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question How many domains need minimum for a domainer?

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Praveen E

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Hi,
To be a domainer, how many domains I should need to maintain and what should be the minimum investment for one year and the next year.

What are the essential steps should I do for selling .?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Depends on your skill level and how much money you can afford “losing”. You can acquire domains via auction or direct from domain owners, you can catch dropped domains, and you can do hand registration. You should probably start slow and be willing to sell at price lower than what experienced domaines would expect. Add more to your portfolio as you learn about the industry. Domain investment is a long game, and you need to be patient.

I am new to domaining, have < 20 domains, and no sale so far. What I have learned so far is
- get to know each big registrar
- get to know the renewal price at each registra. Factor in the private registration fee if you use it. (My current choice is Epik where private registration is free)
- get a verified account at each major auction site so you don’t loose out on opportunities
- frequent this forum
- listen to DomainSherpa podcast
- learn how to use expireddomains.net and archive.org
- learn a little bit about SEO and how it relates to used/expired domains
- learn where you can sell domains, how the platform work, and the commission rate
 
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  1. minimum 25 domains or more
  2. few years experience in domain community
  3. knows how work registrars, registries, etc
 
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You are domainer when you have at least one more domain than you really need for yourself or for your company.
 
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To be a domainer, how many domains I should need to maintain and what should be the minimum investment for one year and the next year.
It is not the number of domains you have that make you a domainer, rather what you do with them. Whether you own 20 or 2000, a domainer looks to invest for profit.

What are the essential steps should I do for selling .?
1) Do some research on a niche that that interests you, something you're comfortable with.
2) Look over the multitude of threads within NP which discuss buying, selling.
3) Don't worry about selling, worry about buying. You can't sell, if you can't buy.
 
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It is not the number of domains you have that make you a domainer, rather what you do with them. Whether you own 20 or 2000, a domainer looks to invest for profit.
THIS!! perfect answer

If you buy one domain name and sell one domain name for a profit I would call you a successful domainer. I don't see any minimum number necessary to call yourself a domainer. Some like a larger portfolio, some do not.

Best wishes for success in domaining @Praveen E , no matter how few or many domain names in your portfolio.

Bob
 
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THIS!! perfect answer

If you buy one domain name and sell one domain name for a profit I would call you a successful domainer. I don't see any minimum number necessary to call yourself a domainer. Some like a larger portfolio, some do not.

Best wishes for success in domaining @Praveen E , no matter how few or many domain names in your portfolio.

Bob
Bob, usually I agree with you, but I'm not with you on this one. There were guys here ( mostly developers or website owners) who successfully sold a domain, because they didn't really used it and after that, they started looking info about how to sell, promote, transfer, do escrow and others, at this point, you can't name them a 'domainer'. Also, there were beginners who successfully sold a domain for xxxx(some even low xxxxx), but they could not replicate that sale months/years after the first sale and even the one's who sold some, they could not make a profit at the end of the year. For me, to be a successful domainer, you need some constant sales(or at least inquiries) over the course of one year and you need to have at least $1 more than you have spent on a particular year(including acquisition, renewals and in some instances an average hourly rate, to compensate your time spent).
 
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You raise good points @boker. I stand corrected. I agree that to be a successful domainer it must not be a one-of sale and that you must be actively purchasing domains (even a few) regularly for the specific purpose of trying to sell them. All good points well expressed. I agree 100% with your view. Thanks for expressing your view.
Bob

ps Now if we could finally get the dictionary folks to recognize domainer as a word! :xf.wink:
 
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Bob, usually I agree with you, but I'm not with you on this one. There were guys here ( mostly developers or website owners) who successfully sold a domain, because they didn't really used it and after that, they started looking info about how to sell, promote, transfer, do escrow and others, at this point, you can't name them a 'domainer'. Also, there were beginners who successfully sold a domain for xxxx(some even low xxxxx), but they could not replicate that sale months/years after the first sale and even the one's who sold some, they could not make a profit at the end of the year. For me, to be a successful domainer, you need some constant sales(or at least inquiries) over the course of one year and you need to have at least $1 more than you have spent on a particular year(including acquisition, renewals and in some instances an average hourly rate, to compensate your time spent).
The OP's question is not related to success or failure (of course we all desire success), it was a question of the number required to be considered a "domainer". Just because some enjoy better and more consistant sales than others, does not make them any less of a domainer.

Agreed with Hawkes, domainer needs to be recognized as an official dictionary term.
 
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The OP's question is not related to success or failure (of course we all desire success), it was a question of the number required to be considered a "domainer". Just because some enjoy better and more consistant sales than others, does not make them any less of a domainer.

Agreed with Hawkes, domainer needs to be recognized as an official dictionary term.
But if you are not successful, you will be a domainer? So, if let's say, tomorrow, someone has 10k to invest and starts buying domains(hand reg's or aftermarket, doesn't matter), and in that year, he makes 1.2,5 sales of 1k each, but he is loosing 5k, without learning anything in the meantime, he will be considered a domainer? A domainer should be somebody who has a genuine interest in domains, who at least is trying to learn and who is trying to make a profit.(and who eventually will make a profit or at least constant sales). Just buying 10 domains, without knowing to much about the industry, you can't be considered a domainer. Even if you hand reg 100 recently dropped domains, without knowing anything about the industry, based on pure luck, you can still have a sale, but that sale will not make you a domainer.
 
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Yes. Sales are slow right now. I only own 400 domains. Does that disqualify me?
 
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Yes. Sales are slow right now. I only own 400 domains. Does that disqualify me?
It's not about a certain moment, month or year. But if you are doing this for years and you don't have multiple sales or you don't have at least periods or niches when you make some sales/profits, you are not a domainer, just somebody who is spending money buying domains. If I will start buying tomorrow stock market shares, without knowing the basics, that will not make me a broker or an investor, I will be just somebody who has money to burn.
 
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A very liquid portfolio is what you want, chiefly if you're just starting out.

Need to at least cover renewals, and ideally, make some sales to aquire better and better names.

It's not easy to sell a domain, period. Patience and a liquid portfolio is key
 
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It's not about a certain moment, month or year. But if you are doing this for years and you don't have multiple sales or you don't have at least periods or niches when you make some sales/profits, you are not a domainer, just somebody who is spending money buying domains. If I will start buying tomorrow stock market shares, without knowing the basics, that will not make me a broker or an investor, I will be just somebody who has money to burn.
For sure, and great points.

But the OP was focusing on a number needed to be considered an investor, and the fact is whether you focus on quantity (usually a larger portfolio), or focus on quality (usually a smaller portfolio), still makes you an investor. Success or failure is another can of worms altogether, and is also as subjective as the OP's question.

There are high-profile investors with less than 50 domains in their portfolio, extreme high quality names that may take years to sell.
 
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Well, depends on how much you plan to earn annually. 10k or 100k?

Also depends on your investment budget and taste. You can buy 100 names that each are worth 10k+ to end users and one sale a year will do it for you. Or 100 6 figure names if you have a million plus to invest. That will give you 6 figure income a year from 1 name a year sold in average.

Or you can go for cheaper acquisitions that cost $8 to $50 per name to buy. Then you would need to 1000+ names for 5 figure income and 10000+ for 6 figure income.

This all assumes investment grade names, not collectibles or ok names that no one will pay xxxx+ for.
 
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For sure, and great points.

But the OP was focusing on a number needed to be considered an investor, and the fact is whether you focus on quantity (usually a larger portfolio), or focus on quality (usually a smaller portfolio), still makes you an investor. Success or failure is another can of worms altogether, and is also as subjective as the OP's question.

There are high-profile investors with less than 50 domains in their portfolio, extreme high quality names that may take years to sell.
He asked the wrong question. I'm not debating that you could be a domainer with a few domains and selling only at the end of the day(year, cycle, life) you still need to make some sales and make some profit. The main question, should be, how many sales/knowledge/profit/inquiries I should have to be considered a domainer. Even the one selling just for high prices, once every 5/10 years, will still have some inquiries, even if they don't make any sales.
 
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Would you tell someone who lost money in the stock market they weren't really an investor? If you put money into the stock market you are an investor and if you buy and sell domains you are a domainer. Hopefully you gain more than you loose but risk of loosing money is part of investing whether in stocks or domains.
 
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After being a member of domain forums over time I have seen many that only trade with a handful. They turn them over fast and only work on that they have before using same funds. There are many types of domainers most have time to buy and make little effort to sell. I will say scale it. You need enough inventory to get traffic, enough budget and enough time to market. I strongly believe there is a ratio of how many names one can manage both full time and part time and I exceeded that amount some time ago.
 
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