What is your domain worth?
Your website or domain name is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. That’s the standard answer I give when someone asks me what I think their domain is worth.
The truth is that most people tend to think their domain is much more valuable than it actually is..
There are lots of factors that determine a sites value. Age, Backlinks, Domain Extension, Keywords, Length, Traffic and Most importantly.. Profit.
Just because you scored a domain name last month that has two great keywords in it and 2,000 exact searches per month does not mean your $10 domain registration is worth $5K.
However, if you develop a site on it, and start generating growing traffic and revenue it just might be before long.
People tend to pay well for a domain when the name is perfectly suited for their brand or a project. Or if the traffic and income is extremely enticing. Otherwise, you’re very lucky if you can sell your domain for 8-10 months net profit.
I’m seeing some listings come into FlipMySites with ridiculous asking prices and they may not be approved. If you list a site for over $2,000, it should have real visitors and real income.
Buyers don’t pay for potential!
If I decide to sell my house I list it for what the market will pay or the minimum I’ll take for it. I don’t list it for what it would be worth if it had seven more bedrooms and five more baths. If I don’t like the offer I don’t have to accept it. But at least I’ll get offers.
Site Appraisals
There are a number of sites which do instant site appraisals and they are simply not reliable.
Don’t get your hopes up if one site says you’re domain is worth $30,000, because the next site might say it’s worth $300.00. Professional appraisals have some merit, but most domainers don’t use them.
If you want to see what similar domains have sold for check out DNSalePrice.com
Be Honest With Yourself
If you just listed your newly registered domain or a site that makes $20 per month on FlipMySites.com for $5,000.. don’t expect many offers. If your site has branding potential and really good keywords than you might get an interesting offer.
Just think about what you’ve got invested in the domain, and what is a reasonable profit...
Because in any other world making $100 on a $10 domain registration is an absolutely incredible return. Don’t get too greedy, or you might end up sitting on the domain name for years.
6138 total views, 3 today
Thanks for some really truthful and good advice!! Well said.
Nice one. I shall take a look and see what I can do to make my site just earn a little more for me, rather than sit and wait on a very new site to sell.
bless you muchly, your words are certainly appreciated for this newbit to this field of computer life!!
Danella
Hi Joel,
You are a great marketer and this is a much needed service as Flippa is waaay too expensive. If you want to get your website exposed it costs min. of $70.
I sold 2 websites recently for $100-$170 and after expenses about broke even. UGH! Not in biz to break even.
Dan
http://buildonlinefortunes.com
yes, you are absolutely right. However when someone like us that own a web site that reaches 40000 visitors monthly and have 200+ domains that are valuated more than 200k we can´t ask 5k because we are selling the web site and the entire portfolio of hundreds of domains, some of then valuated more than 80k. I suggest you pay attention to these factors because those hundreds of domains are developed and making revenues. Besides the site sells domains and this is called profits.
Best regards
Carlos
I’m not suggesting that you sell a bundle of 200 domains for $5K. Or that all sites are worth $5K. My example was one site only with little traffic and revenue. I’m sorry for any confusion, I thought that was clear.
My web site is auctioned at Flippa for 250k starting bid is $500. Do i must to let it ended and then place the sale in here or can i use both, your site and Flippa without any conflict?
Of course i will reduce the price in here as expenses are also less even if my site is for sale with more than dictionary word and two or one word-200 domains.
Best regards and thanks for your response.
Carlos
http://www.domainsinternational.net
I believe Flippa’s site rules are clear that you can’t list on another sales channel while you are listed on Flippa. We have no such policy.
I looked at your Flippa listing, and this is not the right place to get into a discussion about it. However, I believe you need to rethink your strategy and you can not use online appraisal tools to justify pricing.
Well…yes and no in regards to pricing. A domain is worth what someone will pay for it. I respect Joel and Dan, but I’ve also been around to see domains you never thought were worth a price sell for 10K, 20K and a MILLION and over. But they do make some really valid points here.
Great they’re offering their service here, but am not going to list my http://www.makeamericagreat.com or http://www.makeamericagreater.com sites which I’ve been approached with bids of over $10,000 each on, any lower than that. Unless someone brings me cash money and gives me $5,000 each. Am in Huntington Beach, CA so if you want to talk, we can meet with laptops and do transfers right there while you count out the $100′s.
Mike
Mike, I think my first point covers your point. MakeAmericaGreat.com is definitely one of those names I’m talking about in the first sentence. The right person, politician or organization might find that domain highly desirable and pay a premium.
That all being said… I certainly don’t want people to use our comment section as a way to list their domains for sale. So this is the last time I’ll approve a comment with a domain offer in it that isn’t listed on our site. (thanks for using Socrates though)
Thanks for your advice but people are buying things based on what experts think and on the market they follow advertising and not advice, sometimes they are wrong as i had several experiences with domains valuated $10 or even less and i sold them for $750 direct to end users. I meant one word but info domains, not three or four words with no dictionary as i see arround for prices absolutely incredible.
Of course while we try to sell for 200k or more we are testing the market and its reaction, don´t means we are not sensible to negotiate.
Sorry about using your column here but i thought i was into the subject of your post. Sorry.
Thanks for the insightful article. It’s great to see a Flippa alternative.
I do agree that domain name is worth what market willing to pay, BUT you never know what you can get until try to sell it…
A few examples:
Business.com – registered in 1992 for free|1st time sold in 1995 for $150K|sold second time in 1999 for $7.5M + put rights… totaling sale to $11M in 2004|sold third time in 2007 for $345M
OK, you can say it is dictionary 1 word domain name, but how about this:
WorldWideWeb.com – sold for $3.5M
DataRecovery.com – sold for $1.659M
SS.com – sold for $1.25M
Topix.com – sold for $1M
WebCam.com – sold for $1.02M
Cyberworks.com – sold for $1M
SportingGoods.com – sold for $1M
and so on…
Now my own experience:
I have registered SplashEnergy.com for $10 and sold it 1.5 year later for $1.5
I have registered NovaStreet.com for $10 and sold it 1 year later for $5K
and so on…
Domain names is virtual real estate and it is limited. 10 years from now 2-3 dictionary words domains will cost 10-20 times more then now, in my opinion.
BUT again there is an issue with ICANN and if they continue the trend of allowing any TLD extension for registering AND will lower the price to the level affordable for many than this game maybe will be over. Who knows…
Hi Alexander
It was a blessing to hear from you saying it but it is also a question of luck and other not enoughly understable things. Like for example there are people selling thousands on SEDO (i saw the recent list of sales they got) and some of my domains (similar to them) never got a cent when i listed with them during years. Now i am on WhyPark and sold directly to end users (mainly).
On Bido i tried to sell .de domains like those SEDO sold and i got nothing for them. They sold for thousands.
Comparing with one of your domains sold (datarecovery.com), i own recoveryapplications.com and couldn´t sell it until now. Promotion? I make promotion everyday and sometimes every hour or a minute (social networks, main web site, on the domains itself and so on).
I own domains appraised by thousands (like periodic.de that evaluated by 80K by Epik and 27K by Estibot) and on Bido only offered me $38. Just given up to make a fixed price for them and hope it works.
Need to be a lucky guy too.
Regards
Carlos
this is something I have wondered about for a long time. I have three sites (just started a third one last month) and it is getting a bit overwhelming for me, plus I teach full time and have three kids. So, the thought of selling one is appealing. I struggle with how to accurately evaluate it, so this is very good food for thought. Thank you.
What happens to the email accounts attached to a domain? I had an apartment in Paris I used to rent out to tourists and sold it last year. I have had the domain myplaceinparis.com for 8 years, and I used stay@myplaceinparis.com (catchy, huh?) as my email for that. I’d like to sell the domain and while i have never tracked traffic, the site had been up continuously for 8 years and I think the domain would be attractive to a company or individual renting out
apartments in Paris. Do I sell the email accounts with the domain?
Everything is with Godaddy.
Thanks for any advice.
Lisa
In answer to your second comment you should sell the .net and .com together. Email accounts come with the domains.. it’s not something you would sell separately… it’s a component of a domain.
That is a clever domain and email address. I can see all kinds of potential for the domain. Especially if you had rented apartments in Paris and had multiple listings.. Or if one had a network of people with apartments to rent. I can even see promotional giveaways to the right travel company. Win a week in Paris. Someone could branch and expand the concept to other cities as well.
Also, if you own the .com and the .net do you sell them as a package or as separate domains?
(or is it your choice?)