I disagree about Ruth’s Chris – their steaks are pretty good (not the best though). If they charged $40 for a crappy steak nobody would go.

But a domain isn’t vodka or a burger. It doesn’t have prestige when buying or owning it. No more than a few dozen people will ever know that it is a rick latona domain.

Rick sells all sorts of names, but he doesn’t sell crap names for $10,000. So yes, he has a better chance than you or I selling a name for $1,000 – but it’s not because the name is worth $200 and his name adds $800….

I feel bot sides have compelling arguments here. For example: I think a McDonald’s Burger is much better than some burgers sell at more upper class restaurants. Just for fun

But really, we are comparing apples to oranges here. The domain name market itself is based a lot on speculation. If a domain is said to be premium by the experts, then yes, it is premium and deserves big money. However, this system is very, very flawed. Why?

Because the “experts” said that LQAL.com would be worth $xxx+. Now, some people are still pushing for the LLLL.com market to pump up, but, as of right now, experts made domainers believe that type of domain to be worth $xxx+ where now you’d be lucky to get $xxx. The main point is here, sometimes the experts appraise wrongly.

Moving on, if we take Rick Latona to be an expert, whatever he says is good, IS good. Many people take his word to be domain name law. There’s more to this case though, what he says is premium, other experts are saying is premium. Luckily, it is not a unilateral body governing over the domain name world, but multiple experts. To throw another loop into this, Rick Latona still can sway the market one way or another with his newsletter.

Knowing this, prestige pricing does take a huge effect in selling domains because they are based off speculation. There are no set prices for any domain, which makes selling even harder. Although Rick Latona doesn’t “trick the consumer” he still has the ability too, and unbeknown to us, may have already.

(For those of you who don’t know what I imply there is this: The market, just like LLLL.com’s, sways so easily, it may just be one whole scam which will eventually crash. Who knows

The technique described here is not only about pricing, but making the prospect believe a story about what they are going to purchase. If that premium domain tells a story that is compelling enough for the end user/reseller it will sell! Same thing with a McDonald’s burger, it tells the story of it being cheap, when in reality you spend about the same amount of money buying a meal than you would at a restaurant.

If the fancy restaurant serves crappy burgers, but it has a compelling story of “status” or “expense” the people will most likely return there for those same reasons.

Then again, it all comes back to creating the correct marketing strategy for a domain. Here is what I do to create a story:
1. Make a nice logo for the domain: Invest $30 – $50 on a nice logo to bring out the potential in the name. Keep in mind most resellers see thousands of domains, having a logo will make it stand out.
2. Think of ways to develop the domain: If you are charging $20k for a name, adding your valuable opinion on how this premium domain can be utilized to recuperate that investment. Although sometimes the buyer will have their own ideas.
3. Invest in a press release: Again, it’s all about telling the story and reaching more people. Not only will you gain links from the PR websites, but you will appeal to your end buyer by using the keywords their business targets.
4. Develop the domain: If the domain is about “insurance leads”, why not invest $300 on a nice site that will capture business, produce residual income for you, and add even more value to the end user?

Keep in mind I’m not talking about crappy domains, but premium keywords that would sell for less, like Admin stated on the OP.

Anywho, great post!

Dan

As for Domain Media, I totally see where you are coming from. The premise I am basing my article off of is debatable. I understand that. The reason I say people will pay more for a domain name from Rick Latona then from me is he is a HUGE name in the industry, so a user will trust him to sell him a good domain, a lot more then they would trust a smaller guy like me. Same goes with Ruth’s Chris. I understand the Ruth’s Chris/McDonald’s example was a lot more debatable then the basis of my article, so I understand your objection to that. I was just trying to get the point out to my viewers and get the whole point easily understood.

Make anymore sense to you? Hope that helps!

Likewise, Rick’s domains don’t look good because he has been in this business a long time and knows what he is doing. They ARE good… because he has developed impeccable instincts for this business. He sells domains for more money because he has better domains, not because he has a better reputation. He sells domains for more money because he has a good gut for determining the value of a domain, and he has a knack for negotiating and sticking to his guns. That is, after all, why he has the reputation.

If you two tried to sell the same exact domain, and he got more money for it, that is simply because he was not willing to sell for as low as you were. I doubt buyers are throwing 3x as much money at him just because he is Rick Latona. There is no substitute for skill and talent.