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I'm Shane Cultra, Ask Me Any Question

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Lets have some fun. I promise to be open and honest with the questions if we can keep it civil.

A little background. I'm nobody special, just a guy that runs a nursery, runs a lot, and loves domains. I am part of team that runs DSAD.com, used to have a blog called DomainShane, used to be part of a little show called Domain Sherpa, sold my first blog WallStreetFighter to Break.com and Lionsgate Film, part of group that sold a show called WallStrip to NBC for $5 Million, and ran 20 plus marathons and 2 Ironmen in between then and now. Bought and sold a few domains along the way

Post any question and I'll have my team of assistants, just kidding, I'll do my best to answer it.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Hi Shane,

Good to see your AMA, great learning for those inclined to do so.

Ironically you and me started at the same time, though you seem to have done way better because you stuck to .com. I wish I'd done the same, but then hindsight is always 20:20.

Here's my question: If you were to start today, knowing what you know now and with a small (say $5k) budget, how would you go about it?

Always been a fan of your work btw, even when I didn't agree with what you're saying, your level of candour is rare in any industry, specially this one, so keep on doing what you're doing, congrats on your success, cheers!


Thank you for the kind words,

If I were starting over I would flip names. I would buy them on the forums, in auctions. Look for names that didn't go for as much as I thought and then flip them. Making a little on each. Which names? It's hard to be exact but a name that perhaps sold on Flippa for $300 and flip on Namejet for $500. Or buy a LLLL.com here and put it on Godaddy. There is some opportunity there to make money. Just have to know the markets and wholesale value. I see people doing it all the time. Because they buy spots on my list to promote the flipped name. It's not huge money but with time you can build up a bankroll to build a portfolio that you wait for higher prices but don;t need to flip them for cash
 
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Hi Shane,
you have daily lists of auctions running for years on your blog, covering Sedo, Godaddy and Namejet

my question: based on your experience, in 2017 Which auction platform is better for which kind of domains? 4L | Brandable | Generic | .com | .org | .net

Kind regards,
Halille
I think 4Ls would be Godaddy, CHiPs do well at Namejet but lower quality get buried there. Sedo has been showing some good results but the auction fee eats away at the total

Brandable is Namejet all the way

Generic Namejet, then Godaddy. Again Sedo can have good results since all the eyeballs go to your name
.net, org and the rest all pretty much Namejet
 
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@Domain Shane

You are a well known personality in domain community.

Does it give you hard time while making aftermarket domain purchases from domainers?

and

Does it provide you any advantage in terms of sales? As End-user or Reseller point

As far as I know you have been in domaining for a long time. When you compare your investments with the return of investment you made so far in domaining - Did you meet your expectations while starting out domain investment? ( publication profits excluded )

1. Yes its tough to make purchases from other domainers privately. But I buy from them all the time. It is mostly LLLL.coms though because they are easy to price. The generics and brandables almost never. They value them too much. Drew Rosener and I have worked together well. We seem to agree on price more than others. On the auction houses, no. I could care less who owned the name before me. I justify my price based on the name, not the owner. Most domain owners don't work their names anyway. The sit and wait.

2. Not sure what you mean by advantage

3. I have done better than I thought in domain investing. I thought I would get bored with it or make a little extra money here and there. Didn't realize what a big part of my life and livelihood it would become. I've been pecking at it a long time though so its not been a windfall, just a nice added bonus
 
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Hello Shane. Just one question here in order to learn from your experiences.

What do you think would be the best strategy to sell a Made-up/brandable 5L .com apart from just passively waiting for incoming leads ?

Thanks for your time here :).

Afternic and Sedo BIN. Get it on the Godaddy fast transfer so when they type it in Godaddy it can be purchased immediately. Many people don't even realize they are buying it privately. They think Godaddy is selling it and buy it.. Its much stronger than Brandbucket because 10 times the amount of people searching for names. And you can list on Sedo as well to get even more exposure. That's really the only way I know how.
 
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I have a question.

How come you posted this self promotional thread in "general domain discussion" ?

Looks like mods are eating it. But usually this sort of thing would be more correctly placed in reviews or greetings. Just a bit of sour grapes.. Rules should be rules. Even for you.
 
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I have a question.

How come you posted this self promotional thread in "general domain discussion" ?

Looks like mods are eating it. But usually this sort of thing would be more correctly placed in reviews or greetings. Just a bit of sour grapes.. Rules should be rules. Even for you.

who cares about that,
you should try the sweet grapes they deserve their extra bucks
this thread bring much more expert insight than most of the wannabee pretend domainers that post tons of garbage advises
 
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I have a question.

How come you posted this self promotional thread in "general domain discussion" ?

Looks like mods are eating it. But usually this sort of thing would be more correctly placed in reviews or greetings. Just a bit of sour grapes.. Rules should be rules. Even for you.

Because of the success of this AMAs will be getting its own area eventually. I had no idea where to put it. and I don't think reviews or greetings fit. It looks like a pretty good domain discussion to me. Eric isn't a special treatment kind of guy
 
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In short, it is certainly a huge problem and I understand the importance of protecting generics, I have just been fortunate in that no reverse hijacking has come my way. And my portfolio is small. 500 names or so

Our portfolios are roughly the same size, so I'm pleasantly surprised you've had no issues at all over the years. Kudos. Saving those legal costs lets you reinvest in your business. Preventing those frivolous complaints (participating in the ICANN UDRP review working group, etc. to improve policies) would help others save those needless legal expenses too.
 
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Thanks for bringing in some good PR into Namepros, great idea.

So what happened to Weed.cc ?

https://www.namepros.com/threads/dropcatch-private-auctions-beta-soon.1034985/#post-6307686
Was waiting for someone to ask this question. Weed.cc sold at auction. Guy didn't pay. They asked if I would like to reauction the name. I got what I thought was a terrible price for my numeric so I was already disappointed with my results then this. I wasn't exactly thrilled. Non pays have been an issue but this was the first time for a private seller to have it happen since I was a beta tester. We agreed NameBright would buy the name for the price I sold it at auction since it was a test. I can't make a fair assessment of the platform based on two sales but I won't be listing anything else until the search is better. Hard to find names unless they have top bids on them. I will say the Reberry brothers are good guys and enjoy talking business and working with them. Tackling a private auction system is a lot of work
 
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First and foremost .. thanks again for all of your **OPINIONS** that you've shared with all of us over the years, on DSAD, via @DomainSherpa, as well as the encouraging direct personal communication. It's actually just one year for me, but I have gone back and listened to those older Sherpa Reviews at least 3 times now (my dog loves you, @Michael Cyger, @MediaOptions, @Ali and all the others for all the crazy long walks he gets). I also visit DSAD daily despite having 100-200 names on my personal watch-list every day already .. also really appreciate the actual blog portions .. just like Sherpa, both for the info and the laughs! :)

... I am home from running by 6:45 every morning and I never work at the nursery past 7 pm ...

So .. here's a crazy stalker question for you .. if you finish running at 6:45am .. that's almost the same exact time you post the blog each day.

1- How long on average does it take to make the blog post?
1b - Why don't you post it BEFORE running? For those of us who sometimes wait up for it!
1c - Do you go through the lists for days @ikehook posts his lists?

I intermittently post various lists here on NamePros. Obviously, I do hold the back names I'm most interested in acquiring myself (can be as high as 15-20% for me even if I only end up getting about 2-4/day on average). I also know that since you never dip into personal/outside funds to buy domains, that there are times when you aren't even seriously looking.

2- But those times aside, usually about how many domains do you hold back hoping to grab yourself?


3- When are we going to see something on Uncomfortable.com?


4- How are your legs feeling right now? lol


Thanks again for everything! :)
 
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First and foremost .. thanks again for all of your **OPINIONS** that you've shared with all of us over the years, on DSAD, via @DomainSherpa, as well as the encouraging direct personal communication. It's actually just one year for me, but I have gone back and listened to those older Sherpa Reviews at least 3 times now (my dog loves you, @Michael Cyger, @MediaOptions, @Ali and all the others for all the crazy long walks he gets). I also visit DSAD daily despite already having 100-200 names on my personal watch-list every day already .. also really appreciate the actual blog portions .. just like Sherpa, both for the info and the laughs! :)



So .. here's a crazy stalker question for you .. if you finish running at 6:45am .. that's almost the same exact time you post the blog each day.

1- How long on average does it take to make the blog post?

I write the blog post in the evening. Thus my errors and bad links occasionally. Although many say they could do it in 15 minutes. It generally takes me a few hours. Josh puts twice that in. But we both wander as we write. We see a name and then it reminds us to check or do something else and then we come back. There are a lot of names to look through.


1b - Why don't you post it BEFORE running? For those of us who sometimes wait up for it!

We are paid by affiliate programs. Programs that run on cookies. We have studied how they work and how best to get paid if someone buys a name through our list. Raymond at TLD and TheDomains puts out a list with cookies as well. Its basically a cookie war. He approaches his list a little differently. Same goal of making money but like I said, a little different approach

1c - Do you go through the lists for days @ikehook posts his lists?
Yes. But usually just go through his post to save time. The man pretty much uncovers everything.

I intermittently post various lists here on NamePros. Obviously, I do hold the back names I'm most interested in acquiring myself (can be as high as 15-20% for me even if I only end up getting about 2-4/day on average). I also know that since you never dip into personal/outside funds to buy domains, that there are times when you aren't even seriously looking.

2- But those times aside, usually about how many domains do you hold back hoping to grab yourself?
In the last year, I can't think of one. There are too many people going through the list. Not one single name I held back last year went through without a bid so I might as well list it and get paid. I absolutely never bid unless I plan on winning. I win 80% of the names I bid on. If I were to not list it would only be to avoid the perception of me running up the auction. You buy more names in a week than I buy in a year. I am not playing the numbers game right now. I think I have only purchased 10-15 names this year and all but a few were $2K plus. Going for a different type of portfolio right now. Just a point in time. It will change as it has over the years.


3- When are we going to see something on Uncomfortable.com?
I was just going through the planning part this weekend. Probably going to be more of promoting my book and public speaking. More on the book at a later date. I'm really here to answer questions, not promote....at least directly


4- How are your legs feeling right now? lol
F'n on fire. The third day is a hump day. But I just helped unload 580 Christmas trees and they were burning before that. I won't run until next Tuesday per normal routine
 
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Thanks for doing an AMA, @DomainShane!

Q1: What do you think 2018 will bring, both in terms of aftermarket sales, and also re-seller prices at domainer venues? How do predict the domain industry will develop in the next five years?

Q2: Why have you chosen to hold “just” 500 domains, rather accumulating thousands over the years?

Q3: What is your strongest sales season/most profitable period of the year?

Q4: Do you think there will be another CHIP-like bubble again in the next few years?

Q5: What service is the domain industry missing?

Q6: What do you think of NameJet’s handling of shill bidders on their platform? They did not ban bidders that bid on their own auctions (i.e. “seek”). You were one of the first people to write about this bidder, and NJ did not take action at the time. You expressed some frustration when they seemed to take action after there was a big NamePros thread about it, wondering why they didn’t take it seriously when it was just you telling them what was going on. However, it has now become apparent that they did not ban users, even those who indisputably bid on their own auctions (i.e. seek is still buying/selling daily). I think that poses the question, when a domain industry company is acting unethically or have other serious issues, what can regular domainers can do to hold do domain companies accountable? It seems that most efforts have little to no effect.

Lots of questions, so feel free to skip a few of them. Thanks!
 
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Thanks for doing an AMA, @DomainShane!

Q1: What do you think 2018 will bring, both in terms of aftermarket sales, and also re-seller prices at domainer venues? How do predict the domain industry will develop in the next five years?

I think that the retail market will continue to grow as the worldwide economy grows. I think the wholesale market will continue to sink as investors put their money into investments (bitcoin etc) that they think will offer better return. The lack of turnover is a snowball effect that will keep growing. But I think that provides an excellent opportunity to buy domains that normally wouldn't be for sale as domain investors liquidate and take some money of the table. Changing hands takes a little while but is good for markets. In five years I think people would have wished they bought more good dot coms 5 years ago. Just like its always been

Q2: Why have you chosen to hold “just” 500 domains, rather accumulating thousands over the years?
I imagine that it will grow more than that. I am more concerned with having quality names than quantity. If I can get the portfolio bigger I will. I still have quite a few names that aren't good enough to hold yet there they sit in my portfolio

Q3: What is your strongest sales season/most profitable period of the year?
Winter has always been by best season. Every year

Q4: Do you think there will be another CHIP-like bubble again in the next few years?

There is always a bubble in something. The beauty of it is we don't know what it will be. But absolutely there will be another bubble in some category. My guess would be the wholesale market of the one word dot coms. Everyone wants them and I think they will be going for 3 times what they are now as they become more and more difficult to buy. But that may not be a bubble. That may be forever.

Q5: What service is the domain industry missing?
I don't know about service. I think everything that can be done to make money is being done. I would like to hear more stories. More long conversation with people. I do this because I love hearing what people are doing and how they live their domain life. Andrew Alleman does a good job but cuts everyone off and never lets them wander verbally. We think the audience has a short attention span but long conversationalist like Joe Rogan have proven that some of the best stuff comes out when you let people go long. But that's not a service. I just wish people would fix their broken stuff. Godaddy mobile links have been broken for ever. And they are a billion dollar company

Q6: What do you think of NameJet’s handling of shill bidders on their platform? They did not ban bidders that bid on their own auctions (i.e. “seek”). You were one of the first people to write about this bidder, and NJ did not take action at the time. You expressed some frustration when they seemed to take action after there was a big NamePros thread about it, wondering why they didn’t take it seriously when it was just you telling them what was going on. However, it has now become apparent that they did not ban users, even those who indisputably bid on their own auctions (i.e. seek is still buying/selling daily). I think that poses the question, when a domain industry company is acting unethically or have other serious issues, what can regular domainers can do to hold do domain companies accountable? It seems that most efforts have little to no effect.

I talked to Jonathan a few times about this. As I said before, I didn't feel originally that he thought as much was going on as was. But I do think he sincerely wants it to be a platform without fraud. It's a battle that all the auction sites face. At least Namejet has bidder IDs to track. Imagine what is going on behind the scenes when all you know is bidder 1, bidder 2. As lazy as this statement is all I can say is. Only pay what you think a domain is worth and you'll be OK. Yes, values are based on historic sales. Always take those with a grain of salt. 10% of all of those sales were influenced in one way or another in my opinion. If you think that is bad, I would say 70% of the stock market movement is manipulated. In summary, we need Namejet to succeed so if you have conclusive info that something is wrong I'm sure they would love to hear about it.
 
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But we both wander as we write. We see a name and then it reminds us to check or do something else and then we come back.

lol .. I know exactly what you mean. I often see a name .. then google it to check for spelling or commercial viability or simple curiosity .. next thing I know it's an hour later and I've been auto-logged-out of GoDaddy and have to go back and find my place (GoDaddy .. Please bring back pagination damnit!)

We are paid by affiliate programs. Programs that run on cookies. We have studied how they work and how best to get paid if someone buys a name through our list.

Q1) Are the cookies tracked per domain? Or just last website that sent to the person to GoDaddy? I open ALL GoDaddy names from your lists that I like onto new tabs. Most I've already "liked" from my own list searching, but the ones I didn't already have I always "like" through the link from DSAD. That being said, is the affiliate link just for "new" customers you send them .. or do you actually get commissions on the specific domains? Or just a fixed $X per customer you send them that ends up making a purchase?

Yes. But usually just go through his post to save time. The man pretty much uncovers everything.

@ikehook is a machine! lol

There are too many people going through the list. Not one single name I held back last year went through without a bid so I might as well list it and get paid ...
... You buy more names in a week than I buy in a year. I am not playing the numbers game right now. I think I have only purchased 10-15 names this year and all but a few were $2K plus. Going for a different type of portfolio right now.

Hmmmn .. I get tons of good names with no bids as the only bidder or as they hit closeout .. some even at $5. It's a lot of work though .. I put in serious hours list scanning .. I also (now) have the discipline to say no to a domain after it hits an amount above what I think is "extreme value".

Here's a little sampling of some recent ones (all .com .. all $12 or less):
  • Side Topic
  • Lion Keeper
  • Discrete Care
  • Conquer Sleep
  • Marathon Wear
  • Future DNA
  • Transition Glasses
  • Menurama
  • Feel The Kick
  • Paris Solar
  • Interactive Booth(s) [singular and plural]
  • American Healers
  • Artificial Health
  • Comfort Heels
  • Cosmic Bakery
  • Platinum Renos
  • Reward Points (in org)

Although as we've discussed before, I guess you're a notch above these kinds of names now ("Mr Botany and Blowtorch dot com" .. lol) .. but I also think mine are no-brainers at $12 (or less) .. most names like these definitely get picked up .. but when you have a dozen or two names of that quality a day, it's a numbers game and a small handful do get through .. you just need to be quick at the draw and be able to resist the ones that get too pricey .. but even then .. a couple of these I grabbed at $5! The true cost for me is TIME (and money .. lol .. but more time at this point as I'm buying fewer domains)! But I've told myself that "Time" in my first year (just finished .. lol) is part of my initial investment towards learning as much as I can!
 
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The chicken or the egg .......... who really came first ?? (thanks in advance)
 
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The chicken or the egg .......... who really came first ?? (thanks in advance)
The egg, laid by a bird that was not a chicken
 
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What do you think today's value of first name .net is?

I noticed you bought Paula.net for $2,199 on NameJet in October of 2014.

Six months later it was reauctioned on NameJet, but it didn't meet the $500 to $1,000 reserve.

Were you able to resell it for a profit? And do you still dabble in first name .net niche?
 
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What do you think today's value of first name .net is?

I noticed you bought Paula.net for $2,199 on NameJet in October of 2014.

Six months later it was reauctioned on NameJet, but it didn't meet the $500 to $1,000 reserve.

Were you able to resell it for a profit? And do you still dabble in first name .net niche?

I really like popular first name dot nets. People like to own their name. For email use alone. And someone with enough money doesn't mind paying a few thousand plus to have their name.

Dot nets in general are terrible investments lately but names have their own value. Honestly I don't remember the details of why I bought that. I have dabbled in LL.net LL.orgs and all kinds of things. But I have never tried to accumulate a portfolio of any of those like I have NNNN.coms and LLLLL.coms over the years
 
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Looks like they started a whole new AMA section now. All because of this little old post :) I'll take questions until midnight, if there are any I'll answer them in the morning and then close this thing up. Been fun. Thanks everyone for playing along.
 
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Thanks @Domain Shane

Could you elaborate on numeric domains. Thank you in advance.

Cheers
Corey
That's a whole post unto itself. The world speaks hundreds if not thousands of different languages. If we have to pick one thing that they all understand it would be numbers. 1,2,3,4. Some languages write them differently but most know them. That is why I always liked numbers. Add to the fact that many cultures practice numerology and "collect" items that have good numbers. License plates, domains, even money. That gives them value

All that being said, the good numbers are all taken. And have gotten quite expensive. The play is over when it comes to incredible returns. I think they go up in time but at more reasonable rates. I also think everyone should have a few numbers in their portfolio. My opinion only and I have been very correct on that opinion for 10 years straight
 
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Looks like they started a whole new AMA section now. All because of this little old post :)

Johnny Appleseed. :)

Always enjoyed and appreciated your taking time to share your insights on Domain Sherpa like you did. Thanks for that.
 
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I'll take questions until midnight, if there are any I'll answer them in the morning and then close this thing up. Been fun. Thanks everyone for playing along.
Asks:
  1. What's something that you'd rather pay someone to do than to do yourself?
  2. What's the best purchase you've ever made? Keurig? Domain? Earplugs?
  3. If or when you have a boat, what will you name it? Will the name include .com? :artist:
  4. If you could know anything, what would it be? Afterlife? Retirement age? Meaning of life?
  5. Is there anything you wanted to share that wasn't asked?
It's been fun! :bookworm:
 
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Really appreciate your posts, time and effort you place in making honest comments with no BS – big thank you!


Do you do any outbound marketing for your domains via e-mail to prospective buyers or do you get better results by waiting for the buyers to show up?
 
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