Do I "get" what makes a good domain name yet?

[Arca]

I discovered this amazing forum a month ago, and since then I have spent every available moment on here, reading through old threads.

I kept encountering comments saying; newbies should not hand reg anything (since it is extremely hard to find good hand regs, esp for beginners)/only buy 1-2 good dropping domains instead/you will probably regret most/every domains registered in the first year/only register 5-10 domains in the first year of domaining, and then sell these before buying any more. And so on.

So I tried buying good dropping domains, but I found that the majority of expiring domains are quite bad. There are great ones too of course, but there tends to be keen competition for those, and I always got outbid when I placed a bid in the post backorder auction.

So instead I tried looking for hand regs, and despite what people say, I personally feel there are some good ones available, and that they are better than what is in my budget range of dropping domains. It's obviously a lot cheaper to build a portfolio this way too.

Although I have tried to be restrained, and only register domains I think are good and have potential end uses, I have registered a lot of domains already (probably a lot more than I should have), mostly KW, but some brandables too. Here are 15 of them (all dot COM):

B2B/Cloud/Computing
HD/Photographer
Creativity/Services
Design/Learner
Investment/Ease
Jet/Recruitment
Digital/Travel/Agency
Gemstone/Shopping
Defender/Host
Fitness/Seekers
Jewellery/Broker (British English)
Medi/Buys
Active/Destination
Upload/Pros
Limitless/Poker
Digi/Auctions

Many of these seem good to me, and after spending lots on time studying here at NP, I feel like I understand what kinds of names are good. But at the same time I know it is hard to see my own domains objectively, especially since I just got into domaining. I see a lot of beginners proudly announce their "great" hand regs, only to have everyone here tell them that they still have a long way to go. So sometimes wonder if I too have bought a bunch of domains not worth much more than the regfee... Some feedback from more experienced domainers would be appreciated.

Looking at the domains above, do you think I "get" what makes a good domain name yet? Or should I save my money, stop hand regging these kinds of domains, and go back to read more before I try buying anything more?

 

[Chris Wright]

I am surprised at how good your efforts are, for being a total beginner.

The names I really see potential for are these:

Investment/Ease
Digital/Travel/Agency
Gemstone/Shopping
Jewellery/Broker
Limitless/Poker
Digi/Auctions

 

[DKN]

After long time I saw some good picks form a beginner

Best of luck with your sales

I Like these...
Creativity/Services
Fitness/Seekers
Limitless/Poker

 

[DTR Alex]

Also, I will look for more answers related to selling these hand registered domain names..... if you have success with any method of selling such as auction, email marketing, sedo etc.. please do contribute here.

 

[Nattydomain]

Some of these are for sure better then most newbies yes. Now the major question is with these types of domains did you look to see who your "end user is"? Are there companies with similar names who could stand to use an upgrade? Or is your thoughts that some one will want the exact name and just ask you "how much"

My gut tells me they wont come to you so you will have to come to them. Even though they are better then most I still see a very hard time selling any of these to end users. They may do better here in auction or at ebay. Just my 2 cents but again these are just me feelings. Crappy names have sold before so anything is possible but in this game you dont names where "anything is possible" you want names that are A SURE BET!

 

[Theydon]

Some of these are for sure better then most newbies yes. Now the major question is with these types of domains did you look to see who your "end user is"? Are there companies with similar names who could stand to use an upgrade? Or is your thoughts that some one will want the exact name and just ask you "how much"

My gut tells me they wont come to you so you will have to come to them. Even though they are better then most I still see a very hard time selling any of these to end users. They may do better here in auction or at ebay. Just my 2 cents but again these are just me feelings. Crappy names have sold before so anything is possible but in this game you dont names where "anything is possible" you want names that are A SURE BET!

100% agree.
Much better than the average but sales are tough - need, demand etc..
Good luck.

 

[Wisename]

same thoughts @Nattydomain @Theydon ..
in your minds your hand-reg domains are good one and have a potential buyer. Your domain are very stronger with 2-3 keywords also brandable. But what are in buyer minds ? should them change their brand to your 2-3 keyword domains. better their can get one word etc .club .me .io .world to protect the company brands.

 

[Arca]

Thank you for your replies. I am am glad to see you think some of the names I have registered have potential. I feel a bit relieved too, since I have registered a lot of names so far.. but most of them of similar quality level as the above. So hopefully I will be able to sell some of them.

@Nattydomain my idea was your latter suggestion, to wait for buyers to make me offers after I have listed the names in different marketplaces (or sell them with BIN prices). I had this idea from reading on here, since it seems that a lot more transactions happen after the buyer contacts seller, either through a marketplace or through whois info. It also seems to me that the price tends to be higher in these kinds of transactions, probably because seller is in a better negotiation position when the buyer actively comes and wants to buy the domain.

However, since a lot of the replies here deal with finding end-users, I think I have underestimated the importance of actively finding buyers myself, and contacting them. And if as you say, it will be hard to sell any of these, I should definitively take a more active approach to selling them. So I will start reading about how to find potential end users, and how to approach them most effectively. Thanks!

 

[Theydon]

Listing them on marketplaces gets them out there but in reality it can be needle in haystack stuff, there are so many names for sale the odds are against you.

Its worthwhile having a strategy for contacting end users but do not underestimate the difficulty selling hand reg names in to end users. I am firmly in the 'buy one for $500 rather than 50 hand regs' camp.

Also think about focusing on a niche, something you are interested in or know about, this can give you an edge when it comes to spotting value names.

Good luck.