Do you know what should be the right value of a domain name?
If you are just beginning to flip domains, you may have this question in mind. So here’s what I have to say about this.
It’s crucial to understand the right value of a domain name for a domain flipper or you may end up selling a high quality premium domain at a cheaper price.
That’s obviously not your purpose.
You may have just purchased a domain name for $10 or $100. But it doesn’t have to cost the same or near to that amount to someone looking for a perfect domain for their online business.
The only way to make them buy your domain is to make them realize how valuable your domain can be for their business. That’s all.
But it’s the most difficult part and will take time to learn.
A domain name is an integral part of any online business.
Depending on the kind of business the domain is representing it can cost anything from $100 to $100000 or even more.
Facebook paid $8.5 million to acquire FB.com. It’s more than 42 times the amount the company originally paid to acquire Facebook.com
Do you understand why the domain is costing millions of dollars?
Because the domain has so much value to Facebook.
This is how domain flipping business becomes so profitable if only the right domains are chosen and promoted to the right buyers.
You may now find it difficult to choose a domain that you can flip for millions.
Truly speaking these kinds of opportunities are very rare. You should be considered lucky if you have found one.
But you will find many domains to be sold anywhere from $100 to $1000.
This is very common.
These domains are most of the times purchased for around $10 which is the usual cost of a domain name.
However sometimes people buy domains for $100 or more to resell it later at a higher price. It’s only possible if you have found a great domain with enough flipping opportunities.
However the process of understanding the right value of a domain names takes time to learn. But beginners usually don’t understand this simple truth.
They always have this question in mind. This is what made me write this article.
The purpose of writing this article is to inform you that there is no surefire ways to understand the right value of a domain name. However, there are some ways to choose the right domains to flip.
Read How to Choose Domains That You Can Flip & Make Profit?
Hopefully you have found a suitable answer to your question in the article mentioned above. Those were the qualities a domain must have if you decide to flip it for more profit.
The actual understanding of what price to ask for a domain name is something you will learn slowly with experience.
But you can always check Flippa.com or other online domain marketplaces to see what kind of domains are being sold. It will give you an idea.
You can definitely ask for any price for your domains. But you will always have the risk of not being able to sell.
The price should be something a buyer would be interested to pay and still makes you the most profit.
So there is no rule to decide the exact price of a domain. As a domain flipper, you should remember that the price should be anything someone would like to pay making you the most profit at the same time.
Now it’s up to you what price you would ask for a domain.
Domain Value Guide
Millions of people watch television shows like “Antiques Roadshow” and “Pawn Stars” and dream of finding a one of a kind item that sells for thousands of dollars or more. You might imagine finding a valuable item in your parents’ attic that they no longer need that sells for big bucks or coming across a masterpiece by a famous artist in your local thrift store. Instead of focusing on what you might stumble across, you can focus on making money right now and for the future through the right domain name.
The domain name is the name that you give a new website when you build or start it. You might dream of launching a website that you later sell for millions of dollars. Believe it or not, you really can create a website that makes you rich and famous and provides for your future. The team behind CarInsurance.com built a website valued at more than $800 million, but they knew that they couldn’t build that site the way it deserved. They made history when they sold that site for $49.7 million in 2010. Other domains that sold for big bucks include Insurance.com and VacationRentals.com, both of which sold for more than $30 million each in 2010 and 2007.
Though you might think that the days of making money off websites is a thing of the past, just take a look at Voice.com. This site sold for $30 million in 2019, which makes it the highest selling domain name of all time in terms of public reporting. Other sites sold for $10 million or more in recent years too. Those comps prove that you really can make money off domain sales.
The main issue that arises is that people often don’t know what makes one domain worth more than another. When you think about a site such as Sex.com, which was the most expensive domain name ever sold for many years, you know instantly why someone might buy it. Prospective buyers may a convenient way to sell adult toys to others, or they may want to launch a site that informs people on sexually transmitted infections. The value of a domain often depends on who wants it and what they will do with that name. Before you decide to specialize in domain sales, you need to look at what makes a domain valuable and how you can find out what it is worth.
What is a Domain Name?
The chances are good that you want to know how much a domain is worth before you spend time building a new site or acquiring it from the current owner. One of the best ways to determine the price is through domain valuation. This is when you estimate the total value or worth of the domain based on specific factors. You should keep in mind that domain name refers to the name of the site that occurs before you see the URL.
The term domain name can refer to two different features. The first of which is the second-level domain or SLD. This is the part of the domain name that you can buy or sell such as the Google of Google.com. The top-level domain or TLD refers to the type of the website and is usually .com when it comes to domains that people buy and sell. You’ll also find other options such as .edu and .gov, both of which you rarely see for sale. Those features identify sites as belonging to either the government or an educational institution.
Blogger and WordPress are examples of sites that let you create blogs and basic websites for free. You as you gain more traffic and begin making more money off the site though, you’ll need to find a company to host your site and register it. A Domain Name Registrar or DNR is a vendor who will let you register the site and list you as the owner. Those companies can also host your site and accommodate all the traffic that it gets.
Many of the top hosting companies now let you buy and sell domain names too. You can view available domains for sale and view statistics to get an idea of how many unique people visit that site and the content found on it. This also makes it easy for you to handle your site in the future because you can access all the information that you need in one convenient spot.
We don’t want to focus too much on buying new domains or setting up new sites because we want to spend more time on determining the value of a domain. You might have a domain name that you bought years ago when you played a certain game with friends or was a fan of a band. If you no longer use that site and have no plans for the future, it might be a good time to see if it’s worth any money and how much money you can get.
Why are Some Domains More Valuable Than Others?
When you look at a list of the domain names that sold for the most money over time, you might wonder why some are more valuable than others. You can think about this in terms of supply and demand. When you want something, you’ll pay more than you otherwise would to obtain it. This includes everything from the ingredients that you need to cook a special dinner to those Christmas presents that your kids must-have. There’s a reason why Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Kids and other toys sold for five times on the private market what they sold for in stores.
The problem is that you can’t just use a one size fits all approach when determining a site’s value. You can find horror stories on the web about people who bought and registered domain names before a band dropped a new album or a new film landed in theaters. They thought they could sell those domains to the studios but instead found that the studios designed similar sites and advertised on the web to draw traffic away from the original sites, making them almost worthless. Though it’s often hard to determine a domain name value, there are a few factors you can consider when estimating its worth.
TLD
One thing you should consider is the top-level domain. No matter what people say, .com domains are always the most valuable. When you visit a new website that you heard about at work, you’ll enter the name followed by .com. Most web users think that those sites are the best. They’ll take steps to avoid some of the other TLD options. Though there are some newer options that you can select, the software on their computers may view those sites as potentially dangerous and keep them from visiting.
Traffic
Google is easily the most popular website in the world in terms of traffic. Between your phone and the other devices that you use at home or work, you likely visit this search engine a few times a day. Sites that get more visitors are more popular and worth more money. The price can depend heavily on the amount of unique traffic that the site gets. While you do want to get repeat visitors from users who come back every day, you also want to reach new people and have new users visiting your site. Sites that are more popular with likely have better search engine optimization or SEO too.
SEO
Search engine optimization can help when doing a domain appraisal because you want to make sure that the site gets regular traffic every day. This term refers to how well the site incorporates keywords and key phrases that help its search engine rankings. Google keeps a tight lid on its algorithms and will not say how it ranks sites in its search engine results, but proper SEO is a major factor in that ranking. A site that uses keywords that don’t relate to the content on its pages will rank much lower than a site that uses the same keywords and provides solid information for users. The domain name itself should relate to the content on the site. NASCAR owns the rights to the NASCAR.com website and provides articles and information on upcoming races and racers. If the site suddenly changed to focus on horse racing or another sport, it would drop in the search engine rankings.
Brand Name
Another factor that can affect the price and value is whether that domain name relates to a brand name. In the NASCAR example above, the owners of that site can sell merchandise officially branded with the sport’s logo on it and host podcasts and other content that relates to the sport. Owners will often pay more for a site that they can use as a brand name, which lets them expand their empires. You want to make sure that the domain name grabs the attention of others and that it can lead to branding.
Professional Names
One thing to keep in mind is that professional domain names tend to sell for more than unprofessional names do. In the example of CarInsurance.com, it became so popular because owners knew that they could use it to redirect to a major insurer or as a place where shoppers could compare car insurance rates. You want to make sure that your domain name looks professional and is spelled correctly.
Concise Names
Concise names are usually better than longer names too. If you made a list of the sites that you visit the most often, it would probably include domains of no more than seven to eight characters. People today have short attention spans and want to visit sites quickly. A short and concise name can also set you apart from the pack of competitors who came later and make the domain more valuable.
How Much Can You Get?
You can read dozens of articles and see domain names that sold for millions of dollars and still not understand or know how much you can get for your sites. Now is the time to look at the factors that determine the price and compare those factors to the sites that you have. Though you can use an online domain value checker, you may want to do some research before you use one of those sites.
Check Prices Online
Would you put your house up for sale on the market without setting a sale price first? When you work with a real estate agent, the agent can either hire someone to do an appraisal or do the appraisal on the spot. Agents will also pull comps, which are the comparable listings in your area. This helps them work out prices with sellers to place on those homes.
You can do the same thing when it comes to domain names too. The only way you can find out what to ask for yours is with a look at what others sold for in the past. It’s important that you don’t go too far back though because prices change regularly. While a bidding war can erupt that causes buyers to spend more than they wanted, you might find that there is less interest in your domain name. Though you might think that you can double what you originally paid for the site, its value depends heavily on current market factors.
A good way to get a look at comps is with a website that keeps track of recent sales such as DN Journal. One of the best features of this site is that it reports the highest sales from the last three weeks. As long as you can find domain names that are similar to yours, you can get an idea of how much to ask for your name. Domain Name Wire also offers a database that you can search through. It has a blog that makes note of any big sales from the recent past too. If you have a domain name that is short and relates to a specialized field, you can also use ShortNames.
One of the biggest reasons to do some research is because it helps you stay on top of trends and see trends that others might notice. You might see that several sites sold in recent weeks that share similar names, which is also the name of a new toy that a major company will release soon. Staying on top of current trends can help you launch new websites that you can sell to others too. Those looking for specific domains and similar names will often purchase related sites that contain little to no information beyond a homepage.
Get an Appraisal
There may come a time when getting a domain name estimation or appraisal is better than just doing some research on your own. You can choose from many sites that will give you information on your domain name in minutes. Those sites provide you with info on your overall search engine ranking, number of unique visitors and other factors that can determine the domain’s value. As an added bonus, these sites will also track down similar sites on the web and let you compare the two. If you need to sell a domain name and aren’t sure how valuable it is, one of these appraisal sites can help.
A popular appraisal site that many use is EstiBot. When you first visit the site, you can look for the search box on the homepage and enter the URL of your site. As soon as you click the button beside this box, the site will do a quick appraisal and provide you with new information in a separate window. EstiBot also does a great job of estimating how much your site is worth and of giving you a list of similar sites and how much each one sold for recently.
Best Domain Value Checkers
While some claim that EstiBot is the best domain value checker, it’s far from the only online tool that you can use. We’ll go over nine other websites that are just as helpful for checking the value of a domain before you sell. One of the top for many is GoDaddy.
You might remember seeing GoDaddy commercials during the Super Bowl and other big events. Those commercials caught the attention of watchers because they made it seem as though the women on the screen did naughty things on the site. GoDaddy started as web hosting site but grew to include many other tools. You can use the domain appraisal tool to see what your domain is worth and why the site gave it that price. It gives a value based on the popularity of the keywords that you used, if similar sites sold in the last few years and the length of the name. You can also use this tool to see if there are any similar domain names available for sale right now.
With AppraisalWebDomain, you can get an idea of the value of your domain and view the same information that prospective buyers will. This site looks at the number of page views you get daily and how much those views are worth in terms of advertising dollars as well as other factors to give you a set price. You can use that information to see why your domain might be worth more than you thought.
Sedo can give you a quick domain appraisal too. This tool uses the websites registered through Sedo to see how your domain name compares to those sites. It bases the valuation on factors such as the SEO content of the domain name and any pages on the site, whether you maximized the site for ad dollars and how effectively you designed the site. Those 10 factors give you a good idea of what the site is worth.
If you want to determine value based on statistics, StatChest is one of the best appraisal tools to use. StatChest also uses the Alexa devices that Amazon makes to look at how well your domain ranks in the searches that those devices perform. One feature that many like is that the tool will coordinate your information based on color and use colors to show you where your domain name ranks the highest and the lowest. If you want to look at domain names to buy, you can use the information to see how much possible income you can make off a new site.
Valuate is a great tool for those who want to find as much information as possible about a domain name. Not only can you look at the how often that domain name sold over the years, but you can also see what people paid for it. That comes in handy when you want to compare your domain to those with a similar name. It shows you how often users search for the site and if there are any competing sites too. You can even use the site to see if the domain name is similar to any trademarked sites.
We also recommend Website Outlook because you can use this tool for free on your computer. As long as you have a Microsoft Windows operating system and/or access to Outlook, that tool is at your disposal. You can use SEMRush, which is a tool that uses the information generated by AdWords. This is the program that Google offers that lets users make money off the ads they run on their sites. You can see how your domain ranks on any given day, where it ranks in Alexa searches, how many page views you get daily and how many unique visitors check out the site. It also gives you a good estimate as to the value of the domain’s worth.
Free Valuator is another free tool that you can use when appraising your site and looking at its overall value. The basic evaluation comes free when you sign up, but you can pay extra for a professional evaluation that includes comments from registered users. This feature allows multiple people to check out the domain and estimate how much it is worth based only on what they can see. You’ll also get access to Google tools through this site. MySiteWealth and Epik offer some solid and affordable tools too.
How Much Will People Really Pay?
While we talked about some of the appraisal tool that you can use and how you can check domain value online, you must keep in mind that value does not necessarily equal income. When you use Kelly Blue Book or a similar website to see how much your car is worth, the figure given to you means nothing unless someone will pay that amount. Market factors can significantly impact the amount that people will spend on luxury items, websites and domain names included.
You might have a website with an appraised value of $1 million but put it up for sale and not get a single offer after months. Some of the factors that can turn prospective buyers off or make them hesitant to put in an offer include:
*The domain name is similar to a trademarked product
*Your site gets more repeat traffic than new traffic
*The TLD doesn’t appeal to them
*Buyers don’t think people need or will use that domain
The best and easiest way to get an idea of how much you can make off that domain name is with a listing that you put on the web. There are many different sites that let you list a domain name for sale without assuming any risk. If you want to find out what people will pay but don’t want to sell your domain, you can use a fixed rate listing or sell it at auction. With an auction listing, you have the choice of setting a reserve too. Unless the bidding reaches that amount or higher, you do not need to sell the domain name.
With a fixed price listing, you decide what you want for your domain name and list it at that price. If someone wants the domain and agrees to pay that price, you can hand it over. You also have the option of creating an auction where you start the opening bids at the price that you want. This ensures that you get the minimum amount and allows you to get even more if others bid on it. If you hold an auction and set a reserve, you do not need to sell your domain name unless it hits that reserve price.
Most of the sites that let you sell domains require that you create a free account. You will need to list your payment details as well as your home address. Some sites accept PayPal, but others will send the money that you make directly to your bank account. You will also need to pay a certain amount to list your domain name. Flippa is a popular website that charges $9 for your listing. With eBay and other sites, you pay a small amount based on the starting price and a percentage of what the domain name sells for at the end of the auction or listing. If no one bids or buys the listing, you only pay the listing fee. Some websites let you list your domain name at a set price similar to a classified ad. The ad will run for a specific period. If it doesn’t sell, you can renew the listing.
No matter where you decide to list that domain name, there are some things to keep in mind. You will want to make sure that you entered all your information correctly to make sure that you get paid and that the money you make goes to the right account. It’s also important that you choose how you want to sell the domain name and the opening bid that will start the auction. Now is the time to enter the reserve price that you want and to decide how long to let the listing run. Most auction sites let you choose auctions that run for five to 14 days. Experts often recommend that you end the auction on a weekend day rather than a weekday. More people are at home during the weekends and have more time to place bids.
If you decide to sell a domain name at auction with a reserve, you may have the option of hiding the reserve amount. This can entice buyers and make them want to up their minimum bids in the hopes of hitting that reserve. At the same time though, it can also turn buyers off. They might place a few bids and assume that the reserve is too high for them because they didn’t hit it. If you let buyers view the reserve, they’ll instantly know the minimum amount they need to pay to secure the domain name.
Putting a domain name up for sale is a good way to determine its value, even if it doesn’t sell. You can get an idea of whether the price you had in mind is too high for the market. The highest bid that you receive gives you a good idea of how much the domain is worth on the current market. This can help you decide whether to hold onto it for a bit longer or let it go for a lower price.
Putting Everything Together
Thanks to Google AdWords, you can now run ads on your website and get money each time someone clicks on an affiliate link and when they buy something via one of those links. You can use that site to become an expert and make money off the video lectures and other products that you offer too. An even easier way to make money from a website is when you sell it. When you pick a domain name that appeals to others and know the valuation of that domain name, you can get a good price for that site.