Estimating .CO Value

Any good measurement guide?

[nmfam]

I'm about to sell a few .co domains and want to get a sense of correct market value. I took a look at the .com values of the equivalent domains using estibot (which seems accurate) ... and I'm guessing I divide by 10 or 20 to derive the analogous .co values.

How reasonable does this approach sound? Otherwise I'm just looking at what cointernet showed for their auctions and what godaddy after markets are saying ...but they're kinda all over the place.

Any thoughts?

[dailypress]

there are several domain appraisal websites and forums. I dont trust either of them but I still browse the sites, read and like to hear what others think my domains are worth. Sometimes you get good pointers. It wont hurt... give it a try.

Latonas.com has had over 1000+ .co: check them out too.

Check Sedo to compare prices and pay attention to the names that sold, not solely listed.

[Webwork]

Until time proves otherwise, based upon the history of "hot new ccTLD/gTLD launches/promos", I'd say it's a safe assumption that .Co owners exist in a .Co speculative bubble.

Remember, also, that we're on the frontier of possibly new, unlimited TLDs: .ca, cb, cc, cd, ce, cf, cg, . . .aa, .ab, ac, ad, ae, af.

I'd play very carefully with a .Co that might being trading off any brand or existing site. Not saying you are. Justsayin#. :P

Multiples or "products" (of division) as a domain value methodology? Big doubts there, but "if you can sell it (the idea)" then more power to you.

I wouldn't assign any multiple to a .Co.

I'd look at the root word (1 word only), how generic/commercial it is, volume/demand, . . all the usual signals of value.

Then I'd look at "registry risk" (Colombia? Ya, seems safe to me), who is promoting it (Lemme see . . oh yeah, Neustar . . didn't they promote . . ), search engine un-love due to the facile assumption that "if it's a keyword it will/must rank", and other unkind variables/assumptions.

I guess, by now, you've figured out that I haven't bought one, don't own one, and likely would decline one if offered as a gift . . Too bad it's not a tulip bulb frenzy. I'd take a few of them off your hands . . but, of course, everyone KNEW how valuable tulip bulbs were so no one would have been fool enough to give away their bulbs . . :-/

Sooo . . . sure . . if you can find a suc . . err . . buyer . . 1/10th to 1/20 of the .com value or sale price sounds about right.

:P :P :P :P

and

:P

[nmfam]

haha - thanks for the info.

So, I have a would-be buyer for my .co domains. Actually they're pretty good domains and I feel like I'm already offering a pretty freaking good deal ... but he's insisting I need to go get "high quality" certified appraisals for these things. Ugh. That would cost hundreds of dollars, I'm sure.

In my experience, domain appraisals are BS. Its inherently a speciulative market; not real estate! And to webworks point, clearly some people are strongly biased for/against certain extensions ... and how the heck will that factor into any "certified appraisal"? Besides, .CO is so new, how could it be anything but a big guess? I feel like this guy is going to make me spend hundreds of dollars to get some bs document based on nothing that is a real craps shoot to having any actual meaning anyway. I think he's a newbie broker just trying to do homework, but I feel like he's causing undo issues to make up for a lack of confidence or awareness of the marketplace.

Any thoughts or suggestions how to proceed?

[robho]

but he's insisting I need to go get "high quality" certified appraisals for these things.

If he wants appraisals, he can pay for them.

Sounds very close to being the usual "pay for appraisal" scam where the appraisal company is connected with the person who claims to be interested in buying the domains.

I would not take that "buyer" seriously.

[nmfam]

robho - yeah, the thought crossed my mind too. He did mention a few different places that would be "okay" though. Still, you agree it should be the seller's due diligence if anything correct?

Here are the things bugging me. I just want to make sure I'm not crazy here:

1. Sellers Due Diligence - I should not have to pay for someone's lack of homework. Besides it piles all the risk on to me.

2. Industry Standard - I've never been asked for this before, which makes me believe its not necessary.

[HuskyPup]

My company example.co was bought and is now squatted and for sale at Sedo for EUR 5,000.00 !

So what am I prepared to pay for it?

Possibly EUR 100, if they don't want to accept that I'll wait, like I did with my .eu to drop and buy at the regular price.

The problem is that even if you have extremely good words that you should be up against serious and established competition unless they're all .com/net squatted names!

[robho]

I've never been asked for an appraisal by an honest buyer.

It's pointless - the market value is what the buyer will pay (if it is acceptable to you). If the buyer is unsure of their valuation, that's their problem.

When buying property/real estate it's up to the buyer to get an appraisal if they want it. Not a seller's cost. Same for domains.

The scam normally does have a "selection" of appraisal companies, some or all of which are connected with the "buyer". Maybe you pick the one legit company in the list of appraisal companies. The scammer don't make money this time, but on average they probably get enough return to continue with the spam/scam.

Either way, the chances of them actually following through with a purchase can't be very high (close to zero I'd say).

[maximillianos]

It is a scam. Don't pay for an appraisal.

[nmfam]

Yeah, I figured as much after this discussion. I even found an old thread where someone was discussing something very similar. So I wrote to the guy and told him I would not be paying for appraisals and sent him the thread indicating that people in my forum warned it likely was a scam. I requested that he suggest a bridge to overcome the concern so we could proceed ... and never heard back. Seems the scam is confirmed. ;-)