Auction Domains on eBay - The Complete Guide

Premium Listing

There's yet another type of featured listing called Premium Listing. Premium listings tend to bring in more bids at higher prices. Results of closed auctions prove it can be worth the fee.

Homepage Featured

Finally, there's "Homepage Featured". I wouldn't recommend that you choose this option. The cost is US$99, and your item will appear on the main ebay.com page. It's expensive and a big risk if you have an auction that starts at US$1 and no one bids on it. A category feature will suffice, otherwise people will have to browse through 26+ pages of that category, and still may not see your listed domains.

Can a non-featured item be successful? Yes, it can. I sold the first site I mentioned above for US$50, but the second time I auctioned it I decided not to buy a feature listing, and thus paid only around US$4 for the sale. As for the second example, I listed that domain again 3 days after the original auction closed, and sold it for US$200.

4. Decide on the Auction Duration

The next choice you'll need to make is the auction duration. As of now, 3, 5, and 7 days are free, while 10 days is not. I always use 7 day auctions, and so do most other sellers. So far, I personally haven't seen a big difference in results between 7 and 10 day auctions, so I recommend using the 7 day option free of charge.

5. Get an Appraisal

Appraisal is an important factor in buying and selling a domain name. Whether the domain is a word in the dictionary, or has been made up, consider having a domain appraised by an appraisal authority. Domain appraisal authorities check out the domain name, the number of words in it, how many words like it appear in search engines, and consider other related factors to determine its monetary value. People tend to prefer domain names that have had an appraisal, to those domain names that don't.

For example, I bought Want2Call.com more than a year ago at namebargain.com for US$12.99 per year, and sold it for a whopping US$460 -- that was for the domain only, nothing else. There was no developed site attached to it, not even a single page: the domain name pointed to the name servers of the registrar (namebargain back then when it had the US$12 promotion).

I know what you're thinking -- 'That's a great profit!' Well, it so happens that after the auction ended, the name was appraised for US$10,000. As of writing this, the current Want2Call.com owner has the domain up for sale, and they're asking for a surprising sum. Even though I made a lot selling the domain after 1 year, I can't help but feel I should have held onto it for a while longer.

If the domain name you're offering for sale has been appraised, post a certificate picture at eBay. The appraisal doesn't have to be from a well-recognized company, any will do. For example, in my last auction, I went over to SwiftAppraisal.com for free appraisal. The appraisal certificate isn't required for the sale, but it seems to help a lot when it comes to getting the highest bid possible for your name.

Beware the Scam

Auctions are an excellent way to sell items, but there is one major downside: scams. Think they're a rarity? Here are two examples from my own experience. First, one bidder placed a bid on a domain name of mine, and then emailed me saying not to leave a negative for them if they are "not able to pay." I emailed them back and asked if that was a joke. They never paid, and gave me a lame excuse. I ended up having to cancel their bid. Not only did I lose that auction with no bids, I lost the US$49 I put in to have it listed as a feature item.

In the second example, another auction ended with a winning bidder, but they never replied. I filed a NBP [Non-Paying Bidder] complaint with eBay, eBay contacted the bidder. They confirmed that the winning bidder's email didn't exist, and suspended his account. Again, I lost US$49.