Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

I’ve no recollection of my first domain purchase but it probably happened on eBay, more than ten years ago.

Back in those days, eBay held a higher reputation than today, even with non-tangible goods such as domain names.

Since then, my domain acquisitions diversified and I’ve completely removed eBay from my list of options.

Nowadays, I buy domains from the following markets:

• Domain forums
• Via direct emails to the owner
• Sedo
• NameJet
• GoDaddy TDNAM
• From offers I receive via email

On occasion I might purchase domains on Bido, Afternic and domain conferences.

So what methodology do I use in order to price domains and place offers or bids accordingly?

Firstly, I’m a big fan of aged domains. If a domain is from 1999 and older, I’m interested. If it’s from 1995 and prior, I’m definitely interested.

Some aged domains might appear to be esoteric or might contain dashes. That’s when the visual and/or aural test kicks in.

Are these domains marketable? I add a point. Are they pronounceable? That’s a plus. Do they look “right” in print? Jot one point as well.

Obviously, if I can get any worthy domain for a huge discount, it’s always a great deal. Opportunities for discounts exist: the owner might be short in cash, they might be unaware of the domain’s worth or they might simply want to get out of business.

If a domain has potential and there is a danger of it being snapped by others, I “seize the day” and make an offer within 10% of the asking price; sometimes I might just pay the asking price outright. The latter method took my $2k investment in 360.org to a $25,500 sale a few months later.

Overall, I trust my “gut feeling” and although I do follow the market trends, I’m staying true to what I consider positive elements in a domain.

Lastly, never be ashamed to ask for a discount, provided of course that it does not blatantly disregard the street value of certain types of domains: generics and short ones.

Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/acroplex for updates.

While I achieved my first domain sale in early 2000, I didn’t register domains with the intent to sell until a year later. In 2002 I joined the WebHostingTalk community, and after that DNForum.

Since my early days of interacting with other domainers I’ve learned a few things, for which I’m grateful.

I apologize for not being able to list all the names of great people that I’ve interacted with; it would be impossible to do so. Collectively, every domainer I’ve communicated with gave me the opportunity to both gain ideas from and to, hopefully, offer my insight and advice.

Ron Jackson has been around since my early days at DNForum; a good 10 years of achieving remarkable sales through competitive pricing. Ron taught me how to price domains right and to seek opportunities.

Igal Lichtman (MrsJello LLC) who sold me hundreds of quality domains at reseller prices; many of which I was able to sell to end-users at a remarkable profit. When I finally met Igal in person at TRAFFIC Orlando in 2008, it was bear hug time

Tia Wood, a talented web developer who prefers to keep her feet on the ground with regards to her achievements and clientele; she taught me the importance of keeping lists and how much positive thinking and faith in oneself can make a difference. Thank you, Tia.

Bill Kara, for becoming my enterprising idol since he facilitated my biggest domain sale ever; as a fellow Greek he is well aware of the intricacies of our culture and has offered constructive criticism during the past three years.

Elliot Silver, whose fine sense of humor I finally managed to understand and appreciate; he’s been a great stimulant with regards to domain development and despite never meeting him in person so far, we’ve had some great phone conversations.

Adam Dicker, owner of DNForum who put up with my feisty temper and attitude on numerous occasions; he’s a quiet force from the North who manages the largest domainer community on the Internet.

Francois Carrillo, a great French entrepreneur who has rejuvenated the domain industry through his numerous domain projects; he’s been the welcoming butt of my jokes at DomainGang.com and has provided me with plenty of project work in the past two years.

Shane Cultra, Morgan Linton and Patrick Ruddell for providing me with stimulating feedback about my projects, providing valuable leads and for keeping me in check. Thanks guys!

Mike Robertson of Domain Guardians, for topping the list of the most likeable persons in the domain industry, with his demeanor and hard work to make things happen.

Rick Schwartz – he’s the giver of “tough love” in the domain industry that we all need in order to succeed. Never a BS’er, always a provider of thoughtful advice. Rick taught me the power of “no”: turning down offers that don’t match a domain’s value.

Andrew Allemann, a news machine when it comes down to UDRP updates. Andrew is the reason I created the famous “100%” image for DomainGang and his advice was rock solid from the beginning.

Nadia Pessoa, a brilliant young domainer who is challenging the “boys club” in domaining. She has been successful where I have failed and her methods are very effective. Not bad for a professional harp player!

Mike Berkens, who keeps a low profile but dishes out great advice daily through his blog; he’s been a great motivator for me to restructure my approach to domaining.

Lori Anne Wardi, for providing me with great amounts of support to achieve equilibrium at a professional and personal level. Thank you, Lori Anne.

Lisa Allen, of Sedo – who along with other Sedo staff have taken great care of my needs and have provided me with a valuable platform to sell my domain names.

Marc Randazza, possibly the only attorney who understands my sense of humor; he has to, as he runs The Legal Satyricon. Marc has been a great advisor and a good friend.

And so many more, that I will collectively say: Thank you, all.

By using the Sedo marketplace as a seller, I’m always after maximizing my sales revenue.

The recent announcement by Sedo that fixed price listings will enjoy the old 10% fee is not an incentive for me to switch over from “make an offer” listings for my domain portfolio.

Perhaps if Sedo lowered their fee to 5% I might budge; then again, I am only kidding and I’ll explain why.

When a domain portfolio is listed at fixed prices, there is no room for negotiations but there is plenty for errors that creep up.

Listing thousands of domain names at fixed prices can lead to pricing errors; one would have to be very careful with the initial evaluation and the data entry.

But suppose that no errors occurred. The market is dynamic, new advances in lifestyle, technology and trends dictate a re-evaluation of virtual property such as domain names, very often.

By listing domains at fixed prices one would have to constantly monitor and update that information. On the other hand, when an offer is made that’d be the only time one would have to consider upping or lowering the asking price they have in mind for that particular domain.

Since Sedo raised the non-fixed sales commission from 10% to 15% I will simply add that 5% to whatever price I’d ask and pass the buck onto the buyer.

It’s a business decision that I won’t lose much sleep over.

It finally happened: the legendary Bob Parsons will no longer be in charge of the company he founded, GoDaddy.com

Not many seem to like GoDaddy for practices of the past. And yet, the biggest domain registrar in the world with 40 million domains seems to have found the Holy Grail of domaining: controversy.

When it wasn’t about the buxom GoDaddy Girls that had “wardrobe malfunctions” in Super Bowl commercials, Bob himself would make sure the attention drawn to his persona and GoDaddy remained constant.

The scandal of Bob Parsons taking aim at and killing an elephant in Africa only temporarily hurt the GoDaddy image, primarily after PETA – an association that holds its own record of controversial marketing – complained about the incident.

I can understand Mike’s sentiments over at DomainConsultant. It’s not easy to swallow a bigger than life icon and his assorted antics. The fact is, that Bob Parsons stood up during rough times by utilizing a shrewd amount of innovation, timed marketing and – why not – pure luck.

The end result of all these years of Bob Parsons’ personal involvement with the domain industry is of course pay day. The $2.25 billion sale of GoDaddy – half of which is incurred debt – signifies that aiming large is the way to success.

It’s the all-American, capitalist way. Happy Independence Day, America.