GoDaddy is testing how it displays domain names listed for sale through Afternic/GoDaddy Premium Listings.
I received an offer on Sedo for one of my domain names this morning. Whenever I receive an offer on a domain, my first stop is GoDaddy where I search for the domain to see if I have a “buy now” price on it. Searching for the domain at GoDaddy informs me if I have a GoDaddy Premium Listing or Afternic listing with a buy now price.
Whenever a domain is listed with a buy now price through GoDaddy’s network, it shows up as available at the top with a premium price. It usually looks something like this:
But when I searched today I found that some of the listings looked like this:
It appears GoDaddy is split testing premium domain notices to see which works better. I also saw some that looked like the old lander but had a phone number as well.
This updated notice pulls in some info from GoDaddy’s new appraisal tool to explain why the domain name is valuable. It also has a prominent phone number in case people have questions about buying the domain. It also has a link to this video that explains why premium domains are worth more.
I think this new for sale notice will perform much better than the old one, but it’s wise of GoDaddy to split test this to make sure.
AbdulBasit.com says
Thanks for sharing Andrew!
This is really interesting and looks that it will bring in more sales. I checked several of my domains and it shows the new lander but for one domain Vip(Keyword).com it shows:
“Vip” is a high value keyword that has an average sale price of $1,985.
“Vip” and “Keyword” are widely used keywords.
Uses the .com extension.
This is somewhat exciting change… at least to me…
Joseph Peterson says
@AbdulBasit,
Does it show the “average sale price of $1,985” even in cases where your domain is priced above the average – perhaps significantly above it?
Not necessarily a bad thing. Establishing that the average is $2k (rather than $10) is arguably helpful even for a domain priced at $5k or $10k. Anchors the price range. But some might feel that it backfires, if it drags the price expectation downward.
I’m also curious whether the keyword parsing is always accurate. Could yield some humorous misinterpretations occasionally.
AbdulBasit Makrani says
Good thing I noticed that if I have BIN of more than their valuation (which is usually in low 4 figs), then they don’t display their “estimated value” which is good sign for domain sellers. If it was going to show the estimated value for all domains, then for sure the sales would have been going down for all of us.
Mike says
Are you kidding. It will sabotage customer sales.
I won’t put my names for sale anywhere near Godaddy or Afternic as long as that tool is available.
By the way, I wonder how accurate the appraisals are for Namefind domains compared to the average customer’s.
Andrew Allemann says
How could this possibly 75 sales?
Sergey says
I checked one of my names, and it returned the following:
*********.com
Buy Now Price
$1,450.00*
Estimated Value $1,608
Sergey says
Their new lander is great for domains priced below their “estimated value”, with phone number and “what are premium videos” link included. Unfortunately, keyword parsing is not always accurate.
Sergey says
“what are premium domains”*
Andrew Allemann says
Yes, I think they show the appraisal when it’s more than the asking price
todd says
What I have always loved about Premium Listings is that it makes it look like Godaddy is the seller and not some random person. Gives the name and price credibility. The buyer thinks if Godaddy is asking $6,000 for the name it surely must be worth that. Well worth the 20% commission in my opinion.
Eric Lyon says
Yet another interesting development that not only makes it easier for a paid listing to get more promising attention, leading to a sale, but systems like this eventually start setting the bar of expectations in value on a wider scale. Making it easier for independents to attain better returns on their investments outside such marketplaces too (When applicable).
F M says
Another domain I sold today for $3800, yielded $1900, with an afternic $250 ask no price listed.
If no price is listed or gives an appraisal sabotaging sales, because end users will question paying more than what some stupid tool states.
Run your tests
Andrew Allemann says
Where is it showing this appraisal? On make offer? I’m talking about when you have a Buy Now price. It’s not going to show the appraisal if it’s below the asking price.
F M says
Let’s say if you have a domain set to make offer ebetcasino.com with min $20
Offer, godaddy appraisal says it’s worth $1541, this is just an example.
Godaddy has capped what that owner expects to get now, they will lost likely ever get over $1500, maybe their expectation was $2500, but by defining it, they set a limit by any potential buyer, as why would they pay more than something is worth?
Say that was fakenews.com eth a $20 min, and the tool said it’s worth $3,500… you see the pattern
F M says
They missed the default when it’s set to make offer, with a min price, they give an appraisal dictating the max an end user should pay.
If I had newyorkrealestate.com with $500 min offer, and the tool says it’s worth $4,500 which under this scenario will show on the page, godaddy has potentially capped me at only receiving an offer of $4,500 or less as if you tell something something is worth x much, they hardly want to pay more for it
Andrew Allemann says
I see what you’re saying. You should write to GoDaddy and suggest they change that.
Andrew Allemann says
FYI I sent a note to GoDaddy about this. I think it’s just an implementation error. Their goal is for everyone to sell more domains, not fewer.
Justin Godfrey says
I typically average 6-10 Premium Listing sales per month, November I had 7, December I had 6. January 1st until today I’ve had 0. Is it related to the change? Not sure, just found it interesting.
Andrew Allemann says
My guess is it’s a statistical anomaly. They are split testing so results shouldn’t go to zero.