Can available domains be worth a lot?

[NameoftheGame]

By available domains I mean those you can hand'reg for under 20$, and by worth lot I mean 500$+ today.Is there some combination of words nobody thought about that if revealed would just rocket the name to be worth 500$ or more pretty much instantaneously, or did the computer programs looking for combinations completely took out every single one of them?

This isn't a request for such names obviously, just wondering if they exist out there.

 

[Kate]

Yes, it's not rare to sell a handreg for $500+ if you know what to register.
But I think the odds increase with drops (expired domains that are deleted and become available again). A valuable domain is likely to be already registered, or have been registered before.
A bit of patience is required though, it's not like you can flip it the very next day. Remember that domain sales are unpredictable. When I say patience, I mean years. I recently sold a handreg in that range, and I registered it in 2006...

 

[Ralph2472]

Most of the names I have were hand reg'd. It's not very often that I buy any already registered. All the sales I've had in the past 13 years or so have been hand registered. In fact I don't think I've sold any pre registered names for more than $10-$20 to get rid of them. I sold a hand reg' this week which I registered three weeks ago for $2.17 sold for $75 Not a large amount; but a good return on investment. A few weeks ago I sold a hand reg at Brandbucket for low $xxxx (it took about a year)
So really it's hand registrations for me.

Regards

Ralph.

 

[NameFit]

Any purchase/sale possibility should build into a an overall strategy, yes it is possible to register hand reg names, but as above said, you have to be patient, really patient (10+ years average). Even though end users do not care about when it was registered, but it is natural, all decent names were registered years and years ago. When you try to had register names, you will realize how far you are based on availability of extensions and age (whois). If you tried for a name that was registered 15+years ago, then obviously you are thinking too common combinations. With time, you will advance your thinking and may be able to find something that you can hand register. That is just beginning, next challenge is how to sell that. There have been plenty said in forums about sales possibilities, but most sellers end up not having more than $50 profit in these forums. That will not pay your renewal costs if you are having a portfolio. Average sales in industry for very decent names is 1-2% at best. So you have do the math, how many you can register/should sell keeping in view renewal costs. If you are thinking, if it does not sell in a year, then I will drop it, that is not a good strategy (successful long term steady domainers do not take this approach). That just shows that you do not have confidence in you yet, hence you cannot expect anything better in future.

Last words, though there is always more, do not go by hype - this person hand registered for $8 and sold it for $4500 in 2 years or few months.. Those are 'isolated' examples that all newscasts, forums, domainers like to highlight and not a norm and do not give complete picture, like how many names person has, how much they pay for renewals, how many they drop etc etc. Lots, I mean lots of domainers take the approach 'register as many as you can - because you just do not know what is going to sell' - it is ok to have that approach if you have been in this business for sometime and 'you know' what works, but many beginners follow that and get burnt out within a year because of lack of even one sale in a year or so.

Hope it helps

 

[Willox Perez]

Great advice already. The mentality of this approach has to be to liquidate and make a nice profit and jump on the opportunities to sell when you can. What I mean is if you have the chance to make 10 times your investment with a $20 domain and sell it at $200 do it instead of thinking of holding on to sell it for more.

At this point tho it would be rare and time consuming to register something and believe it will make you good money. But getting expired domains at a low cost will make the most sense and you will make profit as your selection of names improve.

- Will

 

[forge]

Last words, though there is always more, do not go by hype - this person hand registered for $8 and sold it for $4500 in 2 years or few months..

There are more than a handful of domainers here on NP that would expect us to believe they can do just that on a monthly basis or better. The Midas Touch.

It's a bit too amazing if you ask me.

 

[Name Trader]

Most hand-reg domains are crap. There are a very few exceptions. So to hand-reg a domain and flip it for $500 within a couple of months is hard but not impossible. You need to do your research and know your market niches. You need to have the confidence that you know you can flip the domain to somebody within a couple of months, and actually achieve this objective. I'd say this would be quite hard to do for a beginner. I only mention that because I see you are new to this forum. Where are my manners.... welcome

 

[Ralph2472]

Most hand-reg domains are crap. There are a very few exceptions. So to hand-reg a domain and flip it for $500 within a couple of months is hard but not impossible. You need to do your research and know your market niches. You need to have the confidence that you know you can flip the domain to somebody within a couple of months, and actually achieve this objective. I'd say this would be quite hard to do for a beginner. I only mention that because I see you are new to this forum. Where are my manners.... welcome

Yes, I've registered my share of crappy domains. I'm sure we've all done it; but some won't admit it.
I've only ever used domaining as a hobby; so I don't have to be too serious about it However, It has always been a hobby which has been self financing (with a little profit after annual registrations etc.)
I've never flipped a name over $500 quickly.
The first time I did this it took 3 years. I hand registered a name in 2001 which was short but had a number 2 in it. It was purchased through Sedo in 2004 for $550 by Comcast who registered it for another 10 years, and shelved it. (I think that was so competition couldn't use it)
Anyway, I'm happy if I can flip a name within 2 years. I still have one I registered in 2003 and 3 registered in 2009.
It's a weird world this domaining, and gets some people into debt before they know it.
Take care, and think what you're doing.

Regards

Ralph.