A little history. Let’s look at the dynamics prior to the change, 05/06. Moniker is making waves all over the place with their Targeted Traffic auctions, breaking the 10 million mark in one auction. Seems to be like there’s no end in sight. SnapNames, with their exclusive Network Solutions contract, are making even bigger bucks due to their unique dynamics. On one hand domainers who are making more than ever due to increasing PPC payouts from the major search engines and are looking to increase their domain inventory, traffic, to make more, as well as paying end-user prices as money comes easily. On the other hand, SnapNames has tapped Network Solutions mass reach via WHOIS and their site and are luring end-users to their auctions. Bidding pressure from Domainers, from time to time, is getting end-users to pay even higher. Great dynamics, if it only lasted!
On the other hand, 05/06, Moniker is extremely selective what makes it into their auctions. If that is not enough, the money pool, buyers within Moniker auction, is for the most part limited to what Domainers have to spend. SnapNames does not yet accept aftermarket domains in their platform (when they initially do there was no user adoption for a while), and the rest of the domaining community’s only choice is to list with other sales platforms such as Afternic and Sedo, and wait for the right buyer to come by. With inventories exceeding ten million listings between the two, few get lucky.
Come 07 and PPC payouts are starting to drop, first slowly but towards the end of the year it is all too real. 30% fallout isn’t unreal anymore and in some cases, as we are learning now, it has reached 50% levels.
The few Domainers who drove the market in 05/06 have almost completely vanished. Today they make significantly less however they still invest, but elsewhere. Their picks today are things like Real Estate, Startups, Tech, web development (building their own we properties), stocks, others.
SnapNames sale to Oversee has changed the landscape a bit, as Namejet picked up the contract.
Today, since Domainers have stopped buying (again, for the most part, in comparison), most sales occur because end users are stumbling upon domains they want, usually, via Sedo and Afternic (and BuyDomains).
This is where Bido comes in. We saw most of those issues and thought a better solution was needed, one where users can liquidate inventory when they need to, not waiting for the right buyer to come by, just let the market decide what is right, and live with it, for the good, and the bad. As it is today, Bido is not the perfect place to sell. We have a long way to go, from getting the word out to working on our technologies to accommodate more buyers and sellers. We are well aware of these issues and are working day and night to make things happen quicker. In addition, as I wrote before somewhere on the blog, things do change. What we first envisioned for Bido has changed after release and now our direction has shifted to where we believe we can do a better job, where Bido has a better potential. We will still follow on our plans, but they have now expanded, Bido, as expected, took on a life of its own.
As for the question above, we are extremely happy with Bido, as it has attracted thousands of buyers in a very short time. We got to see, work, and improve our technologies, as well as to continue and build towards our objectives, which are now much broader than what Bido was meant to be initially, by far.
All in all, things are good, could be better, will be better.
And a piece of advice to Domainers, to those who are unsure what to do today. Back in 01 many thought the web was doomed. Few forgot to get the memo, got heavily into the domain business, bet the house, and won big. If you think the web is doomed it is time to stop investing in domains (as Franky says, “domain names ‘are the Internet“) however, if you believe in the internet, in advertising on the internet, in the Search industry and in the value of a click, maybe you too should bet the house today?
Some food for thought.
Have a great day,
Sahar
Sahar,
You forgot to mention that bido.com can be used as a tool just as Namebio.com is used for. Recent sales! I take a bido.com sale for what it is, a domainer sale. This will give you the most accurate recent sale out there for wholesale pricing. Which in return shows you how much similar domains will sell for on a domainer level which in all reality are our biggest customers, domainers.
To answer the question, YES!
Hi Sahar,
A couple of observations regarding Bido sales support amd some of the domains that get listed for sale through Bido:
1.) While Bido does send an email acknowledgment when sellers have submitted domains for consideration, no one at Bido seems to be following up in person (or via autoresponder) with the submitter to give a final yes or no answer (at least not to this submitter). I submitted two (short) sets of domains and have waited 2 and 4 weeks, respectively, for some sort of answer. I’m sure I’m not the only one submitting names, and I know that it does take a little time to review the lists. However, I’m getting the impression that I shouldn’t bother submitting anything because no one seems to be responding in what I would consider a timely fashion. If the answer is “not interested,” that’s fine. But no answer at all clearly is not acceptable.
2.) At least 3 of the names I personally submitted were, IMO, quite a bit better than names like “buypen.com,” “weightsforsale.com,” or “parkourworld.com,” just to name a few.
I mean no disrespect, but when domainers see names like the above being offered for sale and “fawned upon” (at times) by the experts, it’s difficult to get very excited. We know what a good name is (and there have been a few), and we know what a poor one is as well (and there have been more than a few of these). It leads us to believe that Bido is not really interested in helping the domaining community sell their names (for a commission), but rather, that it is interested in liquidating some lower quality “non-producers” from its own parking portfolio. That may or may not be the case or the intention, but it is starting to look that way, and I’m guessing I’m not alone in that thought.
I think Bido has a lot of potential, and of course your personal marketing reach is huge, so that will help quite a bit. I wish you all success with this venture, and I hope that you will find these comments helpful.
Best regards,
Bob Amend
DKH Domains
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Hi Bob, and thanks for the feedback. Let me try to answer those issues.
1. We heard this same feedback from others and therefore, we are integrating such system (auto response) very soon. Expect to have it working within the next couple of weeks sometime.
2. I try to pick most domains myself as well as at times run it by few from our team. You know, before we started Bido I thought I knew domain valuations, today I’d be the first to tell you I know very little about it. It is not only science, but an art. We’re not always trying to list the best we get. Sometimes we listed domains to explore different type of domains, categories. Running one domain a day is a guarantee to keep many submitters unhappy however, remember this is not for the long run. We are testing the system, building the system, and things will change, things will not stay the same. When? My guess come November 5th (if we meet our deadline) you will see what we are up to, and while I’m sure it won’t be the end of all, it will surely be a step forward in the right direction.
Cheers
Sahar
Thanks for sharing the insight. You always have a great way of putting everything into perspective.
“if you believe in the internet, in advertising on the internet, in the Search industry and in the value of a click, maybe you too should bet the house today.”
Gotta love it!
I also had very simular impression as in the comment of DKH Domains.
Not in the fact of no response of submitted names, because i havent submitted any. It was the quality of names.
Thinking it over there are some important question to ask yourself when starting something like Bido.com.
How much, and what kind of traffic do i have at the moment?
How long will it take until I am able to provide the traffic needed for my top quality sellers ( domainers ), providing good quality names from there portfolio.
Can i take a risk on choosing a submitted name which might be a very good D N , but not beeing sold because of the lack of traffic or just not the right buyers on sight?
I personaly think Bido.com, Sahar and team is doing the right thing at the moment.
Getting marketing going , the tech working and the word out first.
For now also keeping some of the good Domain names out of the game, to not let some domainers risk having to sell to low. Which would be pretty bad word of mouth.
I would say, lets just sit back and watch the game.
My bet? With the brains behind Bido, chances are that baby cant loose.
Duane
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Thanks for the kind words Duane, much appreciated. I think more important than brains is our dedication, our bullish approach to make things work. Thanks for your support!
Sahar
Sahar,
The biggest complaint I hear about domain name submission to most of the auctions is the lack of communications or the lack of personable communications. Auto responses will help if you can get that to work well.
The next problem I hear about is, “The poor quality domains available”. I have no ideas on that one.
Well, maybe publishing the numbers and factual data behind the selection might help some. Oh, wait! Here’s an idea. Have a staff artist draw up a Thumbnail of a website using what ever domain you’re featuring.
When I see a domain that interests me, I see a website on a screen. Pan backwards and I see a person leaning forward, with interest, checking that site. I see thank you notes and complaints but I see people using the site.
I guess I’m too imaginative. I think a rank or visits number is just the starting point.
—-answer—-
Addressed this issue in another comment here. As for quality, we do try our best and as said, and as we can see with expert commentary, most of us get it wrong, most of the time.
Cheers
Sahar
Sahar,
Good article……well reasoned.
In my opinion: Single most important thing that Bido can do at this time is to make PH available to domainers who are suffering ppc declines (as you said of up to 50%).
Not only will that be a game changer, but also a huge boost to the morale in domain industry in general.
Thanks.
RKB
—-answer—-
It is open to all. We’re working the model and will expand as time goes by. Have to start somewhere.
Cheers
Sahar
Sahar, any plans to expand the model beyond one domain per day?
It’s a bit of a shame to “waste” the whole day for a domain that sells for $11.
I think bido has a good userbase and lots of buyers, it has shown that top quality names can fetch prices no less than on sedo auctions and that’s already an excellent achievement!
Mihael
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The format which we have right now will change drastically by the end of the year. Will we support more than one domain per day? We have to, no doubt. How exactly I cannot yet elaborate. Come November 5th things will change.
Cheers
Sahar
Sahar Said, “As for quality, we do try our best and as said, and as we can see with expert commentary, most of us get it wrong, most of the time.”
When we “get it wrong” it’s probably either sale or purchase timing, the whim of the audience at that moment, or being too conservative in estimating value. On day one who would have thought Yahoo.com or Google.com would be worth any more than the $75.00 it took to register them?
BTW: My remarks about the communications during the submission process were to further encourage you to pursue that part of the project. Not that you need encouragement, but to let you know I think you’re on the right track there, too.
Keep Smiling!
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This is a great reminder Jeff, we all need encouragement. I will try to write later today a post about that as every single day for the last 20 years a word of a friend, not even a close friend, ring in my ears, reminding me I need to match expectations.
Cheers
Sahar
Let me start by observing that you have built a winning platform. Your interface is excellent and attractive. However, failure to consider buyer/seller Psychology 101 will doom you to be marginalized LONG before November 5. BUYERS want attractive deals and MANY of them daily to choose from. One mediocre domain per day is excruciatingly boring and invariably non-enticing. SELLERS with quality stock to offer only see a $1 reserve and $11 sale possibilities. Too much of a risk. $1 reserves sound good - BUT ONLY if YOU can guarantee a large and vibrant group of buyers. A week of sales with total proceeds less than $1K ensures that you will NOT be offered top quality stock. Another death by 1000 cuts. If you don’t do something quickly, your serious clients will evaporate within a short time.
—-answer—-
Thanks for the kind words. What we have learned is we cannot predict accurately what the market, that is, a group of investors at any given time, would do. Sir Isaac Newton, after dropping “South Sea” stocks back in 1720 (hottest stock in England at the time), said that he “could calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people” (The Intelligent Investor). We do believe, from buyers’ perspective, that a domain that is listed at 1$ and sold for 11$ is still an extremely attractive proposition. While it may not get many to list with us if these numbers are consistent (they are not), it still provides great value to buyers. As long as we provide that value to buyers we believe things will work themselves out. And what about sellers you ask? Our job right now is to get sellers exposure. By making buyers happy, by providing value to buyers, we do just that.
Cheers
Sahar
Hi Sahar,
Just received ReliableBilling, and it was a quick quick transaction. Sorry for being an ass earlier, I believe it was my own confusion and thus the delay!! The support was super fast and very helpful. Sorry for the terse words too, didn’t mean a thing i said lol
(didn’t know where to contact so i thought I’d leave the message here.)
Thanks,
Rohan.
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Hi Rohan,
Good to hear this was sorted out. I know we have hiccups sometimes especially since this is all too new however, I know our guys are super responsive when it comes to support as well. I see it every single day.
All the best,
Sahar
The Franky link at the bottom paragraph is incorrect, should be sevenmile.com (no “s”) - now if we can get him to blog again too.
Great update on bido and timeline of the past couple years.
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Thanks Greg, fixed.
Yea, would be great to see Franky blogs again, hopefully one day.. soon!
Sahar
This topic has me thinking about Bido possibly expanding their auction to provide industry-specific domain auctions per day. An industry email could go out notifying professionals within that industry that a domain relevant to their business will be available for bid.
Might be an effective marketing angle, i.e. one quality domain per day day being offered in real estate, loans, legal, auto, travel industries, etc.
In the last ten minutes of the auction for fixedloans.com, I can access bido.com. After trying for a looong time, the site gives network error. I think this has been a good stress test for the platform.
—-answer—-
Agree. We know what was the problem, it was the new chat feature. We’re working on it, will be ready for tomorrow.
Cheers
Sahar
Sorry. Wanted to type “I can not access”.