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AUCTION RESERVE APPRAISALS CHEAP!

Have you ever felt you were bucked off the rodeo horse when the gate opened after setting your reserves too low or too high for a domain auction? You’re not alone. I’ve been seeing a lot of comments on blogs and forums lately from domain sellers worried about setting auction reserve prices too low. Worse, I’ve heard complaints from many domainers that their domains were sold for way less than they wanted. Nothing makes a domainer madder than having a prized domain sold for peanuts in a domain auction. I don’t have to name names for this fact to be broadcast. It has been discussed and is a current topic of discussion in many circles.

It seems that many of the complaints stem from the auction sites requesting that the domainers set their reserve prices at a lower price in order to get them “into the live domain auction”. Some auction services have justified this practice by stating “let the market set the price,” convincing the seller that a lot of buyers will be participating in their live domain auction and drive the “good domains” to their highest market value. Unfortunately, this isn’t always true. Many domain auctions just don’t have the volume of bidders needed to “push” a valuable domain to its reasonable selling price. Most reserves set by sellers aren’t set at the “reasonable” selling price, they’re set at some significantly lower price intended to “entice” bidders.

I personally have had several domains purchased at live domain auctions and in private auctions where only one bidder hit my reserve price and won the domain at my lowest price because of a lack of other bidders. However, sometimes I lowered my price at the “sage advice” of the auction producers. No problem really, I just wanted to see what results would occur based on the “participation of the auction bidders” analysis of my domains’ value. I learned immediately that the smaller the bidding pool, the less chance you had at selling your domain at a fair market price.

I wasn’t disappointed on my sales, because I paid “out of the basket” (virgin registrations) prices for them, so I was making some great profits on $1000+ sales. However, what about those sellers who paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for their domains and sold them in the auction for the same price or even less?

Setting your reserve price is the most important part of placing your domain up for sale on an auction, so it’s important that you get your reserve price near what you want to receive from the auction. Did you ever think why an domain auction service wants you to lower your reserve? Let’s examine the possible reasons why:

1. Auction websites like to see sales. They hope your domain will sell for a lot, but either way, they’re making money. The lower the reserve, the more bidders on the domain (everyone hopes). Nobody wants to see a nice domain with a super low reserve price to lure in bids, and then see that domain sell with one bidder.

Hmmm… there aren’t any other reasons I can think of on why the auction services want you to submit a low reserve. However, with a low reserve, you’ll maybe get one interested party who will buy your domain for a price you didn’t want to sell it for… However, it happens all the time. I’d hazard a guess that at least 40% of all sellers of domains at an auction, live or otherwise, were disappointed at the final sale price. In fact, I’d say that at least 40% of all domains sold at auction sold at the reserve price because there was only one bidder.

I’d say it’s time for a “Domain Auction Reserve Revolution”. Why not let the auction websites know you’re not going to play their game to line their pockets at your expense? You want to be paid what your domain is rightfully worth, right? The facts are that your domain will be sold in a year or two to somebody else for twice as much as what somebody paid you for it at an auction now.

For the New Year of 2008, I would like to see domainers setting a fair market price as their reserve, and let the buyers pay what they know the domain is worth. In this respect, if you want your domains to be appraised for the MINIMUM reserve price that you should ask in an auction, Successclick is offering a special “auction reserve appraisal” for your domains at only $2 a piece in bulk lots of 50 or more. Don’t go into a domain auction and get your pants pulled down around your ankles when someone buys your domain at a ridiculously low price. Contact us now to appraise your domains and help you set your reserve auction prices. Write your request today at:

Successclick (at) gmail.com