Comments on: LuxuryNames.com’s First Auction – The Results

By: 2D 3D Animation India

2D 3D Animation India — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:59:35 +0000

i like talkpot at 104 … it is short and easy to remember domain.

By: Dante

Dante — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:34:45 +0000

xdreamer,

Thanks.

No worries, some people will always complain and we ignore them as our goal is to bring quality domains to auctions at lower reserves. It is not productive to engage in banter with such cynical people unless an educated opinion is presented to help provide a better turnout next time around.

Selling names in a Live or Featured auctions is a learning curve and understanding how “domainers” buy domains versus our typical SEO clients is also something we need to focus more on.

We will never be a destination for all but we are very open to comments and suggestions from the community as a whole to help move this industry forward and provide another source of liquidity to domain owners.

By: Xdreamer

Xdreamer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:26:41 +0000

It was their first auction, cut them some slack. They promoted the auction a lot, what more should they have done? And don’t start with end users, reaching out to end users is not scalable for an auction with hundreds of domains and even if it were it would not be worth the effort for them. Their cut is not big at all, don’t expect them to fly all around the world for that. For their first auction the result was good.

By: Idiot Domainer

Idiot Domainer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:52:36 +0000

Not too shabby ? These results are terrible but I wouldn’t blame the market conditions on this one. btw how much does snap take out of that chunk ?

By: nmwando

nmwando — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:06:50 +0000

If your auction will take place in January be careful with the timing. Domainfest also takes place in January so be extra careful with the timing.

By: Benjamin M

Benjamin M — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:45:30 +0000

Give domainers good deals and they will bid. I think nontopical auctions are easier to populate but whatever you do, don’t start the auction until you have several good domains which you are almost sure will have bids!

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:26:39 +0000

Or do this. Give domainers two situations. If they settle for a reserve luxurynames considers fair, you will only take a commission from them if the domain sells. If they want a higher reserve than the one you recommend, ask for $50 or $100 as a fee. That way you’ll make money off domains with very high reserves while encouraging domainers to accept low reserves and maybe that will encourage buyers to get involved in bidding wars.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:21:54 +0000

I’d say do a normal auction and be very strict with the submissions. Themed auctions will get you maybe a couple of domains which are actually worth bidding on and the rest will be either low-quality filler domains or domains almost nobody can afford.

By: Dante

Dante — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:13:54 +0000

Xdreamer,

Good question and the answer is TBD. The challenge is always to find good domains at reasonable reserves so limiting an auction to any theme may be just as hard to find inventory as holding an auction across all categories. We are still 50/50 on if theme auctions are the best way to go but it is certainly a point of discussion around here.

Cheers

By: Xdreamer

Xdreamer — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:05:54 +0000

Hi Dante, can you tell me if it will be a themed auction? Like only finance domains? The only problem then would be finding a lot of good domains for your theme. If you choose a regular auction, the chances of people offering good domain names with reasonable reserves would be higher.