How to Promote a Domain Auction

Let’s say you are selling a domain name at auction and want to make sure it receives maximum attention from the best potential buyer(s). I want to share some tips on how to let people know that your domain name is up for auction. Not that it matters all that much, but I didn’t do this when I had my own auctions at NameJet, and I regret it.

The first thing you should do is perform a Google search for the keyword or keyterm pertaining to the domain name. Much like you would do if you are selling a domain name in private, you’ll want to contact potential buyers to  gauge  their interest.

When contacting buyers, I personally wouldn’t include a link to the auction in an email. While this might not make all that much sense, it’s probably best to find out if the buyer is interested first because you’ll most likely need to educate them on the auction process. I would send an email telling them that the domain name is for sale, and they should reply if they are interested and want more info. If the domain name is good (or better) and relevant to their business, they will reply.

In your reply email to them, give them all of the auction details. Mention when it begins and when they need to sign up, where it’s being held, and most importantly, let them know how to sign up to participate. If you use NameJet, you’ll want to let them know NameJet backers to give them confidence that the auction is legit and being held on a reputable platform. In the domain business, NameJet is well known, but outside the business, it might not be as well known as a company like Ebay. I recommend showing them this quote from a press release:

“As a joint venture between Web.com and Demand Media—who together own three of the top ten largest ICANN-accredited registrars—NameJet has both the foundational expertise and the customer reach necessary to ensure success in the auction arena.”

It’s also wise to have domain investors participate in your auction to at least set a floor/wholesale price. I have successfully advertised on Domaining.com with a sponsored headline, and you might also want to post something on DNForum. This will ensure adequate domain investor participation, assuming the domain name is good.

One of the most important things you can do is contact all of the people who previously inquired about the domain name. If these people were interested in the name before, they would probably still have an interest, especially in an auction setting. I didn’t do this, and I regret it since I left money on the table as one auction sold for a couple thousand dollars less than an offer I received. Laziness that cost me $2k.

You also might consider forwarding your domain name to the auction landing page. I have found that many people visit a domain name they want to buy to see if it’s developed, and if they land on an auction page, they might place a bid.

Finally, make sure you choose a reputable auction venue. You want to make it easy for people to bid, and choosing a well known and trusted venue will allow you to make the most at your auction.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

13 COMMENTS

  1. Thanx for that! Just thinking of submitting 3DDesignsoftware.com to auction. When I purchased it aftermarket, 3D printing wasn’t in the mainstream news as much – maybe I should make hay!

  2. Great post. I heartily concur with all the advice given here. I admit to not being usually being proactive enough selling my domains. However, one particular auction stands out. I searched out about a dozen prospects from registrants of similar but less valuable domain registrations than mine, and search engine generated prospects. In addition to emailing, I spent over $100 to mail an EXPRESS, (overnight) letter to their postal address. In that letter (about one page, single spaced) I stressed that I wouldn’t be spending such a large amount of postage if I did not have confidence that it would be of value to them. And, of course told them why I thought it was valuable.

    That letter netted several thousand dollars additional sale price because one of the recipients was in the final bidding with only one other person. The bidding would not have gone as high without that person bidding, plus they won the auction.

    Contact your prospective bidders. Well worth the time and effort.

  3. Definitely worth contacting some end users. I’ve contacted a few about a domain that is going to be auctioned in the Great Domain Auction over at Sedo on the 18th of this month (Aid.co.uk). However, I did include a link to the auction in the email.

    Hopefully they’ll do a bit of research and notice that Sedo is reputable.

  4. I think for the most part that this is excellent advice. I would be hesitant though not to include a link to the actual auction on the initial email, especially if it is a larger company that you are targeting. I do a lot of work contacting end users and I find that you have to make things extremely easy and convenient for them because half of the time even if it is a name that they really want they might be busy enough to miss something that is as time sensitive as an auction. I would also add to the to-do list by saying that you should contact all parties that have expressed interest in the property the day before the auction ends or a few hours before for the same reasons.

  5. Hello

    I am just thinking to buy some old aged and high pagerank domains from Yourmaindomain.com do u have any idea of them? if so pls let me know if the site is legit, i am looking and known on the site since 2 years but never dealt with them, one of my friend has purchased a domain from them since 6 months back, just wanna be sure if somebody here may share any reveiews of them

    Thanks

  6. Great post. But I was wondering how I would approach to a buyer if I have general domain name? For example, if I own inspirednames.com (or) cheerfuller.com
    Where would I go?

    Sorry if its a lame question. I am new to domain marketing.

  7. Extremely powerful article on domain promotion. Can yo please tell me how to get more views in my domain landing page? I was looking to sell ai.auction but facing difficulty.

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