I Would Love to Go Back in Time

NameBio does a very good job of tracking down and reporting domain name auction results. Domain investors aren’t the only people who use NameBio to find domain sales data. Domain brokers and domain name buyers use NameBio to get intelligence on domain names they want to buy.

Once a year in a domain name sale negotiation, a counterparty mentions the purchase price I paid to buy a domain name. I guess the prospect may think it’s a way to get a lower price and/or justify their low offer. This tactic works as well as someone mentioning that they’re a student looking to buy a domain name for a school project.

For one thing, had they or others been involved in the auction years ago, the price likely would have been higher. Just because I paid $150 doesn’t mean that’s where I would have tapped out. In addition, the value of many types of domain names has increased over the years.

Beyond that, the business of domain investing has a fairly low sell through rate. For every 100 domain names I buy at auction, I might sell 3 of them a year. That’s a lot of investment capital in inventory, and I need to maximize the return on each domain name I buy.

Domain names are unique assets, and once someone buys it, they can price it how they wish. Buyers should feel fortunate the owner didn’t build a business on the domain name and that it is available for sale.

When someone mentions the price I paid or makes another comment about how domain names were much cheaper back in the day, I usually reply with a quip about building a time machine or going back in time. I sure would love to have access to a time machine and buy a bunch of domain names that previously sold for great deals.