Just Some Bloke

Many newbies to the domaining business have a hard time figuring out what the true value of a domain name is.  People trying to sell domain names almost always ask for a ludicrous price in the hopes that some ill informed dummy will come along and buy it.  I’ve been a web developer for 10 years and just started to dabble in the domaining business a few months ago.  In a short time I learned the best way to gauge the value of domain names is to watch the expiring domain name auctions on SnapNames.com or Pool.com.

Most good domain names that expire will have more than 1 party on the waiting list and thus move into a 3 day auction after expiration.  You can learn a lot by getting in on these auctions with the intention of losing.  Yes, losing.  By joining the auctions you can watch the bidding and gauge the liquidity and see the price of the ultimate winning bidder.  These auctions have no reserve price and the bidding always starts at $59.  Since $59 is cheap, a good quality expiring domain name will attract lots of bidders.  A no reserve auction has true liquidity.  Meaning the high bidder will WIN and take ownership of the domain name, NO MATTER WHAT.   If you keep an eye on the auctions you’ll get a sense of the true value of a name.

Now let’s get to my point.  I just watched the auction of Nearer.com.  It attracted a handful of bidders who all waited until the final few hours and then bid it up to a modest price of $425.  This means that Nearer.com is worth exactly $425 dollars RIGHT NOW.  It’ll be worth more in the future, but the winning bidder knows he/she paid a fair price.  They can sell the name tomorrow and get their money back.

This is in stark contrast to most of the Sedo, Great Domains and other auctions that have reserve prices.  Most auctions have zero transparency and thus much, much less liquidity.  I’ve seen many names of comparable quality to Nearer.com with asking prices in the 5K - 10K range.  Maybe the new owner can flip-it and make a few grand.  If they do, then more power to them.