I don’t list many domain names for sale on domain forums, but I think they can be good venues to sell domain names that are priced well. I’ve bought and sold on DNForum, NamePros, and Domain Boardroom, so I know first hand that all of the forums have active buyers and sellers. Sellers may outnumber buyers, but there are many buyers looking for deals on forums.
Sometimes, I’ll list a domain name for sale and reduce the price once if the domain name isn’t sold. On occasion, if I don’t want to reduce the price, I’ll simply edit the post and remove the information from the sale thread so nobody contacts me about it after. Oftentimes, I’ll forget about the sale listing, and it will stay up indefinitely, and therein lies a problem.
If someone does a bit of cursory research to buy a specific domain name, they can easily find information like previous sale prices as well as sale listings on domain forums. If you listed a domain name for sale at a reduced price and don’t edit the listing, you could end up selling the domain name for less than its retail value.
While there should be no regrets on a domain sale, nobody wants to sell their name for less than they could sell it. Edit your  listings if you don’t want the sale price to be listed indefinitely.
If you forget to edit a listing and someone wants to buy it you might try to tell the buyer that your listing is 6 months old and is no longer valid, but someone who really wants your domain name at the listed price may take exception to that and make a legal case out of it.
You wouldn’t want to try and buy something for its listed price only to find that the seller won’t follow through on the transaction. It’s much easier just to edit your listing a week or two after it doesn’t have any buyers.
I think DNF should erase sale threads after 3 months, especially if they make you put the domain in the title…
Good suggestion, but that probably would be bad for traffic. It’s also an easy fix for forum users.
Some loon contacted me last year, demanding to buy a domain that I listed on DNF in 2004 with a $50 BIN. When I quoted a $3000 price he got very upset.
There is no contractual obligation to sell a listed domain outside a 30 day maximum, and that’s debatable even .
While I agree that old threads should be closed, there is always a reason to add to or edit an old thread – despite obvious references to ‘tomb raiding’ an ancient thread. 😀
Good suggestion Ron, it would be much easier for all.