For a while now, I have been periodically auctioning domain names on NameJet. I like the reach of the platform in the domain investment space as well as the ability for people outside the domain business to participate. I want to share some advice about how I let end user prospects know about my NameJet auctions in case you have your own auctions.
The first thing I did was go through my leads to find prospective buyers of domain names that were up for auction. I looked through the leads generated via the DomainNameSales.com platform as well as the leads generated through my own landing pages. I went through each lead individually to determine which were viable and which were either junk or people I did not feel were qualified to participate.
With the viable leads in hand, I crafted an email to explain that the domain name they had an interest in buying at one point was going to auction. Because they were likely unfamiliar with NameJet, I included the following details to help them learn about the auction and NameJet:
- Date of auction
- Link to the auction
- Information on placing a backorder and proxy bid
- Brief explanation of NameJet bidding protocol
- Background information about NameJet (partnership between 2 public companies)
- Information about verification
Because NameJet requires that bidders above a certain amount are verified, I let the prospects know how to get verified. I wanted them to be prepared in the event their auction goes above that number.
I also provided the contact information for NameJet management in case the prospect had questions. I am familiar with the NameJet platform, but I did not want to answer any type of technical questions in case my information was wrong. I wanted to be sure they received accurate information the first time so they could take comfort in knowing their bid was secure.
At least one prospective buyer bought a domain name that I auctioned in the last round of auctions. The sale price was less than I had quoted, so the buyer likely felt good about winning. Although I was disappointed in the sale price, I know this particular buyer wanted the domain name but couldn’t afford my asking price. I am happy that he was able to win it at an affordable price. I am not sure if other prospects bid on (or won) other auctions because there were many participants.
When you auction domain names, I think it is a good idea to contact people who had previously inquired about domain names. These may be the best prospects to buy your domain names at auction, especially if you explain the process to them.
What’s better namejet or flippa to auction one word .com domain?
I have never auctioned a domain name on Flippa, so I couldn’t tell you.
So why did you reply to his question in the first place idiot?
Does Namejet require transfer of the domain to a particular registrar for example ENOM? I have seen reserve auctions so I suppose a reserve can be placed to reduce the risk of selling for $69. However, reserve auctions probably generate less interest from bidders looking for bargains. How open is Namejet to placing a reasonable reserve? Just curious what you have observed.
At least you don’t email people and tell them you have a huge China buyer that has a 20 million budget that wants to buy some names.
I have had 4 of them this week, 10 million 20 million, 5 and 8. I mean is this new the scam to get people to send in their portfolio. Some are for real but when I start getting 3 or 4 a week it is so fake.
Good tips Elliot.
I did something very similar a few years ago with a German product domain name that I auctioned at another venue, with a solid end result.
In addition to covering the main points in an email (Google translate is your friend, lol), I also stressed that this was a one-time only message and I would not be contacting them again.
Well I’ve submitted names for NameJet’s platform including names that I’ve had fair-size offers on as well names that were featured in other premium auction events in the past. These aren’t low quality names (many one-word .coms) & better than most I see in open auctions there. I’ve never heard a word back from NameJet so my honest conclusion is that you need to be part of an “inner group” to run auctions there. Of course 3-4 letter .coms seem to get listed easy enough by looking at the open auctions.
Is this all there is for those kinds of auctions:
http://www.namejet.com/Pages/Auctions/PickList.aspx?type=FeaturedList#&&kv6tany1RsrCyiAVlxhihHBs8yandloLQ6TK8gdWdY19Rqu2GBFtikT7hUnFEAYQ5U3K9g4GZzFB5q3p/vCymc9KM5XN/cJcCnIQiqRkPB5np5L0yS0CJw1RiKgZ4ygmJ6dcHQ==