Targetedtraffic.com Auction 155 generic domains bring 4.26 Million

http://www.dailydomainer.com/200799-domain-auction-sells-155-domains-for-426-million.html

I was a telephone bidder..  This auction would have easily brought 14.5million for 156 names had Monte convinced the owner of Porn.com to lower his price from 7.5mm to the 7mm that was bid for it [Monte did a terrific job trying to bridge the gap].  I saw the opening price of 5mm and before I could place a bid they were calling 6million..  there was real demand.  Had that sale happened, headlines on the wires would read "Average domain auction sale prices $48,000".  This auction illustrated to me how undervalued good portfolios of domain names are at 10X 12X 15X of PPC traffic revenues.  Good names at this auction went for 100X plus of PPC.. I paid $90,000 for homeforeclosures.com and expect the name to be profitable.  But on PPC alone it would be a very long multiple. If they had more good names there, more would have sold. Monte did great, but should try to figure out a better way to move the good lots to the top of the auction. The auction was called to a close early because they just couldn't get through all the lots in time..  Bidders were getting hungry.  After 3hrs on the phone my ear was starting to hurt. The rest of the names that didn't cross the block moved over to the silent auction.

Although it was a good showing, this auction does not illustrate the potential of what could have been.  I think sales could have gone much, much higher.  The porn name should have sold (there should have been a pre-auction understanding that they need to get within 20% of reserve).  There should have been better names in the first hundred (the first hundred should be just the best names, no favors). They should have published an auction guide, with the order of lots including traffic info and a little write up (including overture rank, google pages containing the term in quotations and color about the name) sent it to big bidders. With that guide the auction would have moved faster. The auctioneer often stopped prior to a name to explain stuff and then repeated it several times for those that didn't hear, I couldn't even get the order emailed to me because of technical problems.  With those simple additions, This auction could have easily topped 17 million. 

I think if Monte added a second and third auction lane..  two or three auctioneers across a wider area..  that would speed things up and bring in much more revenue. In the final analysis I had money left in my jeans..  Monte should have taken it from me ;)  Heard the same thing from several others.

In regard to those who have privately contacted me about .mobi, I do not know who the winning bidders were, if they were same bidders as at the fall 2006 Traffic auction, if there were any affiliate rebates or credits involved in those transactions or if they were arms length, although to be fair I do not know that about the other names offered either. I presume they all were. From what I understand,  many of the big dollar Mobi sales to date (names that have sold publicly for alot of money) were offered by the same seller: the registry. If anyone has any information to the contrary, please feel free to post under the comments. Thanks!

Comments

[James]

Hi Frank

Firstly, I enjoy reading your blog - always interesting and informative no matter what the topic.

Re big price .mobis - what would you call 'big price' as I'm sure we have different ideas on that.
Names that I've seen sold by private individuals include;
sportsbook.mobi - $125k
invest.mobi - $22.5k
musicvideos.mobi - $16.5k (in Vegas)
Plenty of others in the $15-25k bracket.

Best - James

***FS*** Thanks sincerely James... those are big names and big dollars. Appreciate it.

[Steven]

Frank,
Do you think Monte has the "lock" on the domain auction space? Each auction I have read negative comments or experienced personal negative things about the auction process. It would appear to me that if another company came in and did some of the things you mention and more such as really market the names to an end user to drive prices up.

It would appear they the domain owners just want to sell their names. They do not care who is selling the names as long as they get the money they are looking for.

What do you think? Sounds like an opportunity to me.

***FS*** I have a ton of respect for Monte because he tries his guts out, works his a** off.. Its hard doing what he does. But I think there is a lot of room in this.. Snapnames could do it. Another show could do it. You need to run it in tandem with a big convention to attract a captive audience of serious bidders. Then have support staff organize the telephone bidders or provide an online interface.. at least a program guide.. I spent alot of time on the phone yesterday trying to get the order.. To be fair.. Monte sent a list for me to 'work' well in advance. But I don't want to 'work' the list and pay the premium dollars. Snap's prices are lower because I do the work (finding the names). If you want to bring in the big bucks it needs to be more organized.. and show me the cream names. We all know what they are. Moniker did very good work in Las Vegas yestersday, but alot of money was left on the table. I think the auction business is one of the best in the world: no inventory, fees for crossing the block, commissions. Is there room in this business for another auction ?? Huge!!!.. Consider: Snapnames and Enom run an auction every day.. we attend "every day" ..365 days a year. Monte runs auctions 3 days a year. As hard as Monte works, I know the next one will be even better :)

[Bill]

I agree that the TRAFFIC auctions could use some improvement to the benefit of all whose names are entered for sale. Absolutely move better names to the first half of the auction or shorten or break up the auctiuon into sections. Start on time (it was 20 minutes late). Open up the bidding to more prequalified outsiders, group similar topic names, and feature and promote a couple domain categories per conference. Constructive or other criticisms aside, domainers who are part of this emerging industry should be thankful for the tireless efforts of those who are putting on these conferences and auctions. Kudos to them.

The TRAFFIC auction bidder pools are so heavily skewewd towards domainers that a true reflection of end-user value of many domains is often not reflected in the final prices paid for many names. Who else but domainers would bid up ANY LLL.ext name compared to generic names with far fewer bidders or those relegated to the silent auctions.

Frank, what bothers me personally is your seeming disdain for the .mobi extension in particular. Some have opined on domain forums that this might be due to the lack of a PPC track record for the fledgling mobile area or a fear of losing future revenue to dot mobi sites when mobiles usage becomes more mainstream.

Your insinuation "In regard to the .mobi's, I DO NOT KNOW WHO the winning bidders were, If they were same bidders as at the fall 2006 Traffic auction, IF there were any affiliate rebates or credits involved in those transactions or IF they were arms length." The same questions could be asked for almost every other domain name purchase at this auction.

BTW - I generally enjoy the blog.

***FS*** Re: "The TRAFFIC auction bidder pools are so heavily skewewd towards domainers that a true reflection of end-user value of many domains is often not reflected in the final prices paid for many names" If this is true then things are going to get pretty crazy indeed..

Re the .mobi sales. That's a fair comment Bill. I have had several folks come to me to ask the same question, specifically in regard to this extension so I included that as a part of the post. I really have nothing against the .mobi ext per se (other than my previously mentioned cautions). I will change my post to reflect that any of those sales could have been rebated (that's only fair). I think you see more pushback on .mobi than other extensions because its so glaring and it has so many folks snowed. You are livng through a time when some altruistic folks are coming out of the shadows and sharing what they have learned. They want to help newcomers avoid the mistakes they may have made. I have a mason-like outlook that when people come to the domain space and want to learn about it, they want to thrive -- I want to help them to succeed. It's like rotary... you give back to your community and help people and maybe you'll learn something along the way. Will I learn something about .mobi and start buying them? Dubious. I am calling what I see, and what I see I don't like so much. You can take that or not.. either way I sincerely wish you the best.

[Drewbert]

One would think that a Registrar would have programmers with the technical nouse to write an interface to allow sellers to load their names up via a website, and buyers peruse via same, rather than passing around Excel files via email!

Sheesh!

Talk about 90's technology!

***FS*** true dat.. double true

[Murphys Law]

There were a number of things about the auction that I found lacking. (I listened to it as an observer as I had no interest in purchasing)
Late start time.
They have run these auctions before, they know roughly how long it takes to get through a list of 300+ names so they started late?
Preparation is key to these kinds of events and a late start time is inexcusable. Who knows how many $$$ went home because of the missed 20 minutes?

Length of the auction:
It is hard to hold peoples attention for such a long period of time.
A food and drink break would have helped - 2 hours - break - 2 hours - break - 2 hours
I'm sure the budget could have been extended to cover the extra expense of a longer booking time for the venue and a couple extra K would cover a martini and a sandwich for all involved.
The extra sales would more than cover this.

The auctioneer.
Ok, he did an admirable job but he sounded like the closest he ever came to domaining was using google to look up what clitoris meant ;)
It was a very untidy end and rushing through names that could have been sold was messy.
I agree there was a significant amount of money taken home that shouldn't have been.
Maybe a new production manager will make the New York event a more professional affair?
As for competition, well I have a feeling that is on the horizon and it won't be long before there are other competitors on the scene.
15% commission is quite a chunk of change and others will definitely be looking for a piece of the pie

Finally, porn.com
Who in their right mind is gonna sell a name that is bringing in a minimum of 2 - 4K a day? Methinks there was a little bit of theatrics involved and I never expected it to sell.
Draw your own conclusions...

***FS*** Thanks for the color.. I think it'll help those producing the event. y'know its funny.. If you spend $500,000 gambling, they comp your room and food. If you spend $500,000 on some names at auction (and competitively bid against other folks to the tune of a million bucks, driving up prices), you get to pay a purchase fee, a tradeshow admission...no food, and you still have to sprint to the restroom for pee breaks. :)

[owen frager]

dotMobi was doomed before it started- names won't matter in Mobile

Major portfolio owners should stop buying more names and invest money instead in a professional market/opportunity analysis of the domains already owned... with this information the names can be targetted to needs and opportunities and marketed more effectively whether through auction or other means.

This is not cheap. But with a $100m software company an investment in such a study from Boston Consulting or the like for $1-2m would generate a solid growth plan that would have a billion dollar business within 5-7 years, a plan for acquisitions/partnerships, or even a hidden value identified that has nothing to do with anything you've ever thought of but is of strategic value to a different play.

Make a $100m on PPC after 7 years and the sponsors have earned 20-30x the business consultants cost and you have nothing but hope and a prayer that someone else will figure out how to monetize it, that type-ins will continue, and someone will pay you for only accomplishing that.

There's money left on everyone's table with the names they already own.

***FS*** Very interesting sir.

[Rick Schwartz]

I think there is definte room for improvements. Spent time with Monte yesterday talking about some of them. I am sure we will see some of these suggestions incorporated into the New York City show. This needs to be polished and shining by then.

For the record, I bought 2 or 3 .mobi's......eat.mobi, casinos.mobi and maybe one other.

I really can't remember what else I bought until I get the invoice.

***FS*** Wow.. my first Rick Schwartz post! This blog has just exceeded my expectations. Thanks Rick! Monte always does a good job. I think he should seriously consider doing 2 or 3 lanes (two or three auctioneers) for the fall show. The demand is there. The live auction works better than silent.

[Monte]

Hey Frank...and all, thank you for the suggestions and comments. I wanted to address some of them here since it appears that some did not know why the delayed start (power went out to the projectors prior to start and had to have convention services start them - this was out of our control), that there was food and drink outside the auction hall, that there was a printed list and auction order printed on Monday - two days before the event and the auction order was posted on several forums, that the stats were posted in moniker.com/liveauction for weeks with page rank, alexa, wayback, trafficlub.com stats or reported stats by customer...all right there by domain name in our marketplace.

with that said, we learn more every time we do these events. we did not know that there would be such a high percentage of sales - 67%. those take more time than passes and names not meeting reserve. we will not have domains below $5K in the next event and will increase bid increments. we will make the list of names selected for the live event even more pristine so that not only will there be top names in the beginning but throughout the list. we will have a webcam or streaming of some sort the next time around...and in 3 day shows, we will try a two day auction so that each auction is either 2 hours or 2.5 hours. Having breaks is not a good idea and highly not recommended by the auctioneer. You lose peoples attention and may not get them back in the room with a break. 2 day conferences will be one day auction at 3 hours.

there will eventually be better ways to call in bids or post them from the outside. people have to remember that TRAFFIC is a private event...invite only but has the most premier attendees and visitors. we will work on getting more and more bidders from the outside in...including corporate and Madison Ave types.

And - if there was money left in folks pockets...the domains not sold or not gotten to are all in the silent auction which ends on March 14th. This is accessible to anyone that wants to buy the domains and Frank....you can spend the rest of that money in your jeans my friend...the names are there and less than what you pay at Snap and Club drop every day.

I Love the opportunity to serve this industry and I am committed to always learn and improve to make things better for all those we serve. Thanks also for the blog and the opportunity to post!!

***FS*** Thanks Monte! Appreciate you posting man.