subject: Domain Appraisals - Are They Really Worth Paying For? [print this page] Domain Appraisals - Are They Really Worth Paying For?
I am often asked by domain owners if they should get their domains appraised by a professional domain appraisal service. This is a touchy topic and you will get different opinions depending on whose advice you listen to (domain owners' or appraisal services'). From my own experience, I can say that getting your domain appraised is an exercise in futility.
Domains are like pieces of art. One can't really use a computer model, howsoever advanced it may be, to evaluate domains. You need the human touch to fully grasp the value of a domain name. A painting by Vincent Van Gogh and an uknown artist may feature the same Dutch landscape, but the former would be worth millions of dollars while the latter may be worthless.
Unfortunately, most of the "professional" domain appraisal services are merely glorified bots that spew an automated value for a domain type. To truly get the actual market value of a domain name, you need someone familiar with domains to put a price on the name.
The best people to do this, of course, are fellow domain owners and traders. People who have bought and sold hundreds of domains and follow the industry regularly have a fair idea how much a name might be worth. By looking at the name's features, an experienced domain trader can predict its price in a fair and competitive marketplace. Rather than looking at quantifiable values (number of letters, order of letters, extension, etc.), they look at the name's "marketability" to figure out the value of the domain.
The best place to get an appraisal done by fellow domain traders is at the forums, DNForum.com and NamePros.com. These communities are full of domainers who are always willing to help out others and will give you free advice as to your domain's possible value. Just make sure to follow the rules of the respective forum and not spam it with hundreds of appraisal requests.
If you are really keen to get an automated appraisal done, a good place to start is Estibot. This appraisal service is free and gives some of the most accurate predictions. Estibot is a great tool if you want to get hundreds of domain appraised and can't bother posting each individually at the forums.
