Can domain name appraisals ever be scientific?
The correct answer is:

No! 

People do can have experience in negotiating domain sales.
But to be a Domain Expert takes more than that.
There is no Domain Academy.
Third party viewpoints do can be taken into consideration.
Domain value depends only of seller and buyer viewpoints.

Most ideas about domain value are: 

• Wishful Thinking.
• Hope for Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

AsSeenOnTV.com was purchased for more than the double of Shop.com.
So, the shorter the better is not always correct.

Tucows.com (Two Cows) is a market leader in the domain industry.
So domains must not necessarily be English dictionary words.
Also, domains must not necessarily be related to their use. 

TDNAM.com is also a domain industry leader.
TDNAM is not an English dictionary word - Just a combination of characters.

TheDomainNameAfterMarket.com is not a short domain, but look ... 

MSNBC.com ... What is an MSNBC?  Find out!

  There is no objective domain valuation method.
  There is no scientific value estimation method.  
  Domain value estimation is absolute nonsense   

There are only the rules of:

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
• Public Information Regarding Internet Domain Name Registration Services
• W3C - The World Wide Web Consortium 
• World Intellectual Property Organization

Further, countries can impose additional or contradictory rules concerning intellectual property.
Local arbitration offices and courts can decide to whether or not follow any guidelines.
Be it clear that any and all rules, set forth as some standard, are conventions.

Conventions are always limited in:

• Subject (here: domains).
  
• Time (until revision).
  
• Place (country resp. international, targeted group). 

Any and all claimed objective result depends upon statistic or other information, but:

• Value estimation is a matter of opinion, based upon interpretation of elements.
• Each individual has preferences about what to look for when valuating something.
• Objective valuation is impossible, because any final statement depends upon a decision.
• Decisions depend of the  If - Then viewpoints of the people who decide.
• A science-based valuation is impossible, because it should be objective.

Market and Fair Market Value:

• A market is a place where items can be offered for acquisition buy purchase etc.
  
• Prices depend upon availability, quality, price, necessity to have it.
  
• A fair market value is often an estimate of what a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller, both in a free market, for an asset or any piece of property.
  
• A reasonable explanation for Market Value is here.
  
• A reasonable explanation for Fair Market Value is here. 
  
• It should be remembered that any purchase is based upon a reason to have, so the decision to acquire is influenced by intellect and/or emotional concerns and that is a form of pressure.
  
• Fair Market and Fair Market Value are theories. 

Common Domain Valuation Elements:

• SLD i.e. part at left from separator dot aka Name.
• TLD i.e. part at right from separator dot aka Extension (ext.).
• SLD length i.e. the number of characters in the Name.
• Considered to play a role in brandability.
• Shorter often considered better to remember.
• Descriptive quality.
• Considered to play a role in brandability.
• The Name is a person or company etc. name.
  
• The Name explains the activity.
• The Name explains a location.
• The Name is a slogan.
• The Name is random characters.
• TLD quality.
• Some people put forth that certain TLD are better.
• .com is considered by many to be most popular.

False Domain Elements:

• Traffic: Depends of popularity, depending on advertising or word of mouth.
  
• SERP: Search Engine Result Position depends upon web content.
• Quality: Some people pretend that some domains are better than others.

The realistic approach:

• Domains are addresses, pointing to areas on a storage medium.
  
• Web accounts are used for:
• Data storage.
• Communication
• Email accounts.
• Messaging (forum, blog, etc.).
• Chat.
• Order taking.
• Upload/Download.
  
• Online Storefront.
• General information.
• Help Center.
• Links.
• Partner Offers.
• Etc.
• Advertising.
• Traffic is only relevant for:
• Online orders:  If people do order and Do not cancel it.
  
• Advertising:  If people do click on the ads And do buy something.
• Otherwise, traffic is just bandwidth waste.
  
• Resellers price to sell, and that can be anything.
  
• End users pay any price if they really want something.

    Overpricing does not exist.    
    Underpricing does not exist. 
    Market Price is subjective.     

Statistics:

• Statistics are reports about past situations.
  Scorecarding, particularly the Balanced Scorecard system, is widely accepted to reflect the actual or most recent situation, though it is about a situation minutes ago or that before.
  Stats are a probability and expectation assumption tool.
  Stats are not science, although there are colleges and degrees in the field.
  It does not matter how many clicks or visits there are from anybody if there is no return from it.
  Advertisers pay because they Hope upon sales resulting from their ads.
  It is good for the web developer, if there is more return than reg. fee.
  The above numbers don't say how many people Did earn anything, or how many sales were made.
  Traffic and visits are relevant for who believes it is relevant.
  It is possible to go very far in this.
  It is all a mechanism of belief in a system, and wishful thinking.
  Although I admit that probability studies do have lead to added productivity, I believe that it is usually very personal reasons that drive people to do things and not what people did before in similar situations.
  Read "similar" - not "equal" because no two situations are ever the identical.

Conclusion:

Domain appraisals are only opinions, worth what people believe they are worth.
Millions of domains are sold for far more or less than any appraisal.
Eventually, the price paid depends of how important it is for the buyer to have it.

So, then, is there no thumb rule that applies to all domains?
Maybe ...

Com domain registration fee vary between some $6.95 and $35.00.
Featured listing on a domain auction web costs usually some $60.00.
Let us accept an additional $5.00 expense for miscellaneous input.
The domain costs some $100.00 just to get it and list it for sale once.
This is when the domain is offered for sale without any profit. 

In normal good business, selling price should at least:

1. Cover acquisition expenses.
2. Cover maintenance expenses.
3. Promotion expenses.
   
4. Allow a profit margin.
5. Allow a strategic reserve margin.
6. Cover any fees and value added taxes.
7. Cover any income taxes.
8. Cover commissions to be paid.

A 300% to 400% markup over purchase is common.
Why should somebody sell a domain for less?
Despair? 

This author recommends:

No domain should be sold for less than 400% of registration fee.
No domain should be sold for less than the latest purchase price.
No .com domain should be sold for less than $400.00. 

Have a nice day!

On the Internet since 1993.
That is longer than many others ... 

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