Domain sales are not based on real value	1.3/5.0 (3 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Barry Goggin January 06, 2009

Rick Schwartz had a post recently reminding everyone that it is all about the sales. It reminded me that domain sales are not based on real value but on perceived value. It is focusing on that perception that can help you maximize your sales and your profit.

Real versus perceived

Lets take the example of buying jeans. There is a real need and therefore a real value to getting hard wearing trousers. The real value is based on the jeans ability to take abuse and not wear out quickly and perhaps being comfortable to wear. Perceived value though comes from jeans being “cool to wear” and fashionable.

Brands

When choosing jeans, besides fit and appearance, brand name plays into the perceived value. When there are multiple competing products, the customers view of a brand will play into their decision to purchase.

Domain names real and perceived value

For an end user, the real value of a domain name lies in its use for a website as an address. While any domain will function as an address, those that are descriptive and easy to remember have greater value. Ideal domains should be

• as short as possible
• easily remembered
• descriptive of product or services
• distinctive (at least not easily confused with others)

These are the most important values to promote to your end users. Many potential customers need to be educated because much of this is not as public as we would like it to be.

Of course there are other factors in the valuation but sending a simple consistent message to the end user is important.

Be prepared

If you are selling domains through a website, shouldn’t you be sending a simple consistent message on perceived value to your potential customers? You could also categorize your domains and give a simple rational explanation for those categorizations.

I often sit down and describe in writing the ideal customer for a particular domain name. I then bin the domain names by ideal customer. I can then subdivide each bin by value. Then when I locate a customer, I can market a domain to them and also potentially up-sell them to a higher value domain in the same bin.

Again having planned ahead, you already have a rationale to support a higher valuation on a premium domain you are selling to this customer. Giving a customer a choice of domains within the category they are interested in especially at different price points maximizes your chance of a sale.

And as Rick says, it is all about the sales.

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