Are domain appraisals really worth it?
 

Ive got a few domains that I am looking to sell and believe they are worth some good money - all mostly mainstream, nothing really good in adult.

Some sides like SEDO make you get them appraised if you want to list them for more than $10k, but is it worth it or do they used some automated bs that looks for type-ins and keyword searches?

Seems like a good way to get delusional domain name owners to cough up some money for appraisals.

No, they are absolutely ridiculous. Every serious domain seller that I know regard them as a scam.

thats what I figured. I had someone make me an offer for a domain (5 figures) but wanted me to pay for the appraisal first. Not sure why he would want that but I said there is no point.

Thats a scam in itself, Let me guess, he told you which company he wanted the apraisal from? You pay them for the apprasial then you never hear from the potential buyer again - I'm sure you can guess who he really works for.

Like rougeteens said , thats a scam email ...anyone wanting you to have a domain appraisal before purchase is conning you. A buyer will always have some idea of what he wants to pay and what its worth to them.

The only true way to know a domains value is to put it about in the market place and see what gets offered.

I've used third-party appraisals to help me both sell and buy domains at a more reasonable price. However in the case you mentioned, it does sound like he's trying to pull something. He wants to buy the domain, he should pay for an appraisal to back up his offer.

You can often get a general idea of what your exact match domain might be worth by looking at past sales of similar keyword domains. Use the following tool :

http://www.domaintools.com/buy/sales-history/?q=fisting

welcome to the internet.

No, but if you visit domainer forums you can post the domain and they can give you an idea what it's worth.

Yep :2 cents:

It make no sense whatsoever for someone to make you an offer and then ask you to do an appraisal.

Why would they risk you getting an appraisal that was higher than their offer?

No real buyer is that stupid.

a domain appraisal can be worth it.
It depends how much the appraisal costs and who is doing the appraising.

the automated ones are probably not very accurate.

Yep, a common scam that's probably over a decade old by now. There's never a reason to get a paid appraisal on a domain, especially if someone demands you to.