Round Two: Where To Sell 5L Dot Coms

So your 5L domain made it past the “it’s not junk” test.  Now how or where in the world do you sell them.  Here are a few of the different ways I’ve used to sell them.  Before we get to that though, I want to remind you that cash is just as important as the big sales.  There are names that have the ability to fetch big dollars and there are some that are just good.  It takes practice to know when to flip some for a few hundred dollars and when to pass on the $700 offers and hold out for thousands.  The key is to have a certain limit you want to spend on 5Ls and then when you’ve reached that limit, force yourself only buy names after you’ve sold a name.  Then put that money back to work.  It will keep the portfolio from getting out of hand and yet if you turn the domains for profit it will continue to grow in value.

1. Sedo.

This is the obvious place and if people want your name they will find it.  If you really want to know the value, send it to auction.  I will send it to auction if the offer is over what I paid for it.  I have nothing to lose that way and the true value will come out with the ending bid.  Of course, I have a set price in mind for my “special” 5Ls and will only sell once that number is crossed.  Noticed how I said “special”.  That means most are not special and should be sold when you are able to make a profit.  Nobody has ever gone broke selling at a profit

2. Your own landing page with logo

It’s very easy to set up a landing page on your 5 letter domain that you are selling.  Logos help sell as well.  You’re most likely not making anything on parking anyway so why not put up a page showcasing the name AND the other names you have for sale.  I put a large contact box and usually  a “this is for sale via sedo” button in case they feel more comfortable going through Sedo.  I also put an Escrow.com button as well to let them know that I am willing or prefect to go through escrow on larger sales.

3.  Catchy.com or another specialized reseller

Catchy.com is a short letter domain name specialist.  They only take 5L domains and under.  I personally haven’t used them but this is the type of site that I would use.  People go there to search for the types of names I am selling.  They also get premium dollar for your name.  I will be opening a 5L only domain selling site in the near future as well but it certainly won’t have the pull and prestige of Catchy

4. Domain Forums:

I have to say I HATE selling on forums but they do often offer the ability for a quick flip.  For 5Ls, Namepros is a much better place to sell due to the large amount of members that like and have 5Ls in their portfolio.

5.   Ebay

I am still amazed the decent prices you can get on ebay.  This seems to be better for flipping $20-100 names and is a great place to start to build up cash.  I used to sell enough names to raise $500 profit a month and then buy one “good” name a month with that money.  I have to admit that it is a lot of work for a little money BUT it can be profitable.  Just not profitable enough for me to do it.  I’d rather wait and let people find me.

6. Flippa.com

Flippa is a great place to sell 5Ls.  Lots of entrepreneurs check Flippa for ideas.  I would say half of the people that go to flippa are lurkers who aren’t there to buy , but to steal ideas about sites to build using the data that the sellers give out to help sell their wares.  When you try to sell site X and support the sale of X with the sales data and explain how you do it.  You will notice a sudden influx of copy cat sites.   Despite that, it also brings in people thinking about starting new sites and the are often looking for a new name.  Hopefully yours

7.  TechCrunch comments

TechCrunch is the journal of startups.  Startups are looking for cool names.  I tend to leave comments and use a signature with one of my names.  People’s curiosity is peaked when they see  Tonky.com at the bottom and they usually think “I’ve never heard of Tonky.com, I’m going to type it in”.

8.  “This name is Now Available For Sale” in the second address of the Whois

I’ve started trying this on some of my names.  I try and make it look like a company has recently gone under and the name has recently gone up for sale.  I know this is a bit shady but selling involves a lot of psychology and I seem to have a grasp on how people think and the thought of picking up a name that JUST went up for sale seems to appeal to people.  Sure they could look it up on Google and find it was always parked but people are lazy.  🙂