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.
You bring up a very good point that is never addressed by Sedo or Afternic.
They want people using fixed price. But if you have 1000 names you may overlook or even forget the price you have on a name.
So you own SocialGraph.com for example a name that in 2004 would not have commanded what it commands in 2011. So you get someone buy it now at $800 and you would have countered that if that was just an offer at maybe $5000.
Or a name that involves music storage or the cloud, if you have a lot of names you could easily overlook those names and sell on the cheap.
Sedo and Afternic should lower their commission to 5 % they are not really doing anything for the sale.
Again IMO
RH – Precisely. I’m glad I’m not the only one with the same point of view. The buyer’s anonymity is already a disadvantage for the seller; our only “weapon” is to study and research an offer after it has been made. With fixed pricing, that’s impossible.
Bang on advice. I’d only add that maybe a portion of a portfolio could be listed at fixed price, possibly names you’ve had a long time and don’t see anything changing in the marketplace that would make their price skyrocket. Or, set a fixed price that is an enduser type price for that name, with a lower minimum offer to keep the door open. But you’re right, if you list everything at fixex price, you might get caught if a keyword or term you have suddenly becomes more valuable due to a change in a market. You’d have to continually monitor that list.
While a fixed price is attractive for many buyers, it’s easy for a domain owner to sell it for too cheap. With Afternic, you get to price the asking price much higher and set up a low minimum. With Sedo, you have only a fixed price.
I’d price a small number of domains at fixed price to test the waters.
When you have a potential buyer that wants to complete the sale at Sedo, you may consider setting up a fixed price and using Sedo parking. However, it’s better to save on the commission by using Sedo’s escrow only service (around 3%) in this case.
Another potential problem with fixed prices, which has just happened to me, is that sometimes you may not be the owner of the domain anymore.
I had forgot to remove a name that was no longer mine from my Sedo account. Then someone bought it at a fixed price of $500 and sent instant payment.
Although of course buyer got his money back, I guess neither he nor Sedo were thrilled about it.
With the “Make offer” method, you have time to check that you are still the registrant of the domain.
Thanks for the valuable feedback everyone; it’s clear that fixed price sales have a lot of drawbacks.
@Acro: “I’m always after maximizing my sales revenue.”
Sales revenue depends on:
1: The number of domains sold, and
2: The average price of domains sold
Thus maximizing sales revenue = maximizing 1×2
Assuming that you are doing EVERYTHING in your power to maximize sales revenue today, you cannot improve your sales revenue after Sedo increases the level of commission. Thus you are the ultimate bearer of that additional cost.
Best regards
Michael
My above comment leads me to following question:
Where is the best alternative to Sedo in terms of service and pricing?
If we all move our domains to another auction and parking provider, Sedo might cancel its hike in commission.
Thanks in advance
Michael
I had a reverse “problem” with fixed prices recently. I had listed a domain for sale at a fixed price and couldn’t remember ever setting the fixed price. The problem wasn’t that big though since the sales price after commission was still about double the price what I actually would have accepted for the domain. It was a ccTLD I had held for about five years.
another Michael – Maximizing one’s revenue includes minimizing expenses. When expenses increase, alternate methods of cutting the loss need to be implemented, in the same sense that when gasoline costs $4/gallon in the US alternate energy vehicles are introduced.
Arco – ok, so in this case where do you see the best ‘alternate energy vehicle’ (alternative) to Sedo?
I have a very simple question. How do you get any sales on Sedo at all? I’ve got around 200 names listed and all I’ve ever received is 2 offers 2 years ago for domains that I then accepted but which the buyer never actually paid for. Sedo chased them of course, but no money was ever forthcoming. So what sort of domains actually get offers at Sedo?