Efty Really Works
Here is a follow up on my experience with Efty, the domain management platform. Shortly after interviewing Doron, I started my free trial on the site. I added just one domain name to my account there. It was a hand registered name that I purchased within the past year, and admittedly, it was a pretty good name. There are at least two books that share the same title and it’s a name I’m considering using to launch another blog. The interesting point is, within a week, I received a serious inquiry, generated by my Efty landing page, from one of the book authors that shares the name.
She was very interested in the name. We went back and forth a few times and I had a minimum value in mind that we just couldn’t agree on. It’s a name that I decided I wasn’t going to let go of easily because I have a vision for it. Will I ever act on that vision? I don’t know, but I see more value in it than I was being offered. The deal didn’t happen. But it gave me some excitement around the potential for Efty.
Based on my single experience with one name (and a good name at that), I decided to add about 50 other hand registered names to Efty. I went in knowing that the first name I listed was the best of the lot, but I wanted to see what type of results I got with even more names listed. I quickly added the names and went about my business. About three weeks passed with no activity. I wasn’t surprised or disappointed. I wasn’t expecting miracles.
Then I received another offer sent via my landing page for a domain I hand registered just three months earlier. It was a name I registered based on an idea I was kicking around with some friends. One I wasn’t as attached to. After some back and forth, we agreed on $1,500. The buyer paid me through PayPal and I transferred the domain through GoDaddy. Transaction took all of 30 minutes to complete.
Another week goes by and a new offer comes in on a name I registered a couple years back. I’m still in negotiations on this name so I won’t go into too much detail. The offer came in through my Efty landing page.
My luck has pretty good in the short time that I’ve been using Efty. The service paid for itself, and then some, with that first sale. It’s easy to use, easy to update, and has some great features. In fact I’m not even using all of the features yet. I attribute the activity to the visually pleasing landing pages that allow for communication between the buyer and seller. There are no annoying links to suggested sites based on your domain name. It’s clean and simple.
I’ll continue to report on my progress with Efty over the coming months. If you have any experiences to share, please leave a comment to share with the rest of us.
9 comments
Thanks Mike
What landing page design are you using?
I’m currently using the North theme for all my landing pages. I like the look of that one. I may experiment with some others to test the number of inquiries.
Thanks for sharing. Are you pricing the domains or do you use a make offer?
I don’t currently have these names listed anywhere else, so I am using the “make offer.” This has started conversations but offers have started out very low, just to initiate.
Thanks for sharing Mike. Nice to read your experience using Efty.
Curious to know how you had those domains set up prior to trying Efty. Did you have your own landing pages? Also I recall a lot of chatter about Paypal chargebacks around domain sales. Did something change, or in the process of negotiation did you gain confidence in the integrity of the buyer? Thanks!
@JohH – In some cases I didn’t have landing pages and in other cases they were parked. In all cases they weren’t set up in a way that would give any visitor the information they needed to contact me directly. I have tried my own landing pages on a couple of names in the past with no luck, but not at this volume. Most hand regs I have sold have been by reaching out to buyers that were a good fit for the name. I received very few unsolicited offers on hand regs in the past, but I also didn’t make it easy to contact me. As far as paypal, I haven’t experienced any issues in any of my dealings. Hope that helps.
Thanks Mike. Am inspired to revisit the landing pages approach, also after hearing the recent DNN podcast, Responding to Domain Name Offers with Bill Sweetman – DNW Podcast #30 http://domainnamewire.com/2015/04/27/responding-to-domain-name-offers-with-bill-sweetman-dnw-podcast-30/
Good to hear about your positive experience, exciting to see someone still hand registering names, would love to know the process you follow for hand registering names if any, cheers!