When Ought to You Send a Sedo Offer to Auction?
When you receive an offer on Sedo, ought to you send the domain to auction?
When Sedo launched its auction platform, domain sellers rejoiced. Prior to launching the auction format, sellers could only negotiate one-on-one with potential buyers. There was no way to trigger a reserve price and get added exposure similar to Afternic’s model.
When you receive an offer on Sedo, ought to you negotiate or send the domain directly to auction?
The answer: it depends on the name.
For example, say you receive an offer on a generic domain that ought to be interesting to multiple domain investors. An example would be Support.ws, which I sold* on Sedo. I received a low offer, but the name was generic. I knew that the added exposure on Sedo auctions would push the price up, which it did. For example, here are a few current auctions on Sedo that are attracting many bidders:
b9.eu – 23 bids
0zq.com – 18 bids
fazo.com – 19 bids
ekk.biz – 8 bids
I could have tried to negotiate the price of support.ws prior to putting it in auction, but having a low starting price engages more bidders and ultimately results in a higher sales price.
Still, you’ll notice that most Sedo auctions end with only one bid. This is typical of domains with limited end user appeal (such as a modest niche). I recently received an $800 offer for ITBackup. I was willing to sell for this price, but wanted to squeeze out a few hundred more. This domain only appeals to a modest set of buyers, not the general auction populace at Sedo. I ought to have negotiated directly with the buyer to get the price up to $1,000 ahead of sending it to auction to see if anyone else was interested.
The bottom line: if you have a generic domain that will be interesting to multiple domain investors, you are better of sending the domain directly to auction rather than negotiating. If you have a niche domain with limited interest, you ought to negotiate a favorable price first, as that will likely be your only bidder.
*For the record, the buyer didn’t end up paying for the domain and I still own it.
