When people fail to sell a domain, their first instinct is often to lower the price.

My first .ai domain sale taught me the opposite lesson:
sometimes, the price itself is what makes the sale possible.

I’ve always been optimistic about .ai domains. From what I’ve observed, many AI startups today are choosing .ai as their primary domain, not merely as a secondary branding asset. While .com remains the hard currency of the domain world, from a trend perspective, the rise of .ai in AI-focused niches feels inevitable.

That belief led me to treat AI domain investing as a small personal experiment.

Since this was my first-ever domain investment, I started cautiously. I bought just one .ai domain to test the waters. I wasn’t in a rush to flip it and simply held onto it, assuming time would do the work.

Then reality intervened.

I noticed the domain had less than two weeks left before expiration.

That created immediate pressure:

• .ai domains are expensive to renew

• Renewal requires two years upfront

• The total renewal cost was close to $200

• Renewing would add another ~$100 to my cost basis

With only two weeks left, I actively searched for options and consulted AI tools like ChatGPT. One recommendation kept coming up consistently: Sedo.

At first, this confused me. I already knew mainstream platforms like Namecheap and GoDaddy, which are primarily end-user marketplaces. Why would Sedo be better?

The answer lies in how secondary markets interpret price.

After researching, I realized Sedo operates as a true secondary domain market, populated by professional domain investors. These buyers don’t just look at domain names—they interpret signals.

And price is one of the strongest signals.

I listed the domain on Sedo with a Buy Now price of $1,000, without strong expectations. No negotiations. No minimum offers. Just a clear price.

A few days passed with no inquiries, and doubt crept in.

With the expiration deadline approaching, I questioned myself:

• Was $1,000 too high?

• Should I lower the price to attract attention?

• Would buyers simply wait for the domain to expire and try to grab it cheaply?

What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time was this:

In investor-driven markets, a low price can signal low confidence.

A premium—but reasonable—price does three important things:

1. It signals that the seller understands the asset’s value

2. It filters out low-intent or speculative buyers

3. It positions the domain as an investment-grade asset, not a clearance item

Just as I was about to lower the price, something unexpected happened.

I received an email from Sedo.

The domain had been sold. The buyer had already paid in full.
No negotiation. No counteroffer. Just acceptance.

I was genuinely shocked.

The transaction completed smoothly, and after deducting all costs, I made approximately $600 in profit—with minimal effort and no back-and-forth.

That moment reshaped my understanding of pricing in domain investing.

The buyer didn’t see $1,000 as “expensive.”
They saw it as credible.

In secondary markets, pricing functions as a signal, not just a number. A Buy Now price tells investors:

• How seriously the seller views the asset

• Whether the domain is positioned as premium

• Whether future resale margins still make sense

This is classic signaling theory in pricing.

A price that is too low can imply desperation or lack of conviction.
A price that is too high can repel even sophisticated buyers.
But a reasonable premium price communicates confidence—and confidence attracts capital.

This experience permanently changed how I think about domain pricing.

Especially for niche extensions like .ai, where future value is driven by macro trends, pricing isn’t about quick flips—it’s about positioning.

And sometimes, the price is what makes the buyer take you seriously.