Above: image source
Let’s do a quick exercise shall we? Look over today’s Bido inventory, and make a mental note of which domains you think will sell and for what dollar amount. Whatever won’t sell, to you, it’s probably “junk”, correct? My guess is that allot of junk will sell, which means, it isn’t really junk, but gold - to someone.
The dynamics of running an auction house are much more complex than simply listing “top inventory”. I know, it looks easy from the outside, but it really isn’t. The main complaint we hear here at Bido is there’s “Allot of junk”, but what is “junk”? Perhaps it’s something that you’ll find useless, something that you think no one would want, something that really just wastes your time. I agree, this is junk - to you.
The saying goes “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and it holds true and strong when it comes to an auction house. In addition, what many investors overlook and may not find opportunity in, is that this “junk” is relative to time. Haven’t we all heard of stories of artists who started from scratch just to sell later work of arts for millions? What was the domain “Google.com” worth before Sergey Brin and Larry Page crafted their work of art on top of that web property? What were .com domains worth before Network Solutions started charging for them? Weren’t they all “junk”? Useless inventory no one really cared for, sitting there wanting a home. From our portfolio, in the past, we’ve sold “junk”, domains (that later became brands) that nor you or anyone else would register for registration fees, for six figure prices. In the past we registered junk, and with time, as trends caught up to that “junk”, it turned into gold. You get the point.
So if junk is relative to time as well as to personal opinion, how do we identify and avoid it? The issue, as you see, isn’t “what is junk” or “what isn’t”. The issue is twofold:
1. Personal Interests/Personalization
Since junk vs quality is relative to one’s personal opinion, the understanding of what one wants will help us (Bido) highlight what one wants.
2. Average
That is the sum of all the results in showing the best average results. Google for example does this with search terms. You search for “Domains” and it shows you the best average match as the top result. What other people, according to their algorithm, identified as related or a desired result for the term. The same concept of relativity goes in an auction house, the user should be able to sort and float to the top what the community as a whole agrees is best.
At the end of this, we realize it’s about sorting, filtering, searching - it’s all about the user interface. As Bido continues to expand, we will make finding inventory of interest easier for all (see Interest Gauge image indicator above, soon on Bido). And if you don’t want to see “junk”, we’re in full agreement you should have the option to target your search and only view what makes sense, to your personal interests.
Best
Sahar
Well, I’m one of the many who have complained about quality, but I’ve also seen several complaints now about complexity. I’m not sure adding more options, more visual information to sort through, etc. will help solve that issue. In fact it’ll likely make it worse. I’m not saying having filtering options is unwanted, but even though I’m a fairly frequent seller, I wouldn’t mind having a higher barrier to entry for submissions (in terms of number of votes required, in terms of number of submissions allowed per day/per month, in terms of credits used in more situations - especially if they are refunded on a successful sale, etc) to help improve quality of the names on the site.
The best part is that reducing quantity and improving quality would address a lot of the complexity as well I think (assuming that it’s designed and implemented properly). I know it sounds a bit Jerry Maguire-esque, but maybe the outcry of quality is something that Bido really does need to think more deeply about instead of just saying not all junk is junk.
All the best,
-Andrew
I don’t really agree with the premise of this post. You don’t have a big enough base of buyers to be selling mediocre domains because one or two random people might like it. If the inventory wasn’t mostly junk the sell-through rate would be much higher, but it isn’t.
An overwhelming majority of domains are so bad not a single person would pay $28 for it. That begs the question, how are these domains getting so many votes if nobody actually wants to bid on them. Is there collusion? Are people just dumb?
How do you get better inventory?… well, you need more buyers. How do you get more buyers? You need better inventory. Nice Catch 22. I’m very hopeful that the Bido Guarantee program will take the risk out of selling and bring better inventory, but only time will tell.
Right now, I rarely visit the site because there’s probably only one or two good domains in 100, and I’d rather miss two good ones then scroll through 98 awful domains.
Don’t get me wrong, I think you guys are doing an amazing job at Bido and I know it is a difficult thing you are trying to accomplish. Keep pushing the envelope
Yes, end users often just want a nice keyword domain for their business or blog and don’t consider the traffic and Google search volume metrics that domainers are so fixated on. However, the best way to filter the junk from the keepers is to only auction domains with a bid. How do you get more bidders? Better inventory and marketing to people looking for domains. I realize it’s not easy. I like BIDO’s ability to change course quickly - that is something large organizations struggle to do.
I think all these comments did a great job of saying exactly what I was going to post. I have a feeling my comment yesterday about too much junk on Bido may have spurred this post. Sahar you are doing a great job but as in all businesses, you’ve solved one problem and created another. I don’t know if that ever changes. You just want the problem that was created to be smaller than the one you fixed
Thanks for the feedback everyone. We do have some ideas in the works that will address most of these concerns, will update blog as these become available.
Best,
Sahar
Just because someone is willing to pay for it does not mean that it is not “junk”. Sometimes new faces in the industry lack the understanding needed to recognize a good domain and only time will show that many of the domains that people have been purchasing are junk when they expire without any work being done on them. (I am not saying for BIDO individually, just regarding domain purchases as a whole).
People like to participate in industry auctions because it makes them feel like they are a “player” in the game but mostly this is just a feeling, when you are buying crappy domains and not making much money per month evenually you will find yourself looking for another business to learn.
To determine whether or not there really is “gold” you would need to see if successful domainers are actully bidding on the domains. If they are then you are selling some quality domains, if successful domainer are not spending time at BIDO then BIDO is most likely making their money off of the new domainer and the poor forecaster, both groups that will dry up in time, requiring BIDO to consistentlly find a new group of clients as the old group finds something more productive to do.
Don’t get me wrong, I think BIDO is a great idea but I would like to see higher quality domains as well.
Thanks.
Troy
I agree!!!!! Most are junk!! I counted (2) domains sold and (50) DID NOT SELL! I rather buy Cameras.fm than myCameras.com.
The value of a domain is determined by the person buying it and the person selling it. In a sale, the value is not determined by observers. Otherwise, I’d be paying far more for some of the names I’ve bought on Bido.com. Keep in mind, too, there are other factors that influence a sale, not just the “consensus value” of a domain name. There are budget considerations. There are those afraid of investing because they just don’t know the game. There are people who see a name and find no value, only to learn later of the development potential of a name. Googol was misspelled, as Google, and now look what they’ve done! Oops.
Considering that pure domainers are not looking for names with development value / potential, I can see how the perspective of what makes a good name is a bit different among the domain purist. But I can tell you, from a development and marketing standpoint, that cameras.fm does NOT have the same value as myCameras.com. The fact is you have to market the extension, then the domain name, to the point there would be no confusing cameras.com with cameras.fm. This is a costly proposition.
On the subject of people bidding so they can feel important in the industry, that observation tends toward the grandiose, if it is not nakedly narcissistic. Domainers are not the most important people on the planet; they’ve just been fortunate to have some foresight and investment moxie to play well in a new industry few people understand.
I don’t buy most names on Bido.com because I don’t have an interest, or I’m not willing to pay more than a certain amount to get them. But I’d hardly call the bulk of the inventory junk.
Most domains are probably junk, of the 80,000,000 .com registered how many are good ?
I see Bido as a place for domainer to domainer sales. I actually had an associate who works for an advertising agency and told them a name they could use would be on BIDO.com. He asked what’s that ? I explained it and he replied, ” I would never take an hour out of my day to bid on a name on BIDO.com ” I am pretty sure most end users are not using a Bido, I think its an upscale domainer site, its the forum auctions on steroids. And someone cannot blame the quality of Bido listings on why they are not selling. I am sure any domainer has their names listed on SEDO and AFTERNIC and has the right whois info on their domains. So if someone is interested in your domains people have all the ways to make an offer on your domains.
Who is really putting a great name up on BIDO ? I think you guys are doing a great job. I think most probably consider a majority of the names sold on DN Journal each week, pretty sure the seller does not care. Again IMO
They (BIDO) should have one auction every hour for 12 hours. Sell names with all TLD’s and have them be generic, one word, or 3-4Letter domains. Then, the site would attract more buyers and sellers would make more.
Results for the day are here. I hope with time you will all understand that the more transactions happening in the domain aftermarket, the better it is for your own domain holdings. It really doesn’t matter if the sale is of what you consider good or not, but as long as it happens and as long as it is reported and as long as it is real, it strengthens the liquid market, it provides liquidity options.
We’re fully committed to these ideas.
Now for some who think we should only focus on premium domains, others are already doing it. I’ve done it before (Candy.com sale, others). It’s not exciting, it cannot create liquidity. If we were to focus on only premium domains (as we have had in the past) we would have dealt only in the six figure range. To do that, as buyers are scarce, there would be no need for development, no platform, just an email list.
While it may sounds like a cliché, our job with Bido is all about helping individuals and families make a better living. We envision a future where you and others can make a living just on the site, possibly just by voting on items, without the need to buy or sell? Imagine that!
Have a great day,
Sahar
But, most domains are not sellinng! That give false hope to those domainers. You should of stuck the way you had it. Then, one per hour for 12 hours.