Successclick, Domain Monetization

ARE DOMAIN APPRAISALS USELESS?

(This blogpost was inspired by Mike Berkens at TheDomains.com) As a human being, with blood coursing through my veins, which goes through my brain and helps me THINK, I can give a decent professional opinion as a domain appraiser for five years on the right course to follow in finding the value in your domain portfolio. In this blogpost, I will reveal some huge money-saving secrets on finding out the estimated value of your domains.

First warning: If you rely on automated domain appraisal sites to find the value of your domains, you’re going to come up short. There are over a hundred different valuation variables to consider when looking at a domain. It’s not “how many characters?”, “does it have a hyphen?”, “how many google results?”, “what’s its Alexa rating?” and several other “basic” criteria that everyone thinks are the only ways to find the value of a domain. However, these are not reliable ways to understand the value of a domain if the process is “automated”.

You need an experienced domain appraiser to personally look at your domain, and that person has to have a marketing/advertising background, along with a good sense of who, what, where, what, how, and why.

For example, I bought a domain name two years ago from just reading a news article. I liked the way the reporter framed the “description” of the product (here’s a tip for domainers that would cost them over $1000 to find out and I’m horrified that I’m revealing this secret right now… dang it when I’m in a good mood!):

The domain name I bought was phrased by a reporter as a generic product, and has garnered me over six purchase requests as the domain is beginning to mature this year. As I write this comment, I have an interested buyer for the domain in the low five figures. This is a domain I bought OOTB – a $7 domain.

So understanding domain names and their multitude of monetization paths, growth, trends, maturity, and overall meaning relating to profit is an extremely detailed process, and it can’t be automated.

If you have a premium domain name you believe is a winner for you, pay a domain consultant who will MANUALLY determine what the domain is worth.

Domainconsultant.com (Adam Strong and Frank Michlick’s service) are competent and reputable domain appraisers. They’re high-end so be prepared to open your wallet, but they have the hands-on experience to know what a domain is worth and are among the best in the business. Your ROI with them will be quickly realized.

There are other domain appraisers to look to for hands-on appraisals of your domains for under $100. Rob Sequin is great, Jothan Frakes, Sevan Derderian, Acro, and if you need bulk appraisals for your portfolio at an affordable price, try Successclick.com.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Before you have your domain portfolio appraised (very costly), have it “EVALUATED” first. You can a domain  consultant sort through your portfolio and point out what to choose or lose, put to sleep or keep.  Successclick.com is the only service that offers EVALUATION services to determine what domains truly have some value. This is a great service to use to prevent buying too many domains under some “niche” or “pattern-buying” spasm that causes you to buy hundreds of domains that are… ummm… worthless.

Domain buying can actually be considered an addiction if you aren’t educated in what you’re doing. I’ve seen it (and done it) with many of my beginning domain investing clients. They think they have a line on some “treasure chest of riches” wrapped up in some semantic phrasing or niche that ultimately just gets ridiculous.  Intervention is needed!

If you’re on a domain-buying tear, and following a pattern to try to capture the “market” on this domain niche idea, it’s best to first get some EVALUATION of those domains before you buy more than 10-20 of them.

Successclick.com charges only $.50 per domain evaluation, and we make it easy to understand.  We’ve evaluated more than 2 million domains since 2004, and those evaluations have saved some of the top domain companies and domainers millions of dollars in useless purchases and appraisal costs.

Bottom Line: Don’t bother with ANY online automated domain appraisal tools, even if offered by respected domain sellers/auction sites.   Also, you must remember a domain appraisal only lasts for six months, because times and trends change fast, potentially reducing or increasing your domain’s value.

A good barometer to follow to help you decide when to have a domain appraised can be summed up in the following steps:

1) If you get more than one inquiry to buy your domain within three months

2) If you are getting ready to buy a domain name, and the seller wants five figures or more.

3) If you are in love with one particular domain and you just want to know if your love is true, or you’re delusional.

SUMMATION:  Get your portfolio EVALUATED first, before considering any appraisal. An evaluation is very inexpensive (fifty cents per domain) and will tell you which domains to delete or appraise further.