Have you ever felt like you got really lucky on a domain name purchase?
Competition for domain names at auctions can be intense, especially expired domain auctions at SnapNames. Have you ever scored a domain at auction that you feel was really undervalued? You couldn’t believe it when other bidders stopped bidding, as you kept refreshing the screen to make sure no one else snuck in a bid at the last second?
I had that wonderful feeling last week. But the story starts about a month ago. I was bidding on a generic compound word .com* at SnapNames. Bidding was intense, and the domain quickly escalated to a few thousand dollars. Before the auction began I told myself I wouldn’t go higher than $4,000, but then I got swept into the moment and kept bidding higher. When the domain topped $5,000 I decided I had enough. I lost the domain.
Fast forward a few weeks. I received an email from SnapNames informing me that the auction would be re-run. The winning bidder didn’t pay.
But a strange thing happened during the second auction. Perhaps people weren’t aware of the auction, but bidding was light. I cautiously bid during the final minutes as the domain escalated close to $1,000. Then SnapNames faithful “BenFranklin” showed up. “Darn,” I thought. “Now the real bidding will begin.”
But it didn’t. BenFranklin only placed one bid. I was still in the lead. I kept refreshing the screen as the minutes ticked off. Then someone else popped in with a bid. “Who the heck is that? Surely he’ll push this domain up into the thousands.” But he didn’t.
I ended up getting the domain for only $1,250, compared to the $5,000 I bid the first time around. Talk about a great feeling — a “domain name break”.
*Because I may flip the domain soon, I’ve withheld the name from this article.
It was a nice pick up Andrew. Just to show I know what the domain is, it starts with H and is 8 char total ;). I was going to bid as well, but forgot about the auction. You should be able to filp it with no problem.
Congrats on your “break” as they are nice to get from time to time.
It’s the same dynamics that makes eBay all of that money. Value, especially for domain names, is perceived. And perceived value is contextual.
@ Jamie – wow, you’re good 🙂
Thank you Andrew ;).
My kind of domain name break is stepping away from the computer and stop buying names!
🙂
John
I’m curious.What you think you can get on the flip Andrew?
@ Dr. domain – $5k-$10k
Congrats, Andrew.
I spent over $120,000 at Snapnames a few years ago… and i found tons of domains that were not being bid on as they should have been. It seems when certain “names” appear in the bid rolls, people don’t bother bidding, a big mistake. Those domains have made me PPC money monthly and/or have sold to almost cover my investment, with only 100 domains sold out of almost 1000. I have 900 premium domains from that purchase left that I believe will sell out as cherry picks for close to a mill. Of course, if anyone wants to offer me $350,000 for them, a good deal awaits them!
Still curious Andrew…How will you go about exposing this domain to potential bidders?
@ Dr. Domain – I’ll probably list it through Sedo, Afternic, or Moniker. It might be a good live auction domain.
4000 – 5000$!!! Oh man! You are so lucky!
I feel like shit right now! I spend 12 hours everyday online and I work so hard but I only make 100$ per month!
Money Ideas:
You need to hire a domain consultant. Get back 1000% return on your investment.
🙂