Today’s Snapnames Job/Career Showcase Auction ends at 3:15PM EST.    Wanted to share a bidding tip (based on my experience submitting a domain) and highlight a few no reserve / low reserve names I like.

Bidding Tip

I could be wrong, but I would bet that the majority of domains in the $201 – $500 reserve range have a fixed reserve price of $300.   Why?  Because the submission form for this auction stated that domains listed as no reserve will have a minimum bid of $300.     Since I was interested in listing my name as no reserve I entered $300 (instead of 0).  When the auction list was published last week, I noticed that my domain  was listed in the $201 – $500 range instead of  ‘no reserve’.

Did a little testing this morning, and apparently domains listed as no reserve have a minimum bid of $300, however domains listed in the $201 – $500 range will accept a $201 bid even it does not meet a minimum reserve of $300.   Don’t know how helpful this information will be, but wanted to pass it along in case you will be bidding in the last few seconds of the auction, when time really counts.

My no reserve / low reserve picks

Just finished reviewing the no reserve / low reserve domains listed in today’s auction looking for ones which lend themselves to mini site development and end user resale.   I ran them through Google’s keyword tool to estimate search demand and cost per click and did some basic research to determine potential end users.

Here are my picks…

1. DiscountLoans.com ($10.29 CPC / 390 monthly searches) [$1051 high bid]

This one has good potential for minisite use, lead generation or end user resale.  Would also be good domain for use with one of the many loan /cash advance affiliate programs.

2. FreeLoanQuote.com ($11.12 CPC / 480 exact / 720 phrase) [$300 high bid]

Not as short or catchy as  #1, but has slightly more search demand more Adwords advertisers.  Nice name for lead generation or end user resale.

3. GelSocks.com ($1.18 / 720 monthly searches)  [$300 high bid]

Nice plural category name.   Might be interesting to set up a minisite to get ranked, then find out who makes gel socks and explain the advantages of owning their category.]

4. HumanResourcesPrograms.com ($7.05 CPC / 480 monthly searches) [0 current bids]

Nice plural category name in high CPC niche.  Google shows 94,100 exact match results for this term. Good name for mini site, directory or end user resale.  I’d probably develop it as a minisite/directory listing schools offering human resources programs and monetize with a combination of Adsense and direct advertising/featured listings.  With a little work could be a nice end user sale.    I’d start by contacting some of the 24 Adwords advertisers bidding on this exact keyword phrase.   [Disclaimer: This is one of my domains.]

5. LawDegreeOnline.com ($20.06 CPC / 2,900 monthly searches) [$400]

I like this one for the same reasons as #4.   Degree program traffic can be very valuable since a new student can be worth thousands to a school.   High CPC makes these types of minisites good candidates for Adsense monetization.

6. LegalAssistantTraining.com ($8.00 CPC / 590 monthly searches) [0 current bids]

Nice CPC and 25 Google Adwords advertisers.  Good name for mini site or end user resale.

7. LitigationSpecialist.com ($4.09 CPC / 170 monthly searches) [0 current bids]

Google shows 46,500 results for this exact phrase.  Here are some examples of litigation specialist jobs.  Not a lot of Adwords advertisers for this one, so end user might be the way to go on this one – would be a pretty cool URL to have on a business card

Good luck bidding and feel free to leave a comment below with your picks (and why you like them)…