Schewanick Computer Services

Selling a domain name at an online auction can be lucrative - but many sellers completely misjudge the market and truly live in Fantasy Land. For instance, take a look at this auction of 14 domain names (StemCellLines.net, StemCellLines.org, StemCellColonies.com, StemCellColonies.net, StemCellColonies.org, StemCellMart.com, StemCellMart.net, StemCellMart.org, StemCellResearching.com, StemCellResearching.org, StemCellResearching.net, StemCellStore.com, StemCellStore.net, StemCellStore.org). The auction supposedly includes "website research info" - but the listing doesn't even mention what this is, so we can' evaluate the offering. But a price of $25 million. There were no takers at all for this silly offer.

Here are other inflated domain name auctions:

* Names: Devilthinking.com/net/org and Devilthought.com/net/org. Asking price: $1 million.
This seller tried to take advantage of headline atrocities (such as a recent beheading of an American soldier in Iraq) to justify his asking price

* Names:www.UN.TV; www.UnitedNations.TV; and the phone number: 1(800) WWW.UN.TV.
Asking price: $5 million.

* Names: TeenExtremeScore.com, TeenScore.com, TeenForYou.com. Asking price: $2 million.

* Names: praisegod.tv. Asking price: $1,300,000. This listing was strangely written ...

"PRAISEGOD.TV IS A DOMAIN NAME****WWW.PRAISE GOD . TV ***IS A DOMAIN NAME***IT IS A GREAT DOMAIN NAME***IT CAN UNITE MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE***IT IS UNIVERSAL***IT IS WORLDLY****IT REACHES THE MASSES***IT IS A TWO WORD DOMAIN NAME***IT IS EASY TO REMEMBER***BROADCAST YOUR MESSAGE***PRAISE GOD.TV HAS THE ABILITY TO DRAW MIRIADS OF PEOPLE***TAKE THIS DOMAIN NAME TO ITS' HIGEST POTENTIAL***ADVERTISE IT ON TV, ON THE RADIO, ON THE INTERNET, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, IN THE VILLAGE , IN THE TOWN, IN THE CITY, IN THE METROPOLIS.*** PRAISE GOD. TV IS FANTASTIC.***PRAISEGOD.TV IS A DOMAIN NAME ***DEVELOP YOUR OWN WEBSITE ,SEND A MESSAGE AND AWAIT YOUR REWARDS. WWW.PRAISEGOD.TV"

Clearly, these sellers are domain name speculators - buying up domains at low prices in the hopes of reselling them for inflated ones. But does this mean there is no market for domain names at online auctions? Not at al. There are some legitimate and reasonable sales:

* CDZ.com and CDZ.org. received 23 bids for a total of $2,026, although the seller was not content with this price and wanted more money.

* Radiolite.com Ahnu.com sold for $53.02.

* 888Cars.com, along with 8 other names sold for $51.

Most of the domain name sales on eBay did not complete because the sellers didn't receive the price they expected.

Selling a domain name at an auction online is not an especially strong area. There were only three pages of listings at the this time, and almost none of them sold. The 'get-rich-quick selling domain names' plan is definitely a flop on eBay. Sellers would do well to concentrate on other areas.

About the Author
Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay and has been selling on eBay since the winter of 1996. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour multi media seminar on the Internet that teaches her students how to sell on ebay.