There are numerous strategies and plenty of discussion on whether to list domain names for sale with a BIN price vs make offer or even if it is beneficial to have domains listed for sale at marketplaces or with landing pages at all.
In this post I want to drill down specifically into make offer listings. Many investors choose to have a percentage or all domains in their portfolios listed for sale with “make offer”. It sounds pretty simple, a potential customer lands on a domain or marketplace listing and sees a make offer. As a seller at most marketplaces and landing page templates allow you to set the minimum offer price you’re willing to let potential buyers offer. Setting a minimum offer price helps sellers keep from dealing with constant low offers on liquid or premium domains.
I am curious about strategies used domain owners when setting minimum offer for different types of names in their portfolio or if minimum offers are set the same across a whole portfolio? There are several benefits to setting a lower make offer minimum (under $500) and likely some disadvantages too.
Obvious advantages for domains getting low minimum offers in marketplaces are that at least it shows buyers later on that the domain has received offers previously and is a desirable name. Also, depending on where received an offer usually comes from an identifiable IP address and/or email address which can help the seller figure out who is interested in purchasing the name.
On the flip side, if sellers are expecting at least five figures for a domain, by having a minimum offer of say $10k this will weed out all of the “tire kickers” and give the potential buyer an idea of the sellers expectations. With a background in sales I personally think this gives you less of a chance to pitch and sell the domain to potential buyers that aren’t ready to come to the table with that high of an offer. With a higher minimum offer you may also have it so high that the potential buyer may think that the minimum offer is the sales price and when they finally get the courage to offer that much and get a response that is 5x – 10x on top of that it may discourage them as well. Of course, ultimately the price is the price and eventually the buyer and seller will figure out if the deal is going to happen or not.
What are your thoughts or strategies on setting a low, high or tailored minimum offer for domains in your portfolio?
