Well, I'm reluctant to do so, since competition is already stiff enough! I can say that I download drop lists and manipulate them in Excel - a process that became MUCH harder last month, when I switched to Windows Vista and Excel 2007. (Those files and calculations worked fine in Excel 2003 running under Windows XP, but they now cause Excel 2007 to crash, so I had to find some much slower workarounds. Bill Gates is not on my happy list right now.)
I don't look for numeric qualities such as pagerank ... I just mechanically narrow down the drop list (eliminating long domains and ones that contain numbers or hyphens), then look over that subset manually.
You never know what you might catch. One day in late 2007, I caught 179 dropping LLLL.com's at reg fee ... that probably won't happen again, but it's providing a nice profit stream!
I don't often use escrow, but I usually require some proof of reliability (like a substantial trader rating) before doing a straight PayPal sale.
I just made my calculations, and I had 550 - 600 domain sales last year. Currently I have about 430 domains. Unfortunately, I am quite unorganized and tend to not use excel all the time.
I will also focus less on flipping this year, and more on development, and on less but better names. It is easier to manage all those sales and payments (especially that I do not use paypal yet).
A good change in my domaining life in 2008 is to be more organised, i will use more things like excell, to keep more track of buys, sales etc ... thx for all the info you gave us Randomo!
Yes - after I use Excel to narrow down the drop lists, I look through them pretty quickly, and do little or no research on the domains that interest me. (This is the way I live my life: fast decisions, based on little evidence! )
I don't put much effort into parking (as my domains don't get enough natural traffic to justify it), but I will focus more on development and end-user sales this year.
Mostly, I just post sales on these forums, like everybody else! My "secret" is to offer a huge assortment of pretty good names at ridiculously cheap prices.
Giving good service also counts for a lot. Many of my sales are to previous customers who know that I will push domains quickly, accept reasonable bulk offers, and work with them to ensure that all goes smoothly.
I hope you didn't mind that I turned your thread into an article. I thought you shared a lot of great information. I didn't foresee Sahar picking it up so I hope you don't mind the exposure...
Bill - No problem at all; I'm glad you found it useful.
I'm in this business not just for money, but also for fame. Write about me any time!
P.S. I should acknowledge my buddy Yofie, who not only sold more domains than me last year, but has also shared info and worked with me on drop catching and some other aspects of the game.
I'm very impressed with that turnover.... that's commitment for you!
If you ever start a sales site I'd be happy to post my portfolio up there for comission sales, you must have quite a following by now ;-)
Does anyone here find it worthwhile using SEDO's 'featured' domains facility.... I've never tried it but figure it could be a good way to generate a bit of interest?
I did not do a huge volume of sales in 2007 but i know my ROI was VERY high to say the least and i am happy, Quality not quantity. Hope this year will be even better.
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Randomo you are my idol for the simple fact im trying to sell just 1 domain a day and still havent managed that LOL
I think my problem is I cant sell cheap. if I sell cheap to someone I feel there is something they know that I dont that will turn that $20 domain into a few Hundred and then I will kick myself for letting it go so cheap.
However if your buying domains at $7.44 and then selling back at $25-30 thats pretty good at say 6 x a day @ avg $25 = $150 a day x 30 days = $4500 x 12 months = $54,000 and thats JUST the basic 2-3 word domains im sure.....Nice goin man!
__________________ Developed Domains For 2009 Cape Holiday
It's all in your perspective. I'm sure many of my customers have made good money on names that I sold too cheaply - but I don't lose sleep over it! Instead of holding on to names for a longer time, hoping to sell them for better prices, I sell 'em cheap and move on to more names. Time is money! (Besides, if my customers are getting terrific deals from me, they'll probably come back for more. )
Wow, I've been so busy that I can't even remember whether I submitted any ... don't think so. But having seen that list, I wish I had, because some of my domains are far better than many of the ones that were accepted!
(Meanwhile, the 3 I submitted for the DomainTools auction were turned down. Oh well. But I do have a bunch of auctions at SnapNames ending during the next week. May post the list later, but I have to run right now ....)
