If I could share my appreciation over a single business for 2010, that would be Sedo.
My relationship with the PPC provider started in 2004 and I must admit it started a couple of years late. Until then, parking my domains was something that I wasn’t considering. I lost several thousand dollars in revenue this way.
Lesson learned: Despite the ups and downs of the industry, Sedo is for me the perfect combination of a PPC provider and domain sales platform. At some point, I asked Donny Simonton of Parked if they’d consider doing the same; he responded that adding a domain sales platform wasn’t in their immediate plans.
As time passes, Sedo becomes a mainstream, household name outside of the domain industry – something that is necessary in order to facilitate sales to end users. While PPC revenue fluctuates, the number of sales have increased for me and nowadays I use Sedo for roughly 90% of my domain sales.
This year, I had a record number of sales on the Sedo platform, without sweating much.
Sedo handles the sales process very efficiently nowadays; while I’ve slowed down my buying I’ve enjoyed the increased revenue from selling on Sedo, often involving targeted emails about ongoing auctions to maximize sales revenue.
After meeting with the Sedo staff in Boston, I was thoroughly convinced about the seriousness with which Sedo treats its PPC business and sales platform. Recent improvements in the Sedo system have generated increased revenue, despite the financial straits the economy is still going through.
So thanks, Sedo – here’s to a splendid and equally successful 2011.
That is great you had such good luck with Sedo! I must admit, I keep seeing tweets and posts about Sedo selling domains for great prices (for the seller) – I guess it’s time I jumped on that band wagon too.
Thanks for a great post.
Seriously Acro,
Ooops that was a typo, sorry.
What I started to say was… that I admire and respect you as a fellow domainer, developer, instigator and intellectual, but these tributes to Sedo are making nauseous.
Nancy & Dean – I share my personal experiences without as much as an ounce of bias. In the distant past, when things were still unshaped, I wasn’t afraid to speak out about the things that were wrong or out of place. The Sedo staff are aware of this 😉 Now, if someone else has a different or opposite experience, perhaps then they need to focus on something else. Parking is not for everyone and not for every domain on the planet. Happy holidays!
Seriously? Earning what, pennies on 1400 names on Sedo made me leave. Its almost as bad as thinking one could actually sell a domain at Afternic with their 2+ million in inventory which they push FIRST. Sedo, Afternic…. they’re all the same. Too big and not worth it.
Mike – I’ll be blunt and you might not like it: if you are earning “pennies” with your domains at Sedo, your domains fall in the pigeonshit category.
I’d agree that if you’re looking for a parking and sales platform, Sedo is probably the best right now. Even just as a sales platform, they are probably the leader. Each week they sell the most domains and do the best with country code domains too. Managing your domains is also a lot easier on Sedo than on Afternic.
Please refrain from the use of “pigeonshit” or “pigeonshit domains”. It is a registered trademark of Schwartz Enterprises.
Sincerely the counsel of Rick Schwartz
PS you and Sedo need to get a room
Forgot the 🙂 at the end
Domain Report – It’s this exact combo facilitation that makes a difference, as you stated, along with the commitment of the Sedo staff to their job.
Shane – Sedo and I shared a room already, this past August/September, along with several other SedoPro members in Boston. It was an industry meeting that produced great results and something I’d recommend to those who are burned out by the usual TRAFFIC/Domainfest events.
Acro,
I asked you to show proof of your claims regarding Sedo. You are usually blunt, and honest. I guess meeting with Sedo people face to face have influenced your analysis.
I think it is still a conundrum, at least inexplicable, how Sedo sells all these domains while my domains, which are far superior to the ones they sell, sits in their data base. Something doesn’t add up.
Their PPC is bullshit. But, so are the others.
For the fact that my domains are better than the ones they sell, and I have them sitting in their care, tells me that something is fishy about the whole thing. Keep praising them, no one is buying it.
Uzoma – If you want numbers, I will disappoint you: my CPA and Uncle Sam are the only two other than Sedo that get details of my revenue and earnings from sales. But on occasion I do release the five-digit sales I achieve on Sedo.
Somehow, if you think your domains are “superior” than those of others all while not achieving sales hits me as a paradox: if your domains are that good, you don’t need Sedo; you’d be having buyers crawling all over to buy them.
Sedo’s PPC is better than that of others, e.g. Parked and that’s my assessment based on a diverse number of keywords.
My analysis – to be done with this subject once and for all – is based on my own data and trends I’ve experienced since 2004 that I first started with Sedo. It’s not based on meeting the Sedo staff face to face, although I must say that they are a bunch of nice people that love what they do.
Why do you want to be done with the subject matter that you raised on your blog? I thought you want us to give our input?
Anyways, the Sedo team may be “a bunch of nice people that love what they do”, and I have no reason to doubt that, I could care less about that; I’d much rather deal with dick heads that pay fair and equitable, predictable PPC, and demonstrate a science behind their sales numbers. It is bewildering how similar domains have vast outcomes, from the same outfit. Believe it or not, there is science behind sales and end-users. I hope you understand that my comments are not personal. I like your blog and the other one you manage, the one with all the funny stuff (at times, and 100% the other).
Uzoma – I think I’m being very clear about this: all of my blogging is based on personal experiences and I’ve been dissecting my own data. When some people prefer to say “oh, I hate Sedo” I prefer to say, “sure, but what exactly is it that you’ve done to improve your portfolio performance?”
My statement about the Sedo staff is to indicate that it’s easy to classify a group of people as a faceless company, when in fact they are working – like most of us – to deliver success both to the company and its clients. I strongly doubt that “dickheads” would be any fairer or better in their delivery of either customer service, or PPC rates.
Regarding domain sales, I can tell you that while I’m still learning, I’m far from being a rookie; thus, the science that you’re referring to is old news to me.
I find this whole idea pretty nasty. I don’t see why the “work” of front-running web searches and snapping up domain names one never intends to use should be seen as an activity deserving of financial rewards.
Brett – You are more than welcome to move to a country where ‘capitalism’ is a word told by mothers to scare their children to sleep.