I think Moniker and Rick Latona have the cream of the crop domains and they are shooting for the fence. The problem with this, you need the Big Spends and lots of them. I think this will result with fewer sales and be up to Moniker or Rick pulling in the biggest crowd to see who the winner is.
Moniker has a slight edge with this but I think Rick is going to give them a heck of a run. Moniker, with a proven Online auction system will be the biggest difference imo. Why? Myself and thousands of other’s all ready know of SnapNames.com and how their online auction system works. Rick is having an online auction as well, but I do not even know the auction service he is using, let a lone the URL of the site. He said it once before, but I forgot… that is an issue.
Aftermarket.com has been taking some heat over the domain names they accepted into their auction. They took a different approach and are appealing to a Wide Range of bidders. This will result in a higher % of sales imo but will not gross as much as the Moniker/RickLatona auctions. One thing I hoped for and didn’t really happen, was Aftermarket.com getting something on Aftermarket.com instead of a Forward to DomainTools.com . It just doesn’t look right to somebody outside the domain industry (end users).
The biggest problem I see for ALL THREE is the lack of end user advertising. How can anybody advertise when the domain lists are coming out 1 week or LESS before the auction starts???? Rick Latona has reached out the most from what I can tell as he said he was running some print ads. Moniker seems to be only advertising to domainers and Aftermarket.com is using Whois.sc/DomainTools.com/TrafficZ (mainly domainers).
Since Aftermarket.com just came out last night (9-20-2008) with their final list of domains and their auction is on 9-24-2008 I just do not know how they can "get the word out" to the mass of end users that need to be contacted in 4 days (3 now). Don’t get me wrong, Moniker and RickLatona.com were not that much earlier with thier final lists…
If sales are low, I would put a Huge amount of the reason on this. I see no reason why final lists couldn’t be out 1-2 months Before the event takes place… Use the domains to build the hype! Show the prices and use the domains to draw in the end users. I put some fault on T.R.A.F.F.I.C. themself’s for not putting in a rule that the auction services have to have a final auction list public by date X! Which I think 1 month prior to auction is fair.
I think sellers are going to start paying more attention to "Advertising" & "Auction List Release Date" for any future auctions they submit to, as they would be silly not to! It’s time for Domainers to start asking these auction companies " What are you going to do for me"!
In a way, I am happy that I only have one domain in auction at TRAFFIC (Dabbler.com) and I think it will sell. It will sell based on it’s Term, Price and the traffic it get’s, not because of Aftermarket.com or TRAFFIC. The price it sells for should tell if Aftermarket earned their 15% commission.
One thing to keep in mind, these auction services would have a hard time running a good auction without OUR domains in them. I know I will be making suggestions (stated above) and if nothing is done about it, I simply will not submit any more domains.
I hope for the domain industry as a whole, the sales Numbers are huge and we get great press about it, but as domain sellers, we need to put more pressure on the auction services because they are doing things that just do not make sense.
Rob Grant
Excellent post!
If the domain brokerage business hopes to mature and evolve into a serious industry, it needs to reach far beyond the confines of the insular domain community. One look at the way Christies & Southebys handle their auctions, demonstrates how targeted marketing and advertising to the end user can produce exciting results.
In the not so distant future we may see one of these big aution houses invade the domain space…
Rob Grant
**Jamie Says**
Thank you for the post Rob. I agree. I can see a big auction service coming in as well and doing something better, but they simply need to understand domains or they sure could look silly. I see great things for the domain industry, but as domain investors we need to let the world know we are here.
domain admin
Well put. I also have domains that were accepted into these auctions and was very disappointed in the lack of communication from the auction houses. This is the first time I’ve listed domains in these auctions and had over 10 accepted. I must say I’m very unimpressed with the process. I’d love to see how they can justify the high commissions and ridiculous exclusivity requirements. Let’s hope there is more going on behind the scenes than we’re aware of.
**Jamie Says**
Best of luck with the 10 that you got in! Depending on who the auction provider is, will depend on how the “after auction” part is handled as well. This was one main reason why I went with Aftermarket.com.
Damir
Moniker VS Rick – Nice one
Tim Davids
Your right about all this…I for one have 2 possible partners that would buy domains with me…7 days or less isn’t much time to meet with them and discuss if we want any on the lists.
I’m sure things will evolve over time and TRAFFIC gets alot of credit for making competing auctions.
Kelly lieberman
I agree!
Now I just want a domain broker! I am willing to pay 25%- just show me that you are going to work to sell my domains.
Make some calls on my behalf, write some press releases, send my domains to auction and write some great copy. I have great key word domains sitting at the top of the Google page with page rank!
There is a great need for this kind of service…
Is anyone out there???
Richard Kligman
I agree with you. Most auction houses for “non virtual” items often have books out with pictures and descriptions of the goods 6 weeks or more before the auction and it gets mailed out to tens of thousands of potential bidders and even sold to newbies. In the future I believe you will see a system where 4-6 weeks before an auction, not only will you see a list of the names, but also more detailed description of the name and what are the possible uses of the name. You want $30k for the name? Why should I bid that much? What does it come with? What is pitch? A lot of the domain auctions give you numbers, but beyond numbers I want to see vision.
**Jamie Says**
Thank you Richard! I couldn’t agree more. Please be sure to let your auction provider know this as well.
Stephen Douglas
GREAT POST!!!
I have been screaming about auction producers spending some of their (our) money and PROMOTING the auction to endusers. In fact, define certain categories of domains they’re selling and then hit up all the enduser industry publications. An auction producer could get great enduser participants with less than $20k spent advertising in industry-specific publications relevant to the domain “theme” or category.
For the next domain auction, let’s see the auction producers actually put a budget forward to show they’re promoting our domains properly to the highest paying buyers (endusers) instead of just sending out emails to their domainer client lists.
Good post, because I’ve said this before and strongly believe in it. Keep it up. Good luck to everyone this week!
Kevin Jackson
I agree that Aftermarket.com should be developed into its brand and hosted separately. I personally find the auction pages a nightmare to navigate.
I checked out Rick’s website, and I was not impressed with the sign-up process. I also believe it would help to see the status of current bids, even if you are not a verified bidder. Current auctions/bids are viewable at the likes of Sedo/GreatDomains, eBay etc.
I have won a few domains at auctions, but I only ended choosing to enter a bid because I could see current bids even before I signed up. A potential customer/bidder might immediately gain interest if he/she sees a domain of interest that they think they could easily win and afford. This would result in more exposure and potential sales.
Jeremy
Sometimes I think you’re channeling me Jaime. Ever see that online brokerage commercial where the financial reporter is looking over the guy’s shoulder from the tv? I feel like that reading your blog a lot.
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