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DomainTools.com has released the list of domains it will auction off in an online domain auction starting Dec 31, 2007. The auction will run through Jan 03, 2008 and all lots will close one after another, just like it would be the case in a live auction. According to Jay Westerdal, it will take about 1.5 hours for all lots to close if there will be no delays. The preliminary list contains about 170 domains, most of which are two-word generic .com domains.
Domains on the list are, for example, MarketingService.com, Untrue.com, MoneyTV.com, HollywoodHousing.com ($1,000 reserve) and LightSabers.com. Overall, the domains are not as valuable as names you would find in a live auction, but the reserve prices look fair to me.
To bid in the auction you need a (free) DomainTools.com account and put a credit card on file. Details can be found on Jay’s blog.
** UPDATE (January 01, 2008) **
Jay wrote on his blog yesterday that they decided to extend the auction until January 10, because a lot of people were worried about the holidays and buyers being on vacation.
It’s a shame!
Jay did not even put a link to the auction in the web page of domaintools.com
You have to perform a whois search to find a small graphic not highly visible.
And outside his site?
Zero advertising and promotion!
I promise to be very bad if my domain sell at reserve with just one bid.
You cannot ask a sale commision just because you have a web 2.0 auction software. Your mission is give the best exposure to the names for sales. And for this ACTIVELY market your event.
Domainers are giving them their trust! And Jay he is really abusing.
**ANSWER**
Francois,
I’m not taking part in this auction, so I don’t know any details. But what you’re saying certainly doesn’t sound good. DomainTools gets attention through posts on domain blogs and domain forums; this way they won’t get any end users to bid on the domains, though. Only domainers, most of which are likely to be resellers. Don’t know whether they contacted potential buyers directly and invited them to bid… Judging from what you’re saying and from the fact that Jay didn’t narrow the list down until December 27, just few days before the beginning of the auction, it doesn’t look like they did.
On the other hand, domain marketplaces like Sedo and Afternic usually don’t promote individual domain listings, either. Maybe DomainTools should have considered to place banner ads like those Sedo has been placing for their GreatDomains auctions on related websites and submitted a press release to attract more mainstream attention.
I’ll watch the auction and I hope you’ll get a fair price for your domain. Keep me posted.
I noticed the same problem. What also surprises me is that many famous domainers do not seem to talk about the auction at all. Is it because there are good domains to grab, and they do not want to publicize it, or they are sill vacationing and do not care. I also have one domain listed at the auction, and I am concerned about getting enough visibility and attention.
**ANSWER**
Personally, I think the time of the auction hasn’t been chosen very well, because most people are indeed on vacation and not at work at turn of the year. I don’t expect the auction to break any records. Moniker and Sedo/GreatDomains have done great jobs with their auctions in 2007. DomainTools had a successful live and silent auction too, but they promoted that auction, which was held at the Domain Roundtable conference in Seattle in August, much more than this one. Therefore, I regard this as a smaller auction and the outcome should be the same. It’s still possible that the domains will sell at fair market prices, but there are only few one-word generics on the list, so I don’t believe the total value of domains sold will be as high as that of the other auctions we’ve seen in the past 12 months.
Maybe it is DomainTools’ strategy to run some smaller online auctions in addition to the big ones held at the domain conferences…