #2: Expectations are Everything
When setting prices for your domains, it’s important to think about what you paid for the domain, when you paid for the domain and if you would honestly pay that amount again today. Hopefully, you’ve played your cards right and have increased the value of the domain enough to make a substantial profit off of your investment. At this point, you need to put your personal connection to the domain aside and price the property based on key factors like existing traffic statistics, parking earnings and how it performs with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Buyers aren’t overly concerned with the story behind your purchase, they just want to see the hard numbers and how the domain will work for their individual business strategy.
How Sedo can help:
Just like with real estate, it is often good to get the input of a professional when you are ready to aggressively sell. At Sedo, we offer professional appraisals and expert domain brokers, who can assist you in connecting with serious buyers, including large portfolio owners and end-users. This takes the work load off your plate and allows Sedo to objectively propose the benefits of your domain to buyers who are looking to bite.
Tip #3: Bulk Up in Your Down Time
No domain left behind should be your new motto. If you spend the money to renew your registrations each year, than at least have the decency to give each of your domains a little personal TLC (Top-Level Care). Okay, so you don’t need to spend hours determining the fate of each name, but you do need to sort, organize and price your domains so the selling process is made easier and less stressful. Keep tabs on all of your domains and their stats. About every six months, I suggest re-evaluating your investments. If a domain just isn’t performing the way you’d hope, either see if you can rework your selling strategy (see tip #4 for some help with this) or cut your losses and don’t renew your registration. This may seem like a pretty mindless tip, but it’s these small feats that are often overlooked when you’re busy looking at the big picture.
How Sedo can help:
When you are logged into your Sedo account, you are able to access your individual “Domain Management” page, under the “My Sedo” tab. The tool I am about to reveal to you will soon become your best friend. When you enter the “Domain Management” page you should see the domains you have listed with Sedo with an “Execute” button underneath (don’t worry, this button is to save changes and is not for murdering or deleting your domains). Next to the “Execute” button is what I like to call your “scroll bar of possibilities.” There are a lot of fun things you can do here, but for now I’d like to focus on the “perform bulk price adjustments” option. By opting in for the “select all domains on this page” or “select entire portfolio,” you can set the prices for each of your domains in bulk. With this selection you are prompted to the “Apply Bulk Price Settings” page, where you can set the price of each domain based on its individual suggested price or its already fixed price (from tip #1). If you aren’t completely confident in those prices, this tool also allows you to adjust the value by plus or minus 50% of the suggested or listed price. You can also create your own floor price, based on parking revenues, and set your own fixed pricing. Even if you didn’t utilize Sedo’s Price Suggestion Tool, you can still organize your domains’ sales price on this page or even for domains you don’t currently have listed for sale. Go ahead, check it out and start selling smarter now!
Tip #4: Marketing Matters
I’ve seen the faces of domain owners light up with joy when they get news of a bidder. Although some of you may experience this euphoric moment on a daily basis, many of you may see your next birthday before you get a single bid. Fear not. While premium domains do offer innate appeal, any seller can use the power of marketing to create buzz around their domains. Good marketing does several things including making you money through parking, creating interest for potential buyers and increasing your web traffic to up the value of your domain. Just because you don’t own a one word generic domain, doesn’t mean you can’t position your domain to sell. Companies like Yoplait (SoGoodGirls.com), ABC (ABetterCommunity.com) and Boeing (NewAirplane.com) use these less descriptive domains to redirect to their main sites, to promote mini-sites and even to just get a leg up on their competition. Be proactive with your domains and don’t just wait for buyers to show interest; make them interested! For example, Nexium, heart burn medication, snagged PurplePill.com to promote their product by associating the color purple with their brand. If you own domains that relate directly to a potential branding position for a company, reach out and let them know your domain is available. Attending industry specific conferences is a great way to network with potential buyers by speaking with them in person about the benefits behind owning your name. Lastly, just simply asking friends, family and collages what they instinctively think of when you show them your domain name. Tees.com is a perfect example of a dual meaning domain name since some people instinctively think t-shirts, while others connect the domain directly with golf tees. This informal survey of responses can help you re-evaluate your parking and marketing scheme to better suit the best use for your domain.
How Sedo can help:
Sedo recently released 2,500 new categories for domains in Sedo's marketplace. This new category structure allows you to better target your domains to relevant buyers. In addition to the new category tree, Sedo also launched an Auto Categorization Tool, which will automatically determine a Master Category for your domains listed on Sedo. You won’t be required to categorize each domain in your portfolio, just have a look through and make sure you’re happy with the category the automated system has chosen. Of course you can also manually set a category for any of your domains. You can also attract more buyers by purchasing a Category Showcase or Featured Listing on Sedo’s website. A Category Showcase will highlight your domain at the top of its category page within the Sedo domain catalog, exposing your domain to buyers specifically interested in your domain´s category. A Featured Listing provides top exposure for your domains with a rotating spot on Sedo´s home page for 30 days for a small investment of only $39. These are all simple and quick ways to increase your selling potential!