Does Anyone Make a Living from Selling Domain Names?

MsSpider · 06-20-2005, 10:52 AM

Does anyone make a living from just selling domain names?

I ask because although I have some interest in site development, I do not think I am skilled enough to be successful with it.

Buying and selling domains, however, is something that is fairly easy for me to do.

I have tried to sell with Afternic and Sedo...nothing! I have sold a few via this forum and others but from what I can see selling that way is no way to make decent money...at least I haven't...I wish I could...to me it seems like a lot of luck involved...
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/100257-does-anyone-make-living-selling-domain.html

If no one knows how to earn a decent living just selling names, can someone point me to some resources that will teach me to develop little mini-sites that look decent? I know that revenue from developed sites comes from PPC like Google Adsense, Commission Junction, and affiliate programs like what Clickbank has...

However so far my sites are so ugly and boring that I cannot imagine anyone staying on them long enough to click. Need training!

Thanks,
Angela

komp · 06-20-2005, 11:11 AM

I make the odd penny from selling one or two, But it could be more if i had a site and payed to advertise like many do

linker · 06-20-2005, 11:14 AM

I guess a lot of it has to do with your skill level, but most important, your patience and attention to detail. I like to try to use css/standards as much as possible. You will find many sites that are very well done from a gui design/graphic art standpoint on sites like cssvault and css zen garden. I would recommend having a look at those and maybe downloading some of the sample files and trying to tweak them to your liking...

ThreeD · 06-20-2005, 11:16 AM

it's all about patience and strike when the big fish is infront of you

the important part is to figure out the big fishes from the small ones..

DropLister · 06-20-2005, 11:18 AM

not yet, but im starting to average 1 sale a day from 10-30 in profit, so its not bad. My site is where I hope to make all my money and the occasional DN sale

death_blade99 · 06-20-2005, 11:46 AM

I dont but other people could.

It wouldnt be hard because all they would have to do is buy and sell domains. If they get a domain for cheap and sell it... they will probably have a profit.

I wouldnt do it unless i could make over 200 per day because there are better jobs out there.

jroy · 06-20-2005, 11:49 AM

you have to spend money to make money, if your sites look bad pay some one to make a good looking design for you

DraftMaster · 06-20-2005, 11:52 AM

I Guess that some lucky boy can live from this.
He sell one domain more than $5,000 and then he just have to nivest in others ones and backorder and gettin an site advertise... its a real work...

Joey · 06-20-2005, 12:24 PM

I don't think you could make a living off of it, first, you'd have to invest, then you would.... Its just not possible

.

Gene · 06-20-2005, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by MalinRepair

I don't think you could make a living off of it, first, you'd have to invest, then you would.... Its just not possible

.

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=100257
Of course you can, and many do. You just have to treat it like a real business... not just buy up a bunch of domains and wait in hopes of sales. You have to have a solid business plan and market aggressively. Those who do, can do much better than just 'making a living'.

edits · 06-20-2005, 01:13 PM

I made a very decent living off of domain sales for a good long while before I stopped reinvesting in the market. Now I just mingle in the domain name field, picking up little domains here and there but not really looking for the money.

EbookLover · 06-20-2005, 02:33 PM

MSSpider. You have to realize that the majority of Domain sales are from trader to trader, not from trader to end-user. The reason for this is because the majority of buyers on any site are wholesale buyers (traders) not end users. Most end-users, when they want a domain, go to a registrar and get on efor $10.00 or so. They settle for whatever they can find that relates to their prospective site.

In order to sell to the end-user at retail pricing, you need to find the folks that would be interested in a particular domain you have and then contact them about it. The bigger the company, the harder it will be to actually get in contact with the person who actually makes such decisions, if not impossible.

Sending a sales letter via email can work, but many folks do not take email solicitations very kindly. They think that all sales emails are spam even though they were the only one that it was sent to. Be careful when sending out a sales email as you might find yourself tagged as a spammer and get your ISP service terminated.

So if you elimiate email as a means of contact, you can imagine how expensive and time consuming it could get sending snail mail and making phone calls.

You will find that it is much easier to make a bunch of wholesale sales at only a few dollars profit than it is to make retail sales for a higher profit. Again, becasue there are far more domain traders than there are end-users. Especially on a forum like this. Same thing goes with the majoity of buyers on SEDO or Afternic or like sites.

Also remember that some folks will look at you as a squatter, even if you are not a squatter. they think that since you only got the domain for $10.00, to charge them anything more is dishonest. This isn't everybody, but I have run into quite a few end-users who felt this way. What can I say, some people will always want everything for nothing. they simply do not understnad or do not want to believe that domains are very similar to real estate.

But anyway, I hope you are not drawn to this business because it looks easy. It's not at all as easy as it appears to be. People often make this terrible assumption of domain trading, just as they do with affiliate marketing.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=100257

Also, do not think that a parking service will be easy money either. Many domains probably only make a couple cents a month and most make nothing. Sure, you can make a decnt monthly revenue from a good poker domain, but go find tht good poker domain. They are all taken. ANd don't forget, it is a fad. It will die and somehting else will take it's place making the parked clicks go way down at some point.

IAmAllanShore · 06-20-2005, 02:37 PM

Many do!

Take a moment to search through the forums for domains that have sold (Or see the sticky thread above), and you'll see some great names that are always sold by the same "likely suspects"

Others make more money just by HAVING the domains (Many 3 letter.com's or better, with ads on the page for type-ins / typos). That isn't truely "selling" per se, but more "buying" that they make their money on.

-Allan

daddypi · 06-20-2005, 02:44 PM

I make enough from selling domains, that it can be mistaken for a "living" rather easily, however would I want to live on this income? The short answer is no.

EbookLover · 06-20-2005, 02:47 PM

Remember, the definitoin of "make a living" is gonna be differnt from one preson to the next. I am able to live on 12K a year. So a good 15k-20K a year, to me, is actually "making a living". But most could never make it on that amount of money for many factors good and bad.

ApeXX · 06-20-2005, 02:49 PM

It is all about patience, and investment. If you reg an okay .com, and wait 5 years, it will be in the $XXXX by then. However you have to have the patience to wait those 5 years, and not settle any sooner for low quick cash.

EbookLover · 06-20-2005, 03:01 PM

But at this juncture, it is hard to say if .COMs will be worth much...even if they are kick a$$. 5 years is a long time. Maybe 7 years ago or so that statement would have been right on, but as for right now, it could go a different route.

mole · 06-21-2005, 10:19 AM

.COM? LOL The future of your wallet is in new extensions. They always say, get .COM to make money, have you seen the price of acquiring crap .COM today at the price of 20x +++ annual revenue? You get .COM today, you are guaranteed of losing money while the seller gets your cash to live on, imho.

Sir Regalot · 06-21-2005, 12:23 PM

The domain reselling industry is too small-time to make a living from. Last week the top ten domain sales as reported by Domain Name Journal amounted to about US$193.000 -- many weeks it is much less. That is less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in a big city. It doesn't sound like a good idea to throw your whole future into the arms of an industry which on a weekly basis is outgrossed by the sale of a single small flat.

Gene · 06-21-2005, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by St.Easy

The domain reselling industry is too small-time to make a living from. Last week the top ten domain sales as reported by Domain Name Journal amounted to about US$193.000 -- many weeks it is much less. That is less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in a big city. It doesn't sound like a good idea to throw your whole future into the arms of an industry which on a weekly basis is outgrossed by the sale of a single small flat.

The people who sold those domains would argue otherwise :-)

billinchina · 06-21-2005, 03:27 PM

You can easily make a living on a domain portfolio. However, you cannot easily get one now. It is probably not wise to go out and buy a thousand unregged domains with hopes of making it big. You probably needed to get in on this back around 1995. .COM is still king and new tlds seem to take no toll on its popularity at the moment.

barefoottech · 06-21-2005, 03:38 PM

Yes Angela,
People do make a living with domains .
But like professional Gamblers, we have just as many who don't. (at first)
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=100257

There is no quick Money too be made , Just a steady Income stream at first very slow .
Then with some planning and Research,comes an improvement in your wisdom & knowledge.

At some point comes the realisation of the fact that most Web Users don't give much notice of FLASH & Other Bandwidth stealing resources.

They are looking for info & relevant content. So in your Web-Site Development, Remember one rule only. Users are not there to see pretty ,they are there to see Content. Spend time to learn Usability ,not Pretty.
Example look at Google Search engine or GMail .com
Plain Simple ,but effective

Then one day ,if all has gone well, you realise that you are making more money than you are spending.

p.s. Thanks for your kind email.

ApeXX · 06-21-2005, 03:57 PM

However most people, like me, do it not for a living but for a hobby. And let me tell you, I have made some good beer money selling domains. So far I would probably say I have made a net profit of about $1500 selling domains.

mole · 06-21-2005, 11:05 PM

Originally Posted by billinchina

.COM is still king and new tlds seem to take no toll on its popularity at the moment.

From little acorns do great oaks grow.

http://www.travelpress.biz

JoshHendo · 06-21-2005, 11:12 PM

I have just reacently reged my first domain name in my name, so i am not making a living out of selling them yet.... yet that is...........

06-20-2005, 10:52 AM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
MsSpider NamePros Regular Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA Posts: 251	Does Anyone Make a Living from Selling Domain Names? Does anyone make a living from just selling domain names? I ask because although I have some interest in site development, I do not think I am skilled enough to be successful with it. Buying and selling domains, however, is something that is fairly easy for me to do. I have tried to sell with Afternic and Sedo...nothing! I have sold a few via this forum and others but from what I can see selling that way is no way to make decent money...at least I haven't...I wish I could...to me it seems like a lot of luck involved... ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/100257-does-anyone-make-living-selling-domain.html If no one knows how to earn a decent living just selling names, can someone point me to some resources that will teach me to develop little mini-sites that look decent? I know that revenue from developed sites comes from PPC like Google Adsense, Commission Junction, and affiliate programs like what Clickbank has... However so far my sites are so ugly and boring that I cannot imagine anyone staying on them long enough to click. Need training! Thanks, Angela

06-20-2005, 11:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
linker NamePros Regular Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 782	I guess a lot of it has to do with your skill level, but most important, your patience and attention to detail. I like to try to use css/standards as much as possible. You will find many sites that are very well done from a gui design/graphic art standpoint on sites like cssvault and css zen garden. I would recommend having a look at those and maybe downloading some of the sample files and trying to tweak them to your liking... __________________ Music Lyrics Central \| CelebSign.com <- Celebrity Birthdays & Horoscopes

06-20-2005, 11:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
DropLister Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: .ma.us Posts: 1,883	not yet, but im starting to average 1 sale a day from 10-30 in profit, so its not bad. My site is where I hope to make all my money and the occasional DN sale __________________ GEO & Travel Domains For Sale - MUST SEE! Chinaphobia.com - WorldRails.com - RussianReserves.com

06-20-2005, 11:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
jroy Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Connecticut Posts: 2,804	you have to spend money to make money, if your sites look bad pay some one to make a good looking design for you __________________ Free Arcade Games

06-20-2005, 02:33 PM	#12 (permalink)
EbookLover Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,438	MSSpider. You have to realize that the majority of Domain sales are from trader to trader, not from trader to end-user. The reason for this is because the majority of buyers on any site are wholesale buyers (traders) not end users. Most end-users, when they want a domain, go to a registrar and get on efor $10.00 or so. They settle for whatever they can find that relates to their prospective site. In order to sell to the end-user at retail pricing, you need to find the folks that would be interested in a particular domain you have and then contact them about it. The bigger the company, the harder it will be to actually get in contact with the person who actually makes such decisions, if not impossible. Sending a sales letter via email can work, but many folks do not take email solicitations very kindly. They think that all sales emails are spam even though they were the only one that it was sent to. Be careful when sending out a sales email as you might find yourself tagged as a spammer and get your ISP service terminated. So if you elimiate email as a means of contact, you can imagine how expensive and time consuming it could get sending snail mail and making phone calls. You will find that it is much easier to make a bunch of wholesale sales at only a few dollars profit than it is to make retail sales for a higher profit. Again, becasue there are far more domain traders than there are end-users. Especially on a forum like this. Same thing goes with the majoity of buyers on SEDO or Afternic or like sites. Also remember that some folks will look at you as a squatter, even if you are not a squatter. they think that since you only got the domain for $10.00, to charge them anything more is dishonest. This isn't everybody, but I have run into quite a few end-users who felt this way. What can I say, some people will always want everything for nothing. they simply do not understnad or do not want to believe that domains are very similar to real estate. But anyway, I hope you are not drawn to this business because it looks easy. It's not at all as easy as it appears to be. People often make this terrible assumption of domain trading, just as they do with affiliate marketing. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=100257 Also, do not think that a parking service will be easy money either. Many domains probably only make a couple cents a month and most make nothing. Sure, you can make a decnt monthly revenue from a good poker domain, but go find tht good poker domain. They are all taken. ANd don't forget, it is a fad. It will die and somehting else will take it's place making the parked clicks go way down at some point. Last edited by zquest; 06-20-2005 at 02:44 PM.

	LeadRefs	Forum Sponsorship
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06-20-2005, 11:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
komp NamePros Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 722	I make the odd penny from selling one or two, But it could be more if i had a site and payed to advertise like many do

06-20-2005, 11:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
ThreeD Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Online Posts: 2,324	it's all about patience and strike when the big fish is infront of you the important part is to figure out the big fishes from the small ones..

06-20-2005, 11:46 AM	#6 (permalink)
death_blade99 Account Closed Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 314	I dont but other people could. It wouldnt be hard because all they would have to do is buy and sell domains. If they get a domain for cheap and sell it... they will probably have a profit. I wouldnt do it unless i could make over 200 per day because there are better jobs out there.

06-20-2005, 11:52 AM	#8 (permalink)
DraftMaster Account Suspended Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 86	I Guess that some lucky boy can live from this. He sell one domain more than $5,000 and then he just have to nivest in others ones and backorder and gettin an site advertise... its a real work...

06-20-2005, 12:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
Joey ^_^ Join Date: May 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 975	I don't think you could make a living off of it, first, you'd have to invest, then you would.... Its just not possible .

06-20-2005, 01:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
edits Account Suspended Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 73	I made a very decent living off of domain sales for a good long while before I stopped reinvesting in the market. Now I just mingle in the domain name field, picking up little domains here and there but not really looking for the money.

06-20-2005, 02:37 PM	#13 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	Many do! Take a moment to search through the forums for domains that have sold (Or see the sticky thread above), and you'll see some great names that are always sold by the same "likely suspects" Others make more money just by HAVING the domains (Many 3 letter.com's or better, with ads on the page for type-ins / typos). That isn't truely "selling" per se, but more "buying" that they make their money on. -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

06-20-2005, 02:44 PM	#14 (permalink)
daddypi Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: CSite.net Posts: 1,556	I make enough from selling domains, that it can be mistaken for a "living" rather easily, however would I want to live on this income? The short answer is no.

06-20-2005, 02:47 PM	#15 (permalink)
EbookLover Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,438	Remember, the definitoin of "make a living" is gonna be differnt from one preson to the next. I am able to live on 12K a year. So a good 15k-20K a year, to me, is actually "making a living". But most could never make it on that amount of money for many factors good and bad.

06-20-2005, 02:49 PM	#16 (permalink)
ApeXX Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,998	It is all about patience, and investment. If you reg an okay .com, and wait 5 years, it will be in the $XXXX by then. However you have to have the patience to wait those 5 years, and not settle any sooner for low quick cash. __________________ FREE Xbox Live Gold codes added daily!

06-20-2005, 03:01 PM	#17 (permalink)
EbookLover Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,438	But at this juncture, it is hard to say if .COMs will be worth much...even if they are kick a$$. 5 years is a long time. Maybe 7 years ago or so that statement would have been right on, but as for right now, it could go a different route.

06-21-2005, 10:19 AM	#18 (permalink)
mole Insectivora Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under Ground Posts: 2,164	.COM? LOL The future of your wallet is in new extensions. They always say, get .COM to make money, have you seen the price of acquiring crap .COM today at the price of 20x +++ annual revenue? You get .COM today, you are guaranteed of losing money while the seller gets your cash to live on, imho. __________________ If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties. Sir Francis Bacon

06-21-2005, 12:23 PM	#19 (permalink)
Sir Regalot NamePros Regular Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Siarnaq Posts: 424	The domain reselling industry is too small-time to make a living from. Last week the top ten domain sales as reported by Domain Name Journal amounted to about US$193.000 -- many weeks it is much less. That is less than the price of a one-bedroom flat in a big city. It doesn't sound like a good idea to throw your whole future into the arms of an industry which on a weekly basis is outgrossed by the sale of a single small flat.

06-21-2005, 03:27 PM	#21 (permalink)
billinchina General Bill Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 878	You can easily make a living on a domain portfolio. However, you cannot easily get one now. It is probably not wise to go out and buy a thousand unregged domains with hopes of making it big. You probably needed to get in on this back around 1995. .COM is still king and new tlds seem to take no toll on its popularity at the moment. __________________ A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1

06-21-2005, 03:38 PM	#22 (permalink)
barefoottech The MINISITE King Join Date: May 2005 Location: QTHR Posts: 4,594	Yes Angela, People do make a living with domains . But like professional Gamblers, we have just as many who don't. (at first) ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=100257 There is no quick Money too be made , Just a steady Income stream at first very slow . Then with some planning and Research,comes an improvement in your wisdom & knowledge. At some point comes the realisation of the fact that most Web Users don't give much notice of FLASH & Other Bandwidth stealing resources. They are looking for info & relevant content. So in your Web-Site Development, Remember one rule only. Users are not there to see pretty ,they are there to see Content. Spend time to learn Usability ,not Pretty. Example look at Google Search engine or GMail .com Plain Simple ,but effective Then one day ,if all has gone well, you realise that you are making more money than you are spending. p.s. Thanks for your kind email. __________________ Studio51 Sites! Often Copied Always Amazing Never Bettered.

06-21-2005, 03:57 PM	#23 (permalink)
ApeXX Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,998	However most people, like me, do it not for a living but for a hobby. And let me tell you, I have made some good beer money selling domains. So far I would probably say I have made a net profit of about $1500 selling domains. __________________ FREE Xbox Live Gold codes added daily!

06-21-2005, 11:12 PM	#25 (permalink)
JoshHendo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 1,091	I have just reacently reged my first domain name in my name, so i am not making a living out of selling them yet.... yet that is........... __________________ :bingo: :kickass: :lala: :notme: :great: :gn:

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