I’m still cleaning out my niches, and these are all the domains left in my LEGAL category.

Just to be a guy showing confidence in his select maturing domains, and not trying to “gouge” any new domain investors who want to build their portfolio with some decent domains for low dollar investments, I’m doing a loss-leader Blog article listing of my domains, bringing in readers to tell them:

“You want these, and in a few weeks, if you subscribe to my Domain Sales email newsletter to be implemented soon, you’re going to see great domains for less than $300, most for $99 or less.”  So stay tuned!

Here’s the legal bunch… check out the geo’s on these!

BIG HOWDEE DOO FOR ALL DOMAINERS — ALL DOMAINS GET DISCOUNT OF $100 OFF THE PRINTED PRICE — that means subtract $100 off each domain price and that’s’ the BIN.

NOTE: THESE DOMAINS PRICES ARE ONLY GOOD UNTIL MARCH 15, 2010.

DomainIndustryAttorney.com – $399
DomainLawServices.com – $299
DomainIndustryAttorneys.com – $299
DomainIndustryLawyer.com – $199 (price lowered $800 on 3/5/2010 to see if Ari or Berryhill are watching!)
DomainIndustryLawyers.com – $299
LasVegasDivorce.org – $299
WyomingLaw.org – $299

CriminalLawAttorney.org – $199 (real price – $99 with the $100 discount)
ATTORNEYPENNSYLVANIA.COM – $599
ATTORNEYINFORMATION.NET – $199
LOSANGELESATTORNEY.ORG – $299
AUTOACCIDENTATTORNEY.ORG – $299 – SOLD
JUDGEMENTCOLLECTOR.COM – $299
TAXLAWPARTNERS.COM – $199 – SOLD
USLAWPARTNERS.COM – $199
PERSONALINJURYASSOCIATES.COM – $299 (price lowered $100 more 3/5/2010)
PROBATEGROUP.COM – $299
PROBATELITIGATORS.COM – $199
PROBATELITIGATOR.COM – $199
AMERICANTAXLAWYER.COM – $199
ESTATELITIGATORS.COM – $199
ESTATELITIGATOR.COM – $199
TAXLAWADVISORS.COM – $199
TAXLAWADVISOR.COM – $199
LAGUNALAWOFFICE.COM – $199
NEWJERSEYATTORNEY.ORG – $199 – SOLD

REMEMBER — see a domain you like? It’s $100 off each printed price.

NOTE:  AND FOR THE BIG BOYS AND SMARTEST INVESTORS, HERE IS THE BULK SALE DEAL THAT WILL MAKE YOU DROOL :  If you buy before anyone jumps on either of these domains, then ALL THE DOMAINS ABOVE IN BULK – YES, ALL THE DOMAINS (26) CAN BE BOUGHT AT BULK FOR ONLY (UPDATED 3/5/2010)  $2,000. (TOTAL CHERRY PICK PRICE WOULD BE $6, 100+).

BULK PRICE gives you savings of $5,500.  Some of these domains get CPC, but all are killer brands, especially the geos.(I’ll give this offer for only 48 hours after post):

Act fast – email me at successclick [at] g m a i l . c o m

This prices are only good until March 10, 2010

As usual, there are more than two domains that have great SE relevant page counts, and some have decent PPC. If you have to ask, don’t buy it. The price is so low because I don’t want to work at getting data…

Have fun!

However, what I’ve just read is that my domains below, which could have been purchased for $100 (I think that’s the minimum bid), (UPDATE- During Moniker’s Extended Auction, the minimum to buy any domain is $300) were not sold. Really? Am I that lame now? Should I close my doors and say “hell, I have no idea what people want”? Or should I take about 2 minutes to analyze the reality of this failure by the domain auction services to sell obviously generic brandable domains for $300 or more?

I chose the latter.  I analyzed the situation and thankfully, came back to my ongoing rant I’ve been screaming for over five years now:

DOMAINS ARE NOT SOLD AT VALUE UNLESS YOU GET END USERS INVOLVED. Obviously, the domain conferences have stopped trying to reach out to “end users”. Now it’s even become a “nice domains for cheap” isn’t enough for other domainers to get involved — they’re all in “sell mode”. So, for the auction sites,  it’s a “come kiss your sister and cousin, they’re cute” sales plan. “Let me hook you up with your aunt, and you can pay me 15% of the escort fee.” Ewww.  In other words, we’re selling to each other. There are no widespread “end user” markets being approached, educated and lured into these domain auctions. It’s a wholesaler’s game, and WE ARE IT. So all the domainers you know are aware of your domains, but there’s a few hitches in their expectations: Every dollar they spend on a domain is considered carefully. If they don’t have a buildout or resale plan in their heads already, your NO RESERVE DOMAIN, regardless of how wonderful it is, will not be sold at these auctions.  Sure, the one word naturals will sell, even in ccTLD’s… hooray for that.

But here’s my list of ZERO RESERVE DOMAINS, which would have been bought for $100 $300 if you were the only bidder, seemingly a reality at this point:

wirelessaccess.net, $0   (WIRELESS ACCESS . NET)
worldsubjects.com, $0  (WORLD SUBJECTS . COM)
learningcompanies.com, $0  (LEARNING COMPANIES . COM)
livecomfortable.com, $0  (LIVE COMFORTABLE . COM)
securealarmservice.com, $0 (SECURE ALARM SERVICE . COM)
simplewebservices.com, $0 (SIMPLE WEB SERVICES . COM)
perfectspanish.com, $0 (PERFECT SPANISH . COM)  SOLD FROM THIS BLOG POST, DOMAIN NOT AT AUCTION
bargaincruiseships, $0 (BARGAIN CRUISE SHIPS . COM)
unlimitedwebservices.com, $0 (UNLIMITED WEB SERVICES . COM)
advancedreservation.com, $0 (ADVANCED RESERVATION . COM)
administrationservices.com, $0 (ADMINISTRATION SERVICES . COM)
autographguru.com, $0 (AUTOGRAPH GURU .COM)
billingcompanies.com, $0 (BILLING COMPANIES . COM)

Any of these domains could have been purchased for at least $300, which I believe is the minimum bid on a “no reserve” domain. No bidders? Is DFG populated with a lot of attendees who are only networking and trying to sell sell sell… and the cycle of incest has finally ended? Is it all just Pimps now? Have we all become Pimps who have no street location to sell our wares?

Do I need to market to real “end users”?  Is this apparent failure to sell clearly generic domains for the minimum price ultimately marking the FINAL POINT where domain auctions have to bring in end users?

Do domain auction sites, live or silent, now have to step it up to reach out to the relevant companies that would be interested in these domains in order for the auction sites to actually EARN their commission? Heaven forbid!

Here’s the facts: Most of the above domains make enough PPC rev to pay for their renewal or close to it.

Is it the economy, or do these domains suck? I can handle the opinions… but  I know similar domains to these have sold in the past for $1000 or more. I just think it’s the failure of domain auction sites to market to real buyers. Period. So, I think I will get some outside readers to my blog.

THE BIG DEAL: All the above domains are available for purchase for only $99 EACH. Buy three and pick a fourth one for free.   Contact me directly at “successclick-at-gmail.com”. Paypal payments only.

There’s been a lot of discussion and near-obsession lately about alleged “shill bidding” by a certain domain auction company executive, but most domainers didn’t know there was a larger and more relevant news report about live auctions by the company that bought the domain, Auction.com. On its face, it seems this story eclipses the “Halverez” scandal by a long shot.

“Inside Edition“, a TV news show, investigated home foreclosure auctions held by the Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC), the buyer of the currently 4th-ranked highest-priced domain name sold this year, AUCTION.COM. This nationally reported story aired on November 25, 2009 on  “America’s NewsMagazine”, as Inside Edition calls itself.  The televised story was also transcribed in its entirety on Inside Editions’s website.  Although the show seems nebulous, it has been a CBS-syndicated program for 22 years. It covers stories on consumer reports, hidden camera investigations, and celebrity gossip.

Here’s are portions of the transcripts on the broadcast story from INSIDE EDITION‘s website:

“Airdate: 11/25/2009

It’s fast-paced, loud, a total frenzy, and when the gavel slams down, you could be a homeowner.

And business is booming. Every weekend in ballrooms across America, hundreds of people flock to foreclosure auctions, hoping to get a piece of the American dream at a fraction of the price.

INSIDE EDITION went to auctions in New York City and Dallas, and right away, we noticed something curious.

As soon as the bidding started, men in tuxedoes began pointing and yelling into the crowd as if they saw someone bidding. Maybe they were seeing something we didn’t.

“…It was as if they were screaming and yelling and pointing and shouting, but you couldn’t see anyone else they were talking to,” says real estate expert Jim Randel, who attended an auction with INSIDE EDITION. He says he believes auctioneers create this hysteria to get people to bid.

There’s another thing we found curious. The brochures showed hard-to-believe starting bids, $500, $1,000 for nice homes. But when those homes came up for auction the auctioneer started at $1,000, but immediately jumped to $10,000, then $20,000. INSIDE EDITION saw that time and time again.

The auctions are run by REDC, Real Estate Disposition Corporation. The chairman, Rob Friedman, says there’s nothing wrong with generating interest in the homes with low starting bids, and they are legally allowed to bid up the price themselves. “People are getting great values at these auctions. We have sold houses for $500 in several auctions,” he says.

…(responding) “Here it is on your brochure and you need a magnifying glass to read it,” says INSIDE EDITION’s Chief Investigative Correspondent Matt Meagher.

“It’s announced at the auction, it’s on our website, it’s literally in seven different places.  We really do want all buyers to be informed,” Friedman says.

But Jim Randel warns consumers if you’re thinking of attending an auction, it’s buyer beware: “You might be able to pick up a good deal here but at least know what the rules of the game are,” he says.

As for those guys in tuxedos who appear to be pointing to no one, the company (REDC – AUCTION.COM) says they (the “ring men) are not always responding to someone in the audience, but they are legally allowed to do that.”

Auction.com was reportedly purchased by REDC (located in Irvine, California) on March 24, 2009, for $1.7 million.  Auction.com now points to REDC’s company website at REDCGROUP.COM, where they indicate they have the required licenses and regulatory affirmations to hold live auctions:

“Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) is a fully licensed and bonded real estate auctioneer and sanctioned real estate broker. With our recent partnership with Stone Point Capital, LLC, whose experience and relationships will assist REDC’s goal to grow our business worldwide, we look forward to an opportunity to serve your needs and invite you to join the list of financial institutions who have experienced outstanding retail reserve auction events with REDC.”

As listed on their website, REDC (Auction.com) claims to have created “innovative” auction programs:

“Using the auction-marketing process we pioneered and have since perfected, REDC has sold more than $5 billion of real estate assets, including a staggering $3.4 billion in 2008 alone. REDC conducted a record 300 auctions in 2008 and auctioned 32,800 homes, another industry record.”

Their website boasts they “pioneered” and “perfected” the auction-marketing process. REDC works with banks trying to recover funds from the tens of thousands of foreclosed homes in the country. They do this by promoting and producing their “innovative” high-powered auctions to consumers and investors, where they claim you can buy a home for as little as $500.

Some of REDC ownership subsidiary companies also own FOOTBALL.COM and LANDAUCTIONS.COM. Those entities as listed on whois are REDC, LLC; NRP, INC.; and NETAD,LLC.).

I wrote to REDC over two weeks ago asking for confirmation and clarity on this “legality” they claimed about self-bidding, but as yet I have received no reply.

The story has been reported and commented on in many other websites, including San Diego’s real estate blog. REDC also has an international reach, and at least one negative response to their auction procedures. REDC upset some people in the UK earlier this year according to this report in the Guardian dated Feb 28, 2009 on their auction tactics.

The purchase of Auction.com by REDC back in March of 2009 was reported in most domain blogs and news sites. Most featured a statement from Friedman saying REDC was “really wanting this domain”.

Another story by DSNews.com reports:

“In less than four hours this past weekend, Real Estate Disposition Corporation’s (REDC) online foreclosure auction generated $14.9 million in foreclosure real estate sales in Dallas, Houston, and Seattle. The sales activity produced by Auction.com boosted the company’s total sales to more than $2 billion in 2009, REDC said.”

SUMMARY: In this remarkable investigative report by Inside Edition, you can watch Auction.com’s selling techniques through hidden cameras videotaping some of their events. In what was alleged by Inside Edition to be a common occurrence,  the Auction.com “ring men” (guys dressed in tuxedos “pointing” out the bidders) were yelling and pointing into the crowd as if there was a new bid on a foreclosed home, when there seemed to be no person actually raising their paddle. Inside Edition’s story has REDC disclosing that it’s legal for them to do this. This sounds to me to be saying that the formal-attired “ring men” can indicate that someone has “made a positive bid” on a foreclosed home price during the auction, even though there is no auction attendee actually bidding.

However, the biggest surprise reported by Inside Edition was the comment by Chairman of REDC (Auction.com) Rob Friedman stating they were legally allowed to “bid up the prices themselves” on the properties they were auctioning.

AUCTION.COM WHOIS INFORMATION:

Registrant:

REDC, LLC RED, LLC

1 Mauchly

Irvine, California 92618

United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)

Domain Name: AUCTION.COM

Created on: 17-May-94

Expires on: 18-May-17

Last Updated on: 03-Jun-09

Administrative Contact:

RED, LLC, RED, LLC  jm@x5t.com

1 Mauchly

Irvine, California 92618

United States

+1.9496994246

++++++

Comments from the company, AUCTION.COM (REDC) to explain their position are welcome. Links to any disclaimers located on their sites, or PDF’s of auction brochures are welcome.

If anyone found further questionable or favorable information regarding REDC (Real Estate Disposition Corporation), please comment here.

I left out about 2000 words of other details and information extending this story, which I may followup on if there is interest.

Let’s start with Owen Frager of the Fragerfactor.com. He picked up on a side comment I made on Michael Berkens blog about Madison Avenue. It’s the same thing I’ve been saying for three years, but I appreciate Owen’s recognition and credit given to me about my “observation”.

I think in the archives of my blog here, I’ve commented several times about Madison Avenue agencies fearing domains. I know I made about 20 posts on domain forums about this. I worked as a consultant for one of the largest MAA’s, Foote Cone & Belding, so I know the intricacies of their “profit model”. One thing MAA’s don’t want is having a client purchase a domain name for 1/10 their ad agency budget and then seeing that domain perform better, and forever, bringing in eyeballs. This is a clearcut “crystal ball” of advertising investment success for any company.  Spend $1 million on a domain name that brings in eyeballs 24/7/365, or pay an ad agency $10 million for a campaign that lasts, well… maybe 60-90 days.  And, throw in the kiss by the pretty girl when you score the touchdown – the investment in the domain appreciates, so as I’ve said, a domain is an “appreciable marketing asset.” It is a fact that many domain companies that failed during the Great Internet Bubble Massacre in 2000 had domains worth more than the company’s other assets.

The MAA’s don’t like this idea, and really are terrified of it. I actually found a “Brandweek.com” article alluding to this back in 2005. “New Media” advertising was threatening the “old guard”. It was regarding the Johnson & Johnson “baby.com” domain purchase and branding. Contact me if you want to read it.

Then Rick Schwartz writes about “incestuous” domaining, which is great to see his change of heart, because for years, he’s promoted his TRAFFIC conferences as being only for the “best of the best” attending. There is a reason the term “bluebloods” came about. It referred to royalty back in medieval times, where the court advisors believed royal bloodlines should only marry each other, which kind of weakened the DNA of the spawn, hence “bluebloods”.

I coined the term “incestuous domaining” years ago, because I knew that selling domains back and forth to the same group of people, especially at domain conferences, would eventually diminish the value of the domain unless the buyer/domainer developed it.

So I’m honored by Owen’s recognition of my observation (really a fact) that I’ve been pushing for years, and I’m really honored that Rick The King would be influenced (or will this be denied?) by my longtime and recent comments about “incestuous” domaining.  Go to TRAFFIC and see the changes for the better in domain conferences!

Either way, it only matters that this industry focuses on the right markets, brings in the right demographics, reaches out to the right people, works to present themselves legitimately and transparently, and ultimately… for all of us… those people at the end of our invitations will be excited and interested end users.

Cheers!

So, out of respect, I’ll start with Rick’s domain purchases first… although I’m leaving out a few picks he made that are questionable to me… of course, I can be mistaken, and it wouldn’t be the first time.

Here’s Rick Schwartz’s Top Picks:

HotProducts.com – $9k  Incredible buildout retail site… major branding! This one domain alone owns all  other buys at the auction for the price. Invest $500k in this domain, you have a killer brand website touting the best deals on the internet, and a pickup acquisition at about $5mill or more in 2 years. This is the one domain I really wanted to bid on. Congrats on this one, Rick. My appraisal value at minimum – $80k
_______
NetMarketers.com $1,250
This is a nice domain for the price. Now if Rick can get the ignorant old school marketers to respond to the reality that a great domain name is the beginning of any company’s prodservs… My appraisal value at minimum – $25k
_______
AsianFlu.com $3,000
Hopefully this flu won’t appear, but if it does, Rick will make a lot of money off people getting sick, scared and dying… which is not something weird or bad, we have pharmaceuticals doing that daily. It’s just business, and I have some domains that have this unfortunate “quality”.
Appraisal value at minimum – $25k
______
AffiliateAdvertising.com $5000
This domain is a category killer. Unbelievable that Rick bought it at this price. This domain can own CJ and other affiliate “sources”, so they better think about making some offers to Rick to pick this baby up.  Appraisal at minimum value – $75,000

The rest of the domains Rick bought, with the exception of “breakfastbars.com” for $1300, have no meaning to me or I can’t see where the value will come from. I won’t appraise them. Let them expire or sell them quick on Snapnames to try to recoup your money. Exhibiting.com?  $5k? Exhibiting what? What do you see this domain pointing to as a website? A museum? Heck, Rick could have picked up Supplications.com (Prayers) for one fifth the price and had a simple website or flip for 5x ROI.
—–
Now for the total damages for Rick:

Rick spends $42,550 for domains minimally appraised by me here as follows (I left the purchase price as my minimum appraisal on domains I wouldn’t have purchased, except for one where I lowered the value off the domain purchase price), and Rick gets domain portf value MINIMUM of:  $265,300.

So Rick scores nicely by instantly increasing his domain purchases at the auction about 5.3 times his investment, at the MINIMUM expectation of value for each domain. In other words, his purchases added about $220,000 of increased cash value to his portf. Free cash down the line. Pretty damn good…

++++++++

Now for Mikey-B’s picks:

CampingEquipment.com (Correction) hey, this domain was mentioned on other sites, but the real domain is “CampingSupplies.com” which Mikey B bought. No problem, maybe even better because it’s not a longtail -$16k Sweet buy and just $20k more to build a power directory on this domain to list every single camping prodservs retailer/manufacturer at $500 a year… hmmmm I’d say about 1000 potential directory advertisers paying chump change to be listed… half a mill a year. This was a killer buy.  This domain, built correctly, could be a pickup acquisition at $3.5 mill or more in 2 years.
Appraisal value at minimum – $100k
______
ImageConsultants.com for $9,500
Like Mikey said, huge business. A simple directory again can bring in EASILY a half mill a year within 2 years of development. Appraisal value at minimum – $150k

PhotoDeveloping.com -$3k for a service people will always use, even with digital cameras. Over 50% of digital camera users don’t know how to process their photos, and every photo outlet/drugstore has digital processing services. Very good buy. I was considering this one. Appraisal value at minimum – $50k

Redistribution.com - $3k for wholesaling and product placement, and other product flow management. Appraisal value at minimum – $10k

GlutenFreeRecipes.com for $6K – HUGE NEW MARKET IN FOOD RECIPES, EASY TO BUILD, EASY MARKET TO IDENTIFY.  Category killer for millions of people who are gluten intolerant. Appraisal value at minimum (even as a longtail) – $50k
—–

Now for the total damages for Mikey-B:

Mikey spends $37,500 for his five domains. No waste, picked cleanly, all domain purchases have excellent ROI potential.

By my minimum appraisals, I put Mikey-B’s ROI on his domain purchases at $360,000. This puts Mikey’s ratio on ROI at a whopping 9.6 times his investment, raising about $323,000 of free cash value into his domain portf.
_____

Bottom line from the Viking:

Both Rick and Mikey-B spent very little and gained a hell of a lot of potential ROI with their domain buys.

Kudos to both. I think more domainers should have let their b*lls hang low (including myself, shamefully I admit) like these guys and jumped in to bid (of course, having millions of dollars in cash reserves helps a lot, and these buys were woefully wimpy purchases amounts for both these power domainers). I would have bid on at least three of these domains, except excuse, wife “sell what you have”, excuse, wife “almost 4000 domains already”, excuses …”that money can go to building the deck walkway from our sunroom to the pond then over to build the cedar bridge across the creek and gazebo (about 60 yards)” aarrggg

Best story I try to tell my wife is how Frankie took his family finances to the edge of disaster to now control a portf worth hundreds of millions.  Every domainer should BELIEVE in the domain they’re going to buy, have a purpose for it, understand the market behind it, and then step up like a man and control the business online with a category killing domain.

I would hate to have to sell my domains at the bargain basement prices that Rick and Mikey swept up. However, even at those low prices, I bet the sellers made more money on those domains than if they had… gulp… invested in stocks or mutual funds!  Thank GOD for domain names!

++++++

If you are confused about the value breakdown/categorization of your domain portfolio, the most valuable but inexpensive service you can use to help define where you should spend your domain dollar is in having your portfolio evaluated.

EMAIL ME FOR DOMAIN PORTFOLIO EVALUATIONS AT ONLY $.50 PER DOMAIN ON 300 OR MORE DOMAINS (for portf under 300, it’s $1.00 per domain). Find out what domains you own are premiums, which need to be built out, appraised and sold, or dumped. I also do TM cleaning for bulk domain lists within this pricing. Identify your potentially dangerous domains that could cost you big!

successclick [at] gmaildotcom

Now this domain, “MICROSOFTINTERVIEWS.COM” is amazingly similar to the… ummmm… “microsoft” trademark. So I did a search on Godaddy TDNAM to see how many Microsoft TM problematic cybersquatting, domain-pirating, huge-legal-issue-causing-domains there might be. I found about 160 domains for sale on GoDaddy Auctions with the trademark “Microsoft” in the domain. My favorite?

MICROSOFTONLINESUPPORT.COM  (Microsoft Online Support dot com)

I’m just curious, but am I hallucinating? Did someone drop some “windowpane” *ahem* into my veggie juice (euphemism for scotch)? I really had to stop and think about this, look deeper, and see if I was missing something or misreading something that would make me think that these domains fit the media reports of blatant “trademark-infringing, cybersquatting, every-hateful-comment-about-domainer-is-true” type of domain owner/business.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say “Yes, you are really seeing nightmarish domain sales representation from the biggest domain company in the world.”

It’s so blatant and obvious that I’m actually doubting my own sanity seeing it. Does GoDaddy feel that it is so far above the domain industry’s efforts to bring legitimacy to our community that they don’t even police the most basic of TM-infringing domains they’re auctioning on their own “#1 domain registrar” website?

And this behavior is supposed to endear the business sector to the domain industry? Please someone, point out what I’m missing. Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night, because this is truly bizarre for me to see.

I’ll tell you what I didn’t see in GoDaddy’s “domain purchase agreement”:

“You, the buyer, promise to remove all liability from GoDaddy and to suffer all the consequences of the legal Trademark lawsuit disaster you’ll find yourself in if you buy this domain.”

Nope, didn’t see that disclaimer in there. However, I’m not an attorney, so I can’t say this will give the buyer an “out” once the MS legal team (Aaron, are you reading this?) unleashes their talons to claim these domains. Don’t take my word for it, search up “microsoft” on TDNAM yourself to see what domains they have coming up for auction that unquestionably infringe on Microsoft’s TM. Look, I could care less about Microsoft because I’m a staunch Mac user, and have been since 1985.  However, I care about domainers, and “respectable” companies such as GoDaddy offering up domains that are piranha-based feeding frenzy-inducing for TM attorneys against owners of TM domains is crazy.

It seems to me that GoDaddy has gone “Go Maddy” which will put some domain buyers on TDNAM into “Go Saddy” moods. They’ll be saying “I’ve been “Go Haddied”. (Sorry about that, folks. My middle school teachers encouraged me to learn how to blow out puns in order to keep me quiet during class).

More damaging, I checked a “follow up” link on one of the MS domains so I could get updates on it from GoDaddy. Below is an email I received from GoDaddy.

This activity by GoDaddy just proves to me that they don’t seem to care about the domain industry image. This blatant and outrageous “in your face” auctioning off of TM-infringing domains is small potatoes they can mash up to mix in to the cash cow they’re milking right now, and their customers are just rats in the cage. And guess what, domainers who buy these domains and get hit with a Microsoft TM lawsuit will be singing “Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage.” (apologies to Smashing Pumpkins “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”).

(NOTE: I haven’t checked any infringements on any other auction websites, but if you find any, gather up the evidence and send it to me and I’ll post it.  We need to police our industry in order to move forward legitimately)

In my professional assessment, TRAFFIC NY scores big by implementing the Domain Multi-Auction Format. The multi-auction system may yield a lot of great facts for domainers worldwide. Specifically:

• Which auction system is the most professional and profitable for sellers and buyers alike?

During the TNY conference, these facts will be quite revealing to the whole of the domain industry.

Why?

After all the auctions are over at TRAFFIC NY, it will be interesting to see which auction system ran the smoothest, had the best domains featured, closed the best sales expectations (and I don’t mean the most money made from Premium domains), and how fast the auction producers expedite their sales (how soon the sellers receive their money and how fast the buyers get their domains – which in my experienced estimation shouldn’t take longer than 14 days).

With all the auction producer emails and blogs and news releases flying around for the last 60 days, it is already very educational for domainers and endusers to read each auction producer’s “sales pitch”. If I was a potential buyer, I’d look at each sales pitch for its content (do they try to make the domain sale based on “Walmart-style 50%” off sale advertising on cheap domains made in China,” or “this domain doesn’t need a written description of why it’s valuable, because if we have to tell you, you can’t afford it”). Each breed of domains offered in their domain auction has it’s benefits. However, if you’re defending or circus-selling the domains you’re offering in the auction, that’s the wrong road to take. I could be wrong, but we’ll see.

I’m not going to address the lures used to get domain sellers to commit to any particular auction system. That’s another article for later.

FOR DOMAIN NOOBIES: I’ve seen a lot of blog and forum comments from domainers who obviously have little experience in domain name selection but a big desire to make quick money (Gamblers Anonymous, anyone?) without really learning the craft.  They’re immediately recognized by the list of domains in their comments that weren’t selected for auction.  People, if you’re new to the domain business, either buy an ebook on domain investment (see the links to the right on my blog), or hire my company or another domain consultant to teach you the ropes. The money you invest in learning from a domain professional will be returned a hundred fold. Just in one area alone, you’ll save a lot of money by knowing not to renew crap domains in your portfolio. At the least, subscribe to Eliottsblog. He provides excellent information for domainers of all levels, including beginners.

Anyway, you can’t blame auction producers for turning down your list of domains to auction when your domains immediately announce “I don’t understand the rudimentary and fundamental concepts of domain evaluation.” Notice I said “evaluation”.  I didn’t say “appraisal”. The two words are completely separate in determining how to buy and sell domains. A lot of the posts I saw with lists of domains accompanied by complaints they weren’t picked had domains that in no way whatsoever resembled a workable, brandable, keyword generic domain. They could work on Whypark, but as resale products, yipes!

On the other hand, I’ve seen some blog/forum posts by auction producers that mislead buyers, and that isn’t fair, either. For instance, a generic domain name with no location included can’t be offered for sale as a “geo-generic” domain. It’s not “geo-generic” nor is it a “geo” domain in any respect unless it describes a “location”, which is the proper application to label a domain “geo-generic” or “geo-specific”.  For geo-specific or geo-domains, you need a clear location named in the domain itself. It’s that simple. (See “BerkeleyHeights.com“) Saying that it is a “geo domain” because it can be turned into a directory that may list advertisers “from different locations” is skinning the grape. I’m sure the Carleton-Castello Gang, who are geo domain experts, will back me up on this.

So, a domain like “BestFunSushiRestaurants.com would have to read “BestFunSushiRestaurantsNY.com” to be “geo-specific.”  (Note the “NY” at the end of the second domain).

Domain Auction producers are responsible for giving correct definitions of the type of domains they’re offering, as they are in expediting a fair, fast and honest auction service.  I have high hopes for TNY in this regard.  Happy hunting, everyone!