I'll throw my $0.02 in - which is probably similar to most lines of thinking anyways. So here are my thoughts:
First off, if we're discussing reported sales data, I do believe its important to distinguish between wholesale/reseller versus enduser/retail type sales. There's a reason that no business anywhere lists their cost of inventory. Some items have massive markup, others have very little, some are sold at a loss leader. Buyers aren't going to be happy to know that the watch battery you're buying at Best Buy for $5 costs wholesale at $0.50, or that phone screen protector they're selling for $40 is worth $0.50 plus $2.00 worth of packaging to make it look expensive. Obviously knowing wholesale pricing is going to put up a mental barrier to buying certain products at retail.
Then there's the fact that the more desirable domains are more like art, whereas the less desirable domains are more like a commodity. Pricing is extremely dependent on the domain and who the seller and buyers are. Some formulaic value placed on a domain only has a limited value - and mostly only for those lower end domains.
So what is the point of publishing sales data?
Well, from a simplistic standpoint, its a data point. Data is gold, so gather that data and a smart person can learn from it to see trends and investment opportunities. So I certainly understand that perspective, and I definitely collect more data than most domainers do - I guess I consider that my competitive advantage. Knowledge is power.
Of course sales data has other value as well. It can also be republished as content for your business, or generate conversation like in this forum. More obviously, reported sales might be used to establish an end-user value based on comparable sales just like its used in real estate and property taxes. But there's a big difference in the data quality of having 100% reporting of real estate sales compared to the tiny fraction of reported domain sales. So domain valuation tools only have a very limited value. Unfortunately, the tiny amount of reported end user sales, as well as the disproportionate types of sales reported, make the data all pretty insignificant.
But regardless of how you use any data, its important to thoroughly understand it. So distinguishing between TBR sales, reseller sales and end user sales is extremely important. So for me, I don't really care about collecting TBR price data - other than to exclude it from end-user sales data. To me, it just ruins the good data I do want to see, the end-user sales. Otherwise, what is valuable about it?
Is is data mildly entertaining? I guess so, maybe it gives people something else to chatter about on the forum. But I can guess the sales prices with enough accuracy that knowing the actual price doesn't really add too much value to me personally.
And sure, yes, I really wouldn't want a buyer to be able to find reported wholesale prices in Google. Is it unlikely? Yes. But understand that other forums are commercial enterprises, you and your content are the product. At least I trust that this forum isn't trying to profit off my content, it exists for the domain community and no one else, I haven't discovered any hidden agenda here and I can speak my mind. I don't even bother posting .CA content anywhere else anymore.
In the end, I honestly have no problem if people want to post TBR prices. Personally I wouldn't choose it for my domains, but if someone knows and wants to publish it, that's their choice. On occasion I've made reference to some TBR prices myself, but I always feel like maybe that person is here and he doesn't like me making reference to it publicly. If so, I certainly understand that.
So as others have mentioned, if its to be done, I wouldn't mind seeing it without the ".ca" and without the word "sold" might help make it less likely to be easily googled - not that is too much of an issue, but why take the chance and potentially shoot yourself or a friend in the foot?
For me, I just don't care about TBR sales enough to post them. I just don't see the value to myself or the community - but if I'm missing something useful about it, I'm certainly to open to discussing it!
