advice # Why Do You Lose Money in the Domain Business? ##

[johnn]

Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack. Remember this one is for Newbies Only. If you are an experienced Domainer then ignore this thread and move on.

1. Spend too much time to post too many questions instead of spend the time to read or participate in a nonsense thread: "Is Your Wife Nice or Mean to You"?
2. Post in the $1 Auction and spend the time to bump. You will end up losing money or break even and wasting your time.
3. Buying Trade Mark names hoping that you will sell it back to the Trade Mark owner. You will just get yourself into troubles.
4. Copy cat other people in the "Request to Buy" section. There is no dictionary name for $5,000. You get what you paid for. Cheap names are not good and good names are not cheap. You will end up getting a ton of Crap Names from your PM
5. Pick a Niche for your names, Ex: Crypto, Geo, NFT, etc... This is a BIG mistake, why do you want to narrow down your market?
6. Pick a cheap Registrar to register the name. Why do you want to save $1 and lose the chance to sell to more buyers? Some buyers will not like STRANGE Registrars regardless how cheap is it. What you want to be concerned is reputation and Customer Service when you have problems.
7. List the names at all possible market places: Sedo, Afternic, Dan, etc....Make sure that you only have BIN (Buy It Now) at one place.
8. Keep track and organize all the names with information: Purchase date/from whom, Selling date/to whom, etc...Make sure to download the list from the Registrars and compare to your list to make sure they are accurate (Excel spreadsheet will do the job)
9. Put your name in the appraisal section: If someone gives a bad appraisal for your name then you will have a hard time to sell. NO ONE KNOW The Price of a Name.
10. There are a lot of cheap names that you can buy HERE. There is no need to buy from other auctions. Make sure you deal with the seller via PM so you don't have any competition when negotiate pricing.

 

[Firenze]

Thank you John, even if I do not intend to become advanced in domaining these rules will help for sure.

What registrar should we use ? Why it is so important since the buyer still can change it ?

 

[DomainGaze.com]

Funny and spot on! Thank you, John!

From my own experience as a beginner, I'd add a few below.

1. Taking time to learn how to evaluate a domain. I am surprised how often people try to sell really awful domains at prices that are just laughable. I feel Sedo must have a good laugh when people put up domains not even worth reg-fee for half a million and pay 69 Euro to showcase the domain. What is valuable to me doesn't make it valuable to all. Unless you have Voice.com as then you need to treat it like your daughter! And someone paying a tonne of money would normally be not reckless enough to buy into your crap.

Perhaps, the hardest thing to learn is how to price your domains, but determining the right prices and keeping prices that you can stick to longer is better than having wildly fluctuating prices. Sometimes, the opposite is also true that we sell for cheap and realize the true value would've been higher had we kept some patience. However, this capacity comes from our own financial situation and experience. It is not a beginner issue.

2. Hand registering a huge number of names just cause they are available. Like people always say -- if it is available for reg-fee then there must be a reason for it. Of course hand registration can be good, but after you get a little bit hang of evaluating a name.

3. Getting numbers as abbreviations all over a domain. My first domain started with a number but that is because the Zero was unavailable and I only got it 10 years afterwards once the site and their trademark expired! Neither were for selling purposes.

4. Waiting for a good name to drop. If it is a good name, it will be caught by a drop catcher. I hand-registered my firstname.com on the day of a drop, but the name was uncommon and it was early 2000s.

4. Buying too much too soon is a bad idea. As they say most newcomers in domaining last only up to the first renewal. So, have a quality collection of names that you can sit with and renew without having a single sale for a year or more. Of course, if you do end up hand registering the wrong names, then there is no point renewing them.

5. Having patience and keeping time commitment at a level which is sensible and sustainable. This is the hardest part for me.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack. Remember this one is for Newbies Only. If you are an experienced Domainer then ignore this thread and move on.

1. Spend too much time to post too many questions instead of spend the time to read or participate in a nonsense thread: "Is Your Wife Nice or Mean to You"?
2. Post in the $1 Auction and spend the time to bump. You will end up losing money or break even and wasting your time.
3. Buying Trade Mark names hoping that you will sell it back to the Trade Mark owner. You will just get yourself into troubles.
4. Copy cat other people in the "Request to Buy" section. There is no dictionary name for $5,000. You get what you paid for. Cheap names are not good and good names are not cheap. You will end up getting a ton of Crap Names from your PM
5. Pick a Niche for your names, Ex: Crypto, Geo, NFT, etc... This is a BIG mistake, why do you want to narrow down your market?
6. Pick a cheap Registrar to register the name. Why do you want to save $1 and lose the chance to sell to more buyers? Some buyers will not like STRANGE Registrars regardless how cheap is it. What you want to be concerned is reputation and Customer Service when you have problems.
7. List the names at all possible market places: Sedo, Afternic, Dan, etc....Make sure that you only have BIN (Buy It Now) at one place.
8. Keep track and organize all the names with information: Purchase date/from whom, Selling date/to whom, etc...Make sure to download the list from the Registrars and compare to your list to make sure they are accurate (Excel spreadsheet will do the job)
9. Put your name in the appraisal section: If someone gives a bad appraisal for your name then you will have a hard time to sell. NO ONE KNOW The Price of a Name.
10. There are a lot of cheap names that you can buy HERE. There is no need to buy from other auctions. Make sure you deal with the seller via PM so you don't have any competition when negotiate pricing.

Bottomline....the domain "aftermarket" industry is a joke, and until such time a newbie realizes that, he/she will never make money. I have over 50 years of experience starting, operating, and naming businesses in other industries and this is by far the most screwed up industry ever That said however, therein lies a HUGE OPPORTUNITY for me.

Thank domain industry!!!

 

[marijuanadomain]

# Why Do You Lose Money in the Domain Business? ##

are you suppose to make money in the 1st place?
Who says you are entitle to make money?

 

[jiy k]

7. List the names at all possible market places: Sedo, Afternic, Dan, etc....Make sure that you only have BIN (Buy It Now) at one place.

Thanks for this useful article.
I didn't get this point. Why have BIN at one place only.
Thank You

 

[johnn]

You listed the name at both Sedo and after for $500. 2 buyers clicked to buy at the same time. Who do you sell it to?
The one that you decided not to sell will take action on your account since you breached the TOS.

 

[The Durfer]

You listed the name at both Sedo and after for $500. 2 buyers clicked to buy at the same time. Who do you sell it to?
The one that you decided not to sell will take action on your account since you breached the TOS.

i think most people are willing to go thru that jam over selling their domain. lol, good one though.

 

[namemarket]

You listed the name at both Sedo and after for $500. 2 buyers clicked to buy at the same time. Who do you sell it to? The one that you decided not to sell will take action on your account since you breached the TOS.

It's very good advice to only use 1 BIN however the chance of 2 buyers at 2 venues clicking buy it now at same time is extremely unlikely for most all domains, where you are more likely to get struck by lightening, imo.

 

[Domaining company]

Thaaanx a lot john for this kind advicea