UKBackorder.com Sales Data
An update that will impact monthly sales reports, as UKBackorder.com will no longer be reporting all UK domain transactions
Writing monthly sales reports over the last 6 months, it has become obvious that UKBackorder.com is consistently one of the best performing platforms regarding total “sales”, hitting close to if not exceeding 100 “sales” per month.
I say “sales” because some people would argue (and have argued) that transactions completed and reported aren’t really “sales”, as UKBackorder.com is a UK domain drop-catching service.
From the UKBackorder.com home page:
UK domains from only £50
If we catch a domain, and you have the only backorder, the domain is automatically yours.
If there are multiple backorders there is a quick 3 day auction between the people who backordered.
The way I have always thought about it is that anything outside of a free-to-reg is considered a transaction between two entities. In my database “sales” are actually named as “transactions”, it’s just the public facing terminology that could potentially skew interpretation.
Anyway, it’s my side project and I can do what I want. 😜
Why is publishing sales data important?
Some might argue that recording and publishing domain sales data is pointless, as it can be a very emotive or business driven decision to pay `X` for a domain name.
I realise that domain names are unique in nature. That value is very much contextual. That singular trumps plural in many cases, and all the rest of it, but price is determined by the market, and between the buyer and seller at a specific moment in time.
This means that a historic price can skew any perceived value of a domain name.
From a personal perspective, I feel that publishing sales data helps to affirm the value of something. In our case, UK domain names. Basically, there’s nothing worse in business negotiations than when an initial offer or counter-offer is “offensive”.
This is where I like to think that historic UK domain sales data provides value when it comes to that initial ballpark figure (at the very least).
So what’s the update?
Unfortunately, Rob got in touch to let me know that for the most part sales data from UKBackorder.com will be stopped. It is worth mentioning that Rob did suggest that he will try to report larger sales where he can.
UKBackorder.com – Stats Overview
Doing a quick query on my end, the first sale recorded at UKBackorder.com was 23rd November, 2018.
I calculate that £462,114 worth of sales have been reported since then, which averages out to around £12,489 per month.
That’s going to be a huge hit to the monthly sales reports, and make the figures much less appealing. 😭
A word of thanks to UKBackorder.com
Lastly, I want to personally thank Rob for reporting sales data in the first place. He didn’t have to, and I genuinely appreciate the support over the years. Thanks Rob!