Buy it now Vs Make an offer

By: RH

Aftermarket sites like Sedo and Afternic have been singing the praises of buy it now pricing. Sedo put out a report that said their research shows that domain owners sell 40 % more domains with buy it now pricing.

Sedo also added that buyers are more attracted to buy it now names. That one name that is priced can be compared to another name. That if a name is listed as make an offer, it cannot be compared.

You can read that pdf here for those who have not yet read it.

Sedo includes the percentage of sales that are buy it now when it puts out its weekly sales report. The percentage of buy it now sales has been coming in at 40 to 42 percent each week.

Afternic says: Pricing your domain names is the single most critical step you can take. Not sure about value? You can speak with a domain consultant at Afternic about pricing strategies and you can order a Domain Appraisal. Appraised names sell faster, and for higher average sales prices, than domains without appraisals.

Go Daddy includes the number of buy it now transactions in its monthy auction sales report. These numbers are similar to Sedo and run about 40 to 42 percent.

Now of course the aftermarket exchange sites want buy it now pricing. Its an easier and quicker process for them. They care about volume and buyers and sellers going back and forth on price slows things down. Buy it now pricing is crisp and clean, get in and get out of the sales process quickly.

It makes so much sense to them that Sedo gives you a discount in commission if you price your names at buy it now and park your domains with them.

But does it make sense for you the domain owner ?

There is no one right answer for that. You may have priced some brandable or future trend domains that get hot. News could break in another part of the world on a certain technology while you are sleeping. Smart domain buyers would check Sedo and Afternic and maybe buy your name for $500, that may have more value with the news out on the technology.

Michael Berkens from thedomains.com has commented many times on his blog that, buy it now is great for selling domains under $2500. He also wrote that he prefers to negotiate because if you list it for one price, you are never getting more than that price.

Of course Michael has a world class portfolio and he is a world class negotiator.

I believe a balanced approach works best for most domainers. You look at names that don't have tremendous upside and price them, those with a narrow focus, with comps in the same price range.

I have sold quite a few LLtv.net and LLtv.org, I price all the names I still own because I feel confident in the pricing to both move them and give the buyer a price they will like.

Top quality generics along with brandable domains who can have their value change overnight you leave at make an offer.

What if DuDu.com was priced at $10,000? It sold for $1million. What if CamRoulette.com was priced at $5000 ? It sold for $151,000.

The other thing to remember is to keep track of where you have buy it now pricing. You may have priced a name at Sedo for $8,000 and not remember you have it on Afternic at $5000.

Now with these expanded networks you may have priced a domain on Go Daddy premium listings at one price and you have it listed on Afternic. Afternic listings show up on Go Daddy in the search path, but the Go Daddy premium listing price would supercede the Afternic listing. I just checked one of mine and see that I have Afternic asking price of $2488 with floor of $1488, but its priced in Go Daddy at $1400 so you need to be on top of all your prices so that they are the same everywhere you have them listed.

Leave a comment and let us know if you lean more to buy it now or make an offer.