Valuation is in the eye of the beholder.

Morning folks!!


I have been very tough on appraisal services because I don't see
any that are truly qualified. I have blogged about appraisals several times.
And let me say, that appraising a domain and figuring value is a very difficult
thing. It is difficult because each domain is completely unique. Some domains
may be one dimensional while others may have many facets and are adaptable to
many companies, industries or promotions. It is difficult when you don't
know who the actual appraiser is. Do they appraise high? Do they appraise low?
Are they completely educated about domains? So a lot of
'Transparency' needs to happen here as well.


I tried an experiment and had 21 professional domain owners that I
know personally give their best shot on putting a value on 5 of my domains.
From a group of elite individuals like this it is possible to see a
picture develop and market price. I removed the names to protect their privacy.
I provided no stats whatsoever. But the numbers are the numbers and this was
done in a thoughtful manner. When I look at something like this I generally
throw out the high numbers and I throw out the low numbers. I try to focus on
the common numbers. In over 12 years on the net this was the first time I had
ever asked others for a valuation for valuations sake. See if a picture
develops for you.


Appraisal #1
Widgets.com - $350,000 - $500,000
Girls.net - $75,000 - $90,000
Candy.com - $3,000,000 - $4,000,000
Cheapest.com - $100,000 - $150,000
DailyVideo.com - $10,000 - $15,000
Appraisal #2
Widgets.com - $500K. I love this name for dev/branding/web 2.0
Girls.net - $250K. Would want to see what the .com is doing.
Candy.com - $1.5mm. Awesome premium generic. Enough said.
Cheapest.com - $50K. Not a big fan despite one word. Lots of substitutes.
DailyVideo.com - $25K. Same as above.
Appraisal #3
Widgets.com > no idea.
Girls.net > 2% of Girls.com ($4Million) $80,000
Candy.com > $2 Million.
Cheapest.com > $75K.
DailyVideo.com > $10K
Appraisal #4
Widgets.com - $400k
Girls.net - $75k
Candy.com - $3M
Cheapest.com - $60k
DailyVideo.com - $30k
Appraisal #5
Widgets.com - $1M
Girls.net - $50k
Candy.com - $2M
Cheapest.com - $100k
DailyVideo.com - $10k
Appraisal #6
Widgets.com $5,000,000.
Girls.net $ 125,000.
Candy.com $7,500,000.
Cheapest.com $ 200,000.
DailyVideo.com $ 100,000
Appraisal #7
Widgets.com - $150,000
Girls.net - $30,000
Candy.com - $3,000,000
Cheapest.com - $400,000
DailyVideo.com - $10,000
Appraisal #8
Widgets.com - $250,000
Girls.net - $35,000
Candy.com - $1,400,000
Cheapest.com - $3,000
DailyVideo.com - $2,500
Appraisal #9
Widgets.com - $10,000,000
Girls.net - $500,000
Candy.com - $5,000,000
Cheapest.com - $100,000
DailyVideo.com - $100,000
Appraisal #10
Widgets.com $1m
Girls.net $100K
Candy.com $2M
Cheapest.com $150K
DailyVideo.com $20K
Appraisal #11
End User Numbers
Widgets.com $2M
Girls.net $250K
Candy.com $4.5M
Cheapest.com $1M
DailyVideo.com $40K
Appraisal #12
Widgets.com $750,000
Girls.net $185,000
Candy.com $2,500,000
Cheapest.com $275,000
DailyVideo.com $25,000
Appraisal #13
domain - market value-end user value
Widgets.com - $225,000-$250,000
Girls.net - $40,000-$65,000
Candy.com - $800,000-$1,800,000
Cheapest.com - $75,000-$350,000
DailyVideo.com - $12,500-$35,000
Appraisal #14
domain - market value-end user
Widgets.com - $400,000-600,000
Girls.net - $10,000-15,000
Candy.com - $3,000,000-5,000,000
Cheapest.com - $35,000-50,000
DailyVideo.com - $10,000-15,000
Appraisal #15
Widgets.com - $500K
Girls.net - $100K
Candy.com - $5M
Cheapest.com - $350K
DailyVideo.com - $50K
Assumes motivated end user in right place at the right time with the right
resources.
Appraisal #16
Widgets.com
Wholesale Level 1 - $100K - $250K
Wholesale Level 2 - $250K - $500K
Retail Level 1 - $500K - $1M
Retail Level 2 - $1M - $2M 


Girls.net
Wholesale Level 1 - $50K - $75K
Wholesale Level 2 - $75K - $150K
Retail Level 1 - $150K - $250K
Retail Level 2 - $250K - $500K


Candy.com
Wholesale Level 1 - $250K - $500K
Wholesale Level 2 - $500K - $1M
Retail Level 1 - $1M - $2M
Retail Level 2 - $2M - $5M


Cheapest.com
Wholesale Level 1 - $35K - $50K
Wholesale Level 2 - $50K - $100K
Retail Level 1 - $100K - $200K
Retail Level 2 - $200K - $500K
Ultimate Dream - Perfect name for a price comparison site. Strategy would be
the entrepreneur needing a dream style domain for capital tool purposes.
DailyVideo.com
Wholesale Level 1 - $2,500 - $5K
Wholesale Level 2 - $5K - $25K
Retail Level 1 - $25K - $50K
Retail Level 2 - $50K - $75K
Appraisal #17
Widgets.com -- $700,000
Girls.net -- $80,000
Candy.com -- $1,500,000
Cheapest.com -- $50,000
DailyVideo.com -- $15,000
Appraisal #18
Widgets.com 130,000
Girls.net 45,000
Candy.com 1,300,000
Cheapest.com 40,000
DailyVideo.com 10,000
Mostly on the 'Wholesale/Investor' side IMO -
Appraisal #19
Widgets.com - $350K
Girls.net - $50K
Candy.com - $2M
Cheapest.com - $1M
DailyVideo.com - $25K
Appraisal #20
domain - market value-end user
Widgets.com -$550,000- $1,300,000
Girls.net - $70,000- $135,000
Candy.com - $600,000-$1,750,000
Cheapest.com - $95,000-$125,000
DailyVideo.com - $25,000-$45,000
Appraisal #21
Widgets.com -- $1M
Girls.net -- $200k
Candy.com -- $1.2M
Cheapest.com -- $2.8M
DailyVideo.com -- $500k



Moniker professional and paid Appraisal
Widgets.com -- $227,300
Girls.net -- $81,900
Candy.com -- $2,237,400
Cheapest.com -- $146,800
DailyVideo.com -- $23,700


What does it all mean? I don't know. That’s for you to comment on.
While the Moniker appraisals were in line with many of the others, I would not
sell at the appraised levels if I got those offers today.   


Have a GREAT day!
Rick Schwartz


UPDATE. The following numbers have been provided by Bob Connor. Special thanks for taking the time to crunch some interesting numbers:


Here are the averages, medians (mid points), and standard deviations
(measure of how much variability) for appraisals for each of the
domains.


Widgets.com:
Average =      $1,247,348
Median =         $500,000
Std. Dev =     $2,210,824
Girls.net:
Average =        $119,452
Median =          $81,900
Std. Dev =       $105,250
Candy.com:
Average =      $2,580,974
Median =       $2,000,000
Std. Dev =     $1,635,693
Cheapest.com:
Average =        $323,948
Median =         $130,000
Std. Dev =       $589,405
DailyVideo.com:
Average =         $48,670
Median =          $23,700
Std. Dev =        $99,436