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The Story of an Accidental Domainer That Started With a $23,000 Sale

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By James Iles, Jul 31, 2017
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  1. James Iles

    James Iles NamePros Writer PRO Gold Account VIP Trusted Blogger

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    Back in 1997, David Kammerer registered the domain name 4001.com as a joke after saying the phrase “I have 4000 and one things to do today”. The name became a hobby site for David who used his domain as a base for guitar tabs for Irish guitarist and songwriter Rory Gallagher. This resulted in thousands of visits to his website and related videos, years before YouTube had been created.

    story.jpg
    Domain investors will know that the domain 4001.com holds value as a four-number .COM domain name, but David was unaware of this until June 2016. David told me: “I discovered the value of 4001.com all by accident last June 2016 as I never checked the whois only email address.”

    In the email address listed on the domain’s WHOIS details were over three hundred unsolicited offers and inquiries. David chose not to sell the domain at the time but looked into why a domain name may have received such interest.

    After searching through Google, David found Andrew Alleman’s (@DomainNameWire) podcast and the NamePros forum, where he found out more about domain name investing and China’s interest in numeric domains.

    Still owning the domain, David pondered its future whilst travelling between August and December 2016. On his return, he decided to sell the name that he registered way back in 1997.

    For the first time, we can reveal that 4001.com sold in April 2017 for $23,000 to a Chinese domain name investor. Since then, David has started to learn more about domain name investing and has reinvested some of his earnings back into three-character, four-character and brandable domain names.

    We hope that after David's first ever domain sale, his subsequent investments will prove to be as successful.
     
    James Iles, Jul 31, 2017
    | #1
    Thanks: Kenny, Vito, pablohc86, 420domainer, Sulabh Sharma, Grilled, Fancy.domains, impermanence, westdotcn, SamDam, Emmy101, 1Darko
    Likes: vwblubug, gotasale, Kate, Sameh, fatter, AbdulBasit.com, dnviet, Nsmith91, infosec3, deez007, Crysis, AGAME, kandyan, matj, elevator, Bros, Dmytro, AndyM, deflee79, Keith DeBoer, Sumit Agrawal, Perceptron, frank-germany, fitkhan, Silentptnr, guru4444, siddardha, Haris, mirecart, brandsly, Mister Funsky, Negoshi, musicman, Addison, Alvin Brown, Tarabasa Domains Ltd, RBCDNs, akos, Nikhil Jain, Keukatodd, Jowita Emberton, dgmweb, ezee, BrandSac, Nikul Sanghvi, saj110, Bob Hawkes, JanO
    The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.

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  6. James Iles

    About The Author — James Iles

    James is the lead writer for NamePros' Blog and founder of Iles Media, a domain name broker working on both acquisitions and outbound sales. For all inquiries relating to stories and interviews, please email: [email protected]

    This is James Iles's 422nd blog post on NamePros. View all blog posts

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  7. Comments (27)

  8. bRionZ

    bRionZ ManagedVM.com

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    My whois email is always opened every day.
    Great story James, thanks for share with us.
     
    bRionZ, Jul 31, 2017
    | #2
    Likes: 1Darko, Logic97
  9. domain hacks

    domain hacks Established Member

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    I sent him $50,000 offer...I guess he never bothered to open my mail. Ah, well...
     
    domain hacks, Jul 31, 2017
    | #3
    Likes: Grilled, Fancy.domains, 1Darko, Logic97, Herbert MG Pepple
  10. Grilled

    Grilled Top Member VIP

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    haha are you serious or just trolling?
     
    Grilled, Jul 31, 2017
    | #4
    Likes: 1Darko
  11. domain hacks

    domain hacks Established Member

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    I am just going to say....money is a piece of paper.
     
    domain hacks, Jul 31, 2017
    | #5
    Likes: JagG, Skumars, 1Darko, Auspicious-Success
  12. equity78

    equity78 Top Member ✔ TLDInvestors.com ✔ TheDomains Staff PRO Gold Account VIP ★★★★★★★★★★

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    Cool story, James. Congrats David.
     
    equity78, Jul 31, 2017
    | #6
    Thanks: James Iles
    Likes: 1Darko
  13. john_karr

    john_karr Established Member ★★★★★★★★★★

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    Hel could have reg some gems back in 1997.
     
    john_karr, Jul 31, 2017
    | #7
    Likes: 1Darko, Domaining Ocean
  14. Mr. Deleted

    Mr. Deleted mrdeleted.com VIP ★★★★★★★★★★

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    should have had a 3 number or 2 number .com....
     
    Mr. Deleted, Jul 31, 2017
    | #8
    Likes: 1Darko, Domaining Ocean
  15. DnEbook

    DnEbook DataGlasses.Com ★★★★★★★★★★

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    But haven't you heard ...... the Chinese don't like 4 + 0 .......LOL
     
    DnEbook, Aug 1, 2017
    | #9
    Likes: 1Darko, Domaining Ocean
  16. 420domainer

    420domainer Top Member VIP

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    Seriously James, nice little abstract pull right there. Keep these coming my man.
     
    420domainer, Aug 1, 2017
    | #10
    Likes: 1Darko
  17. Skumars

    Skumars Established Member

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    Can you transfer some pieces of paper here... I would like to collect such papers. :)
     
    Skumars, Aug 1, 2017
    | #11
    Likes: Mr. Deleted, AbdulBasit.com, deez007, Jman92, 1Darko
  18. 420domainer

    420domainer Top Member VIP

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    23k for his first sale!

    AWESOME!
     
    420domainer, Aug 1, 2017
    | #12
    Likes: 1Darko
  19. siddardha

    siddardha Established Member

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    Awesome sale and story
     
    siddardha, Aug 1, 2017
    | #13
    Likes: 1Darko
  20. 1Darko

    1Darko Top Member VIP

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    Great story! Thanks!(y)
     
    1Darko, Aug 1, 2017
    | #14
  21. kandyan

    kandyan Established Member

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    Thanks for sharing james
     
    kandyan, Aug 1, 2017
    | #15
    Likes: 1Darko
  22. elevator

    elevator DnCombo.com VIP

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    The guy is a domainer by birth!!!
     
    elevator, Aug 1, 2017
    | #16
    Likes: 1Darko
  23. Ted.T

    Ted.T Top Member VIP

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    Yeah, it's a great story, he registered a domain 20 years ago as a joke and sold for a lot of money today. But, people, let's not idolize such persons. He did nothing special, for him it was just a joke, not a business plan, not a long term investment, nothing that he thought could bring money in the future.

    There are already too many "stars" in the domaining business who had some luck at one point and after that think that they are the best of the best.

    Many early investors/ domainers who specially bought great domains in the past can ask now thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions for their domains. And we need to be honest, especially with ourselves, they got in the game early and picked the gems because they decided to take the risk, but that's another story...
     
    Ted.T, Aug 1, 2017
    | #17
    Likes: deez007, John0, SamDam
  24. gotasale

    gotasale Established Member ★★★★★★★★★★

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    Of course all investment will be successful if he can wait another 20 years :)
     
    gotasale, Aug 1, 2017
    | #18
    Likes: 1Darko
  25. NetworkPearl

    NetworkPearl Top Member VIP

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    Isn't $23K cheap?
     
    NetworkPearl, Aug 1, 2017
    | #19
  26. SamDam

    SamDam Established Member

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    SamDam, Aug 1, 2017
    | #20
  27. 1Darko

    1Darko Top Member VIP

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    The price was ok, imo:

    4181.com auction
    $29,999 3/13/2017 Godaddy

    4018.com private
    $18,000 2/19/2017 Sharjil Saleem

    4314.comauction
    $14,531 12/8/2016 Ename

    4127.comauction
    $14,386 12/8/2016 Ename

    4590.comauction
    $14,753 10/31/2016 Ename
     
    1Darko, Aug 1, 2017
    | #21
  28. rhakim

    rhakim Established Member

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    James, great and motivating story. David congratulations on your joke.
     
    rhakim, Aug 1, 2017
    | #22
  29. atinc

    atinc Entrepreneur VIP

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    Great way to start domaining
     
    atinc, Aug 1, 2017
    | #23
  30. Findom

    Findom Established Member

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    Thanks for sharing. I wonder why China has a specific interest in numeric domains.
     
    Findom, Aug 1, 2017
    | #24
  31. Bros

    Bros Top Member VIP

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    Thanks for sharing, hopefully David continues to have success with domains!
     
    Bros, Aug 1, 2017
    | #25
  
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