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advice A traveler entered into the domain horizon

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Lex404

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Hi there, firstly I'll say few words about me.
I quit my job& Studies last year to travel overland from Europe to Australia. Slow, without to hurry and without a fixed direction for short time (like, i don't know where I'll be in two months but in a few years I'll arrive in AU :xf.grin:). Because I don't have exact plans, currently I'm in Lebanon and waiting to get back to Turkey or Georgia.

Good. I have a domain which I use it (for now) for my blog, but it's long, 2 words and it has a hyphen. Andit doesn't fit the plan entirely.

So, last week I started to look for a new domain, for me. And I was searching, days. That kind of frustration that anything is taken! And more that that, anything is taken and unused! To be honest, I wanted to contact the owners and beg for them :)) But I didn't. I don't like to beg.

Then this week, I don't remember how, I saw AirlinePort.com is free and I said oh, I should take it maybe I could sell it. Okay, I don't know if it's good, yet. Maybe just in case of someone is searching for it or, I apply enough marketing.

Then I started to search for a marketplace, in my mind was only eBay at that time. I've discovered Sedo and Flippa and I let eBay for trolling (see TRUMPeniSTAN.com :whistle::xf.grin:)
And since then I'm reading. Mostly anything about. After few days I registered here too (today)
Well, there are things which I still can't understand exactly, and more to come.

I'm doing this because while traveling I have some expenses, some of them really huge (like, I need ~1000$ for visas this year and I have to change my laptop, + my insurance, damn, enough crying) and no one is supporting me in that, well, was my decision so I have to live with that :)

So those days I've started to dig the internet about this. I've ended with some Ibuprofenum for headache, coffee and some domains.

The worst moment was when I was waiting "the list" of expired domains to catch something aaaand, I wasn't fast enough.
But that was a .info domain. Pretty good. Guess what, I got the .net one in the same day after someone told be "Man, do those asian girls took your eyes? .net is available!"

Also I was reading here about PayPal scams. So, I went to my PP (business acc since 2013, but I didn't had any big transaction) and added to the invoice conditions helpful things I've read here.

What I'm trying:
  • Look only at .com/.net for now, but I have a nice .org too.
  • Do not spend too much, as I don't have too much. Thank's to this forum, I registered today domains for 4.99 and 1 (that one took 4h to reg, and proof of adress)
  • I will try to reduce the time spending looking for domains, I need a break. Now it's time to entirely read theory
  • Build a way to work. Making a database for me about the (small amount of) domains I have, but one which can be extended for the future. To include mostly anything regarding costs and final prices
What I do not understand yet very well
  1. There is a #TransferLock for every new domain registered or transfered (or contact details changed) of 60 days. Is this lock applied also for intra-Registrar (I saw on NameCheap terms that for changing the owner to another NC account I don't have to wait, but I'm still unsure about others)
  2. After how much time I can sell a domain? I'm not hurrying but I'm curious
  3. Which Marketplace (Sedo/Flippa/Here) is better?
  4. How can I estimate the value of a domain? I was searching on FreeValuator and Estibot but sometimes they're completely far from each other
  5. Can I do that if I'm not all time online (or not online enough, not able to search for domains, catch drops, etc)? I was thinking to reserve a few days/ month for buying domains. Well, I can't stay all the time searching for them :D Most of the time I'm online on phone, so in case of a sale I can answer/ manage the things via mobile.
  6. Which other gTLD worth (alongside with .com/ .net/ .org)
What Domains I have :zippermouth: Don't throw stones, that happened after 1-week of brainstorming and involving all Saints and touching the Buddha Statue I got from SriLanka during my exit from Lebanon because I overstayed my visa with one month :))

VR32K.com (FV: 1800/ EB:0 )
OmniusVR.com (FV: 1875/ EB:0 ) I love this one :xf.love:
CompUser.net (FV: 938/ EB: 130 )
BestUp.org (FV: 923/ EB: 75 )
AirlinePort.com (FV: 230/ EB: 65 ) that was the first one
TRUMPeniSTAN.com :troll: That's on eBay, would be weirdo if I will sell it lol. Kinda trolling but who knows, it has a nice description :troll:

FV= FreeValuator / EB=Estibot.
Both of them are quite expensive and they don't offer one-month subscription. What a shame... and in some case there is a 100% difference.
Sometimes I also use Sedo for appraisal, as a curiosity

Okay, so I have 5 domains (+ one which I don't count :troll:) which I hope I can sell in the next following..5-6 months? At least 3 of them in that time.

Things what happened:
NameCheap gave an error with new domains available and I had 3 in cart. Paid with PP from CC so my money are now somewhere between PP and CC.
Got 1$ domain thanks to this forum :) But I had to wait 4 hours, send proof of address and contact them on Twitter (after waiting more than 30 mins in Live Chat which actually was off, whatever)
Got 4.99$ domain, also thanks to this forum :D

Any advice is precious. After one week of reading that much, I don't even remember where I've read something and I feel I have to start anything again (with infos)

And that seems to be a nice forum, and I like that.

Thanks,


Alex.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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Hi Alex,

Welcome aboard.

You may try DirectNic for com and net registrations. They are offering domains at 4$ for a limited time. Also, for first time one domain, godaddy and bigrock also offer for around 1$.

Estibot and other tools are of little use, if you plan to buy and sell more.

I suggest, read more.

Happy domaining!
 
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Welcome to NP. This is the best place to understand the entire world of domaining.
 
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Welcome to NamePros Alex,
I loved your introduction, as I feel, like I know you so well now!
Explore the World now while you can and Best of Luck, Health and Safety in all of your travels!
 
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Hi and Welcome !

Keep reading here and you will learn enough to be comfortable with your domaining, don't get emotionally involved with your domain registrations and stick with .com until your comfortable.

View historic sales of domains on namebio.com to get a feel of what sells, what does not sell is not there !
 
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Hello Alex :) Welcome to Namepros!
 
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Hi Alex. Nice intro. Welcome to The Club! :cigar:

Interesting life you're leading there. Good luck in your travels. Stay safe!

You've come to the right place. You'll find answers to all your questions here.

I'm not impressed with your domains as much as you are. Neither will be buyers, IMO. This is pretty much par for the course starting out. Like @doubleU's suggested, take a look at Namebio, what domains have been sold and for how much. @VaibhavA is right, don't pay much attention to automated domain valuation tools like Estibot, they're way off base, most of the time (there's a thread about that somewhere here). And stick to .COM's!
 
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welcome Alex, i like this long introduction
 
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Welcome. Some obvious advice:
1. Domains is a number game, since 1%-2% of cheaper names sell yearly at end-user prices. By cheaper names I mean those good hand-registered, cheaply drop-catched or closeout domains acquired by experienced domainers. Newbies yearly end-user selling rate is usually lower, like 0-0.5%. Therefore: unless you own several hunderds of cheaper names or can invest heavily in few high-quality expensive domains, you will not really be feeling that you have sales and run a business, since even 1 sale per year is not guaranteed.
2. The trick is to make your acquisitions at the right pace that matches you increasing knowledge. Very few domainers gain money or even break even during the first year, so prepare for some losses as you start. Do not plan to be able to gain serious money and live off domaining until 2-3 years in the game at least, more probably 3-5 years. It is like any other small business or startup, not easier, and in fact not very scalable. Find other sources of income and build your portfolio slowly.
3. While waiting for those end-users that can pay high prices, test waters by selling your names to other domainers on auctions. If your names tend to sell for below regfee, you should stop acquiring names and learn more. The most common mistake that newbies make is buying many names that they cannot then resell even for $3 each. All newbies make this mistake, the difference is how much useless names you get before you learn to find better names. Currently, your names are not sellable.
4. Keep .com over 95% of your portfolio, probably even closer to 100%. Newbies tend to overestimate the attractiveness of other extensions. Selling extensions other than .com is very tricky and you must know exactly what you are doing if you are buying other extensions.
5. Only names that can be used by businesses bring consistent profits. When acquiring a domain, think about the guy who will pay over $1,000 for this name. It must be a CEO or a businessman, a startup owner. Think how he will use the name, what alternatives he has and why should he pay that much for your name when there are so many other names that he can get. Think how you would feel visiting a website that uses such a name.
6. Existing automatic evaluation is useless, the only way relevant way to evaluate names is currently human brain. Better price on Estibot does have some small correlation with reselling prices, but it is like "can resell for $4 instead of $2". Do not register names based on their Estibot prices.
7. Find ways to lower your costs - they seem small, but add up quickly. For hand-registering, use coupons and promotions (withing the levels allowed by registrars). Fasthosts allows unlimited 1 pound .com registrations (watch if your credit card has conversion costs like +$3 per transaction). Netfirms, Dotster etc. have very cheap .com promotions every few weeks. Namesilo has standard .com registration price under $9. For cheaper dropcatch, use Dynadot.
8. About your other questions: read this forum for details, this is THE major forum for domaining nowadays. Short answers now: Place your names on all major marketplaces at once: Afternic (their listings show at GoDaddy too), Sedo, Flippa. The 60-days lock is often intra-registrar too, but some registrars allow to opt-out when you do the push to another account. You can always sell your domains immidiately, whether they are locked or not - if they are locked, the buyer will need to have an account in the same registrar. To know the times you need to be online, use expireddomain.net - it shows expiring and auctioned domains as the deadlines come. To find out what sell, read: namebio.com. To research keywords, try: dnpric.es
 
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Thanks all!
And @Nerevar Thanks a lot!
I already registered a domain at FastHosts UK, but I had to wait ~4h and contact them on Twitter :D I hope I can work with them flawlessly after that.
This forum is great, and before starting listing something I still want to read (a lot, especially about the "seller proterction").

I don't look for huge profits, just a bit. Also as a hobby from time to time (especially because I've quit smoking :xf.grin:, btw, in Sri Lanka a cigg pack is 9USD omg... in 3 weeks i saw 5 people smoking :xf.grin:)

I was looking this week on expireddomains.net but I still try to manage it (the filters) because there are so many useless things, and sometimes maybe something usefull.

Thanks a lot for this message, I will read it a few times to be sure I won't forget something.

I already build a xls with the domains and other one with expenses vs revenue. Well, you're right. I didn't expected because at the first hand, they don't look huge but I spent $58,26 so for now, I said I should stop and learn more.
 
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Hi @Lex404 - welcome to the NP family!

FastHosts can be a bit of a nightmare particularly if you are trying to sign up outside of the UK. Once you get your account approved, dealing with them is a breeze. Let me know if you have any issues with them in signing up - let me know via PM and I will contact them for you.

We are all here to help (and learn)!

DD (y)
 
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@DefinitelyDomains In final was good with FastHosts too. But it took some time :)
Because, my legal adress is in Romania
I applied for the account (and registered a domain) using a Lebanese IP
They sent an email to proof my adress, I sent them Bank statement, ID (for address), passport (for birthdate) and Card statement. I know, our ID is stupid. Which national ID (recognized Internationally in the EU) lack the birth date? lol.
Then I was waiting. And waiting...
Then I saw they have Live Chat support on the website. I accesed it then waiting for half hour to see a "No agent available for you" message. I got angry and I've posted on Twitter.
Then a guy from the FastHosts account said they close the Live Chat at 6pm UK time and I was...ok, if you close the Live support at least tell me, shut it down that time, don't show it available :ROFL:
Well, he offered to help me (even if the livechat and twitter support was closed) with the support and in ~15 mins since I've posted on Twitter I had my account and my domain on.

That was nice

And overall I like them.

I hope next month I'll do my first listing :D
 
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Hey @Lex404

First up....WELL DONE on making a bold and brave step to quit ur job to do some travelling... awesome one mate! Much respect...

Weclome to NP, hope you njoy ur stay and all the best with ur domaining adventures.....
 
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Excellent Advice @Nerevar for beginning domainers! Well done and thanks for sharing such a great gameplan!
 
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Welcome to NP, Alex. All the best.
 
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Welcome - I see you are getting some good advice here. My advice is to avoid spending money until you know what sells, and to read the advice threads and the sales reports.

My other advice is to stop taking Ibuprofen - it's a poison, and damages your immune system. Find out the causes of your headaches, and fix those, rather than trying to block the symptoms. Some causes are

Interrupted sleep
Stress
Lack of water
Too much looking at computer screens
Bad diet

etc.
 
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Lack of water, too much coffee.
I used to study pharmacology haha

I'm still reading, not gonna buy anything new :xf.rolleyes: At least I found what I was looking for two weeks ago: a domain for me :greyalien:

Thanks all :D
 
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excellent advice nerevar, i can say i learnt something from you.
 
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At the moment I'm experimenting with domain investing and various other internet sites for people with a mobile lifestyle. I'm running a full Bitcoin core over public wifi, and I set up a photo site using Piwigo.
http://jazzpics.com/
I'm still working out how to monetise that, but photography is a handy way to gain a bit of traffic.

Did you see my thread about using Google spreadsheets to list domain names for sale. I think it a great free service, and you can update your list from anywhere.
 
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Thanks all!
And @Nerevar Thanks a lot!
I already registered a domain at FastHosts UK, but I had to wait ~4h and contact them on Twitter :D I hope I can work with them flawlessly after that.
This forum is great, and before starting listing something I still want to read (a lot, especially about the "seller proterction").

I don't look for huge profits, just a bit. Also as a hobby from time to time (especially because I've quit smoking :xf.grin:, btw, in Sri Lanka a cigg pack is 9USD omg... in 3 weeks i saw 5 people smoking :xf.grin:)

I was looking this week on expireddomains.net but I still try to manage it (the filters) because there are so many useless things, and sometimes maybe something usefull.

Thanks a lot for this message, I will read it a few times to be sure I won't forget something.

I already build a xls with the domains and other one with expenses vs revenue. Well, you're right. I didn't expected because at the first hand, they don't look huge but I spent $58,26 so for now, I said I should stop and learn more.

Welcome to NamePros mate.

BTW, I'm Sri Lankan & I hope you enjoyed your stay @ Sri Lanka. Government is discouraging the use of cigarettes by increasing tax every year. They recently impossed several new laws. One is you can't smoke in public places, if you cought the fine will be 50000 LKR (As far as I remember) and could arrest you without a warrent :D
 
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Back there. I didn't wanted to open a new thread for my tiny question :)

One of my domains was accepted for Branddo and I have to provide the logo.

Making a logo isn't a nig deal as my best friend is a designer and he made most logos I/ we need for other purposes.

But my question is: what are the technical details? I've read somewhere here that more than 1000px.
Branddo website is so unclear :/
They didn't even sent an email regarding all the things, hope it works. Will give me cash for half year visas (as planned )

@Lakshan i really liked Sri Lanka and I'm planning to go there again for about two months. I really liked it, and I found that the spicy food was actually very healthy for me (I felt so good after one month there, before I had some problems :)) ).

Thanks
 
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