Ask HN: Best way to sell a domain name?
What's the best way to sell a domain name? I have some domains that I've had for years (such as usethesource.com) that I'd like to dispose of.
In my experience, the best results i´ve had have been through Sedo. I´ve sold 26k usd with just 6 domain sales. They were generics and I just put an "asking for" price and let offers come through. You have to be patient though.
Grow up.
Well that wasn't too hard to guess, huh? -Sad.
There are a lot of legitimate arguments but yours isn't one.
- You have a business idea.
- You come up with a great domain name for your company.
One that's relevant to what you're doing, and clever too!
- You go online hoping to buy that domain.
- You find out it's been taken by someone..
- .. but not for the purpose of actually *doing* something with it.
Bottom line: the domain name that would be perfect for your new business should cost you something like ten dollars. You'd buy it, and happily continue getting shit done.
But now that the squatter has it, it costs you thousands of dollars, just because Fuck You.
That's Bad, mm'kay?
The market price for a plot of land is something based on the location and area.
Will a land-owner accept the current market price for it, or will he demand.. say, 500 times the market price (or preferably 5000 times or 50000 times), just because Fuck You?
Is land so cheap that anyone can start just grabbing hundreds of plots all over the world, on the off chance that someone might someday need one of them, planning to then extract 5000 times the market price from the buyer if he happens to need it bad enough?
Your wording is still silly, 'needs' as if you suddenly can't live without a domain name someone else registered before you because you 'had a great idea for it.' You and anyone else are welcome to buy as many domains as you like that nobody has registered. You can use them for whatever purpose you damn well please as long as you keep paying. If someone else wants them from you, they need to pay enough to convince you to sell it to them.
It's capitalism, if you can't handle it maybe you shouldn't be here.
You're twisting the meaning of "market price" to suit your view, while accusing me of doing the same.
There's a marketplace out there where anyone can go pick up a domain name for roughly 10 dollars. That is a domain's market price, but someone may consider a specific domain name worth more based on his personal circumstances, such as being about to start a company that the domain would suit well, and that's exactly what you and other scumbags are counting on.
ICANN and the registrars don't price domains according to how desirable they think they are, and that's why they're all the same price.
But you do. You buy ones you think other people would want. They're worth more than ten dollars only when someone else actually wants them.
The domain you're "holding hostage" would still be worth only ten dollars to almost anyone else besides the guy who wants it. It's not the same as a plot of land, because there's no general consensus on the market price.
There are lots of people who have thought of various good names for a product they're making, just to find out that they're all squatted. I'm one of them. You're a squatter. We're bound to not get along.
"The price of a commodity when sold in a given market."
There are two markets. There is a primary (unregistered) and a secondary (registered) market. This is a fact.
The price of a domain in the primary market is ~$10 (we'll ignore the fact some registries DO charge based on name quality - see .tv for an example of this). The price in the secondary market is whatever is agreed upon by the buyer and seller. There is NO set price, it's a normal functioning capitalist market.
Nobody is holding anything hostage in the secondary market. It's simply supply and demand. The domains are worth what someone is willing to sell them for and what someone else is willing to pay. There is no morality involved, it's capitalism in its purest form. You aren't owed anything and you don't owe anyone anything. There is a near infinite supply in the primary market for you to invest in. By using the secondary market you're acknowledging the value someone else has recognized before you in the primary market.
As far as it would still be worth $10 argument, that's laughable. As someone who has owned over a thousand domains and made a living off it, I've had domains earning thousands of dollars per month just being parked. You think those are still worth $10? That's idiotic. As far as the "besides anyone else" portion of your argument. Also stupid. Of course you will see a downward sloping demand curve for ANYTHING. That doesn't mean its worth the lowest value on the curve. Supply AND Demand. There are two sides to this simple equation. The supply for domain names is unique in every circumstance. You can't get another uniquename.com. You can get something else, but there is only 1 uniquename.com. So the owner is more than able to try and go for the highest point on the demand curve. (S)He only has the opportunity to sell once.
You're upset because you didn't/don't get what you want for an irrationally low price. You probably think its unfair someone else did get it, and that their time, effort and investment aren't worth anything. Well, I think your product is stupid and a waste of time, effort and investment should I get the domain instead of you after you own it? Would that be fair?
We may not get along but your argument is nonsensical. I will probably never change that line of thinking because people who think things are always unfair are bound to constantly look for someone or something else to blame. People who get shit done simply recognize the rules of the game and play to the best of their abilities.
The price in the secondary market is whatever is agreed upon by the buyer and seller. There is NO set price, it's a normal functioning capitalist market.
Well, your "secondary market" consists of only two people - you and the guy who would actually use the domain you're hogging. It's not much of a Market, but of course you'd call it one in an attempt to scrape together some semblance of legitimacy for your point of view.
As someone who has owned over a thousand domains and made a living off it, I've had domains earning thousands of dollars per month just being parked. You think those are still worth $10? That's idiotic.
Cute. The market price for a domain itself is, in fact, that $10. Whatever money you happen to manage to scrape off of unsuspecting (and likely idiotic) visitors to your sleazy malware/bullshit-laden parked domain pages is irrelevant.
that their time, effort and investment aren't worth anything
Your time and effort is worth only as much as you manage to extract out of your victims. You're not "adding value" to anything - quite the contrary. You're a parasite.
I'm not going to waste any more time arguing with you. You claim you've done nothing wrong, but any non-scumbag would disagree.
If you think there is real end demand or really want to liquidate you can consider some of the newsletters that go out daily to thousands of buyers(toby clements, eric rice). Or post them on domain forums (dnforum, namepros) or webmaster forums that have a domain section (digitalpoint, webhostingtalk).
2. For domains like use the source, its hard to find advertisers. So hit the social networks and forums. Find someone who runs a Star Wars forum and ask them if they are interested in buying the domain.
3. If that too doesn't work, then list the domain up on sedo, godaddy and all the other networks out there. But private sales will almost always lead to more money than a sale from a marketplace. So try private selling first.
I've sold a few domains through Sedo and it's a pretty painless process, however their fees are really high, especially if you list your domain in their marketplace.
You can save money by finding a buyer outside of Sedo and then using them purely for escrow.
Since most people are going to find your domain by typing it in or through Google, that might be the best approach.
Flippa.com
Online auctionplace, some significantly sized sales recently.
Like any other asset, you'll get the most value by holding onto it for as long as possible.