I sold my first domain through DNS. What have your experiences been?
Last week I completed my first domain sale using the Internet Traffic/DomainNameSales.com platform.
One thing that is a bit confusing at first is how the communications work inside the DomainNameSales.com platform. The platform is “open”, meaning you can handle domain inquiries yourself or use a number of third party brokers (including DNS itself, like what I chose). By using an outside broker or DNS, some of the communication tabs are bypassed since someone else is handling it for you.
Once you understand that, it’s fairly straightforward.
I set up my account to let the DomainNameSales.com brokerage team handle all incoming domain inquiries. They charge a 10% commission.
I like having a third party manage negotiations even though I have to pay 10% for many reasons.
1. I find that it takes some of the emotion out of negotiations.
2. A broker can play the good cop in negotiations with the other party.
3. In the case of DNS, they offer a phone number for interested parties to call, which can improve conversions and leads.
4. Brokers see a lot more activity than I do as an individual. The broker on my transaction suggested that I raise my counter-offer. She was right; the buyer paid the full amount of my counter-offer.
DNS uses Escrow.com’s broker tool to handle transactions. With the broker service, the buyer pays the total due and then Escrow sends two payments: one to the seller and one to the broker.
At first I was a bit confused by the Escrow.com transaction since the onscreen transaction information didn’t break the price down by sales price and net proceeds after commission. The Escrow.com transaction showed just the proceeds after commission with no indication that the commission had been deducted. It was pretty easy to figure out that it was the amount after commission, but I was concerned that perhaps the amount had been entered incorrectly. The closing statement email does show the full amount plus the amount after commission, but I think it would be helpful if Escrow.com showed a breakdown online when you accept the transaction.
Overall it was a good transaction. Have others had success with DNS? Did you handle the negotiations yourself or use a third party broker?
Congrats on the sale.
Can you share info about the sale like domain name, price you sold for, how long it took from inquiry to close the deal etc?
@ Richard – it was a small sale, $1,500. I hand registered the domain in 2009. It took a couple days to close the sale, and then about a week to finish the escrow.
I’ve closed several sales that had Buy It Now pricing through DNS. Transaction goes very smoothly.
Only issue I have is on the Escrow.com side, where they should allow you to write a note to the other party so that you can find out how to transfer/push the domain to them. One guy I emailed asking how to handle the transfer took over a week to get a reply. Would be faster if Escrow.com integrated something into the transaction screen.
Not a bad sale for a hand registered name! you are right, there are some things you may have to figure out as you go along, like the commission being automatically detected, with the only evidence of such being a lesser payment at Escrow, but that is how it is done. The broker initiates the Escrow transaction and creates two payments, one to the seller and one to the broker, although no explanation is provided.
I use the DNS brokers as well, and for the same reasons you do, but have dealt with at least 4 or 5 different ones already, each with slightly different styles. I’m considering reaching out to one of the outside brokers for some consistency.
For what its worth, I did a post a couple months back on the platform. If interested, you can check it out here:
http://vinsdomains.com/internettrafficcom-domainnamesalescom/
@ Vincent Jacques – you’re right, the brokers all have different styles.
How do i let a broker at DNS to handle the sales of my parked domains with them?
@ Sunday: go to settings > brokers selling for me
We have moved our domains to DNS and had a much better responce with enquiries great platform to use we handle all our negotiations but tempted to use a broker on some in the future.
You can also map certain domains to go to certain brokers, which may be helpful.
Congrats
Love the platform – use and rely on it daily. Nobody has a front to back platform like DNS. If you get an email inquiry to your admin email and forward to sell(at)domainnamesales dot com, on a name you own, the system automagically creates an inquiry in the system and follows up if not sold. Genius!
I do find DNS platform great with all my domains being parked there but still have not made any sales yet. So it would seem that I should use Buy It Now prices say to sell at between $500 & $2000 rather than open to offers on most of my .com domains. Again, I do quite agree that DNS broker is the best to handle such sales as other brokers seem only interested in highly prized or valued domains.
Just sold my first domain through DNS last week, too. It was a domain I had originally had them broker. Since then I have had all inquiries come to me on other domains. Communication with the broker wasn’t that great. Sometimes I would get copies of inquiries – most of the time I had to go into the admin and check for myself. The best part of having DNS broker a few domains is you get to see how they negotiate and what they say in the process. BIN pricing would certainly filter out the “I can only pay $50” people.
Is domain name sales? profitable at all? Which industry mostly demand domain name?
I just had one sale via DNS, and the payment was submitted via GoDaddy for some reason. I was expecting/preferred that it went through Escrow. There was a lot of confusion all around towards the end, as the broker wasn’t even sure why GD was involved. I hope this doesn’t delay the payout…
Andrew – in general have you found domain investing to be profitable? Specifics appreciated if you feel comfortable sharing.
FYI, I own under 100 and haven’t made a dime. Between annual carrying costs and a crowded field, particularly with foreign nationals buying a TON of english.com’s (instead of native GTLDs), it seems a long shot.
Just curious on your overall take.
To me, it just seems that a broker is just adding a layer of expense that I could forgo by just answering the whois. Are these buyers savvy enough to reach out to you through the whois? Presumably a link on your domain direct to you would be enough to ensure you hear of any and all takers.
That, combined with use of auctions and reserve prices (just keep listing until you hit it) would seem a better take from a return perspective.
….then again, see my second paragraph above about all my windfall profits ; ).
thanks for your thoughts.