Archive for the ‘Afternic’ Category
Here’s why NameMedia sells more of its own domains than clients’ domains.
Every once in a while I feel like going on a rant. So here goes.
There’s been a lot of talk on both my blog and others about NameMedia, which operates BuyDomains and AfternicDLS.
NameMedia owns its own portfolio of domains which it sells through its platform. It also allows other domain owners (i.e., you) to sell domains via its AfternicDLS system, which then syndicates through its sales network.
Here’s the issue people raise: when NameMedia used to report its weekly sales, most of the domains that sold were NameMedia’s own domains. Why was there not a proportionate number of customer domains selling?
I’ll tell you why. Because NameMedia has a disproportionate amount of reasonably priced and categorized domains for sale on its premium distribution network.
Priced (reasonably) and categorized
When you list with Afternic you have a choice of listing a price or as “make offer”. If you list an actual price your domain is much more likely to sell to an end user.
You can also categorize your domain. Domains that are categorized are 2.8 times more likely to sell than uncategorized listings.
So if you haven’t priced your domains and categorized them, you won’t sell nearly as many as NameMedia does. And if you don’t price your domains within the end-user sweet spot of under $5k (more like $1k-$2k), it will be even harder to sell.
Promotion Levels
You have three choices when it comes to selling your domains with NameMedia through AfternicDLS.
The first is Basic Distribution. This means your domains are just listed on Afternic.
I suspect that most people who complain about lack of success with AfternicDLS choose basic distribution and don’t price their domains.
There’s absolutely no way you can sell the same percentage of your domains on AfternicDLS as NameMedia does if this is how you’re listing your domains.
The second level is Expanded Distribution, which syndicates your listings to 20 partners. This is definitely a step up from basic listings, and all things being equal your domain on Expanded is three times as likely to sell as on Basic.
But the magic is in the third listing level, Premium Distribution. These domains also show up when people search for domains at Network Solutions and Register.com. More importantly, customers are able to buy the domains directly at those registrars and instantly get the domain in their account.
Domains listed in Premium Distribution have 18x the sales velocity of domains in Basic Distribution.
So let’s assume you have actually priced all of your domains reasonably and categorized them well. Let’s also assume your domains are comparable to NameMedia’s own portfolio and you have as many domains at the company owns. But you list them on Basic. NameMedia is still going to outsell you 18-to-1.
You’re really comparing apples to oranges if you gripe about that.
Now there’s only one advantage NameMedia has to you if you actually use the Premium level and all other factors are kept constant: NameMedia’s own domains are syndicated through the GoDaddy registration path. That is not currently an option for its customers (although you can do that directly with GoDaddy).
But isn’t there a salesperson conflict of interest?
This is a fair question. Wouldn’t NameMedia’s phone sales reps have an incentive to sell the company’s own domains rather than yours?
The answer is yes, only if you don’t price your domains correctly and list them at the Premium level.
Sales reps make the same commission selling one of your names as one of NameMedia’s. But let’s put yourself in a sales rep’s shoes.
Phone rings. Person is interested in two domains, one of which is a customer domain and one is the company’s own domain. I can quote the buyer a price on the NameMedia domain and sell it to them instantly, which is a big advantage for me as a salesperson. If the AfternicDLS customer has priced the domain, I can quote the price and sell it instantly only if it is priced and listed at Premium level.
Now the customer starts to bargain. Both domains are priced at $3,000 and the seller wants to spend $2,000. For the NameMedia domain I can run down the hall to my sales manager and see if he will let it go for $2,000.
I can’t do that with the client’s domain. Or can I? Actually, yes. If the client put a floor price on his listing, I can negotiate directly with the buyer without even contacting the seller.
So, in a nut shell, here’s how to get a NameMedia sales rep to sell your domain on part with its own:
-Price it reasonably
-Add a floor price
-Choose Premium Distribution so they can sell and transfer the domain immediately to the buyer
The bottom line
Have you ever purchased a product at Amazon.com that was sold by a third party? It’s interesting. Amazon actually lists its competitors and their prices next to the product. You can either buy it from Amazon or buy it from a partner and Amazon takes a commission. They don’t discriminate; if a third party seller offers it for less they’ll actually list the competitor above Amazon.com in the purchase options.
It’s the same thing here. If you compare apples to apples, NameMedia will sell the same proportion of your domains as it does its own.
I’ll leave you with one thought: if NameMedia sells so few client domains, why does it spend so much money courting domainers to sell on its system? Surely it should just cut domainers out of the picture and concentrate on selling its own domains. That would save a lot of hassles.
Hmm. I hope the tides never change so much that NameMedia considers doing that. That would be a big loss for domainers.
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
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Related posts:
- In Battle Over Retail Distribution, NameMedia Leaving Sedo in the Dust
- NameMedia (BuyDomains, ActiveAudience) buys Afternic Domain Name Marketplace
- 10 Reasons You’re Not Selling More Domains
Rates are low, but domain prices are high.
If you’ve shopped for a certificate of deposit rate recently, you were probably disappointed by the results. Bankrate reports the typical 6-month CD is returning just 0.85%. Perhaps you should invest in domain names instead? One of NameMedia’s (runs Afternic and BuyDomains) top reported sales this week was for CDRate.com at $42,500. The domain gets some traffic according to Compete.com.
NameMedia releases only a small fraction of its weekly sales, but here are some other notable ones from the past week:
superwifi.com $10,000.00
indoorairquality.com $8,790.00
InternetMarketingBusiness.com $8,000.00
OnlinePersonalTraining.com $7,500.00
ecru.com $5,000.00
RESIDENTIALREHAB.com $3,000.00
storagedata.com $3,000.00
duiflorida.com $2,800.00
shapesolutions.com $2,799.00
twothirds.com $2,750.00
woofipedia.com $2,750.00
attractclients.com $2,750.00
AdventureBikes.com $2,500.00
MrCamper.com $2,500.00
YouAward.com $2,495.00
RegistryCleanerDOWNLOAD.com $2,488.00
everythingsolar.com $2,399.00
motivationalinterviewing.com $2,200.00
TruckOff.com $2,088.00
ChairDirect.com $2,000.00
zahnkosmetik.com $2,000.00
DiamondStaff.com $1,895.00
kartwheel.com $1,860.00
cloudhouse.com $1,600.00
FlexLending.com $1,595.00
iheartsports.com $1,562.00
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
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New API makes it easier for large domainers to manage inventory on NameMedia sales network.
Domain name sales venue Afternic has released a new product for large domain name portfolio owners called Afternic Portfolio Manager. The company bills the product as an easy-to-use domain distribution and inventory management tool for selling domain names.
Among its features is the ability to instantaneously add, edit, and remove domains from Afternic and its distribution partners, such as Register.com and Network Solutions. While the existing Afternic management interface works well for most portfolios, the new web service can handle larger portfolios.
TurnCommerce, the company behind NameBee, has been using Afternic Portfolio Manager over the past month to manage is 200,000+ domain name inventory. The company reports a 20% increase in domain sales through Afternic since it started using the new product.
Afternic customers interested in using the the new manager should contact Afternic support or their account manager for details and access.
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
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NameMedia scores six figure domain name sale.
DNForum owner Adam Dicker has sold the domain name Pig.com for $125,000 with the help of NameMedia. Dicker purchased the domain name for $50,000 in 2006. In 2007 he was hit with a UDRP case brought by New Pig Corporation, but of course he prevailed in the case.
The company also sold one of its own domain names, Tortillas.net, for $9,300. If that looks familiar, it’s because the domain name sold through its listing on Sedo. NameMedia owns Afternic.com and BuyDomains, but also sells domain names through various other platforms.
Here are some other .com domain names sold by NameMedia over the past week:
barrywhite.com $ 20,000.00
totalmarketing.com $ 15,000.00
companyloans.com $ 13,000.00
techhelper.com $ 9,000.00
hotelroma.com $ 8,750.00
buyglasses.com $ 8,100.00
shownic.com $ 8,030.00
militaryantiques.com $ 7,500.00
HeadChefs.com $ 6,000.00
EuroLotteries.com $ 5,600.00
BagCheck.com $ 5,500.00
dealmonster.com $ 5,300.00
corefour.com $ 5,300.00
icountry.com $ 5,088.00
twofer.com $ 5,000.00
privity.com $ 5,000.00
rockup.com $ 4,500.00
SportsOrganizer.com $ 4,500.00
avivar.com $ 4,488.00
hostfirst.com $ 4,400.00
novasystems.com $ 4,188.00
reliablenews.com $ 4,000.00
WirelessHut.com $ 3,999.00
Notable non-.com sales include:
club.org $ 7,500.00
laserprinter.net $ 5,088.00
atn.net $ 5,000.00
netpage.org $ 4,488.00
fundraise.net $ 4,200.00
findajob.net $ 4,188.00
eyeware.net $ 4,188.00
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
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Membership offer good through the end of the month.
Afternic is again offering a free membership, a $19.95 value. The membership allows you to list domain names for sale on AfternicDLS, including Expanded and Premium promotion. Using these listing options enables you to get your domain name listed on a number of sites. Afternic’s partner sites include GoDaddy Auctions, Register.com, Network Solutions, and of course sister site BuyDomains. Premium promotion allows you to list domain names with fixed prices on various sites using “instant fulfillment”, where people can instantly purchase and take delivery of the domain names.
If you already list your domain names on Sedo, I recommend also listing them on AfternicDLS. The network reaches the end user market and the company extensively advertises to small businesses. The company says it processes 35 million monthly domain searches.
To get the free annual membership, send an email to PremiumPromotion@Afternic.com or call their Service Center at 1-866-351-9586 (US), +1 781-839-7990 (Worldwide) and mention the email offer for a free membership. The offer runs through the end of the month.
© DomainNameWire.com 2010.
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Related posts:
- Afternic Offers Free Membership in April
- AfternicDLS: 10x More Likely To Sell
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Company offers free membership through the end of April.
AfternicDLS is offering free sellers memberships — but the offer ends April 30.
Afternic usually charges $19.95 to become a seller on its platform, and $1.00 for a buyer-only membership. Its chief competitor Sedo doesn’t charge for accounts.
However, given Afternic’s historic focus on sales instead of domain parking, the fee makes sense. The seller fee limits the amount of users who merely flood the system with low value domains. The buyer fee validates the identity of buyers.
To take advantage of the deal, you can email PremiumPromotion (at) Afternic.com or call the company’s service center at 1-866-830-6451 (US), +1 339-222-5139 (Worldwide).
I highly recommend people list their domains for sale on both Afternic and Sedo, as they each have different reach. Afternic, through its parent NameMedia and the BuyDomains site, focuses on end users. Sedo leans more toward the domain investor market, although it also has a number of end user clients.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Register.com agreement latest win for NameMedia.
Today NameMedia — which operates Afternic and BuyDomains — announced that it has signed Register.com as a premium promotion partner. That means that visitors to Register.com can purchase any of the domains at the “premium” promotion level listed on AfternicDLS in a simple purchase with instant fulfillment. It also means domains registered at Register.com are eligible to be listed at the premium level on the service.
Both NameMedia and the other heavyweight domain name marketplace Sedo have been trying to expand their reach using distribution agreements with instant fulfillment in which someone can buy a premium domain name just like registering a regular domain name. This is viewed as the holy grail of aftermarket domain name marketing.
So far, NameMedia has locked up Network Solutions and Register.com. All Sedo has nailed down so far is sister registrar 1&1. If the battle of retail distribution is in inking these agreements, which platform signs up the most top 10 registrars over the next 12 months will win.
That’s not to say Sedo can’t also sign deals with Network Solutions and Register.com. However, Sedo is at a great disadvantage because most domains on its platform aren’t priced. In order for instant purchase and fulfillment to work, domains must be priced. Sedo has been trying to get more of its inventory priced, but it’s a slow and uphill battle.
The problem for Sedo is that most people will only list a fixed price at one platform. If someone has a domain with a fixed price at Afternic, they don’t want to have a fixed price at Sedo too in case the domain happens to sell on both platforms prior to removing the inventory after a sale.
By nabbing Network Solutions and Register.com, NameMedia has captured two of the high cost, premium registrars. Of the other top 10 registrars, Go Daddy and Moniker are the most important. What NameMedia lacks right now is domainer inventory, since few domainers keep their domains at Network Solutions and Register.com. Go Daddy offers both inventory and distribution, although it may decide to lock out other providers in favor of its own premium listing service. Moniker has substantial premium inventory that NameMedia needs to tap into, although it lacks end user distribution.
The next 12 months will be critical in domain name aftermarket distribution. Let’s see if Sedo responds.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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Escrow.com selected as best domain name escrow service.
Escrow.com is the best escrow service for domain names, according to a survey of over 500 domain name owners.
In the 5th Annual Domain Name Wire Survey, 55% of respondent picked Escrow.com as the top service. Sedo’s escrow service came in at number two with 24%, followed by Moniker at 13%. Afternic’s escrow service came in a distant fourth. EscrowDNS.com also received votes. EscrowDNS.com was recently sold and is in transition.
Domain name escrow services vary in process, but they all help domain buyers and sellers transact while a third party holds funds.
Escrow.com and Moniker offer advanced escrow services, such as purchases where payments are spread out over time.
Pricing depends on the complexity, but here is the standard pricing for a modest domain and an expensive one at each service:
$5,000 Domain
Escrow.com $162.50
Moniker $149.00
Sedo $150.00
Afternic $150.00
$75,000 Domain
Escrow.com $667.50
Moniker $697.50
Sedo $2,250.00
Afternic $150.00
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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With help of $30k sale, NameMedia clocks another solid sales week.
It’s another week and another $600,000 plus in domain name sales for powerhouse NameMedia, which operates BuyDomains and Afternic. The company sold 327 .com domain names at a median price of $1,000 and 78 other domain names for a median price of $794.
The top sale for the week was Vivant.com for $30,000. Although the domain hasn’t transferred to the new owner yet, a search for “Vivant” on Google reveals a number of potential buyers, including a skincare pharmaceuticals company.
Other notable sales include SpinalInjury.com for $13,000 and Raise.org for $12,800. Another interesting sale is DomainTools.net at $2,000. I wonder if the popular domain research site bought that domain.
Here’s a complete list of .com sales over $3,000:
vivant.com $30,000.00
spinalinjury.com $13,000.00
kynos.com $6,988.00
puredance.com $5,900.00
badz.com $5,400.00
thephonestore.com $5,000.00
auditprogram.com $4,995.00
babygourmet.com $4,788.00
domainscentral.com $4,522.00
stellarservices.com $4,500.00
MobileDashboards.com $4,490.00
my-party.com $4,388.00
excessmedia.com $4,188.00
ig8.com $4,000.00
collegereadiness.com $3,988.00
atego.com $3,825.00
lono.com $3,750.00
zimb.com $3,725.00
alwaysactive.com $3,588.00
aceacademy.com $3,588.00
generalfreight.com $3,500.00
lifestaff.com $3,488.00
ecoheater.com $3,350.00
westernsky.com $3,300.00
classycams.com $3,188.00
liquidx.com $3,188.00
innovativestrategies.com $3,188.00
driventosucceed.com $3,188.00
seveso.com $3,000.00
sbsm.com $3,000.00
sanibelrentals.com $3,000.00
great-falls.com $3,000.00
Here are non-.com sales over $2,000:
raise.org $12,800.00
CulinaryArts.org $4,200.00
metros.net $2,788.00
europetravel.net $2,400.00
cyberwarrior.net $2,288.00
revu.net $2,100.00
wirelessheadphones.net $2,000.00
domaintools.net $2,000.00
investmentbankers.org $2,000.00
professionalliability.net $2,000.00
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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NameMedia turning in some blockbuster sales.
What’s going on at NameMedia, which runs BuyDomains and Afternic? They usually sell domains for under $5,000. Sure, they sell some more expensive ones, but we rarely hear about them.
The first bombshell was the sale of Ticket.com for $1.525 million. Personally, I don’t understand why this domain is worth so much, but my hats off to the sale. (Tickets.com is worth a lot, but Ticket.com is worth much less).
Then the company sold WV.com for $145,000, another strong sale.
Now it also appears the company sold Luck.com for $675,000. That sale came across Afternic’s domain sales RSS feed a few days ago. I’ve been trying to confirm it with both NameMedia and the seller, but neither have responded. The domain was owned by a Florida man, but its whois record changed to privacy on October 8.
So that’s $2.345 million in big sales on just three domains. At a typical median price of $1,200, that’s equivalent to nearly 2,000 of NameMedia’s typical domain sales. Not bad.
© DomainNameWire.com 2009.
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- Someone lost a $250,000 lottery ticket
- NameMedia Sells over $800,000 in Domain Names Last Week
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