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sales My Biggest Sale Yet - $24.5k

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Hi All,

Wanted to report my biggest sale yet that came after revising my prices back in August. I'd like to thank everyone here and special gratitude to @Riz M., @AbdulBasit.com & @DnFolk for also reporting their recent large sales. It has been very much appreciated. Also a thanks to Mike Mann for continually reporting his sales on twitter.

Special thanks to Rick Schwartz for his video below. You should checkout his blog, videos and twitter regularly if you don't already. It helps to keep things in perspective.

https://twitter.com/DomainKing/status/1156858192711888896


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Purchased in 2016 for $19.47 via godaddy.

I've been buying and selling domains for over 17 years. Prior to August, I'd been selling about 60-70 domains per year to end users, but last year I revised the prices on about 30-40% of my domains (see below). The reason I increased pricing on many of my domains was because it really felt like I was underselling many domains and leaving too much money on the table.

So the plan was to increase the prices to NameWorth suggested levels (where I feel it makes sense) and then try to get to $250k in annual sales from the current $130k-$140k. So hopefully I'll get there, or maybe I'll crash and burn because the prices are too high. But the first month is looking great so far and on track
HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS

While this has been the second 5 figure sale since August and my average sale price is much higher than in prior years, my overall sales have not really been higher.for the last 12 months as the higher prices on the top 30-40% of my names have likely decreased the quantity of sales. Maybe I'll try to fine tune this over time to see if I can achieve the right balance.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Question: What made you price PlanToGrow at 24k?

This is the kind of sale that often blows my mind, because I normally would price a domain like that in the low to mid 4 figures, but you had the intuition to know it could sell for higher. I admire people who have the skill to be able to do that, but I honestly can't figure it out... It almost looks random to me in some ways... Its why I stick to generics, because there is more rational that I can bet on, but apparently there's a lot of money to be made in brandables as well if you know what you're doing.

I recent regged AirOfCredibility dot com hoping to have that kind of intuition / hunch... Do you think I'm on the right track? Or is this a hard miss? 😄

I also had the tendency to price most names in the low to mid $x,xxx range. Then my top 2-3% of names I would leave with no price. But the reality is there are not just two types of domains. Seeing a lot of Mike Mann's sales also made me realize there isn't just a Ford or a Lamborghini in terms of domain pricing.

For this domain, due to the sheer number, I put them all through my NameWorth service (2,000+ domains) then adjusted them up or down depending on what I saw.

That's a good question about your domain. For "air of credibility" it is a term that most people have heard, but I've found it useful to also envision how it can be used, what buyers there could likely be, and how much those types of buyers typically pay for a domain. You'd have to research the uses of the term, and to me it seems that term would be less likely for business use, but could be used for a book title, movie, or maybe a blog. So you'd have to assess realistic values for each of the possible uses based on the types of buyers.

Lately I try to only buy domains where the use is either pretty obvious or it has a broad and positive meaning (as with PlanToGrow). For example, I have the domain ASliceAbove(dot)com. The use for something like this is pretty obvious. There are similarly named pizza places. In the past, this domain has also been used for a cake business. The domain to a mom and pop pizza business in a small town might not even be worth $1,750 to some business owners, but to a pizza chain with 10-15 restaurants, it might be worth $10-$20k.

The video below is one of my favorites as far as helping to shift paradigms, and I've watched it multiple times. It has to do with pricing/value of logo design, but the concepts can be directly applied to domain sales.

 
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Great sale but you have Enormous carry costs. Over $60K annually? You need many home run sales just to carry your portfolio...every year. Next year $100k....

It seems like this, but it has all happened incrementally. When I had $50k per year in sales, my registrations were $20k or so and that seemed big.

Last year my registrations were about $55k, but my revenue has been between $125k-$150k per year for the last 5 years or so.
 
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How many hang reg names in your 6 k portfolio, how many names you buy in a month? How long you took to build your portfolio


Thanks and congrats

Over the years I sometimes hand reg names if a business idea comes to me, but for domain investing I've only done auction or expired domains. So if I were to guess, it is likely under 300 hand reg names.

My favorite hand reg was garett(dot)com. I was the original registrant in 1999, then I let it expire and lucked out by getting it back on a backorder the following year.

Most months I only buy about 5-10 domains, but there have been points in time where I buy large amounts. For instance, in 2018 I purchased about 1,200 domains in a 2-3 month period.

If I were to guess my domain count by year it would be something like this.

1999 - 3
2003 - 250
2005 - 450
2007 - 1,200
2008 - 2,500
2014 - 4,200
2016 - 5,300
2018 - 6,700
2019 - 7,000
2020 - 6,600

My goal is to build it to over 10,000 domains by 2021.

I'd say the first 1,000 domains was probably the hardest because it is all self funded. I had a separate online business that was doing well, so I was able to fund the domains out of that business. Once the domain sales start coming in, if you focus on building your names and reinvest most of your money back in, it can grow pretty steadily.
 
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I also had the tendency to price most names in the low to mid $x,xxx range. Then my top 2-3% of names I would leave with no price. But the reality is there are not just two types of domains. Seeing a lot of Mike Mann's sales also made me realize there isn't just a Ford or a Lamborghini in terms of domain pricing.

For this domain, due to the sheer number, I put them all through my NameWorth service (2,000+ domains) then adjusted them up or down depending on what I saw.

That's a good question about your domain. For "air of credibility" it is a term that most people have heard, but I've found it useful to also envision how it can be used, what buyers there could likely be, and how much those types of buyers typically pay for a domain. You'd have to research the uses of the term, and to me it seems that term would be less likely for business use, but could be used for a book title, movie, or maybe a blog. So you'd have to assess realistic values for each of the possible uses based on the types of buyers.

Lately I try to only buy domains where the use is either pretty obvious or it has a broad and positive meaning (as with PlanToGrow). For example, I have the domain ASliceAbove(dot)com. The use for something like this is pretty obvious. There are similarly named pizza places. In the past, this domain has also been used for a cake business. The domain to a mom and pop pizza business in a small town might not even be worth $1,750 to some business owners, but to a pizza chain with 10-15 restaurants, it might be worth $10-$20k.

The video below is one of my favorites as far as helping to shift paradigms, and I've watched it multiple times. It has to do with pricing/value of logo design, but the concepts can be directly applied to domain sales.

NameBuyer, thanks again for sharing your domain brilliance. I just listened to the video you provided, and it's brilliant as well. I also appreciate your analysis of names like AirofCredibility(dot)com, and ASliceofPizza(.)com.

I think a lot like you when it comes to the "target" your domain is intended for, ie., the mom and pop pizza business or the pizza chain with 10-15 restaurants.

That said, you'll find on your "reg of the day" i just registered ProShopFashion(dot)com, and the target audience it's intended for (fashion and apparel) is a 167 Billion dollar industry. My question for you? Why wouldn't you look to market it directly (outbound) to someone like a Fanatics.com or someone in the online apparel business?

Finally, thanks again for sharing your thoughts and use of NameWorth as a valuation/appraisal tool. I recently upgraded my service with them and would luv to partner with them in some capacity:xf.smile:
 
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You have a brave, analytical approach and in many ways very safe, because you've made calculated steps over the years, instead of regging 2k names in your first year and complaining on NP that this industry is a hoax or a scam.

I appreciate your well written replies, helping to inspire those aspiring.
 
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The video below is one of my favorites as far as helping to shift paradigms, and I've watched it multiple times. It has to do with pricing/value of logo design, but the concepts can be directly applied to domain sales.

Thank you for an excellent video!

The concept can absolutely be applied to domain names. The problem is knowing the identity of the potential buyer. Figure that out, and you'll definitely make more money.
 
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Cool, how long for afternic to verify buyer's payment?
 
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NameBuyer, thanks again for sharing your domain brilliance. I just listened to the video you provided, and it's brilliant as well. I also appreciate your analysis of names like AirofCredibility(dot)com, and ASliceofPizza(.)com.

I think a lot like you when it comes to the "target" your domain is intended for, ie., the mom and pop pizza business or the pizza chain with 10-15 restaurants.

That said, you'll find on your "reg of the day" i just registered ProShopFashion(dot)com, and the target audience it's intended for (fashion and apparel) is a 167 Billion dollar industry. My question for you? Why wouldn't you look to market it directly (outbound) to someone like a Fanatics.com or someone in the online apparel business?

Finally, thanks again for sharing your thoughts and use of NameWorth as a valuation/appraisal tool. I recently upgraded my service with them and would luv to partner with them in some capacity:xf.smile:
NameWorth can give value for .com domains only they say. I have a lot of other extensions domains though :unsure:
 
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congrats my friend. Awesome sale!!!
 
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Congrats on the sale.

Always great to read these and get insights into what goes on behind the scenes so to speak.
 
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Cool, how long for afternic to verify buyer's payment?

That was the first notice I got. I believe Afternic typically notifies the seller only after the payment is ready to go.

A different one I got 4 days ago was the same. The only delay seems to be getting the domain to the Buyers account before releasing the funds to you. Some buyers are faster than others.

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Congrats!
I will thankful to you if give us some tips, your marketing method, domain selection, marketplace listing, holding period etc.
 
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congratulations!! cheers
 
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Congrats! but how much bought?
 
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ManyCongrats.com for you:xf.wink:
 
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@NameBuyer.com What's your strategy to make a domain sale. What you prefer outbound or let buyer to make offer that is inbound. I also listed some domains which I purchased in 2019 but none of them sold.
 
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