Most domainers consider that there are only two types of domain buyers: resellers (those who buy domains with the intention of selling them at a profit later on) and end users (for example, if you own the domain CheapFurniture.com, a furniture company would represent an end user).
I think that’s inaccurate because there’s another type of domain buyer, a type most people ignore: the webmaster.
He doesn’t buy with the intention of selling at a profit later on but he doesn’t own a business related to the domain either, he simply wants to turn the domain into a revenue-producing site. I mentioned CheapFurniture.com at the beginning of the post.
A webmaster would buy such a domain in order to turn it into let’s say a blog, a forum, a directory and so on as opposed to an end user who would use it to generate online sales for his existing business.
How much do webmasters pay?
Well, for the most part, they’ll be willing to pay more than a reseller but less than an end user.
They’ll pay less than an end user because webmasters don’t necessarily have to start a project about the niche your domain is about. If they don’t find a domain at a price that makes sense for them and don’t want to settle for a lower quality domain, they can start a website about something else.
Maybe instead of a great furniture-related domain, they get a chance to buy a great jewelry-related domain and decide to start a site about jewelry instead. Webmasters have that luxury, end users don’t and this fact has a direct impact on the price they’re willing to pay.
I think webmasters don’t receive enough attention. A lot of times, selling to them makes sense and by knowing all of your options, you’ll be in a better position to make an informed decision.
June 23rd, 2013 at 1:33 pm
I wrote this some days ago at jasonthompson.co:
“I think Flippa is a great site, but they should at least halve the fee to list a domain for sale, or better yet, check the domains one by one and when they are good domains list them for free. Otherwise, when the domain is not a real quality domains, asking to pay (but less than $ 29 or, even in this case, looking to the quality, for instance:
AAA domains: $ 9
BBB domains: $ 19
CCC domains: $ 29
poor domains: refused
I also asked Flippa’s team if they have plans to lowering the prices now, and raise again them when they will have reached an higher number of PREMIUM domains on their site, but they replied that they do not intend to reduce the price for listing premium domains now. I think that the chances to sell a domain now on Flippa, even if it is really premium, are yet low, furhermore they don’t offer leasing or optioning functions (optioning would be a great opportunity for webmasters…a real way to become millionaires for them….).
Flippa could reduce the price for a limited time (6-12 months or even less for instance), and make selection, and take advantage of this great moment to create a platform for REAL PREMIUM DOMAINS for sale, but it seem they will go to lose this train and domainers too.
June 23rd, 2013 at 8:44 pm
I agree, Flippa should really have a section to sell domains with a small listing fee instead of charging $29. Domaines have tons of domains so they can expect plenty of listings if the listing is priced at $10 or less for each domain. It will be the best place to sell developable domains.