.com Domains

[ScottMb]

I'm looking at spending more time on .com domains. Since I started domaining I spent most of my time on my own country cctld (co.uk). Thing with .com its a whole different ball game, with your own cctld its more viable to find meaningful (good) domains seeing as there are a fraction of registered domains compared to .com. With .com its sometimes feels like your trying to find a fairly good/ok amongst all the tons of trash.
Im interested to know about how many .com domains would be a good size portfolio of good/ok domains to keep a regular stream of inquiry's?.

 

[hawkeye]

..
Im interested to know about how many .com domains would be a good size portfolio of good/ok domains to keep a regular stream of inquiry's?.

It's not how 'many' domains are needed in a portfolio 'to keep a regular stream of income', it's how many 'good' domains are in that portfolio.

 

[Name Trader]

How long is a piece of string? How good is your judgement? How big is your wallet? What are your expectations? With all good/moderate domains being already registered. You are practically forced into buying good/moderate domains in the aftermarket, or from dropping domains. It's a hard slog. You can still buy moderate 3 letter .coms for under $5k, which could turn you a profit if you can find an end user. Good 4 letter .coms are going to cost you about $2k and up. 5/6/7 letter .coms of a brandable nature is probably a sweet spot. But brandables are notoriously difficult to sell to an end user because they have so much choice. So you need to be adept at selecting your names. Not everyone has the knack. Two word .coms are also a sweet spot. Most one word .coms are probably out of reach. You can expect to turn over approx 5% of your stock every year. 10% is practically impossible to achieve. You do the math.

 

[ScottMb]

Ok thanks for the reply's and yes I know its all about quality quality, 10 good > 1000 trash etc. 5% is an interesting figure to bare in mind. It was more a question of say you were able to register/had the knowledge etc how many $500 domains would make up a decent sized portfolio.

 

[Name Trader]

Are you paying $500 or selling at $500? If you have unlimited resources and selling at a large profit, the sky is the limit on the number of domains in your portfolio. You are still asking the question "how long is a piece of string". It isn't possible to answer such a question with any degree of relevance.

 

[Name Trader]

OK. If you are paying $500 and Selling at $2000, you make a profit of $1500 per sale. Which means you need $1500/$10(renewal fee)/0.05(sales rate) = 3000 domains (theoretically) to break even. But you have the holding costs of holding 3000 domains @ $500 = $15000 initial cost. Renewal fees alone will be $30,000. So thats $45000 spent after 1 year. So thats $45000/$1500/0.05 = 600 domains to break even. You do the maths, anyway you want. It isn't rocket science. If you don't understand these simple maths, you probably shouldn't be selling domains.

This is just the maths. The figures can change drastically with the art of buying good domains that people want to buy from you to begin with. You also need to be able to find end users (which isn't easy) and also to be a good salesman. These things are much more tricky than the maths.

 

[ScottMb]

Are you paying $500 or selling at $500? If you have unlimited resources and selling at a large profit, the sky is the limit on the number of domains in your portfolio. You are still asking the question "how long is a piece of string". It isn't possible to answer such a question with any degree of relevance.

Its not really asking how long is a piece of string its more a case of how long is the average piece of string you can buy in stores.

I currently own almost 40 .com domains and I have sold 2. Basically what I was looking to do was make the most Godaddy discounts to reg 2/3 (reg fee) domains per week either using drop lists or made up domains in Niches. After all this is pretty low risk as you (don't) need to renew any of these domains and in that year you only need 1 good sale out of 100 to break even. E.g:

100 x $3new .com reg fee's using discount codes approx = $300
1 end user sale > $300 is break even

 

[Name Trader]

OK. So you have answered your own question? But I don't have much faith on your regfee strategy for sales. All the desirable domains .com have gone a long time ago. The fact that you might find a needle in a haystack is always there, but a needle in 100 domains is a huge stretch. Not only have all the good domains gone in .com but most of the moderately good domains have gone too, and they have all been sifted through by many domainers before they drop. So a needle in a drop is also a big stretch, imho. But heck, $300 is not much to lose. It maybe worth a try. If it works then double volume, rinse and repeat.

 

[ScottMb]

OK. So you have answered your own question? But I don't have much faith on your regfee strategy for sales. All the desirable domains .com have gone a long time ago. The fact that you might find a needle in a haystack is always there, but a needle in 100 domains is a huge stretch. Not only have all the good domains gone in .com but most of the moderately good domains have gone too, and they have all been sifted through by many domainers before they drop. So a needle in a drop is also a big stretch, imho. But heck, $300 is not much to lose. It maybe worth a try. If it works then double volume, rinse and repeat.

Yes I think I have a better idea of my strategy now I have discussed it and taken a few points on board.

You are right most of the good names have gone but I still think it is possible. With knowledge and months of experience at looking at things such as what domains sell and reading the forums, that needle can become larger.

 

[serryjw]

Don't give up on .UK...it will be available 6/2014...

 

[ScottMb]

Don't give up on .UK...it will be available 6/2014...

No im not giving up on UK but its a very mature, competetive place.

 

[Name Trader]

.... and your moving to .com???

 

[ScottMb]

.... and your moving to .com???

No I'm not moving to .com just diversifying.

 

[Name Trader]

Forgive me using the wrong words. But you missed the point of my comment. You are diversifying into .com because you are seeing that the .co.uk space is a very mature, competitive place? I think you will be shocked to find out that the .com is much more mature and competitive than .co.uk, with probably many more dirty practices.

 

[ScottMb]

Forgive me using the wrong words. But you missed the point of my comment. You are diversifying into .com because you are seeing that the .co.uk space is a very mature, competitive place? I think you will be shocked to find out that the .com is much more mature and competitive than .co.uk, with probably many more dirty practices.

Yes I didn't give it much thought and was probably just having a moan. No I'm diversifying into other extensions because I enjoy domains and find it interesting, and with .com if you do get it right the rewards can be good. I probably posted this in the wrong section as I'm not really a newbie anymore I have been in the game 1 year and have sold a few domains already.

 

[Name Trader]

With the right skill-set, you can do ok in .com, but there are very lean pickings to choose from, and you have to sell the heck out of the domains you choose. Good luck in your ventures.

 

[Faithfull]

.COM is still solid as a rock

 

[B&J]

What is your time horizon? If you have few years to spare, look into some sexy new tlds.

.com was losing in values (though no volumes), so financially it is less attractive these days.