Free Web Hosting For Life!
February 9, 2009 on 12:53 pm | In Insider View, Musings, Promotions by Josh Jones | 112 Comments
I’ve kind of dropped out of it, but years ago I used to be somewhat of a frequent eBayer.
Back then I would even get requests from friends to sell their stuff on eBay.
In fact, I think it was in ‘96 that I had an idea to make a business like those “I Sold it on eBay” franchises (they didn’t exist yet). But, I decided to focus on web hosting, it being essentially zero work!
Would you like to know my secret to successful selling on eBay?
WOULD YOU?
Here it is: Start your auction at 99c.
That was it really. No matter what you were selling, even if it was a laptop or a plasma TV, there is no reason to start your auction at anything higher.
In fact, there’s even a reason not to .. eBay charges a higher listing fee the higher your start price! And, because eBay is about the closest thing to an efficient market we have on this planet, there is essentially a 0% chance that a 7-day auction will end at anything less than the market price for the item being sold.
(If you’re worried about the market price being less than you’re willing to sell for, you can always set a reserve price.)
In fact, if you start your auction low, I found the chances were actually better that you’d get a price higher than average.
Personally, I attributed this to the fact that you’d get more people actually making bids (and more bids) along the way, which meant near the end your auction would have like 35 bids compared to the 0-2 bids on the similar ones. People, being the herd animals that they are, seeing that there have already been lots of bids, are actually more likely to bid… despite the fact that it means they’ll probably end up paying more!
The Opposite of eBay
Well, I sorta stopped doing eBay a while ago (there’s no point in buying anything normal there, and things I would have sold before I just donate to goodwill now.).
The only major buying and selling I’ve done in the last five years has been real estate, and despite it theoretically being very similar to eBay, it seems to me that real estate agents have done their darndest to make sure it is anything but.
For some reason, the way real estate transactions universally work, is the seller puts a price on their house that’s generally way over the market price, and then they wait and see which is more, their motivation to sell or the number of suckers.
I suppose people do this because of a combination of greed and the illiquidity of real estate. No two houses are exactly the same, so it’s more difficult to know their current actual value than say, a green iPod nano.
It’s also such a large transaction that the fear of losing out on even 1% of the max possible value of a sale weighs heavily on the sellers mind. “What if I list it too low and we sell it for $5,000 less than we could have made?!
I guess I can’t really blame real estate agents for existing. They exist primarily to introduce sellers to reality, with a teensy dash of marketing your house to buyers mixed in.
Of course, there’s just the Multiple Listing Service for that now, so really all a seller’s agent does is take 3% of the sales price for convincing you to lower your price.
And that’s exactly what they do. And fast. Although it may seem like your and your agent’s interests are aligned (to maximize your sale price, right? After all, they get more if you do!), in fact, they are not. Your agent knows that a difference of $50K in an asking price can be the difference between selling your house in 6 months and 6 days.
And if you were an agent, would you rather get 3% of $300,000 ($9,000) in 6 months, or 3% of $250,000 ($7,500) in 6 days?
But as a seller, it’s likely worth your time to wait 6 months for an extra $48,500.
In fact (and agents will tell you the opposite), real estate for sale by owner on average sells for more (and that’s not even counting the 3% commission saved!) than real estate sold with an agent. It just takes longer.
Why wait?
But, what if for some reason the seller doesn’t care about the money as much as selling their house quickly, then they should just use an agent, right?
If that’s the case, I would still recommend selling your property yourself (unless you really just can’t be bothered)… just list it WAY below market price!
It’s just like starting an eBay auction at 99c.
Although it’s not exactly an “auction,” by setting the price insanely low you will get a lot of offers that will result in a bidding war… as long as you get the word out about your property for sale.
Fortunately, the only thing you have to do that is get it on the MLS… and there are plenty of services that will do that for a flat fee.
Now that you’ve created interest, and shown buyers you’re serious about selling, you just have to hold a few open houses and let people know offers are due by a certain date. (Just like a 7-day auction, you need to give a little time for people to find your amazing deal.)
Et voilà, just like eBay, there is now effectively a 0% chance for your place to sell for less than the current market price. Whether that is an amount you’re willing to sell it for is a different matter, but now at least you know and you can stop wasting everybody’s time.
Free Web Hosting for Life?
Oh ha, that was just a trick to get you to read this totally off-topic blog post!
No, no, no, not really. Believe it or not, for once I’m actually practicing what I preach!
My wife and I are selling our Manhattan loft ourselves! And if you buy it (or even just refer somebody who buys it, or even just make a serious offer), you’ll get a free Happy Hosting plan forever!
The place is #6B at 718 Broadway and we’re having just two open houses: Sunday, March 1st 2009, 2 – 5 pm and Wednesday, March 11th 2009, 6 – 9 pm. Offers will be due by 5pm (eastern time) on Sunday, March 15th 2009.
We’re putting the asking price at $850,000, despite all comparables on the market being around $1,300,000. And of course, theirs don’t even include free web hosting for life! :)
Stop by to check it out, pick up an offer sheet, and complain to me in person about your site being down!
Here’s the site with full details, and lots of pics!
112 Responses to “Free Web Hosting For Life!”
Categories:
Archives:
- November 2009 (2)
- October 2009 (1)
- September 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (1)
- June 2009 (3)
- May 2009 (3)
- April 2009 (4)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (3)
- January 2009 (3)
- December 2008 (3)
- November 2008 (4)
- October 2008 (5)
- September 2008 (2)
- August 2008 (5)
- July 2008 (2)
- June 2008 (3)
- May 2008 (6)
- April 2008 (2)
- March 2008 (3)
- February 2008 (5)
- January 2008 (7)
- December 2007 (3)
- November 2007 (3)
- October 2007 (5)
- September 2007 (3)
- August 2007 (4)
- July 2007 (4)
- June 2007 (7)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (3)
- March 2007 (8)
- February 2007 (4)
- January 2007 (6)
- December 2006 (5)
- November 2006 (2)
- October 2006 (4)
- September 2006 (4)
- August 2006 (5)
- July 2006 (3)
- June 2006 (3)
- May 2006 (5)
- April 2006 (6)
- March 2006 (7)
- February 2006 (6)
- January 2006 (8)
- December 2005 (7)
- November 2005 (5)
- October 2005 (8)
- September 2005 (19)
- August 2005 (11)
- July 2005 (4)
Other Sites
- DreamHost Status - An off-network page for all DreamHost Announcements! (Not as silly as this blog.)
- DreamHost! - The host behind the blog.
- Forum - Discuss DreamHost and web hosting!
- Web Control Panel - Manage your account.
- Wiki - On DreamHost and web hosting.
Powered by WordPress. Pool theme by Borja Fernandez, modified by DreamHost.
Like WordPress? Consider attending WordCamp LA.
Entries and comments feeds.
^Top^
February 9th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Love those shelves in the bathroom.
I’m stealing that design.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
does it come with the dog? Because that could be a deal-closer for me, what a cutie.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Huh… When I go on eBay I always look for the lowest priced item that has a buy it now option… I don’t think I’ve ever actually bid on something on eBay.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
@dave: BASTARD!
@ames: See the alt text!
@Spurious: Ah true.. I guess back in my ebay days there weren’t so many buy it now auctions..
February 9th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
>> $850,000
I had no idea web hosting was such a lucrative business
February 9th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I might buy it if that meant I received an entire Private Server to myself (max RAM/CPU)
:)
February 9th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
If you haven’t, you need to read Freakonomics, wherein they address the real estate agent game as well. They happen to take a peek at the buyers agent side as well.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
hmm, I don’t have $850,000 :(
How about if I promise to stay with dreamhost for life. can I have the apartment for free?
February 9th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Get a load of that “Maintenance” fee! That’s a grand more than my mortgage. And that’s *on top* of the purchase price. Forget that, I’m staying in L.A.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
I’m with Pete! *LOL!*
Funny thing is: my hosting plan is up for renewal soon, so I sent y’all a message looking for a deal. Now after seeing this fabulous apartment, moving to Happy Hosting from my current plan seems like even less of a deal …
… but my birthday’s in a couple of weeks! *wink!*
February 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Wow. That was the most discombobulated blog post I’ve read this week, but you totally pulled it together at the end! Very nicely done!
:: aendrew’s real-estate knowledge increases 1 point.
February 9th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Gosh, look at the kitchen … and so close to Trader Joe’s … *dribble*
February 9th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Very nice. I love the table and the kitchen. Shame there’s not more light. And for those not in NYC, that’s actually not a bad deal. :)
February 9th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
If you use promo code 777 you can get it for $777,000 :D
February 9th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hahahah, the title value for the Sloth picture is epic.
February 9th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Dude, you guys have the most CREATIVE way of saying things I have EVER seen. I’ve been with Dreamhost since 2001 (or something like that) and I think I’ve read EVERY Dreamhost newsletter just for the laughs!
Love ya, man! Hope you find that perfect buyer!
February 9th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Why does your hosting suck so bad for WordPress???
February 9th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
WOW….$850K :) here in Egypt this number can get you the Sphinx or one of the Pyramids at least.
anyway I liked the dog and the apartment and unfortunately I’m not sure that I can renew my hosting plan with DH because I still don’t have the whole amount of money :D.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
wow, so that’s what an 850k house looks like ;o i’d own one, but my hosting fees are killing me…. LOL, ok, just kidding ;s
nice house, tho :) g’luck with the sale!
February 9th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Your dog sort of looks like the Coca Cola polar bears.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I’m making a SERIOUS offer of $100. Total. That should get my free hosting for life, right?
It is a SERIOUS offer! You didn’t specify that it couldn’t be a LOW BALL serious offer!
February 9th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
That dog is the ESSENCE of cute! What’s the breed?
February 9th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I hope that it is not sign of financial crisis, so you are in great need to sell this lovely apartment. Unfortunately, it is expensive for current economic situation. My advice sell it as quick as possible, otherwise the price will drop dramatically by the mid of the year. I could even bet that it will be about 500,000.
Good luck with sales!
February 9th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
But as a seller, it’s likely worth your time to wait 6 months for an extra $48,500.
You forgot about the ~$9,000 in property taxes you’d be paying, plus the additional ~$12,000 or so you could have been collecting rent for that time, the cost of marketing it would take to sell an overpriced house, upkeep, plus your time and labor for dealing with a house on the market, drafting contracts, title insurance…
You might make $10K in that situation IF you manage to find somebody dumb enough to pay $50K over market value. At that point though, after 6 months of headache, you’d probably make more money spending that time flipping burgers.
Not to say that selling property yourself is a bad thing, if you can do it. It’s like representing yourself in court. By all means, do it if you can. From my experience though, good realtors are worth more than the commission you end up paying them.
Of course, they have to be good… just about anybody can get a real estate license these days…
February 9th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
So why not put the apartment on ebay for 99c (& no reserve)?
February 9th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I’ll start the bidding at 99c. :)
February 9th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Inappropriate picture of a sloth ftw!
February 9th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
lol…That is so annoying…
well…I guess you don’t use semi naked women during Super Bowl…
Good luck and..thats a nice dog!
February 9th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Aww, I’d buy that, if I had the scratch. Which I don’t.
It’s a beautiful place, reminds me of what I’d love to own someday.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I guess we know what Josh does for a living.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Where’s My free hosting…..
February 9th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
There’s GOT to be a stimulus plan somewhere …
February 9th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
What you failed to mention is that you can just list your ebay item for a fixed price of 99 cents, as long as you add $49.99 for 12 day shipping.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
So can I just purchase a lifetime supply of Web Hosting and get the apartment for free? Let’s say I have 60 years left in me… that would be 6 times the 10 year plan, which would bring it to a total of $4284. Good deal? ;)
Could you also employ me and sponsor my Visa so I can move from Australia to the USA? ;)
Seriously, it’s a very nice place – unfortunately the wrong continent for me, and a little out of my price range too.
Thanks for the enjoyable-to-read article though! :)
February 9th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Pertinent link over at the local NBER:
“Do Real Estate Agents Exploit their Information Advantage?”
http://www.nber.org/digest/mar05/w11053.html
“The finding that agent-owned homes are on the market longer and sell for more suggests that agents do deploy their specialized knowledge to maximize their profits rather than those of the homeowners they represent.”
February 9th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
I would have put down a serious offer it it weren’t completely out of my range – I top at $600,000.
I hate my current neighbors/building/everything about where I live in Midtown E. but I guess I won’t be getting free webhosting…or out of this Hellhole.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
If it were in Seattle and $350K less, I would totally make an offer :)
February 10th, 2009 at 12:03 am
So, where’s the sauna?
February 10th, 2009 at 12:16 am
I hate you.
I got all excited too when you mentioned eBay because that is what my unlimited hosting plan would have gone towards.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Hey!
my account is still “pending” after 6 days…
Since you received immediatly the payment I’d like to be able to use my account.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:00 am
You have a nice place there, but who the CRAP would pay over a million dollars for a flat?
For that money I’d want a large detached house and gardens. On the moon. And my own private rocket.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Ok, nice loft…. but, where are computers? the servers? technology?, its a trap.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:44 am
Good read, Josh. Sadly, I can’t even afford $8.50 right now, let alone $850,000, so I won’t be able to partake in an attempt to purchase your lovely loft. I definitely appreciate the eBay selling tips, and since I’m flat broke, some of my lesser used items may wind up on the auction block starting at 99 cents. If they sell for market value, awesome. If they sell for 99 cents, well, there’s a Wendy’s across the street from my work.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:37 am
@ Matt – artificially inflating shipping costs to make more money is finally against ebays TOS, they’ve started pulling auctions of people who do that..
Gorgeous apartment (and puppy!) when I become a multimillionaire I hope to own one just like it.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:42 am
That is a lovely place. Pity I live in Europe and am so low on cash I couldn’t even fly to Manhattan, let alone move there.
Good luck with ebaying your house. :P
February 10th, 2009 at 3:48 am
wow, $850K.. that’s a real steal.. if i had $1mil in bank now, i would have bought it right away.
Josh, moving into a bigger house? cool..
=)
February 10th, 2009 at 4:08 am
It is very interesting post, but your house is very nice.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Very nice. I wish I could do it. I love the way you have it decorated.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:50 am
No, I prefer the recommendation from my crisis site infos7.com :
- Buy for a symbolic 1 Dollar a bankrupt bank;
- including a free office building
- including a free luxury appartment inside for the past girls club close to the offices of the board of directors – hopeful that it is as nice as yours
and then ask for free governmental help to bring the bank up again, re-opening the girls club during the on-site negotiations for the help request – no doubt, I will get the money…
- and all is mine for lifetime – for 1 USD.
Even the several banks hosting accounts are included free for lifetime – you see, there are even better hosting deals in this time.
February 10th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Careful!! Not sure what the laws are in New York, but in Ohio it’s illegal to pay a referral fee to anyone other than a licensed real estate broker. Giving away free hosting for life to someone for referring a buyer to you would be illegal in Ohio, and the punishment is pretty severe.
And, yes, I am one of those useless real estate agents you talk about above (and one of your customers).
February 10th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Hey, I see the Saw Doll in the oven, peeking out at me. Does he come with?
February 10th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I hope you will not sell your apartment and I think your dog looks stupid.Why am I so honest? Because I bought a domain with DH but didn’t know that it is completely meaningless exercise ( and simply money making scheme for you) if one doesn’t purchase also a “hosting plan” or whatever the con is called.We do not have to be all IT specialists do we ? So why can’t you explain all this before you collect the money ?
February 10th, 2009 at 6:10 am
um, #51 just made my head explode. Now I remember why I passed on starting a hosting service way back in the early 90s, I just knew I would run into customers like that. Is that for real or joke?
February 10th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Of course the 0.99 selling price on eBay falls down if there is no interest, which is why a cousin of mine just paid 0.99 for an 800.00 set of furniture.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:32 am
@PISSED OFF – Learn to read. If you don’t know about hosting plans, why are you buying a domain? It’s no one’s fault, but your own, that you didn’t know that you had to have a hosting plan, in order to HOST a domain. Go look at GoDaddy.com, and you will find the same things there. I am a satisfied DH customer, and think you might have a slight mental handicap, so I’ll leave that here.
@ Josh – Nice place. I’m pretty sure I would go completely insane, after just a week of living in NY, so I’ll probably not be making an offer. However, you still collect from me, as I mentioned before, since I am a customer of yours.
@ Everyone else – The eBay tips are good, and are good guidelines to follow, when listing an item. I am actually much more prominant as a buyer than a seller, but I think that makes me mroe likely a candidate to be saying what you should look for, when selling something, since I have specific things I look for in listings. Let me pay with PayPal, don’t charge me outrageous shipping, and don’t have a lot of spelling mistakes in your item description, as that makes me think you are a less credible seller. Maybe that’s just a personal thing? In any case, I have been with DH for 7 months, and have 0 complaints, so quit your b*tching about price and quality, as I have not had any issues with either.
@Gabriele – I had my account activated almost instantly. If you have been waiting nearly a week, it must be your fault somehow, as I doubt someone as clearly intelligent as yourself woudl be allowed to just slip through the cracks like that.
–Master Joe
February 10th, 2009 at 6:32 am
i like the sloth!
February 10th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Probably the most pathetic blog post I’ve read in a while. The whole idiotic approach to hosting and PR that Dreamhost preaches is really way over the top.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:45 am
@PISSED OFF
Some people purchase domain names just so other prople can’t have them, for corporate identity sake.Some people buy domain names just for email purposes. Some for accessing their office without having to remember IP address. how was DH supposed to know what you are going to do with the domain. That would be like walking in to a store purchasing batteries and the clerk saying ” do you have a device to put this in?” my suggestion is to do a little research before you next purchase… no matter what that purchase is.
@JOSH
I love the place! Hope you sell it in a mutually beneficial transaction. boy thats sounds like a halmark card….LOL
February 10th, 2009 at 6:50 am
#51 – PISSED OFF,
I have an account from DH and I am hosting it on my own server. They do allow you to point your domain name to your own server.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Hello Josh Jones,
I have post this in my 78hg dot com blog now, good luck!
My website have use your host two years, the host is good too like your house.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:08 am
> The whole idiotic approach to hosting and PR that Dreamhost preaches is really way over the top.
Couldn’t disagree more.
Josh is clearly a marketing genius, as evidenced by his ability to acquire a million dollar loft in Manhattan! =]
February 10th, 2009 at 7:37 am
STARTING AN AUCTION ON EBAY AT 99 CENTS WILL GET YOU MARKET VALUE! Sheesh…Practice what you preach and Start 20 auctions on ebay at 99 Cents for the two year Happy Hosting plan, we’re all only here reading this drivel because you indicated we could get a lifetimes hosting for free, get real, I don’t want your apartment I live in bottomed out Sterlingsville. My hosting expires at the end of this month and I’m considering leaving DH (after being with you 4 years) because my PHP heavy site often takes an age to load,these kind of carpy incentives are not encouraging.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:04 am
I long ago realized the wealth of ingenious talent at DH, that’s why I’ve been with ya for 10 years. I’ve stayed entirely because of the newsletters. Wish I could help ya out, but alas…no money. But good luck Josh..
P.S. (10 years…shouldn’t that kind of unfailing, unwavering, unflinching loyalty be enough to qualify ME free hosting for life?????)
February 10th, 2009 at 8:30 am
It’s such I beautiful place in a perfect location. So why are you moving? If I could help it, I’d never leave that apartment. Or NYC for that matter!
February 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Can I come over and play with the dog? I’ll bring some dog biscuits … and some chai … from Trader Joe’s … which is close by … Daddy. *LOL!*
February 10th, 2009 at 8:47 am
@nick23
Don’t blame Josh or anyone else that you live in a hellhole. Just because your site won’t run doesn’t mean it is there fault. Try streamlining your code. And I don’t know what they are offering you, but I have never seen them offer any carpy incentives. Never a fishy incentive at all!
@Kevin
But yet the idiotic approach has you reading their blog and posting a response even. Seems like someone knows how to use marketing and advertising. :)
@ Josh
I hope you sell the loft. $850K for Manhattan is a really good price, even in this market.
@ All Dreamhosters
I have been a customer with DH for going on 4 years now and I have to say that I have had almost NO issues with my service. My servers are up whenever I check and I even monitor my site through a third party just for kicks. You guys are great and I can’t help but like the fun atmosphere that is DH. Since I am a network admin, perhaps this makes me more understanding when things inevitably happen, but you always seem to have a handle on issues when they occur. Keep up the good work!
February 10th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Here is the deal… I will trade you my 2400sqft home in CT. It sits on 1 acre with a 2 car garage for your place on Broadway as long as I get the unlimited hosting, and a job with dreamhost. So When do I start?
February 10th, 2009 at 8:57 am
@Captain Oblivious
I don’t live in a hell hole! :)
It’s well known that DH MySQL DB’s run slowly, I’ll admit they shaved a few seconds off recently (which was nice) but its still slow
February 10th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Anyhow what I’m really here complaining about is the comment that 99 Cent ebay auctions can achieve market value, up to about 6 years ago maybe but not any more.
Something smells fishy at ebay because the Carps hit the fan.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I’ve been very happy with DreamHost, especially with the friendly support staff. You guys may get nasty remarks from techy people but you are perfect for folks like me who want to concentrate on our message rather than code. Oh, and you were recommended to me by one of the techy-est people in the world cause he LUVS DreamHost.
BTW, nice place – BEAUTIFUL DOG!!!
Dog Lover Brennan
February 10th, 2009 at 9:36 am
That shower/tub combo looks just like I remember the ones at Green Valley Ranch Resort in Vegas looking — stayed there for a conference last year.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:37 am
But the support staff are very friendly and for experimental low traffic sites you can’t beat them.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Nice looking place – looks like this hosting thing paid off. No complaints from this long time customer. Good luck with the sell.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Way too crowded. I can now see a neighbor’s house, which means it is too close. Don’t think I could handle living in a city. Although a bit crowded, our population density is one person for every 84 acres. Think I will stay in Montana.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:20 am
AH! We now know where you live! or lived…
LOL pissed off, way to research. Good thing DH offers one click install or your site would never be built with this kind of genius spearheading the project.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:29 am
free hosting for life my arse , one little complaint from a competitor and they suspend your account, do not believe their shit, that is how he got the flat
February 10th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Yup, the real-estate agent thing is covered in Freakonomics. Very nice book to read!
February 10th, 2009 at 11:56 am
This is just about what I would expect from an operation based upon this and that and then not too much of either or. So much for information technology.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I’m getting seriously aroused by that kitchen!!!
February 10th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I love DreamHost because I’ve never had any problems with them, and their customer support is way beyond what I would expect — very fast, and they’ll even help me with things that don’t directly relate to web hosting.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Nice loft – I love Manhattan – How far is that from Fraunces Tavern?
If my granddaughters would come with me I’d take it!
Good luck with the sale!!
mqqn
February 10th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Lovely place. If As I understood your offer for free webhosting for life, one of the options is to make a serious offer. I hereby submit my absolutely serious offer of $437.86…to put it in perspective, that is every cent I have in my bank account…I’d say that’s as serious as I can get. I assume the free webhosting for life starts immediately. Thanks!
February 10th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Dear God. If only I had a few hundred thousand dollars… I could be in New York, enjoying my free hosting… alas, I sit here sulking in San Diego. /sigh
February 10th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
I will not pimp my million dollar flat in the newsletter.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
If only I had a job and lived in NYC. Love the Samoyed!
February 10th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
But, I decided to focus on web hosting, it being essentially zero work!
Yeagh lastly with all the outages it kindda shows. Thanks for the laughs but it time to move on. I’ll give you 250,000 for the room in the ghetto.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
This bitter junke down the hallway already learned how to creep in teh door with the god tail a waggon. The dog can stay but tis kind don;t talk or care much about the occupents too well.
Its work yet he enjoys it somehow all the same.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
You probably should mention how the bathroom sink doubles as a urinal.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I’m ready to make a serious offer, but don’t want to live in NYC. Does the price include shipping?
February 10th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
It’s funny watching all the usual crybabies throwing their little tantrums in blog comments. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
February 10th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Cool snowwhite dog! I like your kitchen for the arts and crafts feel. As a 500+ 100% ebay user since 2001, I totally agree. Why would anyone start their bid high or put a reserve. It’s rediculous and goes against an “auction”. Thanks for the write up, always look forward to the tongue in cheek.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Obviously my ulterior motive would be to ultimate replace the dog by earning its trust and making it love me and then by ’somehow’ losing it either by leaving it at one of the many dog groomers that I know is going out of business or during one of our regular walks through Washington Square Park … because they don’t allow dogs in … Trader Joe’s … which is so-o-o-o close by … *LOL!*
February 11th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Is dog included?
February 11th, 2009 at 10:26 am
that is a pretty loft but pffffft, I thought this would be a for-real reasonable hosting deal
February 11th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
wow stayed in a very similar apartment in NYC last year and they’re great, would put an offer in instantly if I had a green card(am from London) and the cash!
February 12th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Interested in an exchange?
http://www.bajarealestategroup.net/baja_real_estate/detail/27/
February 12th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Josh, I’ll take it if I can work from home and if you ship my Aston Martin from LA to NYC… Eh eh what do you say?
February 15th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I don’t really want the loft, but I will buy the sloth if its still living? :D LOL
February 15th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
That sloth is really cute, probably Dreamhost’s main engineer.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
BTW… My site is hosted here and the support is amazing.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
heh, that was a funny and very informative post.
from now on i’m going to read the dreamhost newsletters!
^_^
February 20th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
hehehe its a funny pic in there.maybe i open an account later with this.thank you the information.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I’ll start the bidding at $.99
February 24th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Josh, anyway you can be contacted other than phone (bit hard as I am in Australia)? I have something I want to discuss with you about your free hosting for Non-Profit organisations.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Josh, there is an article in the New York Times today about real estate developers preparing to auction off their property. It sounds very familiar to what you are talking about here. I wrote a post on the comparisons between what you said and the proposed system:
http://www.readingpulitzer.com/2009/02/26/why-the-real-estate-market-is-going-to-start-looking-a-lot-more-like-ebay/
Maybe you should get out of this hosting business and get into the real estate market.
March 16th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I was about to make an offer and when entering SSN I noticed that it was not a secured site!!! How can a Web Hosting founder make such a mistake!
March 17th, 2009 at 4:04 am
@JOSH: I have to congratulate you of making from DreamHost such a profitable business. I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buying a home of around 1M is a dream for almost 90% of the people around, its only for millionares.
I am hoping I can turn my own business in a very profitable one the way you do it. I am a brand new DreamHost customer and didnt knew at all its existense a couple of months ago because I was using other Windows hosting provider.
Josh Jones You´ve become a success story, its seems because of your tastes that you are young, that makes you even a role model. We hope someday yo hear soon with some stories.
Maybe you can give me an Interview for my Spanish World blog?
Thanks in advance!
March 17th, 2009 at 6:40 am
The dog’s an Akita, yes?
I’d love to throw a party in your apartment! Very fashionable.
March 17th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Pricing (on eBay, in real estate, and otherwise) is a complex science that is attempted to be modeled in Game Theory and in Revenue Optimization circles:
Principal-Agent – Real estate agent’s incentives are aligned when selling (ie get the highest price since commission is a percentage of sales price) but not when purchasing (instead give the agent a hefty percentage of the reduction in price that they negotiated for you {their attempts to find overpriced homes can be blocked by the symmetric information that Zillow and RedFin provide})
Signaling – Q: Why did you not start offering your home for $0.99 and let the market figure out the right price?
A: signaling.
People may get the wrong idea about a home for a buck. One strategy (on eBay) is to start the auction low (as you suggested) and set the BuyItNow price very high in order to signal to people that the item is “worth” a lot. Commodities do not allow for this hype (unless the purchaser acts illogically) but one-off products (like a home) do. You can find comparable homes, but none exactly like yours.
Alternatives – You, the seller, need to consider your alternatives to not selling your home fast. Can you move on with your life without the maximum value from your home? If so, rent it until the market improves. If not, sell it at a discount. With the ability for anyone to list a property and the willingness of agents to do flat-rate compensation for services such as filling out the sale paperwork, you may earn more by doing more yourself.
SUMMARY
* create demand for your home via all avenues available to you (pimp your home on your emails!)
* use creative compensation formulas for your agent(s) like … sign a buyer and let them know that the sale is not finally accepted for another month when an agent will attempt to find another buyer at a higher price and offer the agent a hefty percentage of the increase in sales price
Josh @ CAPM LLC
Real Estate Technologist
March 17th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Wow. Unfortunately 88.79% of the people in the United States will be lucky to earn $850,000 in their lifetime let alone be able to pay that for a second home.
You are a seriously fortunate guy.
April 5th, 2009 at 2:36 am
The dog’s an Akita, yes?
I’d love to throw a party in your apartment! Very fashionable.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I’m stealing that design :)