houses.co.uk

[wb]

How many extra houses would an estate agent need to sell in order to make £32K?

The same logic can be applied to almost any domain/industry. Whilst it may be a good "convincer" in a sales pitch, it doesn't mean it will happen in reality.

How many additional house sales would an average estate agency really make purely because they own a certain domain name? Assuming this logic is correct would mean that the domain has to act as a "trigger" for buyers to commit to a purchase, as without the domain a sale would not have happened.

Don't know about you, but when I'm purchasing a property I'm not even that interested if the estate agency has their own website, so long as the property is suitable. Same principle for a new build housing company too.

I don't think it would be of benefit to an estate agency or new build company, in the same way that Car(s).co.uk wouldn't be of benefit to a car manufacturer or dealership either.

Does the domain have potential? Of course it does. Is it likely to generate a return for the ultimate end user (i.e. not someone simply flipping it on) without full development? Unlikely.

As always, my opinion.

 

[Edwin]

How many additional house sales would an average estate agency really make purely because they own a certain domain name? Assuming this logic is correct would mean that the domain has to act as a "trigger" for buyers to commit to a purchase, as without the domain a sale would not have happened.

Not at all. It just means that it has to help the estate agency get more property listings onto its books - if it closes them at the same rate as all the other properties it's representing (and why shouldn't it?) that's the extra sales.

It's funny, on here most people see £32K as a "huge" amount, whereas in the commercial world that can be an insignificant fraction of a marketing budget for larger firms. For example, a full page ad in the property section of the Financial Times would cost £23,500. And a day after that's printed it's history.

It's irrelevant how many firms can't afford something, so long as some can. Even if 10,000 property firms CAN'T afford £32K, if 100 can or 50 can or 20 can, there will be a huge value to the name for those remaining firms able to pay for it. And in the property sector there are in practice going to be hundreds of firms with the budget to soak up a one-time £32K investment in the blink of an eye.

 

[brum]

There are lots of companies who could afford the 32k price ,what u should be asking Is why didnt they bid ???

It a bit like in the past they used to say you do not get fired for buying IBM in the same way the marketing guy is not going to get fired for putting a load of adds in papers that cost 100,000 but if he brought the domain and got it developed and it didn't work hello dole !!!!

It as simple as that , and until these companies see there competitors doing it and understand the development and seo process they will always be wary.

And finally it comes down to what else could u buy for 32k I think most people would sell there best domain for that if offered ... So they could have any other domain pretty much for that price whilst there is so many alternatives available prices will always be subdued

 

[Edwin]

There are lots of companies who could afford the 32k price ,what u should be asking Is why didnt they bid ???

How on earth would they know that the domain was up for sale?

This is a forum full of domainers, always looking for the best deal anywhere and everywhere, and on this thread alone a number of people indicated they were unaware of the sale (and several said they would have paid more). It's highly likely that NO END USERS had the first clue that it was going on.

It's the "does a tree in a forest..." issue: "does a domain auction produce true value for a seller if no end users know about it?"

Of course not!

And that's a grievous failure on the part of the auction venue, but even at the so-called top end of the market none of the major domain auction houses are going out and rounding up the most likely buyers, so it's sadly also par for the course.

 

[cc976a]

How on earth would they know that the domain was up for sale?
.

Nail on the head. This is a funny industry when people have 'products' but the buyers don't know they need it, want it or how to get it.

Bigger bricks and mortar companies very rarely go outside their brand for a name.

For those that could perhaps sell £x,xxx genetics to startups how do you find them. Resource to find end users will eat (heavily) in to any profit on the sale.

In light of this I am surprised more people are not choosing to develop their portfolio and attract attention through it's popularity and search engine position.

Show a man a domain and he may not get it, show him a good name AND an established place in the SERPS and the light bulb starts flashing!

 

[Brassneck]

How on earth would they know that the domain was up for sale?

This is a forum full of domainers, always looking for the best deal anywhere and everywhere, and on this thread alone a number of people indicated they were unaware of the sale (and several said they would have paid more). It's highly likely that NO END USERS had the first clue that it was going on.

It's the "does a tree in a forest..." issue: "does a domain auction produce true value for a seller if no end users know about it?"

Of course not!

And that's a grievous failure on the part of the auction venue, but even at the so-called top end of the market none of the major domain auction houses are going out and rounding up the most likely buyers, so it's sadly also par for the course.

So we can we collectively do about that to educate end users. I know you have done a lot of work and developed some resources on your site. Apart from some well documented high value sales, and probably quite a few we don't know about, I haven't seen any change in demand over the last few years from end-users.

My experience of approaching smes with exact match / very appealing domains has resulted in virtually zero success. I don't think my experience is unique. Have you had more success, or in your case are assuming that at some point in the future end-users will actually get it and liquidity in the market will rise accordingly.

Stephen.

 

[Edwin]

My experience of approaching smes with exact match / very appealing domains has resulted in virtually zero success. I don't think my experience is unique. Have you had more success, or in your case are assuming that at some point in the future end-users will actually get it and liquidity in the market will rise accordingly.

I've never tried pro-actively approaching end-users (I mentioned on another thread this may be something we'll start in the future, we're certainly considering it) so I can't comment on this in detail.

 

[cc976a]

Edwin - have you ever achieved or tried to achieve any media spotlight for Memorable Domains?

In a country bursting with startup business I think we all share the view that end users, by large, don't know much about the way the Internet works much less how domains are bought and sold. The more courageous and strong spirited may even stumble across Sedo but in the main will see if a domain is taken - and if it is keep searching.

A couple of well placed media campaigns may just give some light to this industry that's waiting for someone to open the door and say 'there you are!'

 

[Edwin]

Well, I've exhibited twice at Internet World. I've also bought magazine ads, tradeshow ads, and done various other publicity campaigns. I've been a panellist at (domain) trade shows. I've also done a lot of blog commenting on what I would call "articles by credible outlets" about generic/exact-match domains, and a long podcast for OzDomainer. But the topic is just too esoteric for the mass media at the moment, I think.

 

[brum]

My question was why didn't they bid ??

They didn't know about it ok yes but they were not looking for generic domains in the first place either .

The real problem is that companies just don't get it , end users don't understand why generics are good they have been taught all their lives unni , work etc about building brands that can be protected by trademarks now all of a sudden they hear generics are a good idea !!! It's just not on there radar that is the problem .

The domain industry doesn't help either sedo , moniker etc... Hardly generic

Anyway they will get it one day and that's why Im buying domains it may take a while though lol !!!

 

[doodlebug]

Turnic

Generic names are not always good for a business but a branded name are! If you have type-in traffic from houses.co.uk that is another story.

32k just for type in traffic, that will take a long long time to recover your outlay

Edwin

How on earth would they know that the domain was up for sale?

Exactly ! just like the estate agents won't sell a house if they don't market the thing for sale in the first place.

If you tried to auction a Banksy painting at a small community centre fair full of mostly teacake eating grannies then you would pick up a Banksy piece for a lot less than it's actully worth but if it was a target marketed auction at Christies then it would probably go for a lot more than the guide price.

 

[wb]

It's funny, on here most people see £32K as a "huge" amount, whereas in the commercial world that can be an insignificant fraction of a marketing budget for larger firms. For example, a full page ad in the property section of the Financial Times would cost £23,500. And a day after that's printed it's history.

It's irrelevant how many firms can't afford something, so long as some can. Even if 10,000 property firms CAN'T afford £32K, if 100 can or 50 can or 20 can, there will be a huge value to the name for those remaining firms able to pay for it. And in the property sector there are in practice going to be hundreds of firms with the budget to soak up a one-time £32K investment in the blink of an eye.

I don't see it as a large investment in commercial terms at all, hence my post earlier in the thread stating it would be a "drop in the ocean" for many.

However, as others including Brum have already mentioned, end users largely don't 'get' domains yet. If they did, they would be proactively searching for them and not just waiting for them to pop up for sale at an auction (even if they had been informed).

 

[websaway]

Edwin - have you ever achieved or tried to achieve any media spotlight for Memorable Domains?

In a country bursting with startup business I think we all share the view that end users, by large, don't know much about the way the Internet works much less how domains are bought and sold. The more courageous and strong spirited may even stumble across Sedo but in the main will see if a domain is taken - and if it is keep searching.

A couple of well placed media campaigns may just give some light to this industry that's waiting for someone to open the door and say 'there you are!'

I've listened to Edwin being interviewed on the radio, sounds just like Michael McIntyre.

 

[Bailey]

I've listened to Edwin being interviewed on the radio, sounds just like Michael McIntyre.

:shock:

I always envisaged him sounding like Emporor Hirohito

 

[websaway]

How many extra houses would an estate agent need to sell in order to make £32K?

If their commission rate is 2% of sale price and the average property on their books costs £150,000 then they're making a return of £3,000 per sale.

The domain name therefore only has to help them sell 11 more houses over their trailing sales rate for them to be in profit. All extra sales after that are pure gravy. That's not 11 sales a year, that's 11 sales, period.

And it's not remotely hard to imagine that being able to use Houses.co.uk in their advertising materials will pique the interest of at least SOME additional buyers, so the above scenario is very very readily achievable in my view.

In practice, I'd imagine the ROI for a large estate agent in London (where average house prices are MUCH higher and therefore the commission/house will also be MUCH higher) would be of the order of a few months in the worst case scenario.

All this is true, furthermore, I think the thing that some people on here fail to grasp is that there is no cost, it isn't like you put a £32000 add in the daily mail and the next day it's gone, the domain if well chosen ( and it needs to be the right choice )will have a retained value and if used properly will probably increase in value, it really is a no brainer. When you get a short gem product generic like house.co.uk or gates.co.uk or fences co uk they make fantastic logo's. I think when Sainsburys paid the 100k for taste co uk it should have been for shop co uk

 

[sorlag]

I think when Sainsburys paid the 100k for taste co uk it should have been for shop co uk

Yes taste co uk second most overpriced sale of all time after ireport dot com.

 

[retired_member26]

Turnic

32k just for type in traffic, that will take a long long time to recover your outlay

Not from PPC, I meant from selling homes via type-in traffic generated customers.