Things can get pretty disorganized pretty fast in the domain business. You may have names at 5 different registrars, you are listing them on 6 different aftermarket exchanges, you are transferring names for a special promotional price, etc…
For those that trade in volume it can really be tricky to keep up to date with offers, transfers and just the overall size of their portfolio. Organization is important as it can cost you money and possibly lead to being kicked out of aftermarket sites.
Namepros member initiated a thread the he simple titled “OUCH !” Stub does a lot of business with Go Daddy Auctions and he received an offer on a domain that he thought he still owned, he keeps his portfolio mostly at Dynadot. He actually had a real situation on his hands, he negotiated the deal but no longer owned the domain. On top of that to add to his stress level, Huge Domains owned the name now, he went and purchased the domain from them and sold to the buyer from Go Daddy. He lost $300.
Here is the initial post:
I just sold a domain at GoDaddy which I had dropped and it was picked up by HugeDomains. Had to go and buy the domain back from HugeDomains. Lost about $300 on the whole transaction. I’m usually super-careful about checking I still own the domain when negotiating a price at GoDaddy. This one seemed to have slipped thru the net. I actually went through the negotiations, accepted a counter-offer, went to Dynadot to transfer it back to GoDaddy, and found I didn’t own it any longer. Gulp!
I was on my first and final warning from GoDaddy about this. I never actually sold another domain. I got the enquiry, checked the whois, made a counter offer of $1M and told them I didn’t own the domain anymore. Please check the whois for the new owner. Seems the buyer didn’t like the counter-offer and reported it to GoDaddy. So now if I get an offer on a domain I no longer own, I just let the offer expire, and then quietly delete the domain.
Stub mentioned the warning from Go Daddy as he had a goof months earlier and they gave him a one time pass. After reading this I spoke to Paul Nicks who is the Senior director for the aftermarket at Go Daddy. I asked him what happens if people do have names listed for sale they no longer own, or negotiate a name they think they own but don’t ? He said they will give one warning but a second violation within the next 12 months may very well result in getting that customer’s auctions account closed.
Another way being disorganized can cost you is with different prices at different marketplaces. A few years ago and I am not going to mention the name, but a prominent domain investor was asking some experienced members on a six figure offer he received on a domain name, I was researching the term etc… I then see the domain is listed on Sedo with a buy it now of $2,500. I texted him and let him know and he quickly removed it, he completely forgot he had names listed buy it now on any marketplace. If his prospect came across that listing that would have been a big OUCH !
Along those same lines I was talking to someone a couple of weeks ago who was thrilled about a sale, and then not so much. He was leaving dinner with friends on his way to a movie, he quickly checked his email on his iPhone and saw an email from Go Daddy with the Congratulations your premium listing has sold. In his mind he had that name priced at $5,000 but it turned out he sold it for $1,200 minus the 30% commission. When he got home he checked how this was possible ? He had it listed for $5,000 but at Sedo, at Go Daddy he had a different price with a bigger commission rate.
You want to make sure that you first figure out where are you going to list your names ? Then you want to make sure that you price them the same on comparable marketplaces.
You may have your own sales site, names parked with Internet Traffic/DNS or Voodoo in which you can set a buy it now, Sedo, Afternic, Go Daddy Auctions, Flippa catalog etc…
It makes sense to price your names a bit cheaper on your own sales site, you will not be paying a commission. You want to have your Sedo, Afternic and Go Daddy prices in line, so there are no discrepancies and you don’t sell for less than what you had in your mind on a specific name.
Just open three browser tabs and look at your portfolio side by side on Sedo, Afternic, and Go Daddy that has been what I have done so that I can just go name to name and look at the pricing if I have buy it now listings.
Of course there are some that will tell you never price a domain, always list them “Make Offer” That will alleviate one of the organizational problems.
Some people always ask what people use to organize their portfolio ? I use Voodoo, whether the names are parked there or not, I find the system there very good and very easy to use. I like the folders you can create so you can break your names down into as many sub portfolios that you want.
The other thing that is a good idea to help you with organizational type detail, create your own terms of service for yourself. Actually write it out, think about things and create a standard protocol for:
- What do I do when I get an offer, do I have a canned response ?
- How many days do I wait to follow-up on a domain inquiry ?
- Am I willing to offer a lease or payment plan, is my agreement up to standards ?
- Do I know the number of offers each domain has received ?
- When do I review upcoming renewals, 30 days before, 60 days before etc…?
- How often do I renew my parked domains to make sure there are no inappropriate ads relating to Intellectual Property ?
- I will renew my accounts for sold or dropped domains how often ?
The more domains you own the bigger the task is but it can cost you money if you are not organized.
Great post, just the kick in the butt I needed.