Odys is expanding beyond SEO domains, allowing domain investors to list premium domains. Sean Markey spoke with Odys founder Alex Drew.
Odys founder Alex Drew. Image courtesy Odys.global
I recently chatted with Alex Drew, founder and CEO of Odys.global.
If you don’t know about Odys, here’s the 30-second overview:
Odys.global is a two-sided marketplace that sells aged domains powered up by a strong SEO history (meaning: there are existing backlinks going to the domain). They are well-known within the SEO industry and have done a good job of building a reputable brand.
Recently, Odys has moved beyond just SEO domains to also include listing premium domain names (with no SEO authority) on their marketplace. I thought this would be of interest to the domain investing community, so I emailed Alex a series of questions + follow-ups so I could share the new marketplace with you if you’re looking for more places to list your names.
A quick disclaimer before we get to the interview: I have done some work with Odys. Specifically I wrote a series of blog posts and have done consulting calls with their customers who needed advice when shopping for domains.
Sean: Can you give me an idea of the scale of Odys.Global — whether that’s revenue, monthly visitors, number of domains, sold, etc. Anything you want to share:
Alex: Odys Global consists of a team of 32 awesome people across 3 different continents and 4 countries, operating a marketplace of 900+ aged domains, 25,000+ members (and growing rapidly), selling thousands of domains each and every year. We started as a small aged domains shop and we now operate as a full-fledged marketplace, having recently introduced the Sell Your Domain (SYD) initiative which allows anyone to list their domains for sale with us, as long as they meet our strict quality standards. We sell and broker domains, host and build websites, consult our members on anything premium/aged domains and online marketing.
Sean: Why did you decide to make the jump to selling premium domains vs. just SEO domains? Do you feel that you’ve grown the SEO domains part of the business as large as it can be?
Alex: Not all aged domains have premium names, and not all premium names are powered by impossible-to-get authority links, making them SEO/aged domains. Some are just great names and this is how we’d market them. But the truth is we get lots of inquiries for just great names to launch a site on and not everyone is after an aged domain, especially when there’s no good inventory to pick from. Some need an awesome gardening domain for their next venture, but due to the scarcity of legit gardening aged domains, they will go with a really cool gardening name that’s not necessarily packed with link equity (maybe just a bit or none at all). You’ve got to start somewhere and if they already happen to trust Odys and do business with us, why get it elsewhere?
And yes, besides that we’re aiming to expand into other domain market segments, premium names being one of those. Since our members are online entrepreneurs who seek to build or grow a business, invest/diversify their hard-earned money, we want to provide all the means and tools to help them achieve that, from aged domains to premium names, from cash-generating parked domains with traffic to startup websites they can further develop or incorporate into their existing sites.
Sean: Can you share any details that domain investors might be interested in, such as: what percentage of the sale will you be taking, will you be doing anything like maybe some naming platforms where you hold name contests or retarget on ads across the internet?
Alex: Domain investors can learn more about selling their domains with Odys via our Sell Your Domain (SYD) here.
Sean: I’m a bit confused by its extension beyond just SEO domains, because your page states “Domains listed via Odys should be powered by a considerable volume of high-quality organic references from authority websites such as Forbes.com, BBC.co.uk, and others.” This seems to contradict the idea that it will accept Premium domains that don’t have SEO value.
Alex: The SYD page will be adapted to reflect the new type of non-SEO-focused Premium Names we will start listing in the marketplace. We’re launching a new version of the Odys marketplace by the end of the month. Above mentioned changes will reflect in the Sell Your Domains LP by then for sure.
Sean: Will there be restrictions on listings like there currently is on names with SEO authority? Will you deny names based on quality or priced too high, or potential trademark issues?
Alex: We will accept all quality domain inventory (either good names or good SEO, or ideally both), except domains with funky historical records (legal, trademarks, abuse, spam, penalties). We won’t be enforcing a price policy, only making recommendations. You can list DomainNameWire.com for $10 billion dollars and we will honor that, but obviously, the chance of it selling is 1 in 10 billion.
Sean: Why do you have to apply to join Odys as a buyer?
Alex: We view Odys as a community, rather than a service/marketplace open to everyone. Since we started with SEO domains and knowing SEOs are quite paranoid when it comes to their sites, we decided to add one extra layer of security, by NOT making the inventory available for just anyone. Besides that, our goal is to work with committed buyers/sellers, not just anyone. So far it’s working really well.
We might reconsider that for Premium Names.
Sean: Do you have to point your names at Odys (A record or NS) in order to list them there?
Alex: Yes, we do have our own landing pages like the one you can see on OnlineReporter.com. However, if the domain happens to have an existing site on it, we might ask you to keep it live and just have a Hellobar instead, advertising it is for sale via Odys.
Sean: I have to ask, as this will be read by many domain investors that will surely be thinking something similar: any plans to rebrand from Odys.Global to a more premium name? If we’re talking about the tenants of branding, Odys fails “the radio test.” I’m just curious. 🙂
Alex: No plans to re-brand Odys. I have, however, plans to sip some Odys cognac this weekend, maybe stay in the Odys Boutique Hotel in November this year during a short trip to SE Asia, buy some Odys jewelry for my wife and an Odys aviation drone/aircraft for myself 😉
~
Thanks to Alex for answering my questions.
If you have any questions about the new Odys “sell your premium domain” opportunity, put your questions in the comments and I’ll make sure Alex swings by to answer.
Post link: Odys opens marketplace to premium domains
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