I’ve purchased a lot of domains over the years. Most of them have been directly from a registrar, but a handful of them were domain aftermarket sales at places like Sedo or Flippa. There’s one thing that has always irked me about certain listings. Make Offer.
I despise make offer listings. I have never purchased a domain from a make offer listing. I pass them by or filter them out of my searches entirely. If you cannot put a price on your domain, it tells me you either have no idea what it’s worth but you’re afraid you’ll take less than you should or you know exactly what it’s worth yet you’re still hoping for some doofus to come along and pay you more.
I once found myself communicating with a seller on Sedo about a domain for sale that included a listing price or best offer. I thought it was a great domain. It was a short four letter dotcom that was an acronym for a website idea that I had. I didn’t even bother with a best offer. I just offered to buy it at the asking price.
The seller took a couple weeks to respond which was annoying. In all that time I thought I was going to score a great domain name for a new site idea. When the seller finally replied, he informed me he’s already had offers higher than this price. OK, is this a sale or a make offer? I didn’t think domains for sale could have a listing price if it was not going to be honored.
I contemplated making a higher offer before reminding myself how I don’t want to reward people like this, so I deleted the domain from my watch list and let it go. This was a couple years ago. I just visited Sedo this morning and that same domain is still listed at that low price with bids in the double digits.
I suppose the seller gets around having to sell at his listing price because he includes a best offer option, which usually means he’ll accept less. In this case, he’s using the low price to attract people and get bids, but refusing to sell at his listing price or anything less. This might be an acceptable listing option on Sedo, but to me its unscrupulous behavior.
Getting back to the make offer chip on my shoulder. Here’s the thing. Not putting a price on your domain is simple greed. Maybe you’re unsure of the true value and you’re afraid to place a number on your domain because you think there’s a possibility you might earn more with an offer. Sound about right?
I would rather see an insane price and know right off the bat that I’m priced out of the market on a domain instead of dicking around back and forth with someone. You know what you’d accept. You know how I know? Because there’s certain offers you’d say no to, and others you’d accept. Decide on your lowest acceptable price and then adjust/add based on what it’s worth to you.
I have no idea what someone might value my domains at, but I also don’t care. The appraisal ranges could differ by hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but again, I don’t care. All of my domains for sale are listed with a price.
You might even call me greedy for the prices I ask, but that’s OK. I would disagree as I have reasons why I price them how I do, but at least you’ll always know immediately whether a domain I offer is in your price range or not.
There are no pie in the sky delusions about hitting the jackpot on a domain sale here. I see how many new tld’s are being introduced and I recognize all of the new options people have for purchasing new domains. If you really want to sell a domain, price it and let it go.
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