Selling a valuable domain

August 16, 2006 11:51 AM

I own a "valuable" domain. Are there "agents" available to professionally market it for me? How would I choose such an agent?

The domain is a three-letter .com which is an acronym for a dozen fairly common terms, and is a "dictionary word" in Spanish, German, etc. There is a vowel in the middle position, so it is pronouncable in English as well and indeed is part of everyday life for people in parts of the United States. Appraisals have been in the high-five to low-six figures. A forum of domain traders generally thought I'd be "leaving money on the table" to sell for less than $50K, even to a reseller.

Here's the thing, though: I've had the domain listed on sedo.com for about two months, with lots of offers in the $3K-$10K range, and one for $25K. I don't need to sell (read, if I can get enough, I will, otherwise, I'll hold onto it), and have set $40-50K as my lower limit, based on feedback, gut feeling, and some sentimental attachment (the latter two obviously don't mean anything to potential buyers).

I've owned the domain for more than ten years, and it has a "google page rank" (whatever that is) of 6, though a search of adwords suggests not a lot of money would be made parking the domain. The domain has hosted my business for years, though I have recently moved the business pages to another domain I own in order to possibly sell this one--people find me by word of mouth, so the actual domain my business is hosted at isn't that important.

Is there a method--perhaps a brokerage that would actively market the name in exchange for a percentage of the sale--that would be more likely to achieve my goals than simply hanging it on sedo or like services? I feel especially that I have no insight on how to market to folks whose languages I don't speak but who might find the domain valuable.

posted by maxwelton to computers & internet (15 answers total)

besides the domain itself, there is value (read: buyers) who would buy links on your site simply because of your high pagerank...

you should really read up, and visit sites like namepros.com and sitepoint.com and become more educated about your domain and its potential...
posted by Izzmeister at 11:57 AM on August 16, 2006

Previously and previously. Oh I forgot to find the actual links. You do that.

Oh snap! You go girl!

Anyway, two previous threads.
posted by chrisroberts at 11:59 AM on August 16, 2006

deadfather, thanks--I spent the morning perusing past threads here, but apparently didn't search hard enough to find exactly the answer to my question, which apparently is here. Somewhere.
posted by maxwelton at 12:00 PM on August 16, 2006

Depends. If the domain in question is the acronym for Missing In Action and is a dot com, then you're a dick for having the domain on multiple auction websites and not responding to my requests to buy it. Excuse me for venting and possible derailment.

(damn my mother for calling me Mia...)
posted by damnjezebel at 12:01 PM on August 16, 2006

I had no idea this would cause ire. Not being pissy, can I simply withdraw this question, as it's clearly irritating. My need for an answer is less than my desire to keep people from blowing gaskets.
posted by maxwelton at 12:02 PM on August 16, 2006

Sol.com?
posted by Flashman at 12:04 PM on August 16, 2006

I've worked with Sedo a couple times and find them infuriating to use both as a buyer and a seller. Don't even get me started about working with them as a partner.

GoDaddy has tdnam.com. I have not worked with them and hear mixed things, but might be worth checking out.

AfterNic is another option. Contact me if you want my not all that non-biased professional opinion.
posted by FlamingBore at 12:04 PM on August 16, 2006

Uh, damnjezebel, it's not. Though amusingly enough, this morning I got an offer for my domain from someone who suggested I park it at what I assume is his holding company...and the domain he used as an example of someone making "more than $100 a day" parking their domain there? "mia.com" To borrow from Repoman, there's a plate of shrimp for you.
posted by maxwelton at 12:08 PM on August 16, 2006

I would think a 3 letter domain name would be worth a crap load of money now. I think you are right to expect upwards of 50K for it.
posted by chunking express at 12:14 PM on August 16, 2006

I concur with Chunking...

a friend of mine bought a 6 letter domain in an auction for 10k, and from what I've heard, she got it at a bargain. I can only assume that a 3 letter domain would be at LEAST 50k.
posted by damnjezebel at 12:26 PM on August 16, 2006

I have used pool.com for other domain services. They allow you to sell by fixed rate or auction. They do charge a 10% commission but their site is heavily trafficked by those looking to scoop deleting domains (read: buyers). YMMV.
posted by greedo at 12:28 PM on August 16, 2006

I've got a two-character domain name. Unfortunately one of those characters is a number, so it ain't worth bupkis.
posted by dmd at 5:47 AM on August 17, 2006

I did not market my www.300000000.com well, and didn't get any offers worth anything. Anybody interested, I'll sell cheaply.
posted by growabrain at 7:42 PM on August 17, 2006

dmd: not if they're 3 and m
posted by baylink at 8:37 PM on August 17, 2006

Try rotating that m by 90 degrees counter clockwise, and you have my domain name.

I couldn't really part with it though, unless I got a life-changing offer for it - it's too integrated into my life.
posted by dmd at 7:25 PM on August 21, 2006