Two live domain name auctions kick off this evening.
Two live domain name auctions that are part of the Traffic Down Under conference will take place this evening starting at 5:30 PM Eastern U.S. time.
The first auction is organized by Aftermarket.com and starts at 5:30. I previewed that auction last week. Online bidding started early and already a number of domains have received multiple bids.
Later this evening at 9:00 PM EST the RickLatona.com auction will take place. Online bidding for this auction also started early and bids are rolling in. Here are some domains worth watching in this auction:
Pete.com – at the time of writing it has already been bid up to $11,000, but the reserve is at least $20,000.
ProBasketball.com – it has already met its reserve and is at $5,500
CharterAirplane.com – no reserve
FaxOnDemand.com – it’s $5,000 to $10,000, but a very popular business service
GranolaBar.com – the plural version would be better, but there’s no reserve
Honored.com – you should be honored to bid on this domain with no reserve
Lousy.com – not a lousy domain at no reserve
MO.com – I don’t think this domain will sell at the $300k-$399k reserve, but keep in mind AZ.com sold for $500k before the economic meltdown. MO is the abbreviation for Missouri.
Packed.com – no reserve
Patients.net – with no reserve this domain will sell
TomatoJuice.com – another domain priced to sell with no reserve
Parked.com should buy Packed.com. I looked at that and read it as parked.com.
Maybe Parked.com can make a development site and call it Packed.com… Packed with content.
Any live video?
@ Rob – we all think alike. I immediately thought of Parked. That said, I don’t see many typos going to Packed.com.
Rob, here’s the feed to the Auction’s LIVE video stream.
https://www.domaintools.com/?ajax=BidManager&call=ajax_get_ustream_view&args%5B%5D=2
This auctioneer is fast.
So far sell through ratio is very high.
And watch the web site here
http://www.domaintools.com/domain-auctions/live/DownUnder
Same w/me; did a double-take on Packed.com.
At anything under about 15k, parked should buy it.
And hey…since 5-letter, 2-syllable Alice.com just recently sold for 250k (wow!ugh!); 4-letter, 1-syllable Pete.com’s just gotta be worth at least 300k, right? 🙂
Aftermarket.com is doing a FANTASTIC job with this auction. LOVE the video and live updates on the websites.
Congrats to Rick Schwartz for introducing multiple auction formats. Competition is good. We never got this kind of info from the first domain auctioneer.
VERY exciting like an auction should be.
I just watched lot 19 sell for $500.
I give LOTS of credit to whoever is running the auction (auctioneer or guy next to him).
He put down the gavel at $500 and said sold but I did see the bid for $550 come in online about 3 seconds before he said sold.
There was some discussion for a couple seconds and the auctioneer said that he said sold at $500 so they deleted the bid from online even though it did come in before he said sold but the desk did not call out the bid.
So, they did the right thing. The auctioneer is and should be 100% in charge of the gavel and he made the call that it was sold at $500.
Good for them. They handled the issue quickly and decisively and that’s that.
So, again, VERY impressed with Aftermarket.com auction.
Sell through rate is phenomenal.
Keep in mind that the video is delayed a few seconds…
Rob, I think you mean lot 18
Hey whose the guy at the laptop to the left of the auctioneer?
Jamie – he’s with Domain Consultant
Is it Mike Fiol?
Man, the auctioneer really hates the online delay… This is one of the best auctions I’ve seen in a while.
I just came back. What happened to everything?
Taking away nothing from Aftermarket’s auction … which until it went down a few minutes ago was a sight to see/experience … it’s amazing the sell through rate one can generate when working w/sellers willing to sell their assets for 10-25 cents on the dollar.
Congrats to the buyers … who are picking up some nice ones (o.k., and some junky ones too) for some great prices.
Jamie – yes, Mike Fiol
Great guy. Wonder where Jay was hiding…
PrivateResort.com $1700 = WOW
No .com.au names at the domainDownunder.com auctions. What a waste if time and money!
Im so glad I did not waste my time and money and go to it
Michael 50% of the names were .com.au . Were you paying attention?
SteveM
“sellers willing to sell their assets for 10-25 cents on the dollar.” . . . how you figuring 10-25 cents on the dollar. If they’re worth more than the sale price why weren’t they flying off the shelves ?
It’s a damn shame that the tech problems occured. This auction had a ton of steam going and then the train went off the tracks . Major bummer for all involved. Hopefully they can remedy this but really what is the solution ??
“how you figuring 10-25 cents on the dollar. If they’re worth more than the sale price why weren’t they flying off the shelves ? ”
Many of the domains sold too cheap.
I agree with Steve M.
I wonder if Parked was the buyer of Packed.com?
But, at this point its history.
What about the next auction?
Will the buyers list their domains with no or low reserves?
Do they really need to take the gamble with the possibility of giving their domains away?
Will Rick Latona list some domains with “no reserve” in the future?
Probably.
I believe Aftermarket (Domain Roundtable) is hosting a conference next year in Washington, DC.
I wonder if they will work out the bugs by then?
I also wonder if Domain Roundtable will have 2 auctions? Aftermarket and (Rick Latona or Snapnames).
I doubt it.
“Will the buyers list their domains with no or low reserves?”
Meant to say – sellers.
Adam, the reasons for the large majority of domains selling for such sizable discounts from their true (i.e. what they’d sell for were the following factors not present) values are:
#1. Time of year. Late in calendar year + during the huge international upheaval in the markets/ economies.
#2. Physical location far from most buyers. Now I know that Internet bidding was available, but many buyers prefer/ will only bid in person.
All the cos involved in putting the conference on; including the various auction cos; are doing a great job in tough times, and deserve full credit for doing so … but; Australia is not New York … or Vegas … or Miami … or anywhere in the US; where most of the domain buying money is; or is close to.
#3. No & dirt-low minimums. O.K.; I’m going to share something here that should seem pretty obvious (to all who hadn’t already realized it once I say it) (and that will make many angry and/or disappointed to hear):
Except in very rare cases (i.e. cleaning.com); due to the very high subjectivity in domain valuations; we as human beings instinctively give higher values to those domains with minimum bids … because they’ve already received “trusted source” price support & validation from the auction/ listing company that is offering the domains for sale.
When a Moniker, Aftermarket, a Rick Latona, and the other respected auction houses have a name like, say, PrivateResort.com; but the minimum bid is zero … what is the domain “worth?” $5000? $2500? $1000? Even as little as $500?
Now; if it was listed by one of the auction houses for what most of us would agree would have been a modest minimum, say, $2500 (though were it mine, I’d have wanted at least 5k) … now what is it worth? $2500? Maybe $5000? Perhaps even $7500-10,000?
But only $1700? Precious few would agree that it was.
This is the terrible risk sellers take when they agree to no or giveaway minimum bids.
#4. Over anxious sellers. For those that have nice 1-2 word names; golden .coms in particular; too many are letting the general economic conditions color their appreciation for what they own.
True value cannot be realized when one side of the “arms length” transaction–the seller–has mentally constricted themselves by believing the ski’s falling when it comes to their domain values.
True value? . . . sure, the picture you paint of a “perfect storm” where all the stars line up is great, but sellers at these auctions are looking to liquidate their names, not wait on an event that may never come. The opportunity is presented to them and they make the decision on how to respond (in pricing their name). If the names were indeed “worth” more, than a bunch of people, including you, missed the boat on great deals. What domains did you buy at this auction ?
I can 100% assure you that the seller of PrivateResort.com is happy and no one pushed her to put it at NR. Would it have gotten bids if priced at $2500 ? No real way to tell but I genuinely doubt it. Could the name have sold for $100,000 to some posh destination ? Possibly, but when? Maybe that’s up to the new owner to do and the past owner didn’t see the potential ever materializing in ones lifetime.
Steve M,
I don’t believe the sky is falling. I am not a panic seller. I have owned PrivateResort.com for a long time. I was perfectly comfortable offering it at NR and I am perfectly comfortable with the sale. The market dictates prices, not me and not you. I could have waited but if we all sit back and hope that someday we’ll hit “The Big One” most of us will have a long wait, the auction business would die, and we would set ourselves back in time in the industry.
I don’t recall your offer coming to me for PrivateResort.com
I am happy so you should be also. We all have domains we can put into the auctions at NR. We, each with his/her own knowledge of our holdings, earnings and potential make the best choice for ourselves.
I have been in this business for 10 years and feel I made a good decision and had a good outcome.
I do have a question…if $1700 was so underpriced, why didn’t you bid $1800?