http://www.proxibid.com/asp/Catalog.asp?aid=25586

The announcement of it going live will come shortly.

At non-domain auctions, the most successful venues seem to be the specifically targeted ones; for example, I once attended an auction that featured antique clocks and watches. Those items went through the stratosphere! The auction had been advertised heavily to clock collectors, and they came out in droves, flush with cash and ready to buy.

For Las Vegas, gambling and entertainment domains would have seemed appropriate.

Auction attendees know that the best deals will be found at estate auctions (not high end estates, but ordinary homes) where anything and everything can be found. At one home auction, I bought a lot of three posters, including a rather gruesome bull fighting poster, for $10.00. Not five minutes later, a man offered me $50.00 for the bullfighting poster (I took it and ran–my first “instant flip”). For some reason, he had missed the bidding for that lot.

I have often wondered why domain auctions aren’t more targeted and then pitched heavily to potential end users, instead of concentrating domainer to domainer.

Also, when the technology doesn’t work, many bidders will lose confidence and wonder about the validity of the whole venue. Old fashioned auctions depended on online catalogues (or before the net, print) and a bank of lowly telephones for off-site bidders. For domains, you don’t even need a full color catalogue, for the words sell themselves.

I’m not saying this auction was a flop: obviously, those who sold their inventory don’t think so, but I think with a little more focus and salesmanship by both seller and auction house, these kinds of auctions could be a lot more successful.

Also, I must admit that it’s a bit disheartening to see so many category-killer domains sold at auctions just parked and not developed. While the returns may be good for the owner, parking can hurt the industry as a whole.

Still, I’m not advocating that domains MUST be developed–that’s just too restrictive–just that I would like to see more of them developed into end user websites.

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