Sahar
Archive for the 'Reading' category
Taking a break from the blog for a couple of days. Back soon.
We took one day off, hope ya’ll had a great 4th, and now we’re back!
Today’s auction: BOXINGBOOTS.COM
Possibly not the first thing you would have on your mind and also not something you intuitively know much about. Boxing boots range from 10$ on the low end to over 200$. While an extremely specialized area the opportunity here is to either offer your own inventory or link with affiliates. But is Boxing boots the whole story here? The clear answer is no, it isn’t. Just with any product, there are more opportunities in related products that meets the eye. If I was looking to develop the domain I would learn as much about boxing boots (traffic, search volume, advertiser’s pressure) as well as what other products I may be able to ffer to a person who is interested in boxing boots. Such products for example are gloves, trunks, movies, training equipment.
There are more expert reads on Bido about the domain here. One I like in particular is of Jeffrey Behrendt from DomainBits.com:
A solid commercially oriented product domain. Boxing boots seem to retail for about $100 and there are several Google ads for this term. However, there is only a moderate search volume for boxing boots. A solid dot com with a lot of potential. Estimated value is low $x,xxx.
So can you go wrong with this domain? at 1$ and no reserve, there’s no doubt in my mind you cannot.
(edit: Closing price: US $612.00)
Happy bidding!
Sahar
An interesting thread on DNForum caught my attention. The thread name.. “Domainers Are Losers“.
lordbyroniv writes:
Just an observation: that many in this industry don’t make hardly any money. Most register domain names w/ the expectation / hope that the $6.99 registration will make them millionaires
LOSERS !!!!!!!!!!!!
Very few will actually succeed
He continues:
… I do VERY well off domains
It is clearly possible to make decent money from domains - I know from first hand experience
However, some of the domains I see people getting excited about on this board are just laughable. I wouldnt even take some of these domains if given to me for free. And that goes for the majority of domains discussed on this forum.
That said, my point was merely, that the MAJORITY of domainers will not succeed off their hand regs. Hence they are losers. At least in my book.
I know. I know. The truth is brutal. It hurts.
A PERFECT thread for 4th of July, to discuss a little about what makes this country a great county to live in! This country, the United States, is built on dreams, hence why so many of us are here. Over my 33+ years on this planet I’ve been in many different situations at many different times. At times I thought “why me?”, or “life sucks!”, or “is it ever going to get better?”. Other times my thoughts were “What am I going to do with my life?”, “How am I going to solve this?”, or “This was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done!”. You see, at times I made great decisions, at others I made bad decisions. The way you win, in business and life, is not to stop making mistakes but simply to try, learn, and progress. I’m still making many mistakes to this day. I’m still invested in many areas which I’m sure some some will fail. Does that make me a loser? The real losers are those who sit on the sidelines and are quick to criticize, are those who are quick to shoot down someone’s dream as if they know the answer to the universe. If anything, I look at these and say to myself, the more they criticize, the more negative they are towards what I do, the better my chances are to succeed are. You see, it is the norm, not the exception as some may think, that you would win against the odds or otherwise, we would all win all the time.
Didn’t we hear countless stories of rags to riches by now to know better? Today in this world there are many perceived losers, some are living in your neighborhood, some are from your old high school, some may serve you tonight at your local McDonald’s or Subway. Let’s not forget: Today’s perceived losers are also tomorrow’s leaders.
Have a great day, and happy 4th!
Sahar
Via Yahoo:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, said it happened when an Internet registration company it oversees got fooled into transferring the domain names to someone else.
The attack was quickly noticed, and ICANN’s domain names were restored within 20 minutes. However, because many Internet directories retain information for a day or two, visitors could have been redirected to an unauthorized site for longer.
ICANN said Thursday that new, unspecified security measures should prevent such attacks in the future. The organization also said it was reviewing other security procedures.
Maybe that will wake someone at ICANN up? I have my doubts.
It’s been a little over two weeks since Bido’s first auction and so far, we’ve learned a lot!
For example, Bido’s first “three letter” auction (RYY.COM) which resulted in $7,124 sales price, unlike what some thought was a bad price due to the venue, was in fact a correct prediction of further decline in three letter .com domain trading.
Another example is considering the fact we have been in the domain business for almost a decade you would think we know values better when in reality, with AutoFilms.com (closing price 15 $US) We saw that our ideas of values are sometimes extremely far away from market reality.
Also, looking at domain submissions we learned that if you state that you are willing to give a guarantee if certain guidelines followed, domain owners will submit anything and everything for your consideration, mostly outside the boundaries stated. Because of that there is a big change coming to Bido: Bido will promote real liquidity, no more Bido Guarantees. From today, all domains listed on Bido will be 1$, No reserve, and no Bido Guarantee to sellers. As a seller, if you can be honest with yourself and willing to find out the true market value of your domain, and if you have a decent domain (4-5 figures est. liquidity value), Bido may be a place for you to list your domain.
How will it work? Will sellers be willing to be honest with themselves? There are literally millions of domains in the marketplace for sale and a fraction of buyers. Most domains will never get what sellers want. Furthermore, most domains will never sell at all. Our goal with Bido is to provide real liquidity to those who wish to move some of their inventory for the best dollars the market will pay today! We know, it is easier said than done, we have a long way a head of us, but we are committed, we are driven, and we do believe we can make it happen.
And before I go, today’s auction is Compete.net, a great one word .net domain name. As always, 1$, No reserve!
(edit: closing price US $2,073.00)
Happy bidding!
Sahar
Many requests for Bido sales history so it is definitely coming soon. Why it isn’t up yet? We have a number of open tickets with higher priority. As soon as one of the developers is ready we will put this page together.
In the meanwhile, you can get sales history at Domain Name News as well as Domain News.
Additionally, since our release some two weeks ago a number of bloggers wrote site reviews about Bido, what they saw, experienced. Here are quick links to some of the stories:
Domain Flipper: Bido.com - The Future of Domain Auctions
David Carter: What’s Bido All About?
Too Many Secrets: Bido off to a good start
The Mad Hat: Bido.com Launches And I Was First FTW!
And if you still did not have enough reading, check out our Testimonials page. No, we didn’t pay for these 
Upcoming auctions:
Today: WorldCigars.com (edit: closing price 1,001.00 $US)
Wednesday: QVK.COM (edit: closing price 6,730.00 $US)
Thursday: Compete.Net
Friday: 4th of July, no auction today!
Saturday: BoxingBoots.com
Sunday: PhishingHelp.Com
Monday: MotelLoans.com
Tuesday: Harlot.com
Wednesday: eGraphs.com
Thursday: BassPedal.com
Happy bidding!
Sahar
I had a chat with some of our partners and I asked the question “If you own domains and wanted to liquidate today, what are your options?” The answer I got from most? Not much!
Let’s explore further:
1. Finding an end user
Two words: GOOD LUCK!!
2. Traditional marketplaces (Sedo, Afternic)
Since these have millions of domains listed the chances to get noticed are slim to none. These places are great when end users are looking for you but from liquidity standpoint, don’t hold your breathe.
3. Message boards
By far the best option out of the three however, gaining exposure is hard as you compete with many other listings during the day.
Additionally, many sellers do not understand buyers are tired of wasting their time. It is not just considering your domains and your prices but for sellers, the equation is how many considerations do they need to go over in order to find a deal? This is an essential question for sellers and by understanding it you increase your chances many times over to sell your domains.
What is the solution to liquidity?
1. Do not waste buyers’ time.
If you are truly interested in liquidity, let the market decide the true market value of your domain. Do not guess what they will pay.
2. Make sure exposure is there.
In order to get the most for your domain you have to make sure your listed property has the exposure it needs to have. Less exposure = less money.
These are the issues and thoughts we go through building Bido. To serve our marketplace better our eyes are always open, we always listen. If you were to liquidate today, meaning, if by end of day you had to have money in your pockets, how would you go about it? If you ever had to liquidate, did you find the process easy, or hard?
Thanks in advance for your input!
Have a great day, and happy bidding!
Sahar
Approximately eleven years ago my sister was working at a small bar in Texas, done anything from bar tendering to sweeping the floors. The salary range was anywhere from 30$ during weekdays to 100$ on weekends. Not a lot but nevertheless, it was something. She liked the place and the owner and most of the crowd seem to like her. Because of that, it was a surprise that one evening she came back home crying telling me she was let go due to “complaints”. What were the complaints about? Well, she was Jewish and some of the crowd did not like that very much. Her boss wanted to avoid potential trouble so this was his way of doing so.
While I can probably write a lot more about the above this isn’t even our story yet. It is what leads to our story. Read on..
That night my sister came home crying as if the world had completely collapsed on her shoulders, as if there was no hope, none whatsoever. She had no paperwork, driving an iCe Cream truck wasn’t an attractive option anymore (what she did prior to bar tendering), and she had no idea where to go from here, how to pay the bills, not to mention how to build a better future.
As for myself, I was mainly home playing chess on the computer, I had no job either. However, I was more optimistic than her. I said as I always do, “Everything happens for a GOOD reason”, things will work out just fine if not better very soon. I still remember the look on her face, it was saying something on the lines of “Easy for you to say!!”, or maybe it was more like a “Yea.. right!!”. Either way, it wasn’t promising and whatever I said made little sense to her.
During her Ice Cream days (she used to drive an Ice Cream truck in TX) my sister made friends with a number of business owners, one of those also had a local bar in the same area. Unlike the first bar where she was let go, this place had a live karaoke, pool tables, a much better location, and overall was extremely busy. We decided, since she wasn’t working now, to drop by and pay a visit to her old friend. Not sure how long after our arrival she had a quick chat with her friend and a new job working at this place. Within a couple of days we found out the new place was indeed the better choice. Better place, better crowd, and money wise, at least 500% if not more better.
While the story above may sounds like the exception, over the years I’ve seen it happening many times, in the life of friends and in my own life as well.
Some years ago one of our previous partners in the domain space decided to break an agreement due to internal financial issues. We were on a long term contract and now were moved into a revenue sharing program. This move dropped our income overnight by more than 25%, It came as a complete surprise, especially given the credibility and our relations with this particular partner. Soon afterwards our domain portfolio started to gain momentum, we went from losing more than 25% to doubling our income within the next twelve months. If that partner did not act as they have this would have never happened.
I’m not sure how or why it works that way. Maybe it is because at uncertain times we try harder? or maybe it is because that at safe times we don’t explore, we are blinded to opportunities that may have always been there for us? Whatever the reason may be, for me, things always turn out for the better, I still say and truly believe that everything that happens happens for a GOOD reason, and that any downfall has the potential for a greater success.
Have a great day,
Sahar
Taking a break today from the blog, enjoy the video below of one of my favorite artists Alizée (more videos here). To those who plan on bidding today on Bido auction (HouseTips.com), good luck and happy bidding!
Strong start for the domain Panelist.com today on Bido. Here are few comments from the site in regard to the domain:
Dominik Mueller writes:
Valuable one-word .com domain name that is generic in nature! It won’t be often that you find a domain as good as Panelist.com being sold without a reserve price.
Professional panelists can use it to promote their name and services, and panel organizers can feature speakers of upcoming discussions. But the domain can also be used in many other contexts, such as blogs, contests or politics. It’s covering a wide range of topics, so there is lots of potential for commercial use and development.
Valuable one-word .com domain name that is generic in nature! It won’t be often that you find a domain as good as Panelist.com being sold without a reserve price.Professional panelists can use it to promote their name and services, and panel organizers can feature speakers of upcoming discussions. But the domain can also be used in many other contexts, such as blogs, contests or politics. It’s covering a wide range of topics, so there is lots of potential for commercial use and development.
Emil Mendoza writes:
Simply a domain name to own, whether to increase your domain portfolio or for resale.
No need an introduction.
Simply a domain name to own, whether to increase your domain portfolio or for resale.No need an introduction.
You can read more industry expert commentary here.
While none of us know the price it will sell for (I’m sure many have an idea) one thing is for sure: The market will pay what the market will pay.
Happy bidding!
Sahar
Edit: Closing price: US $1,866.00
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