I’m going to say it publicly. I don’t think that throwing a quick logo on a domain adds any value to the domain. A ton of “brand” sites have popped up that basically take a large group of names, logo them up, and take a large commission if they sell. I don’t think they offer a better chance to sell your name. The only value I see is adding a BIN button to them. I do believe that BIN does make names sell. Sedo will attest to that. I can’t prove it with data, but I think you can sell just as many names yourself and you will still get to measure traffic. Most of the brand sites give you zero data. You have no idea how many came to your site while listed with them. All the while paying 20, 30, 40 % commission. Doesn’t work for me. Here are today’s names
NightEye.com 17 years old. Would make a nice brand if it’s not already. 1 bidder
Zoops.com Getting lots of action. 16 years old. 756 free visits with the purchase
EVZN.com One bidder at $12. It will go for more than that. I know……I’m an expert
TVAA.com A for Aardvark
WMXK.com A Chinese LLLL.com. No Vs or non Chinese letters. Will most likely cross $600
XXLG.com Double extra large
GCVG.com The V is keeping it cheap for you
ZCLL.com Already over $500. Makes you want it doesn’t it?
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RedRoom.com Great brand. Used to be a website and gets good traffic
Everest.net It’s a dot net but Mt. Everest is one of the most known places on earth
CashBackCards.com Surprised how high this one has gotten
MNB.com Great LLL.com and getting close to reserve
JUR.com This one’s already met reserve
Ideals.com This one is real close to reserve as well.
Kissing.com I don’t think its going to meet reserve but love the name
A GODADDY COUPON CODE: 99 Cent Dot Com Registration. gofdsp401c
ChicagoDivorce.com Last time I checked couples in Chicago are still getting divorced. 17 years old
SignPrinting.com Another big business. I actually have all my signs, including Billboards, printed by an online company
DONO.net CVCVs this good are worthy of owning the dot net IMO
DnEngine.com I thought you guys might like this
DnDirect.com OK. Maybe you’ll like this one better
ComaClub.com Not a club you want to join. Wes Welker is the president
TERR.com By far the most bids of any name on the board
SpecialCoupons.com Everyone loves coupons but the go ga ga over special coupons
OnlineCertificationPrograms.com 233 million results and tons of ads. But only one bid
For more great names make sure to check out CAX.com
Have a name at auction and need more exposure? The list above is hand curated from every name that is up for auction at Godaddy, Flippa, Namejet, Sedo, and 4.cn. We can add your name to this list for $10 per name, per day. We take no more than 3 names per day and if I think you name won’t sell, I won’t let you waste your money or our readers time. Email us if you need some extra exposure
*All names chosen by me, Shane . (ie you click through and purchase a name you like) or an occasional paid listing. Everything I say is based on my own research or is opinion. Do your own due diligence. That means look it up yourself if you don’t think the stats or my opinion is correct
I always think there may be shady things going on when I see a domain like nighteye.com listed again on godaddy when I was outbid for it a couple months ago on godaddy. I always just figure shill bidding and the seller got stuck with it.
Its a difficult one Shane (brandable marketplaces), I agree with you but you have to trust they get the exposure. It would be much better if there was more clarity on traffic and their efforts and partnerships with end users/start ups etc. but its radio silence for most part and its disappointing.
I’m sure this will change in the future as will the commission levels when competition increases.
I have to disagree on your comments regarding logo use. I think you are just in a totally different market than those focusing on end users. I get 3-4 times the sale rate at my brand site which utilizes logos than godaddy, sedo, or afternic. Again, I have shifted my focus on brands and end users.
I attribute this mostly to traffic. I outmarket to end users (entrepreneurs, app developers, ad agencies) via SEO, Keyword article writing, newsletter, 16,000 twitter followers,etc. In my “end user” world, they love seeing the logo. I think at least 30-50% of my buyers alwasy ask, “the logo is included, right?”
There are other factors such as low competition (I only sell my domains), BIN pricing, etc.
I notice that 80% of your portfolio and time spent seems to be on numbers and and the China market. If that’s your business then sure, a logo is not going to help. I can’t imagine a logo would help 4875683.com.
Different world – Different marketing techniques.
PS regarding the “brand sites”, i completely agree, not worth the 30-40% in my opinion. If they truly have the end user traffic and can beat my sale rate, I would use them. Also, as they grow, they become more like godaddy and sedo and you will get lost in the traffic.
It’s all about the end user…who ever has access to the end user will win the game…..
I’ve tried a couple of my brandables at a couple of the brandables sites to see if they perform. The main problem I’ve found is that they take forever to make a decision on whether or not to accept your domains. 10 days for a decision at one of them. I’m on week three with no decision on another one — how can you do business like that? Crazy… It makes me think they may have one guy working there that isn’t working all that much.
You have to fair 80% of Shane’s portfolio is not spent on China market. I can’t imagine why an end user would be impressed with the logo. Maybe for people that are buying names in the 1-2k area but if your talking 5k 10k and above it won’t help.
I think that is a fair comment…I agree that the names commanding above 10,000 are being bought by people who have already made their decision on how to use the name and a logo would not matter. I think there are a lot of window shopping at the 1K – 3k brandable level…in fact, that is probably also why the BIN method works so well at that level too.