"It's a unique one-of-a-kind asset so please stop quoting those silly Estibot, Compete and Overture scores. They only narrow your vision and rob you of seeing a domain's full potential."
I stumbled on Larry Fischer's blog the other day and decided to research some of the bigger sales he's reported and see where these names end up. And the answer is with end users. When you see who bought them, you can immediately see why and the impact on their business that the equivalent amount of marketing and advertising could never buy. Not to mention instant category leadership for a new company entering a crowded market.
Take "Files.com Sells for $725,000" on Sedo on March 29, 2010. It's already become one of the leading cloud storage and file sharing sites on the web. A global company, they already operate on Files.co.uk, Files.de Files.fr, Files.com.au, Files.at, Files.com.sg, and Files.co.hu. One thing about domain names for Global branding is the name must have meaning everywhere across languages and cultures. Also a simple icon of a file folder speaks the name in the viewer's mind which is ideal for apps as well as branding on the desktop. Owning one of these kind of names is golden
kip.com which sold for 80,00 in the same auction is now the official address of the the leading innovator in wide format printing and image capture technology. KIP is a major provider of wide format digital solutions for the architectural, engineering and manufacturing industries- of the same name. Ever done renovations to your house? Chance are the plans were reproduced on a KIP machine. There are 100s of thousands of such printed items being rendered on these 100K plus KIP machines every day. So what's 80K for that?
Most recently the $46K purchase of Frank Schilling's MahjongGames.com was based solely on search equity and memorability and simply redirects to the owner's legacy shop MahjongGames4all.com. That owner, Zygomatic, is a Netherlands portfolio holder of developed sites that sell products. Marjong is also a game known under one name and played globally every day by tens of millions of people.
Most recently the $46K purchase of Frank Schilling's MahjongGames.com was based solely on search equity and memorability and simply redirects to the owner's legacy shop MahjongGames4all.com. That owner, Zygomatic, is a Netherlands portfolio holder of developed sites that sell products. Marjong is also a game known under one name and played globally every day by tens of millions of people.
At $30K in the same 2010 Sedo auction hba.com became the home of upscale design firm HBADesign. Leading the hospitality interior design industry since 1964, HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates remains keenly attuned to the pulse of changing industry trends governed by today's sophisticated traveler. A look at their home page shows really quickly why image matters more than search results here. They too have offices around the world and certainly look like they can afford whatever it would take to get the one and only name that matches theirs before someone else with that matching name did. It's a unique one-of-a-kind asset so please stop quoting those silly Estibot, Compete and Overture scores. They only narrow your vision and rob you of seeing a domain's full potential.
The point: So far it's the end users who are paying these BIG BUCKS for instant credibility and branding.
The point: So far it's the end users who are paying these BIG BUCKS for instant credibility and branding.
Photo: Larry Fischer via DNJournal.
3 comments:
Nicely researched. I didn't jnbow about files.com and it's variants, but what a superb example of branding through domains.
As for Estibot etc., well, I never did see the point.
The end user market is the only one worth pitching to, unles you're flipping newly registered domains to domainers for a few bucks at a time.
Problem is with domainers when you guys think you know everything about every nitche industry out there. You guys cannot possibly understand net and gross revenue on all the business types and your domain pricing alot of time seems to be guess work and assumption or even hype that a particular nitche is way more valuable than it actually is.
Result: a way overpriced domain that would take years to become profitable if purchased and developed at that price.
As a buyer, I'm not saying all domainers out there are like this, but I've come across my share that are out of their mind. And there is a reason why they are still sitting on these domains 10 years plus and will continue to for another 10 years and by that time the industry could change to the point where their value is garabage.
Change is the one thing you can always count on unfortunatley. I don't understand why not to sell to a legit offer. Actually I guess I do understand. Some of you domainers probably have so much money now that you don't know what to do with it all. So it is simply your perogative to "name your own price". So if that is the reality, just say "I am God and that is why I am overvaluing my domain" not because you think you know a damn thing about my nitche or anyone elses nitche!
It is Your kind of jealous attitude that kills the domain industry.
Underpricing and overpricing does not exist.
It is nobody's business what people pay. You want something? Pay what's asked for, or try to negotiate. If You can't afford it, then drop it. It is a basic right to set our own prices.
Value a is strictly individual thing, and a number of people may agree upon what elements they take into consideration and what algorithm they prefer. However, it is seller and buyer who set the price.
Value is always subjective.
For who doesn't want to invest what it takes: Don't go into any business.
Please do stop blaming succesful people.
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