Working With Domain Brokers - Part 2

I’ve recently engaged a number of domain brokers to assist me with the sale of a few domains. The first thing I said to them was, “What do you think the domains are worth?” Despite my years in the industry I am unlikely to know what the “sales” market is saying right now. I’m a domain traffic specialist, not a full-time sales broker.

What I’d done is bypass the question of, “What I think the domains are worth” and jumped straight to getting the professional advice. In many respects, I’m an ideal broker customer. I want their advice and I will then accept it…..so the domains are priced to sell!

I’ve received a number of offers for my domains from the brokers and they all seem to be asking whether I want to sell. In my opinion, this is a little silly. The reason why I engaged the brokers is to GET their advice. What I would like to see is an email which says, “Here’s the offers Michael, based on my experience and current market comparables I recommend that you accept.”

What I’m really saying is, “How the heck do I know whether I should sell or not?” I want the broker to provide me with their professional recommendation. Once I have this recommendation my reply would be, “Done! Let’s go through the escrow process.”

This brings me to a VERY important point. I personally would only use Escrow.com for escrow services with domain brokers…the reason being is that I know they are completely legal and regularly audited by governmental agencies. Yes, I know they’re a regular sponsor of my blog but I would only allow sponsors that I’m happy to recommend. Using an escrow service is particularly important when you have no idea who the buyer is.

Once a transaction is completed some really stupid domainers go and research the buyer and then offer additional domains to them. Their whole goal is to cut the broker out of subsequent deals and save the commission fee. This is the most idiotic behaviour I’ve ever heard of!

Let’s unpack this…..the domainer is placing no value on the broker’s professional advice. Despite the broker having a network of potentially thousands of buyers the domainer is placing all of their eggs in a single buyer’s basket. The broker has no incentive to ever work with the domainer again.

I can’t say this for a fact but I wouldn’t be surprised if brokers talk and warn each other of working with certain domainers that try this practice on. Whatever you do….don’t try and go around your broker. They play an important part in the domain ecosystem and you’ll ultimately end up by eroding both your reputation and your ability to sell your assets.

Forget all of the above reasons for not going around your broker and just consider this simple statement. This type of behaviour is what is known as, "acting in bad faith". In other words, it's conduct that you really shouldn't be associated with and is likely to really damage your reputation as a domain investor.

I wish all of the brokers and domain sellers the best of luck with the sale of their domain portfolios. Feel free to leave a few comments below of your own experiences with selling your domains. I should also mention, that I DO NOT broker domains for anyone so please don’t ask me to do so.