Fresh Domain Name Aftermarket Launches

PremierDomains.com launches. Is there room for more domain aftermarkets?

It seems like fresh domain name aftermarkets pop up every month. Most of them are just copycat sites with features similar to Afternic and Sedo. They don’t gain traction and linger in aftermarket wasteland.

One fresh site caught my eye today – PremierDomains.com. The site inked a deal with NameMedia to syndicated Name Media’s AfternicDLS listings. This gives the site an instant inventory of 800,000 domain names, which helps the fresh marketplace fill the “sell side” of the market equation. (Lesson #1 for fresh aftermarkets: if you don’t have a good inventory, it doesn’t matter how many buyers you have.) But will the buy side come? Following all, you need both sellers and buyers to make a market.

I asked PremierDomains.com founder Michael Lindsey point blank: what makes his site different from Sedo or Afternic? Lindsey stated:

Our attempt was to put together an upscale site (both visually and functionally). While the concept of a domain marketplace is similar to both Afternic and Sedo, we feel this site is more “retail” friendly. I believe that there are far more individuals “in the domain business” that realize the true value of domains compared to the general public for whom we are targeting as clients. The more “retail” look and feel that we can give the client and more confidence we portray that the buying of domains is a legitimate business practice, the more positive the experience. You might say the effect we were going for is similar to buying a car from a corner lot or from a dealership.

I think the site does portray a good, retail storefront. It’s professional and clean, and makes it easy to contact a broker. And it’s always good to hear that firms are trying to position themselves for end users. NameMedia, incidentally, does better than any other firm at marketing to end users. NameMedia also inks deals (similar to this one) to syndicate their listings, which is notable for finding those end users.

Listing on PremierDomains.com is free and sellers can include a headline and description for their domains. There is a 10% commission fee ($50 minimum), and the site doesn’t provide escrow services or a negotiating platform.

What’s your take on PremierDomains.com? Is there potential for someone to enter the market right now dominated by Sedo and NameMedia (Afternic, BuyDomains). If so, what will these fresh players have to do to differentiate themselves?