The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog: RicksBlog.com – Home of The Domain King®

Evening Folks!!

Sales and Auctions are about current conditions of the market. Last year it was difficult to get good names at attractive prices even starting as early as we did. This year it is exactly the opposite. Even though we have not opened submissions and have not even considered the ones we have gotten, I can tell you that folks want to sell and have been sending in domains for months. Quality domains at attractive prices is the way to get an exciting auction. Unfortunately none of those counted because we have not opened the auction process until TODAY!

The domains chosen will either be on the 'Guaranteed Placement Program' as described below or picked by us based on most saleable and most reasonable. I will tell you right now, that unless it is a truly PREMIUM domain, don't submit a domain with a high reserve in 2012. The competition for the slots will eliminate you from the get go. Even 'Guaranteed Placements' have to have reserves in line with current market conditions.

If you don't need to sell, the auction format we have is NOT designed for you. This is basically a WHOLESALE auction, not RETAIL, as the bidders are primarily other domain investors. The market is soft and to be honest, it may be in your best interest to wait for the next pop. Nobody is forcing you to try and sell when things are not that good. However if you are really aggressive and want to turn some of your gems into cash, then that can happen because we have a focused and qualified audience and this is going to be an exciting auction.

My goal is to have a down and dirty auction that moves faster than most can keep up with. If there is no opening bid in the first 10 seconds. GAME OVER! NEXT Domain!

We always go back over the list of domains at the end of the auction if somebody reconsiders and wants to bid. But no more BORING auctions and the way to fix the boredom is to move this puppy at warp speed.

We run a clean auction that you can have confidence in and we proved that last year. The rest is up to the audience, the market and the wallets. What we offer is the single most qualified audience in the business and an open and transparent auction that domainer or auction house alike can participate in.

Your job as a seller is to have a better domain and a better price than the next guy. An auction is about multiple interested parties. The only way that happens is when several folks walk in the room all targeting the same domain name. The bids give the value and when you see who is bidding that allows others to bid with more confidence. That is the psyche behind any auction.

As for bidding, it is either live in person or live over the phone or pre-bids or prearranged text. So we have multiple options for serious bidders. Complain away. But it works and this is the way we do it. Everyone knows in advance and every bid has a person there or on the phone for all to know. Everyone has to be pre-registered to bid regardless so it's a much smaller issue than some like to make of it.

Until we can be assured that an online auction will run without flaws and 350 people in the room won't have to wait and have things slowed down, this is the way we will handle it and nobody is forcing anyone to participate if they don't want to.

You can send your entires to me starting TODAY. Do not send domains that you are advertising all over the place or you are not ready to commit to the auction. Not interested. Don't send me a list of 1000 names. I won't even look. Howard will be in touch and send you a contract once we decide.

Because of the amount of submissions, you will only hear from us if we are considering placement to sign a contact. Reserves MUST be included. Domains will be judged against other submitted domains for quality and price. We reserve the right to reject a 'Guaranteed Placement' on any domain name. If so any up-front money will be refunded.

Please don't get mad at me if your domain is not selected. With a limited amount of slots and unlimited supply, my job is to be very choosey. It may have nothing to do with the quality of your domain, it has to do with how that domain stacks up next to the others. Auctions today are 24 x7 and countless amount going on at once. The ONLY thing that will make this auction a success is the domain names available.

Most won't follow these rules so let me be very clear from the get go, unless the domain actually has a 'No Reserve' price, domains with no prices, no reserve prices = no consideration and I don't do valuations. I will just tell you if a domain is too high for the market and/or the auction. But I don't do valuations and anyone submitting a domain with an apprasial won't even be considered. I am going to talk about appraisals at TRAFFIC and who they are designed to HELP and who they are designed to HURT.

If you want to see good domains with lively action than you need to set some standards and rules. Nobody is forced to participate. Last year we gained back the confidence of running a CLEAN auction. This year we will reap the rewards of patiently planting the seeds and building on what needed to be done.

An auction is about bargains THIS YEAR and in THIS market. Send your BARGAINS Here. We invite brokers, auction houses and domainers to submit domains or even reserve a block of spots.

We charge 15% to auction a domain name. Those that want to help with their own sale and marketing, and want a guaranteed placement in the auction, can pay a fee in advance and get a reduced commission rate if the domain sells. They can play an active role by using their own data to make contact with previous interested parties and end users to announce the place and time. of the auction and create a contest.

Commission rates as low as 6% on the sliding scale below. If it is hard to read on your device, Email me and I will send you an excel file. This allows any domainer to take control.

*Auction houses and brokers can participate on an accepted domain name with a negotiated commission split. Can also negotiate a block of slots. However, individual domainers are given priority.