To Piggyback or Fly Solo

[Chris.C]

So every couple days I have a look at the list of domains going up for auction in the coming days and sometimes I see a domain that is similar or in the same niche as a couple of mine and I've often wondered should I put my domain up for auction along side theirs to give buyers multiple reasons to turn up to the auction and potentially get both of us a higher price or is adding this similar domain just increasing the supply of domains in that niche for that date and thus decreasing the price achieved because buyers will split their money across both domains...

And what about cases where a category killing domains is going up for sale - should you put up a lesser quality domain in that niche on the off chance that some retail buyers show up and throw a bit of money at the lesser domain while they are bidding on the category killer? or would a decent, albeit lesser quality, domain get completely overlooked if its category killer alternative is going up for sale on the same day?

What are people's thoughts?

 

[DavidL]

Combine them I think - especially if your domain is the inferior one. It was a smart move from Steve to put BS.com.au along with DB.com.au for example and I think it paid off.

 

[chris]

I think more eyes the better too.

 

[AnthonyP]

I think that more eyes are better too and we are allowing very short auctions to enable people to piggy back on the good expired domain auctions. BS/DB was a great example of this.

 

[Chris.C]

If this is the case then is it possible to to list the upcoming expiring domains even earlier, like at least 3 or 4 days in advance so that we can potentially put up domains along side the expiring domains?

 

[AnthonyP]

The expired domains are added within minutes of them arriving on the auDA list. This gives you a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 48 hours to notice them and to put your domains alongside them. We will not be adding domains earlier than that since they can be potentially renewed.

 

[Chris.C]

The expired domains are added within minutes of them arriving on the auDA list. This gives you a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 48 hours to notice them and to put your domains alongside them. We will not be adding domains earlier than that since they can be potentially renewed.

But surely a tiny percentage of domains are renewed with 3 - 4 days to go...

Yet 3 - 4 days makes a big difference when it comes to promoting a domain. I think this is especially important if you are expecting sellers to put their domains up with no reserve.

You could just have an icon against domains that that represents "pending deletion" for those that aren't yet confirmed.

 

[AnthonyP]

But surely a tiny percentage of domains are renewed with 3 - 4 days to go...

If we published a list publicly do you think this might change?

Yet 3 - 4 days makes a big difference when it comes to promoting a domain. I think this is especially important if you are expecting sellers to put their domains up with no reserve.

We are talking here about an opportunity for you to piggy back on a good expired domain, how much promoting do you plan to do when you are piggy backing?

Just out of interest could you explain to me the difference days 3 and 4 make when promoting a no reserve domain auction? In my experience days 2,3 and 4 lack the urgency of a 24 hour auction and don't seem to add any value. Generally leads with 4,3 or even 2 days get involved in big drawn out multi-party discussions where they struggle to make a decision and then end up calling me a few days later saying "we really really want that domain you called us about, how do we go about purchasing it now?".

With a 24 hour opportunity you often get to talk to the decision maker and they make a clear decision on the spot based on the opportunity you present.

 

[Chris.C]

If we published a list publicly do you think this might change?

That's a fair point.

Well is there anyway to access an "unpublic" list so if I see a domain that is looking to expire in 3 or 4 days I'll have some time to see it in advance.

 

[AnthonyP]

Well is there anyway to access an "unpublic" list so if I see a domain that is looking to expire in 3 or 4 days I'll have some time to see it in advance.

Not that I know of, I think the building of these lists became obsolete when auDA started publishing the official drop list at http://www.auda.org.au/domains/drop-list/