In this post I am talking about auctions held on domain forums.
Over the last year I have noticed that many prefer to buy a name in an auction rather than fixed price. I have placed domains for sale fixed price and no interest. When I placed the same name in an auction starting at $1, I got more than what the fixed price was some of the time. The biggest example was a .us that I offered for $20. It was a product name that I offered on Namepros and DN Forum a few times. I then started a $1 auction $2 increments on Namepros and the auction would not end. Usually auctions on domain forums run for 72 hours after the last bid. This auction went on for weeks, the name sold for $300. Now I know $300 is not the biggest deal in the world and that’s not the point.
The name was offered many times for $20 and never any bids. But starting at $1 the name went to $300. Now this does not always happen. But I have seen more times than not that a name went for higher than the fixed price offering.
The .tv extension has had a tremendous boost in activity on Namepros over the last few months. The area for the most part was fixed price with little action. Then a few started running auctions, more people seeing the success followed.
Some of the things people have said to me about the auctions were interesting too. “I only bid because I saw so and so bid, he is a player so it must be good” or “Once I got started I was not going to lose out for another $10.
I watched Drug.tv get started at $10 and two people in 10 minutes bid the name up to over $1700. It sold for $1960. IMO if that name started out Drug.tv for sale $1900, I don’t think it gets a bid. The auction at the wholesale level seems to be working for those looking to get some liquidity.
A lot of factors can work to your favor if you get lucky. One I never anticipated, genuine dislike between two bidders. One day I get a call and someone asks what I think about a domain. I was not really interested but the person asked if I would bid $150 because they bid $140 and they were top bidder. I asked,”Why don’t you want the name ?” They said that they overbid and were short on money. I asked “Why did you overbid ?” They replied because I hate that bastard and wanted him not to get the name. Luckily while on the phone someone else bid $150.
I realized there are so many factors that are at play with an auction that can really move the price.
Have you had success with auctions at the wholesale level ? Leave a comment.
I never really tried selling at the wholesale level. Maybe I should try for some names.