There is a lot of skill involved in domain name investing. It may seem like a question of buying a few domain names and waiting for an offer to come along, but you need to have several abilities in order to fulfil your capabilities. You’ll need to understand the type of domain names that sell, where they sell and why they do sell.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to train your domaining skills to help you buy the right domains at the right price, that should ultimately help you to sell more names.
Domain Sales Statistics
Every day, NameBio produces a list of hundreds of domain sales from the previous 24 hours. The data includes the domain name, the sales price and the sales venue. Every week DNJournal’s Ron Jackson writes a list of the Top 20 domain sales of the week, with plenty of additional data from the leading marketplaces.
Take advantage of this data and see exactly what has sold this week. Were numeric domains popular? Were there any two-word sales? Which brandable domains sold? It’s also a good idea to take a look at the WHOIS records for every listed sale to see whether the domain name was sold to an investor or an end-user. Determining whether each name sold to an investor or an end-user will help you value your own names, and future purchases to some extent.
The Domain Game
Michael Sumner (@Michael) of NameBio.com has produced a unique app called the Domain Game, which is available for iOS and Android devices. The aim of the game is to score as many points as possible by correctly guessing the price range for one of thousands of real domain sales that have been collated by NameBio over the years.
It’s an incredible way to improve your knowledge of domain sales at varying venues. For example, through this app, you’ll likely see that Uniregistry Market produces many five figure sales, while sales closed at Afternic will usually be in the four figure range. It will also teach you to differentiate between end user and investor sales.
DomainSherpa
Every couple of weeks, Michael Cyger of DomainSherpa hosts the DomainSherpa review, in which he’s joined by three “Sherpas” to discuss domain sales and purchases. A large segment of the show is dedicated to reviewing an investor submitted portfolio.
It’s very rare to be able to get industry leaders to analyse and give feedback on a portfolio of names, so if you’re looking for help in deciding which of your names are good and which aren’t, you may be interested in submitting your portfolio for review. If not, the tips that are shared in every episode are worth listening to, and can often be applied to your own portfolios.
Guess the Price
Here’s something that you can do pretty much immediately to improve your domain brain. Find a selection of 15 to 20 auctions that are taking place at GoDaddy, NameJet or DropCatch.com. Open a spreadsheet, list each domain name and write down the price you think the domain will sell for.
Once the auction has closed, check the sales price and see whether you were close with your guess. It’s a great way to see how good your sales knowledge is, and it’s a challenging task that you can do every week. Over time, your estimates will become more accurate.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to train your domaining skills to help you buy the right domains at the right price, that should ultimately help you to sell more names.
Train Your Domain Brain
Every day, NameBio produces a list of hundreds of domain sales from the previous 24 hours. The data includes the domain name, the sales price and the sales venue. Every week DNJournal’s Ron Jackson writes a list of the Top 20 domain sales of the week, with plenty of additional data from the leading marketplaces.
Take advantage of this data and see exactly what has sold this week. Were numeric domains popular? Were there any two-word sales? Which brandable domains sold? It’s also a good idea to take a look at the WHOIS records for every listed sale to see whether the domain name was sold to an investor or an end-user. Determining whether each name sold to an investor or an end-user will help you value your own names, and future purchases to some extent.
The Domain Game
Michael Sumner (@Michael) of NameBio.com has produced a unique app called the Domain Game, which is available for iOS and Android devices. The aim of the game is to score as many points as possible by correctly guessing the price range for one of thousands of real domain sales that have been collated by NameBio over the years.
It’s an incredible way to improve your knowledge of domain sales at varying venues. For example, through this app, you’ll likely see that Uniregistry Market produces many five figure sales, while sales closed at Afternic will usually be in the four figure range. It will also teach you to differentiate between end user and investor sales.
DomainSherpa
Every couple of weeks, Michael Cyger of DomainSherpa hosts the DomainSherpa review, in which he’s joined by three “Sherpas” to discuss domain sales and purchases. A large segment of the show is dedicated to reviewing an investor submitted portfolio.
It’s very rare to be able to get industry leaders to analyse and give feedback on a portfolio of names, so if you’re looking for help in deciding which of your names are good and which aren’t, you may be interested in submitting your portfolio for review. If not, the tips that are shared in every episode are worth listening to, and can often be applied to your own portfolios.
Guess the Price
Here’s something that you can do pretty much immediately to improve your domain brain. Find a selection of 15 to 20 auctions that are taking place at GoDaddy, NameJet or DropCatch.com. Open a spreadsheet, list each domain name and write down the price you think the domain will sell for.
Once the auction has closed, check the sales price and see whether you were close with your guess. It’s a great way to see how good your sales knowledge is, and it’s a challenging task that you can do every week. Over time, your estimates will become more accurate.