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advice How to Make Money If the Domain Market Crashes

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Haroon Basha

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How to Make Money If the Domain Market Crashes
By Keith deBoer
Opportunity is invisible to most. THAT is why it’s an opportunity to begin with. You have to look for voids and holes in the fabric of society – for the customer – and if you fill that gap, voila! – Rick Schwartz, The Domain King.
Like any industry or asset class, booms and busts come and go. I think we are nearing the end of another cycle and while there will be pain for many there will be opportunity for others. The purpose of this article is to let you know that a) there is likely a bust coming b) how it might happen and c) how you could profit from it.

Nothing goes up forever.

We are all familiar with the CHIP boom of 2015 and the subsequent bust that occurred the following spring.
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
By looking at past cycles it doesn't take a genius to know that a downturn is coming. These cycles always have been and always will be. There was one in 1960, 1970, 1975, early 80s, early 90s, 2001 (dotcom bust), and the last one in 2008. Not one cycle has gone past 10 years. What is 2008 to 2018? 10 years. At a bare minimum we are at the maximum 10 year window.

So basically the fuse has been already lit and now we are just waiting for the dynamite to explode. Will it happen? Absolutely. Keith is right that when this happens inventory will be sold off or dropped. In 2008 when this last happened names that are selling now for over 400 bucks I was picking up in closeouts for 8 bucks. All the junk brandable inventory will be dropped so sites like BrandBucket will go from 50,000 names to probably half that.

The only wrinkle in this whole outcome is Huge Domains. They are positioned will they will scoop up everything and anything worth getting. They are the brandable destroyer that will still eat the small domainer for lunch. Bon appetit.
 
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People will always need homes to live in. That is why real estate business cant go down....oh wait, you talk about online real estate...
OK, so, here we go. People will always need domains to build their online businesses, that is why domain market cannot crash unless there is the end of the world. In that case I will find a cave, fill it up with canned beans and sell to highest bidder.
 
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People will always need homes to live in. That is why real estate business cant go down....oh wait, you talk about online real estate...
OK, so, here we go. People will always need domains to build their online businesses, that is why domain market cannot crash unless there is the end of the world. In that case I will find a cave, fill it up with canned beans and sell to highest bidder.

I bid $1 for the cave, what's the BIN?
 
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Wrong. Green dot rentals 😜jk.

Joking aside, I disagree completely. ............


.....

Wait. Did you think I was going to elaborate? No I’m an absolute noob and also bit of an idiot at times

Plus I smoked a Jay after dinner so I’m feeling a little spacey. You wanna’ punch me? You do! Well go ahead...
 
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Honestly, for some of my domains I think it's better to develop something.

Right now i working on it in almost 3 of my domains, but of course, it's more expensive. Is not about install any stupid php script that anyone can buy.
 
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expect and be prepared for the unexpected IMO, when the market and the industry took a big hit, i sat silent on my names, paid my renewal fees yearly and moved forward. should the industry totally crash, i will do the same thing, this industry is no different from any other, recessions are going to happen, trying to unload domain inventory during a down fall is a huge mistake IMO, It will absolutely come back up, it's not if, but when. with a few years of renewal fees and no sales, adjustments have to be made to the portfolio, I have a few cvcv.coms ,hand registered that i have sat on since 2006, 12 years of renewal fees on those domains, I can cash out those today and make a decent ROI, on the flip side, i have a total of 212 hand registered 4L.coms of all varieties, about 203 of them i have spent $120 a piece to date on renewal fees per each 4L.com, I know i can at a minimum make the money back and break even on them, that at worst case scenario. But, i anticipate that when the trading slows down with 4L.com, I will then cash out if i want to. The same with many .com domains i own and have paid those renewal fees for years on.

It is really no different in the domain industry as the stock market, 401K investing and ect. there are risks involved, high, medium and low yield. just examples: 3L.com - 4L.com - NNL.com are pretty low yield investments IMO, while 5L.com brandables are medium to high yield investments, and so on down the line as far as domain names go IMO.

If a total crash were to happen, Expect the worst, and hope for the best. just don't panic. If you do, i will be here with cash to buy, hit me up ;)

How to make money if the industry crashes? Take the money you have made domaining, and reinvest , open your own business or ect, that will give you paydirt for your domain name or website development efforts and investments in the domain industry.
 
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expect and be prepared for the unexpected IMO, when the market and the industry took a big hit, i sat silent on my names, paid my renewal fees yearly and moved forward. should the industry totally crash, i will do the same thing, this industry is no different from any other, recessions are going to happen, trying to unload domain inventory during a down fall is a huge mistake IMO, It will absolutely come back up, it's not if, but when. with a few years of renewal fees and no sales, adjustments have to be made to the portfolio, I have a few cvcv.coms ,hand registered that i have sat on since 2006, 12 years of renewal fees on those domains, I can cash out those today and make a decent ROI, on the flip side, i have a total of 212 hand registered 4L.coms of all varieties, about 203 of them i have spent $120 a piece to date on renewal fees per each 4L.com, I know i can at a minimum make the money back and break even on them, that at worst case scenario. But, i anticipate that when the trading slows down with 4L.com, I will then cash out if i want to. The same with many .com domains i own and have paid those renewal fees for years on.

It is really no different in the domain industry as the stock market, 401K investing and ect. there are risks involved, high, medium and low yield. just examples: 3L.com - 4L.com - NNL.com are pretty low yield investments IMO, while 5L.com brandables are medium to high yield investments, and so on down the line as far as domain names go IMO.

If a total crash were to happen, Expect the worst, and hope for the best. just don't panic. If you do, i will be here with cash to buy, hit me up ;)

How to make money if the industry crashes? Take the money you have made domaining, and reinvest , open your own business or ect, that will give you paydirt for your domain name or website development efforts and investments in the domain industry.

Well said. But most domainers don't have the leverage to sit on domains due to lack of inventory as well as the cash. Also according to what you said, you've hand registered 200+ 4L .coms in 2006 so holding cost for up to 20 years isn't a big issue considering the same quality and quantity of domains are acquired today. So one needs to keep the cash flow going for things to move smoothly.

I'm not against your point of view. However, I think this is still the right time to buy as many domains as possible at the right prices as they will pay off very well in future.

Also I don't think the domain market will completely crash any time in future. It will definitely go down but not like the dot-com bubble burst in early 2000's as the high and medium quality domains are in the hands of people with good cash and reserves to hold onto longer period of time.
 
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People will always need homes to live in. That is why real estate business cant go down....oh wait, you talk about online real estate...
OK, so, here we go. People will always need domains to build their online businesses, that is why domain market cannot crash unless there is the end of the world. In that case I will find a cave, fill it up with canned beans and sell to highest bidder.
Your comparison is way off. I can go online and literally purchase a domain from $10-20 for my business. Show me where I can buy a house for that amount. So, just because a business may need a domain doesn't mean they need the domain a particular domainer is selling. So, yes registrars might be safe from a potential crash but not your average domainer.
 
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Your comparison is way off. I can go online and literally purchase a domain from $10-20 for my business. Show me where I can buy a house for that amount. So, just because a business may need a domain doesn't mean they need the domain a particular domainer is selling. So, yes registrars might be safe from a potential crash but not your average domainer.
myonlineshopwhereisellshoes.com is like a house in Syria right now. Have no real value. So, you see, you can buy a house for $20.

On the other side of the spectrum is a house in So Cal that costs like LL.com

Everything in between is opportunity.
 
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Well said. But most domainers don't have the leverage to sit on domains due to lack of inventory as well as the cash. Also according to what you said, you've hand registered 200+ 4L .coms in 2006 so holding cost for up to 20 years isn't a big issue considering the same quality and quantity of domains are acquired today. So one needs to keep the cash flow going for things to move smoothly.

I'm not against your point of view. However, I think this is still the right time to buy as many domains as possible at the right prices as they will pay off very well in future.

Also I don't think the domain market will completely crash any time in future. It will definitely go down but not like the dot-com bubble burst in early 2000's as the high and medium quality domains are in the hands of people with good cash and reserves to hold onto longer period of time.
That is a great point, the cost to sit on the names is expensive, and a lot can’t sit on them due to all the different factors. But at the same time, turning your domain name profits into liquidity assets is a way to secure your life line in the industry, I took my profits I made from domaining and funded my music instrument store, that is my full time job, domaining and website development income is a supplemental income for me, I was never a good enough domainer to make it my sole income, I tried, but it just wasn’t meant for me, the few that I know that where talented enough to make domaining their full time business and sole income, would absolutely agree with your statement, they have to keep moving and purchasing inventory to to keep their lively hood, I do not think the market will crash, I think the industry as a whole will see further recession, up and down and so forth, but if it did totally crash,, I mean completely collapse, and I lost every penny I have put into domaining, I would have not one regret, I have been very blessed to be able to be a part of the domain industry, there are some of the most fantastic people in the industry, all my gratitude goes to NamePros.com, nothing would have happened for me hadn’t it been for NamePros, i am not a highly successful domainer by any means, but it did fund my current business, and my business is going into its 8th year, and going strong, capitalize on those liquid assets, set them aside for that possible rainy day, and keep domaining!!
 
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