Appraisal's credibility
There is a total lack of credibility in the large majority of appraisals
The fact is that the persons and companies that issue domain name appraisals have no knowledge whatsoever of the industry where the domain name will be used. Their knowledge is usually too general and pretty close to zero when it comes to a specific industry. They know what the general public already knows, but they don't have the proper knowledge of the industry that is essential to produce a proper and realistic appraisal.
The only knowledge appraisers usually have, is for parked domain names, and it means for a business model that generates hundreds, or thousands of times less profits than a real business with a developed domain name. With this total lack of proper knowledge, the value of these appraisals is zero. Serious investors should not use these appraisals, even if they give them away for free.
It is not possible to rely on these appraisals because they are too often based on auctions where the large majority of potential buyers are only going to use the domain names for parking. Knowing that a parked domain name only generates hundreds or thousands of times less money than the same domain name used for a properly developed site, the prices achieved at these auctions are out of touch with the reality.
When a quality domain name only generates a few dollars when parked, but thousands of times more when developed, how do you expect auction buyers to pay the right price for the domain name that will end up parked? When buyers make substantially less money with parked domain names, they pay substantially less when buying. It means that the prices shown on these appraisals are not accurate and realistic, because they are based on the parked value of the domain name, and it's the lowest figure.
It is rare that big and serious buyers looking for a quality domain name to develop a proper and real business, will waste their time on one of these useless sites offering parking, or artificial auctions. A real buyer looking to develop a real business with the domain name is not interested in the parking industry.
To aggravate this already serious problem of total lack of credibility, the appraiser also lacks the proper knowledge of the industry where the domain name will be used. He also doesn't pass the other tests that qualify him as an appraiser that can be trusted. The result is a completely useless appraisal that is not worth the price of the paper it's printed on. These appraisers get rich generating hot air, while the buyer or seller suffers the consequences of the appraiser's failures to deliver what the buyer/seller should be able to expect.
Be aware and don't get caught
It's the equivalent of a person claiming to be a brain surgeon, but in fact, he never went to medical school, never passed any medical tests or exams, has no medical qualification at all, is not even a doctor, and never studied or practiced neurology or surgery. All he did was to read a few articles and have meetings with other incompetent and unqualified persons.
Domain name appraisals are currently mainly used to take advantage of some naive and inexperienced buyer or seller. They are not being used to determine the true value of a quality domain name for the simple reason that these appraisers fail all the tests. The value of these appraisals is zero, which means they should not be used even if they are free.