I’ll get this started with a review of the domains mentioned in the June 28, 2015, show, “$58,000 Profit Flipping 8 Domains in Under 60 Days – With Ali Zandi.” In this episode, Ali mentioned the following sales of his:
slowdown.com bought March 28, 2015, $4250. sold May 6, 2015 (namebio reports May 10th), $15K
bovine.com bought May 2, 2015 $4500. sold May 16, 2015, $11K
cultivation.com bought $8500. sold for $14K within less than a month
aus.com bought April 21, 2015 sold May 29, 2015, gross profit $24,098.
Ali talks about having an “instinct” for getting great domain names, how he feels a fire in his bowels when he views a great name.
Well, what happened to these “fire in the bowels” domain names that he sold in 2015?
slowdown.com – nothing. It’s a dead site. Has not been re-sold.
bovine.com – nothing. It’s a dead site. Has not been re-sold.
cultivation.com – redirects to a website that tries to sell other marijuana related domains.
aus.com Oh boy. This one resold for $345K on 8/14/16, and is now a company website.
(In the show, Ali claims his “fire in the bowels” told him that aus.com was worth $35K. Apparently not – it was worth ten times that.)
What my research shows, actually, is that 2015, was a banner year for domaining. I don’t think it had so much to do with any super sharp instinct that Ali possessed that year (I mean come on, bovine.com ? ) but that any domain in a rising market, is a good one. And then as far as aus.com, in the show he mentions that his instinct told him that it was worth $35K (but he sold it for less than that anyway), when it was in fact worth ten times that.
Now of course, hindsight always 50-50, but I think that at least 2017, has been quite slow compared to 2015. Now, I personally have been domaining as in direct involvement of sales and marketing, since only very beginning of 2017, and done very well this year (but not with oddball names like bovine.com !) However, I have been financing domainers, including my own domaining company which someone else was running for me, since 2002. So I have observed the ups and downs of this industry for some time now.
From William S. Burroughs:
A lot of people made quick easy money during the War and for several years after. Any business was good, just as any stock is good on a rising market. People thought they were sharp operators, when actually they were just riding a lucky streak. Now the Valley is in a losing streak and only the big operators can ride it out.
This could apply to domaining, today – where only the best and most quality domain names will be selling for top dollar – at least until the cycle shifts, the small fry and impatient newbies are weeded out, and domaining inevitably enters another boom cycle.
