Domaining vs Investing

[mh231]

Hello everyone! I'm new here but I've been kicking the domining can down the road for a better part of a month now in terms of research and self education.

I'm an investor. We own storage facilities, businesses, commercial/residential real estate. I have experience in web development and basic programming.

The more I read, the more domaining seems less like investing and more like gambling. The whole hand registering seems like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I keep reading that most new folks to domining will never be able to sell their hand registered domains etc. I understand there's learning curves and in order to learn, generally you have to spend/lose $$$.

Another thing I've noticed is many, many, many folks trying to get into this have no budget and are trying to find the quickest way possible to make money and want to spend as little as possible.

I guess what I'm trying to say...is there a difference in HOW I should move forward with educating myself on domining? I'm not particularly interested in hand registering domains and trying to find one that's worth a few hundred bucks...but I understand that perhaps that's recommended for someone who Is new to this.

In investing we mostly talk about cap rates, interest and ROI. I can generally run figures and produce a rough expected ROI. I'm struggling to find out how to do this with domaining.

Maybe I'm just too new, maybe I need to slow down, maybe I don't even belong here because domaining is not for me. I'm absolutely not looking for another job or a side hustle...I'm looking for a passive/semi passive investment strategy to add to my portfolio. I have a good budget. Our average RE returns are 8-15% but I don't even know how to begin to calculate a projected roi with domains if say I invest $25k.

You other investors, what strategy did you follow when it comes to domaining?

I'm open to criticism, opinions, suggestions, education resources...anything really.

 

[bmugford]

If it was an investment, there would be more openness about buying strategies, the MANY criteria of a good buy, not just the obvious (people seem willing to share to a point)

There are endless business models. There are many types of domains.
People bring different budgets, skills, and risk tolerance to the table.

It is not a field with some easy path to follow. You largely have to make your own way.

If it was an investment the resale price would not be so subjective.
If it were an investment, there would be a better ROI than maybe 1% of the portfolio will be sold.

To me an investment is something you can acquire with a reasonable chance of selling for a profit in the future.

The domain market is less mature than other markets and involves one of a kind assets.
It is because of that market that the opportunities for massive returns exist.

The stock market for instance has high liquidity. Every share is the same as another.
They are completely different markets, though both are still investments.

Brad

 

[zomainhacks]

In investing we mostly talk about cap rates, interest and ROI. I can generally run figures and produce a rough expected ROI. I'm struggling to find out how to do this with domaining.

To do the same you have to understand how domain demand behaves, how to evaluate domain quality and estimate sale through rate. You have to be really tuned with the market and you have to be really good at recognizing patterns...

You see it as gambling since (at the moment) you lack the instruments to properly evaluate the asset class you are trying to deal with.

If done correctly, this stuff can be extremely profitable and predictable.

 

[poweredbyme]

You other investors, what strategy did you follow when it comes to domaining?

I'm open to criticism, opinions, suggestions, education resources...anything really.

Find a price level which works best for you and stick to it.

It doesn't matter what you sell. It could be domain names, cars, real estates or anything. In every group of things that are sold in any market, there are 3 major price levels: low, medium and high priced goods. Pick a price level that works best for you and operate only or mostly within that price range.

If 4x domains work best for you, don't look at x,xx,xxx or 5x,6x domains, stick to selling only or mostly the domains within $1,000 - $9,999 range. From my experince that's the key in trading in any industry.

 

[HotKey]

^ which translates to: know the worth of your domains. Find your comfort level. Ultimately, the quality of your domains define their value. Good post.

 

[Sjpals]

To do the same you have to understand how domain demand behaves, how to evaluate domain quality and estimate sale through rate. You have to be really tuned with the market and you have to be really good at recognizing patterns...

You see it as gambling since (at the moment) you lack the instruments to properly evaluate the asset class you are trying to deal with.

If done correctly, this stuff can be extremely profitable and predictable.

and therein lies the problem… there is not enough information widely / freely shared to evaluate the domains properly

 

[poweredbyme]

@HotKey ^ An investor should find his/her price level to master it. Mastering/learning process on something is not comfortable. The most confusing part for most people is that after being a true expert in a field doesn't mean creating a better comfort zone, enjoying it and not moving from out of it at all costs. If the motivation is to have a better comfort zone it will eventually end up with sadness. If the motivation is to keep improving comfort zone, it will fail as well. The motivation should be staying out of comfort zone of any quality at all times. The motivation should be to enjoy the learning process.

Every price level has different groups of buyers. A true expert in a market knows how to operate in all price levels but chooses the best one and moves from one to another when required. Therefore in the very beginning of the learning journey he/she operated in all price levels, one by one, not combined. If a beginner operates in all price levels at the same time, will learn very slowly. In school education, students are not given first, second, third, lass class lectures mixed in the first semester. The same principle applies to any learning process, not only in schools.

 

[HotKey]

Yep, I agree with that too PBM. Well said.

 

[domaineed]

Hi,

It can be either investing or gambling. Totally up to you, imo.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for a great introduction to an important topic question @mh231 , and to the many who have offered a variety of valuable views.

I feel that it is investing, but definitely speculative investing at times. That said, it is not at all like investing in say mutual funds, equities, ETFs, etc. One needs to be hands-on, and also there is less certainty that even good purchases will necessarily find a buyer at a profit in the medium term.

While many use real estate as analogy, I think that it does not really fit. The vast majority of properties will sell at the right price, but except for well known dictionary words in .com, with each domain name unique, many domain names will never find a buyer.

I think a better analogy might be investing in early-stage startups. Some will make a great profit, many will fail. One should not invest in startups without knowing the sector/niche, and I would say the same is true in domain names.

There are various starting paths, but starting slow, and only starting at all if you like the field, are willing to put the work in, and have a business plan of some sort.

Very best wishes, and thank you everyone.

Bob

 

[PurpleMan]

I think I will spend another month studying up and if after that, I'm still interested I'll set up a smaller "burn fund" where I can start playing around and make the mistakes.

Since this would be a long term play for me, I'm in no rush.

You will succeed

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

It feels like a gamble.

I have hand reg'ed some, I have listened to advice, I have bought some at auction, listened to more advice, I have advertised on all the market places, my own website and social media.

I have not sold any (I started selling in February).

IMHO
If it was an investment, there would be more openness about buying strategies, the MANY criteria of a good buy, not just the obvious (people seem willing to share to a point)
If it was an investment the resale price would not be so subjective.
If it were an investment, there would be a better ROI than maybe 1% of the portfolio will be sold.
With investments, you have a good chance of all of the investment being able to be sold on reasonably easily (not the case with domains).

It therefore feels to me more like a gamble than an investment.

Be aware that there will be a lot of contradictory/conflicting information that you'll have to sift through and make judgements on along the way.

For example, conventional advice says to buy short, perfectly spelled names, yet you'll see some oddities (and downright stinkers) selling in the daily domain sales section here and anywhere you look for data, e.g. Namebio/Sedo sales (via TLDinvestors.com). Similarly, some don't get brandable domains or the marketplaces for these and prefer to buy dictionary word names, while others believe companies aren't into in naming themselves something generic like partnersolutions. whatever, and feel a unique brand name like wovanko /sparkslice is the way forward.

Some will say only buy at auctions where there are other bidders, yet some have sold names that they bought at auctions where they were the only bidder (like Logan Flatt).

On pricing names, a commonly held belief among some in domaining is the price of the name is whatever the buyer is willing to pay, while others believe the price is whatever the domain owner thinks it should be (usually based on whether the prospective buyer has a big enough idea for the name's use).

When it comes to selling, you'll find those who believe in setting a price (known as 'buy it Now'/BIN) while others think that devalues the name and enjoy long, drawn-out negotiations over weeks/months as they feel this helps increase the name's value.


The range of strategies to approach this venture is huge, so best of luck here.

 

[Sjpals]

Be aware that there will be a lot of contradictory/conflicting information that you'll have to sift through and make judgements on along the way.

For example, conventional advice says to buy short, perfectly spelled names, yet you'll see some oddities (and downright stinkers) selling in the daily domain sales section here and anywhere you look for data, e.g. Namebio/Sedo sales (via TLDinvestors.com). Similarly, some don't get brandable domains or the marketplaces for these and prefer to buy dictionary word names, while others believe companies aren't into in naming themselves something generic like partnersolutions. whatever, and feel a unique brand name like wovanko /sparkslice is the way forward.

Some will say only buy at auctions where there are other bidders, yet some have sold names that they bought at auctions where they were the only bidder (like Logan Flatt).

On pricing names, a commonly held belief among some in domaining is the price of the name is whatever the buyer is willing to pay, while others believe the price is whatever the domain owner thinks it should be (usually based on whether the prospective buyer has a big enough idea for the name's use).

When it comes to selling, you'll find those who believe in setting a price (known as 'buy it Now'/BIN) while others think that devalues the name and enjoy long, drawn-out negotiations over weeks/months as they feel this helps increase the name's value.


The range of strategies to approach this venture is huge, so best of luck here.

yes, I am beginning to despair from the amount contradicting information

 

[MediaCode]

Hello everyone! I'm new here but I've been kicking the domining can down the road for a better part of a month now in terms of research and self education.

I'm an investor. We own storage facilities, businesses, commercial/residential real estate. I have experience in web development and basic programming.

The more I read, the more domaining seems less like investing and more like gambling. The whole hand registering seems like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I keep reading that most new folks to domining will never be able to sell their hand registered domains etc. I understand there's learning curves and in order to learn, generally you have to spend/lose $$$.

Another thing I've noticed is many, many, many folks trying to get into this have no budget and are trying to find the quickest way possible to make money and want to spend as little as possible.

I guess what I'm trying to say...is there a difference in HOW I should move forward with educating myself on domining? I'm not particularly interested in hand registering domains and trying to find one that's worth a few hundred bucks...but I understand that perhaps that's recommended for someone who Is new to this.

In investing we mostly talk about cap rates, interest and ROI. I can generally run figures and produce a rough expected ROI. I'm struggling to find out how to do this with domaining.

Maybe I'm just too new, maybe I need to slow down, maybe I don't even belong here because domaining is not for me. I'm absolutely not looking for another job or a side hustle...I'm looking for a passive/semi passive investment strategy to add to my portfolio. I have a good budget. Our average RE returns are 8-15% but I don't even know how to begin to calculate a projected roi with domains if say I invest $25k.

You other investors, what strategy did you follow when it comes to domaining?

I'm open to criticism, opinions, suggestions, education resources...anything really.

If you're into real estate investing, simply view domain names as investing in raw land. Raw land that you have to sit on and pay the property taxes year after year until the right developer comes along and wants to buy you out to develop a hotel, strip shopping center, medical building, or whatever on your raw land. The more lucrative their development potential, the more valuable is your raw land. So, location plays a role as does the industry the developer caters to in its development work. So, location (.com) and industry (finance, healthcare, gambling, crypto, hospitality, etc.) are critical to maximizing value on your investment. We wouldn't generally call land investors gamblers. We'd call them speculators, maybe, but more often than not we call them what they are: land investors. Same with domain investors investing in the raw land of the Internet.

 

[equity78]

While many use real estate as analogy, I think that it does not really fit. The vast majority of properties will sell at the right price, but except for well known dictionary words in .com, with each domain name unique, many domain names will never find a buyer.

Spot on Bob.

 

[Joshh71390]

Hello everyone! I'm new here but I've been kicking the domining can down the road for a better part of a month now in terms of research and self education.

I'm an investor. We own storage facilities, businesses, commercial/residential real estate. I have experience in web development and basic programming.

The more I read, the more domaining seems less like investing and more like gambling. The whole hand registering seems like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I keep reading that most new folks to domining will never be able to sell their hand registered domains etc. I understand there's learning curves and in order to learn, generally you have to spend/lose $$$.

Another thing I've noticed is many, many, many folks trying to get into this have no budget and are trying to find the quickest way possible to make money and want to spend as little as possible.

I guess what I'm trying to say...is there a difference in HOW I should move forward with educating myself on domining? I'm not particularly interested in hand registering domains and trying to find one that's worth a few hundred bucks...but I understand that perhaps that's recommended for someone who Is new to this.

In investing we mostly talk about cap rates, interest and ROI. I can generally run figures and produce a rough expected ROI. I'm struggling to find out how to do this with domaining.

Maybe I'm just too new, maybe I need to slow down, maybe I don't even belong here because domaining is not for me. I'm absolutely not looking for another job or a side hustle...I'm looking for a passive/semi passive investment strategy to add to my portfolio. I have a good budget. Our average RE returns are 8-15% but I don't even know how to begin to calculate a projected roi with domains if say I invest $25k.

You other investors, what strategy did you follow when it comes to domaining?

I'm open to criticism, opinions, suggestions, education resources...anything really.

It's not at all like gambling. - gambling would mean i could buy 2093482048204820482.monday and theres a statistical chance of it just getting bought based on that stat.

Registering is one method of buying a domain name Unless you have YEARS and YEARS of experience your not going to register anything worth a damn... Im not saying you cant make a few bucks here and there but it's not a passive cash flow thats for sure...

Now imagine you go specifically after 1 word domain names that are undervalued...

think 10 / 15k range that should be in the 40 / 50k range

Now for instance lets say you bought Storage.com for 15k...

Since you own storage facilities you see the value of storage.com... Maybe you dont care... but someone with global dominance who can capitalize on that one word domain name and use it to gain dominance on the internet really doesnt care between spending 50k or 60k on that word... because they bill 2 million a day in fees ... so thats such a drop in the bucket for them.... For maybe the single most important piece of their new Branding campaing that has nothing to do with you ... you just happen to own the domain they want...

now back to the domaining side... if you somehow got that name for 15k... you would hold for maybe 4 /5 years... and you will get offers daily on it some for 10 dollars but you never know.. eventually you swap words with the right party and a deal is agreed upon... The beauty of this industry is every single domain is a 1 of 1... if they WANT storage.com , they will get storage.com... its just as easy as a quck email to the accountants / marketing head for their corporation theyre more interested in getting the name then the specific values... So now your 15k and 4 years just gained you 100k sale...

now is it harder to MANAGE a 50 million dollar portfolio of Houses / rentals / land / or domain names ... 1 million of them weight the same ammount as 1 of them... and also takes up the same ammount of space on my pinky...

This is a 100 percent random scenario but yea I dont think it's that far from the price that name would be able to fetch...

Now your spending your time and efforts looking for ONE good name that already exists on an aftermarket somewhere... people price things differently one mans trash is another mans popouree but unless your registering hundreds of names a day.. big time cashflow is not gonna happen -> and your not gonna be able to longtail successfully when your 1 month in it;s just gonna turn into a bunch of wasted registrations and time waiting for lumps of dog poop to sell

-> your SKILLS are what are going to give you the edge in the game ... It's more of a Business

 

[karmaco]

It feels like a gamble.

I have hand reg'ed some, I have listened to advice, I have bought some at auction, listened to more advice, I have advertised on all the market places, my own website and social media.

I have not sold any (I started selling in February).

IMHO
If it was an investment, there would be more openness about buying strategies, the MANY criteria of a good buy, not just the obvious (people seem willing to share to a point)
If it was an investment the resale price would not be so subjective.
If it were an investment, there would be a better ROI than maybe 1% of the portfolio will be sold.
With investments, you have a good chance of all of the investment being able to be sold on reasonably easily (not the case with domains).

It therefore feels to me more like a gamble than an investment.

I disagree with everything in this post.

Just because your domain choices haven’t sold yet (after only 5 months) doesn’t mean we are not investors. It means you need better quality domains possibly and way more patience.

The first thing we tell newbs is this is not get rich quick. It takes years and years. Impatient people who need money now should pursue other paths. Not domains.

It feels like a gamble because you are new at this and probably bought some not great domains.

You complain this is not investing because “there is not enough openess about buying strategies”. Really? We don’t have to tell you anything. Nobody is getting paid here to guide anyone or answer questions. It is done voluntarily. Be grateful we are willing to answer the same questions countless times.

Figure it out for yourself (like we did) and stop acting entitled like anyone is obligated to spoon feed you their knowledge or strategies.

If you are looking for a sure thing, instant results you won’t get that investing in domains. Or anything really.

 

[Joshh71390]

I disagree with everything in this post.

Just because your domain choices haven’t sold yet (after only 5 months) doesn’t mean we are not investors. It means you need better quality domains possibly and way more patience.

The first thing we tell newbs is this is not get rich quick. It takes years and years. Impatient people who need money now should pursue other paths. Not domains.

It feels like a gamble because you are new at this and probably bought some not great domains.

You complain this is not investing because “there is not enough openess about buying strategies”. Really? We don’t have to tell you anything. Nobody is getting paid here to guide anyone or answer questions. It is done voluntarily. Be grateful we are willing to answer the same questions countless times.

Figure it out for yourself (like we did) and stop acting entitled like anyone is obligated to spoon feed you their knowledge or strategies.

If you are looking for a sure thing, instant results you won’t get that investing in domains. Or anything really.

kind of going off this too... there is no direct path... My strategy is i hand reg good exact match keyword domains and try to resell them here for a slight markup but with plenty of upside potential for the next person... Im not going for the huge sales... just high number of low cost sales. My best year i think i sold 800 or so domains.. but many of those were under 10 dolalrs... At the same exact time im sure there was someone who sold only 1 domain that same year... And that domain might of generated 100x more profit then all mine combined... Domaining is an Industry not a Investment Class.

this website is a forum.. not a chatroom... so every post that has ever been posted is still up / categorized in a nice neat package for you... esentially your thinking too much about the domaining for domaining sake... dont just go hard and fast at domaining unless your ready to take it to a full time job... Your goal is to buy stuff that you think has a large number of potential end users....

shinyHair.com is simple enough... but who would be the end user... -> not trying to promote but just to give you a specific idea... some of the names i have right now-> oakland lawn... -> this can obviously be sold to any lawn care companies in oakland...

then i have stuff like LeadTrackingTool -> its not a top level name but it's definetly gonna get the job done -> ... now im not going to toot my own horn and try to sell these for 50k just because thats the going rate for other auctions... Im going to price them low enough to see a little bit of profit -> but im also going to make sure I dont spend too much time on any one name....

if im just registering and then selling it ... then it doesnt need to sell for 800 dollars to get a 2x 3x even 10x profit easy and fast..

also you need to think of it like this... Namepros and other Domain markets are kind of only going to market your name to other Domainers... So you need to realize if the goingrate for 123.com is 100 dollars... (obviously its about 500x more then that....) you are going to have a hard time offloading that domain here for 110 dollars... but if you can manage to get that name for 70 dollars... then you can easily sell it here and split the difference between marketvalue and the price you got it for... leaving you with some eazy money..

lastly..... you can Go after domains in a more direct approach... Only register a domain name if you can think of who your going to reach out to ...

if you own storageCenter.com -> maybe you send an email to the owner of storageCenter.net storage-center.com storageCenter123.com

and one of these people ... tried buying storageCenter.com years go and now they have the means (and years of longing to get rid of the kebab-case name) for the top level... Now you email these people directly and one of them buys from you.

The problem with what you want domaing to be is ...it's not a Savings Bond... or a CD ... it's not an investment vehical in the sense that it's a product offered with a set payout after a certain time... Its an investment the same way buying a house is an investment... Or buying a factory... -> Your asking your compition to zap their knowledge into your brain over night... it's just not physically possible if you want to learn how to be a profitable domainer.. the info is on this site...

 

[Sjpals]

The problem with what you want domaing to be is ...it's not a Savings Bond... or a CD ... it's not an investment vehical in the sense that it's a product offered with a set payout after a certain time... Its an investment the same way buying a house is an investment... Or buying a factory... Your asking your compition to zap their knowledge into your brain over night... it's just not physically possible if you want to learn how to be a profitable domainer.. the info is on this site...

This is exactly my point... Investments usually have an expected ROI in a certain amount of time (even houses) and they are pretty much guaranteed to sell. Domains are not like that and are therefore are more of a gamble than investing in my mind.


And I guess I have never seen other domainers as my competition, just as much as I wouldnt see another house buyer as a competitor. I guess I was wrong.

 

[Sjpals]

I disagree with everything in this post.

Just because your domain choices haven’t sold yet (after only 5 months) doesn’t mean we are not investors. It means you need better quality domains possibly and way more patience.

The first thing we tell newbs is this is not get rich quick. It takes years and years. Impatient people who need money now should pursue other paths. Not domains.

It feels like a gamble because you are new at this and probably bought some not great domains.

You complain this is not investing because “there is not enough openess about buying strategies”. Really? We don’t have to tell you anything. Nobody is getting paid here to guide anyone or answer questions. It is done voluntarily. Be grateful we are willing to answer the same questions countless times.

Figure it out for yourself (like we did) and stop acting entitled like anyone is obligated to spoon feed you their knowledge or strategies.

If you are looking for a sure thing, instant results you won’t get that investing in domains. Or anything really.

I am sorry you feel this way. I thought that this was a forum where we helped each other. I most certainly am not acting entitled by asking for help, I thought that was the whole point of a forum.Helping each other, learning from each other. My mistake.

 

[blogspotter]

If you are smart and have ran and operated other businesses, I think you will figure it out.

Study the names that sell in the "end user market" where we SELL.
Study the names that sell in the "Aftermarket" where we BUY.
Add the factor that only 1% of your total names will sell in a year. (the Average STR though some people have higher)

And then figure out a way to Acquire names in such a way that you make a profit.

 

[Joshh71390]

This is exactly my point... Investments usually have an expected ROI in a certain amount of time (even houses) and they are pretty much guaranteed to sell. Domains are not like that and are therefore are more of a gamble than investing in my mind.


And I guess I have never seen other domainers as my competition, just as much as I wouldnt see another house buyer as a competitor. I guess I was wrong.

Your wrong...

Investments usually have an expected ROI in a certain amount of time

Houses have an expected Roi ... its the price you wish to sell it - the price you bought it...

Domains have an expected ROI -> the price you wish to sell it - the price you bought it for...


------------------------

and they are pretty much guaranteed to sell. --> Yes every human being needs to live in a house or they die.. a domain is not vital to a humans ability to survive on the planet...

And furthermore.. your just acting like you can profitably buy and sell houses every time... -> but you think that domaing sucks cause your 6 dollar domain wont instantly resell for xx.xxx dollars... well most houses require a substantial deal more effort then i can gaurentee you put into your domaining career yet...

------------------------

And I guess I have never seen other domainers as my competition, just as much as I wouldnt see another house buyer as a competitor. I guess I was wrong.

this is just being passive aggressive ... What was your original point... that noone will teach you how to domain.. Or something like this? well guess what Ive spent atleast 2 hours sofar commenting on this thread just trying to give you tips.. and the only think you do is instantly try to give a cleaver response to debunk everything people say...

if you want to get rich hand registering domains then no its not possible in your first year.. without xxx,xxx dollars to start with..

and if you want to put the same ammount of money you would in flipping a house... then i promise you... it will be a lot more simple to compare the two...

your asking un answerable questions and then arguing with every response... how could we elaborate about your domains without seeing them first of all... how could we elaborate on your successess if we knew nothing about what you did to sell them... did you regster them and then close the browser? if so thats the same thing as buying a forclosure.. and then never even visiting the property then a 3 months later u go to some house flipping forum saying this sucks i should of been rich by now....

def from wallstreetmojo .com im not sure the exacts but this sounds broad enough...

The most common examples of investment types. Investment, in general, refers to the purchase of anything for future use with the goal of generating a regular cash flow or increasing the value of something over time so that it can be sold for a higher price than it was purchased for, i.e. capital gains.

If you just blindly buy houses because they are for sale... and then try to relist them in 2 months... I got hand it to you ... if you are profitable doing that... then dont even bother domaing... because you are wasting your time doing anything but finding the next flip...

on the otherhand... buying a domain for 100, 200 300 500 dollars... is only profitable if THERE IS A HUMAN BEING THAT WILL BUY IT FOR MORE THEN YOU PAYED FOR IT...

thats the concept of the pretty much the entire economic system we use today... so im not making anything crazy up here... You buy something ... and you either made a bad investment or a good investment... with an active investment like this... you need to actively SELL the domain... listing it on auctions... emailing buyiers... someone doesnt just wait till 6pm on thursday and then just click buy on every domain forsale at Namecheap... you need to find a person who wants to buy it from you... would you be able to flip a 25 sq foot house that i sold to you for 50million? i mean its an investment right?

 

[Sjpals]

Your wrong...


Houses have an expected Roi ... its the price you wish to sell it - the price you bought it...

Domains have an expected ROI -> the price you wish to sell it - the price you bought it for...


------------------------

and they are pretty much guaranteed to sell. --> Yes every human being needs to live in a house or they die.. a domain is not vital to a humans ability to survive on the planet...

And furthermore.. your just acting like you can profitably buy and sell houses every time... -> but you think that domaing sucks cause your 6 dollar domain wont instantly resell for xx.xxx dollars... well most houses require a substantial deal more effort then i can gaurentee you put into your domaining career yet...

------------------------


this is just being passive aggressive ... What was your original point... that noone will teach you how to domain.. Or something like this? well guess what Ive spent atleast 2 hours sofar commenting on this thread just trying to give you tips.. and the only think you do is instantly try to give a cleaver response to debunk everything people say...

if you want to get rich hand registering domains then no its not possible in your first year.. without xxx,xxx dollars to start with..

and if you want to put the same ammount of money you would in flipping a house... then i promise you... it will be a lot more simple to compare the two...

your asking un answerable questions and then arguing with every response... how could we elaborate about your domains without seeing them first of all... how could we elaborate on your successess if we knew nothing about what you did to sell them... did you regster them and then close the browser? if so thats the same thing as buying a forclosure.. and then never even visiting the property then a 3 months later u go to some house flipping forum saying this sucks i should of been rich by now....

def from wallstreetmojo .com im not sure the exacts but this sounds broad enough...


If you just blindly buy houses because they are for sale... and then try to relist them in 2 months... I got hand it to you ... if you are profitable doing that... then dont even bother domaing... because you are wasting your time doing anything but finding the next flip...

on the otherhand... buying a domain for 100, 200 300 500 dollars... is only profitable if THERE IS A HUMAN BEING THAT WILL BUY IT FOR MORE THEN YOU PAYED FOR IT...

thats the concept of the pretty much the entire economic system we use today... so im not making anything crazy up here... You buy something ... and you either made a bad investment or a good investment... with an active investment like this... you need to actively SELL the domain... listing it on auctions... emailing buyiers... someone doesnt just wait till 6pm on thursday and then just click buy on every domain forsale at Namecheap... you need to find a person who wants to buy it from you... would you be able to flip a 25 sq foot house that i sold to you for 50million? i mean its an investment right?

Apologies if I came across as passive aggressive. All I was trying to say (and quite badly, I guess) is that houses are always expected to go up in price and they are reasonably easy to sell. Domains are not like that at all, as you say, not everyone needs a house.

 

[alcy]

it only looks like gambling if we didnt put 1000s hours to learn it.. namepros and namebio are yer friends... remember gambling is casinos and bitcoins.. in domains after 1000s hours of study u drive 90perxent of car... in terms of decision..vs outcome.. etc

 

[topdom]

It is a bumpy road. It takes time, and has some nastiness we are not aware of , or we can't control.

An example of nastiness: I add a domain with a fixed price and park it just there. At the beginning my price was shown to the public, and they quickly replaced it with an inquiry form. I asked the price by using the form, and requested a response via email only.
They said let's talk,.. and it was an automated message. What to talk about if the price is fixed. And if they get a higher price, will I get part of it? Or because they want higher price than my asking price will I lose a sale permanently (because trust in "me" was lost).

 

[twiki]

It feels like a gamble.

If it feels like a gamble to you, then you're probably gambling, not investing.

It feels like a gamble.

I have hand reg'ed some, I have listened to advice, I have bought some at auction, listened to more advice, I have advertised on all the market places, my own website and social media.

I have not sold any (I started selling in February).

There are folks here who haven't sold anything in 3 years in the past. But they persisted, learned and made progress.

If it was an investment, there would be more openness about buying strategies, the MANY criteria of a good buy, not just the obvious (people seem willing to share to a point)

Have you ever read my posts? There's a ton of information, and not about the obvious.

If it were an investment, there would be a better ROI than maybe 1% of the portfolio will be sold.

You can easily reach 10% sales ratio AND make profit if you're discounting enough. Source: I've done this for years and posted about it frequently. Although today I use a different model, it is still one that can always be used.

You're really off with these statements. Off from a general perspective. I do however accept you might not be off from your own perspective.

End note: True domainers might hold their names for 10-20 years. At 1...2% yearly sales ratio, that is a significant amount of their portfolio actually being sold.

It can be gambling - if you are into gambling. Pro domainers here are nothing about gambling. But if you mirror the beginners, throwing handregs at a wall to see if it sticks, then yeah.

Not that it is anything wrong with handregs, if you know what you are doing. I've made 400% ROI on handregs during the last year 12 months. But done with care.

I use business rules, math and projections and it is a constant business, profitable and definitely not risky. Edit: far less riskier than other fields I've been into.

There is even room for adjustment if market goes down like it happens now. I'm not losing any money (in fact having solid income to rely on even in this market, see my posted sales on NP)

Yet people who invested in solid stocks, major indexes and blue chips have actually lost 50% + of their money this year. And yeah, they were definitely NOT gambling.