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Hi guys,
So my journey with NameLiquidate.com started around a week ago. I read that some members were selling domains successfully on the platform, and decided to give it a try. I understand that NameLiquidate.com is an initiative by Epik.com, and mostly for domainers that want to liquidate their expiring names, but I needed some cashflow, and decided to test the platform selling different domain types. The site implements a reverse auction model over 168 hours. Your listed domain will start at $998 when you list it, and decrease every hour until it reached $9. NameLiquidate.com will retain a 9% commission upon successful sale. More about the process later.
My first attempt was a 6L domain called FigOil.com. I really had high hopes for this name. For some reason I just could not outbound this name successfully and never received any inquiries. I listed it on NL in the hopes that some other domainer might have more success with it.
Listing Names
Submitting names on NL is rather easy and straightforward. An interesting concept is that you list your name together with the authcode (except if the domain is held at Epik). This is to ensure that there is a smooth transfer of the domain when bought, and I would assume that Epik then also builds up some inventory through this method. In any event, the buyer will have no choice but to have the domain transferred to their Epik account, as I understand.
Upon listing your name, you are able to specify a reserve price. If your reserve is not reached, the domain will not sell. If no reserve is specified, it will default to $9.
The Auction Process
Once listed, the domain is immediately available on the platform and ready to receive bids. At the same time the countdown will now also begin until your reserve (or $9 default) is reached.
Your domain name is now visible through a link using this format: "https://nameliquidate.com/figoil.com", which I think is great.
Below is a screenshot of how the domain appears on the marketplace. This was 2 days into the auction. It shows the listing views (although there seems to be a delay updating this), domain age, create - and expiration dates, current price, as well as the ability to buy at current price, place a bid and place the auction on your watchlist. You can also share your auction via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
One thing I noticed is that when a bid is received on your auction, you do not get notified via email. This might be a setting that I missed, and I will need to investigate more. This is surely a crucial feature IMO.
Domain Sold
Once your domain is sold, you will receive an email informing you of the sale and final sales price. In my case, I was disappointed with the price I received for Figoil.com, but not at all surprised. I listed the domain without a reserve, and was willing to sell it for $9 if need be. I wanted to test the platform and that was my primary goal. It ended selling for $35. Email excerpt below.
Post Sale and Payout
My domain was held at Dynadot and I received an email within 24 hours to authorize the transfer-away, which I did. Within the same 24 hours I received an email from Masterbucks.com, informing me that my payout (minus the 9% commission) was processed. Masterbucks is a company owned by Epik which handles all their payments. This from their website:
"MasterBucks is an online payment dashboard designed specifically for domain name sellers, to control how the proceeds from future domain name sales are distributed and put back to work. Epik customers can create profiles for easy distribution using multiple popular payment methods, or choose to use the proceeds to pay for domain renewals. The easy-to-use Cloud Wallet is integrated across all of the great products Epik offers, for maximum convenience in support of all your domaining transactions."
I have yet to use the MasterBucks disbursement process (which I will report on later). I can see the following available methods: ACH, Wire-transfer, Crypto, XOOM, Western Union and Wise. I was disappointed not to see PayPal listed as one of the payment methods. For someone outside of USA/Canada/Europe I have always relied heavily on PayPal for all my domain transactions. I have seen on threads here on NP that some fellow domainers also list the omission of PayPal from Epik a major drawback, even a deal breaker.
I will probably go the Crypto route, and will updated this thread with my progress.
Below are screenshots of the email received, as well as my MasterBucks dashboard.
My Second Domain
I had to list my second domain. I had a 4L .com PFIU.com and I had more confidence in this name as 4L .coms were widely regarded as being liquid. To make a long story short, I sold the domain for $210 which was more in line with my expectation. Please see email screenshot below.
Subsequent / Current Listings
So yesterday I decided to really put the system to the test by listing 6 semi decent, two word domains. 5 .coms and 1 .net. I listed the following domains:
CandiesStore.com
CannaJuice.net
CryptoShaping.com
DeltaBurst.com
InvestBucks.com (SH Premium)
CatchAuction.com
Of all the names, I have the most confidence in InvestBucks, as it was a previous SH premium listed name and is older than the other names. As at the writing of this article, I had no bids on any name yet. Well, it is weekend and I have not done much in terms of marketing yet. Below is a current screenshot, and I will report on progress during the next few days.
Marketing Efforts
Like with any other domain auctions, it is crucial to market your auction successfully in order to get some views (potential buyers) interested, and make people aware that the domain is indeed available. I have faced this same challenge previously with all my domain auctions, whether it be on Flippa, Godaddy, Sedo GreatDomains or any other platform. I have not had much success yet with my marketing efforts as I mostly rely on free methods, using Twitter, LinkedIn and NP to create awareness around the auction.
I have always questioned the effectiveness of any platform's paid (or free) marketing strategies, as it never really yielded the desired results (or my expected results). There must be a better way to market domain auctions, but I have yet to discover it. For now, I mostly rely on Twitter with some hashtags to get the word out. Below is tweet I got some traction from. If anyone has any tips regarding Twitter or any other marketing method, please feel to share, I would really appreciate it. Please also follow me on @Afrinames so we could collectively help each other.
I noticed that NameLiquidate also started Twitter promotions on auctions ending in 72 hours or less, which is really encouraging and helpful! Please follow them on @nameliquidate, an example tweet can be seen below:
Summary
This is really my first review on NP. I want to get more involved in the domaining community. Domaining (domain investing) really is my passion and changed my life. Hopefully this article will prove useful to someone out there. I will add the progress of my journey during the following week.
Thanks to the everyone building these great systems and processes to enable domainers to sell more domains and keep the dream alive.
And thanks for reading.
So my journey with NameLiquidate.com started around a week ago. I read that some members were selling domains successfully on the platform, and decided to give it a try. I understand that NameLiquidate.com is an initiative by Epik.com, and mostly for domainers that want to liquidate their expiring names, but I needed some cashflow, and decided to test the platform selling different domain types. The site implements a reverse auction model over 168 hours. Your listed domain will start at $998 when you list it, and decrease every hour until it reached $9. NameLiquidate.com will retain a 9% commission upon successful sale. More about the process later.
My first attempt was a 6L domain called FigOil.com. I really had high hopes for this name. For some reason I just could not outbound this name successfully and never received any inquiries. I listed it on NL in the hopes that some other domainer might have more success with it.
Listing Names
Submitting names on NL is rather easy and straightforward. An interesting concept is that you list your name together with the authcode (except if the domain is held at Epik). This is to ensure that there is a smooth transfer of the domain when bought, and I would assume that Epik then also builds up some inventory through this method. In any event, the buyer will have no choice but to have the domain transferred to their Epik account, as I understand.
Upon listing your name, you are able to specify a reserve price. If your reserve is not reached, the domain will not sell. If no reserve is specified, it will default to $9.
The Auction Process
Once listed, the domain is immediately available on the platform and ready to receive bids. At the same time the countdown will now also begin until your reserve (or $9 default) is reached.
Your domain name is now visible through a link using this format: "https://nameliquidate.com/figoil.com", which I think is great.
Below is a screenshot of how the domain appears on the marketplace. This was 2 days into the auction. It shows the listing views (although there seems to be a delay updating this), domain age, create - and expiration dates, current price, as well as the ability to buy at current price, place a bid and place the auction on your watchlist. You can also share your auction via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
One thing I noticed is that when a bid is received on your auction, you do not get notified via email. This might be a setting that I missed, and I will need to investigate more. This is surely a crucial feature IMO.
Domain Sold
Once your domain is sold, you will receive an email informing you of the sale and final sales price. In my case, I was disappointed with the price I received for Figoil.com, but not at all surprised. I listed the domain without a reserve, and was willing to sell it for $9 if need be. I wanted to test the platform and that was my primary goal. It ended selling for $35. Email excerpt below.
Post Sale and Payout
My domain was held at Dynadot and I received an email within 24 hours to authorize the transfer-away, which I did. Within the same 24 hours I received an email from Masterbucks.com, informing me that my payout (minus the 9% commission) was processed. Masterbucks is a company owned by Epik which handles all their payments. This from their website:
"MasterBucks is an online payment dashboard designed specifically for domain name sellers, to control how the proceeds from future domain name sales are distributed and put back to work. Epik customers can create profiles for easy distribution using multiple popular payment methods, or choose to use the proceeds to pay for domain renewals. The easy-to-use Cloud Wallet is integrated across all of the great products Epik offers, for maximum convenience in support of all your domaining transactions."
I have yet to use the MasterBucks disbursement process (which I will report on later). I can see the following available methods: ACH, Wire-transfer, Crypto, XOOM, Western Union and Wise. I was disappointed not to see PayPal listed as one of the payment methods. For someone outside of USA/Canada/Europe I have always relied heavily on PayPal for all my domain transactions. I have seen on threads here on NP that some fellow domainers also list the omission of PayPal from Epik a major drawback, even a deal breaker.
I will probably go the Crypto route, and will updated this thread with my progress.
Below are screenshots of the email received, as well as my MasterBucks dashboard.
My Second Domain
I had to list my second domain. I had a 4L .com PFIU.com and I had more confidence in this name as 4L .coms were widely regarded as being liquid. To make a long story short, I sold the domain for $210 which was more in line with my expectation. Please see email screenshot below.
Subsequent / Current Listings
So yesterday I decided to really put the system to the test by listing 6 semi decent, two word domains. 5 .coms and 1 .net. I listed the following domains:
CandiesStore.com
CannaJuice.net
CryptoShaping.com
DeltaBurst.com
InvestBucks.com (SH Premium)
CatchAuction.com
Of all the names, I have the most confidence in InvestBucks, as it was a previous SH premium listed name and is older than the other names. As at the writing of this article, I had no bids on any name yet. Well, it is weekend and I have not done much in terms of marketing yet. Below is a current screenshot, and I will report on progress during the next few days.
Marketing Efforts
Like with any other domain auctions, it is crucial to market your auction successfully in order to get some views (potential buyers) interested, and make people aware that the domain is indeed available. I have faced this same challenge previously with all my domain auctions, whether it be on Flippa, Godaddy, Sedo GreatDomains or any other platform. I have not had much success yet with my marketing efforts as I mostly rely on free methods, using Twitter, LinkedIn and NP to create awareness around the auction.
I have always questioned the effectiveness of any platform's paid (or free) marketing strategies, as it never really yielded the desired results (or my expected results). There must be a better way to market domain auctions, but I have yet to discover it. For now, I mostly rely on Twitter with some hashtags to get the word out. Below is tweet I got some traction from. If anyone has any tips regarding Twitter or any other marketing method, please feel to share, I would really appreciate it. Please also follow me on @Afrinames so we could collectively help each other.
I noticed that NameLiquidate also started Twitter promotions on auctions ending in 72 hours or less, which is really encouraging and helpful! Please follow them on @nameliquidate, an example tweet can be seen below:
Summary
This is really my first review on NP. I want to get more involved in the domaining community. Domaining (domain investing) really is my passion and changed my life. Hopefully this article will prove useful to someone out there. I will add the progress of my journey during the following week.
Thanks to the everyone building these great systems and processes to enable domainers to sell more domains and keep the dream alive.
And thanks for reading.