Domain for sale page vs domain auctioning

[Poddit]

I own a number of domains which are just parked with my registrar's holding page (no links etc).

I want to sell many of them and wondered about the merits of setting up a for sale page for each domain, or entering the domains into one of the domains auctions.
So I'd like to hear the pros and cons from others for each method,

I have thought that if someone wanted a domain, then one of their first likely actions would be to type in the url.
If this resulted in a for sale page, then matters could proceed from there.

Even though you do not know what domains I own, is there any advantage to placing a domain in an auction rather that not?

[keyplyr]

Hi Poddit and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

... if someone wanted a domain, then one of their first likely actions would be to type in the url. If this resulted in a for sale page, then matters could proceed from there

Yes, many do it that way. You would need hosting for the pages, but they could all be on one account using DNS forwarding.

Some choose to sell through a broker to insure problem-free payment. An auction would be a type of broker. They handle the transfer as well (for a fee.)

Other than watching a few take place, I don't have any first-hand experience with auctions. Maybe buckworks or webwork (moderators for this forum) can comment.

[topr8]

i personally have only bought 2 domains (other than unregistered/new), in both cases they were very specific, in other words only those exact domains would do.

1. there was no holding page or for sale page and it wasn't registered with a broker, i did a whois lookup and emailed the listed owner with a sensible offer which he accepted after a little negotiation, we didn't use escrow or a third party, i just wired him the money.

2. the second, went to a brokers fixed price 'for sale' page and i bought it after messaging back anf forth with the broker a few times, this domain was purchased using the broker's escrow service.

not sure if that helps, but that's my experience. just to emphasise though, that in both cases i had good reason to want those exact domains, so i wasn't interested in browsing through lists of domains for sale or auction, in order to look for a domain i liked the look of.

oh and just to add, in the case of (1) it was a couple of years before the site went live, in that time i received several unsolicited offers for the domain name from people who had contacted me using the whois details.

[Webwork]

A "no reserve" auction is a great way to determine if there is ANY interest in acquiring your domains. Unfortunately, such auctions - unless the include super premium domains - attract any public attention.

The truth is, if someone is interested in an already registered domain then, unless the registrant is using a "domain privacy" service, the interested party will know how to reach the registrant to inquire.

A cheap (and likely effective) way to advertise a domain for sale is to message that fact via the WhoIs record. You might create a legitimate Gmail address - yournamedomains4sale@ - and use that for the tech contact. You might choose one of your domains host a site that lists all your domains for sale and use that domain, somewhere in the whois, as a reference point.

Some players who've been around forever used DNS that made it pretty clear where to look ~ThisDomainForSale.gTLD - as a nameserver.

I've said it 100Xs, so make this 101: better domains sell themselves. There's nothing FOR you to do to attract buyers and nothing you CAN do if there's no market for the domains you choose to register "on spec". You can try to market your domains but the stories of failure are many. If there's any money to be made, it's only in the enduser market and that is a market you will rarely, if ever, penetrate by direct marketing or advertising or auctions . . without extraordinary domains or sheer luck.

Choose wisely. VERY wisely. Better to buy a single, really good .com in the aftermarket at a decent price, than to buy endless junk.

[topr8]

haha, i wholeheartedly agree with Webwork ... and why wouldn't I - I'm a tiny player in the game that he is an expert in.

>>Choose wisely. VERY wisely. Better to buy a single, really good .com in the aftermarket at a decent price, than to buy endless junk.

so true, i have 4 decent domains (not great, but ok) - one is the one i mentioned above ... none are for sale and i've received real unsolicited offers for all of them.

i also have a collection of other domains, some unused but mostly with websites promoting niches of my main business - the domains work for me and i'm happy with them but i wouldn't call them killer names ... and amazingly (not) i've never had an unsolicited offer for any one of them! ... the common email offer, saying, i wanna buy example.com off you, if you get it appraised at such and such website, i'll buy it at the price they suggest, does not count as interest, it is a scam :)

[zulu_dude]

I have an ever-changing domain portfolio for sale as one of my sidelines... I put up a 'this domain is for sale' page (as keyplyr says, one template with DNS forwarding) a couple of years ago and have had at least 3/4 sales that I don't think I would have received otherwise. The domains were bought by end users who weren't tech savvy enough to know how to make a WHOIS enquiry, so if it wasn't for the contact/offer form then I don't think they would have known how to get in touch.

I don't think this would be a very productive approach if you were selling premium domains (these weren't at all premium) as those buyers would certainly know what a WHOIS is.