Do you make a living selling domains?

[Shawn Haghnazari]

I was wondering if people actually make a living solely on buying and selling domains.

 

[.X.]

At least a few the same threads exist... so I have nothing to add.
And Yes - I live from domaining...

We have shit loads of these types of threads, but sifting through them is a fucking tedious process.

Congrats on your success, keep it rolling!!

 

[lock]

If all else fails flippingfries.com is available where you can master your second trade.

 

[AMRO1001]

Make serious of killings...buy realestate...rent...Now you live on domining safely....

Not yet for me

 

[.X.]

I am student and making $300-$500/ Month from domaining - enough for me -

Waiting for big boom after that i can say myself domainer .

That’s a nice little supplemental income for you, keep up the good work, and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.

 

[toughdomains]

think it really depends on where you live. if your rent and tax rate is high its going to be alot more difficult.
however even large titans like mike mann are selling names and still running other businesses. so the better question is why limit your income to just domains?

 

[RushMan21]

Not yet. But profit continues to climb, quarter after quarter...

 

[Fancy.domains]

1 bd 1 bath in nice highrise in thailand....$500 per month...
https://www.hipflat.com/listings/bangkok-condo-fbapipca
the lowest price I ever saw a studio in manhattan was about $2000 per month and about $1300 in queens or brooklyn...so 3 to 4 times the price.

To rent an apartment is often cheap in Thailand and Malaysia, but crazy expensive in Singapore.

 

[kemjika11]

Depends on what you call "making a living"

100k to some is making a living but to others is the cost of a vacation.

in trying to clarify something you made an unrealistic comparison. $100K for a vacation is surely for the few rich people. $100K income/year is great for the vast majority of people in the world.

 

[kemjika11]

How do you make money when you buy land?

1) buy it
2) build on it
3) sell it

Just buying and selling land can take decades to profit from. Buying land, building something on it and selling is much quicker and can be more profitable. Imo domains follow the same rule.

You can also flip "land" lucratively if you 1) buy the RIGHT names+ 2) wait the right amount of time + 3) negotiate strong and well.

IMO, the people who can/are living off domains mainly first of all are keeping a low profile. Why wouldnt you when ur controlling $millions of domain assets? to reach that day where domaining is your main job/income, you have to: 1) buy the RIGHT names+ 2) wait the right amount of time + 3) negotiate strong and well.

 

[MapleDots]

IMO, the people who can/are living off domains mainly first of all are keeping a low profile. Why wouldnt you when ur controlling $millions of domain assets?

Yup.... Mike Mann and Rick Schwartz are keeping a pretty low profile

 

[topdom]

Let's say living = 5k/month profit. I made good money from a few domains, but not by selling. Now it is difficult to impossible to do the same thing. There is a Google-Amazon-Facebook-Linkedin-Zillow-Trulia-Pinterest monopoly in the West. Making money from sites became difficult. So people don't want/need domains. Having your own web site means renewal cost and hosting cost, and management cost.
Also as part of monoploy new browsers require monopoly-signed cert's and if they are missing they say, this site is not secure, and block direct access to the web site.

 

[Recons.Com]

100k means $50/hr. There are not many jobs paying that much even in the US.

100k should definitely put you in top 5%-10% almost everywhere in the US or Canada.

For me personally just cost of my home (mortgage, insurance, taxes, fees, utilities) is around 70k year.

 

[Kazzia]

Domains piqued my interest ~15 years ago, but I didn't try to make a serious living from it (and turn it into a business) until ~10 years ago.

100 hours a week, at least. No partying. No watching television. No weekends off. No vacations. Work, and work. Then work some more. Seriously, because...

The only thing you can control in business is your effort; make it count!

My budget began at $10 when I bought my first domain name and multiplied from there as I figured out what worked, what didn't work, and I reinvested in what worked. Lost plenty of money. Made plenty more.

The words for it are easy: it takes me mere seconds to type them. The work behind it is the hard part that almost no one is willing to do.

Hats off to you. I only work about 80 hours per week on it -12 hours M - F, and 10 on weekend days. I thought no one in this industry worked harder than me, but you beat me!!! Blows my mind when people do 6 figures and work less than that.

 

[alcy]

Really?
Dont compare african or indian and european prices

like I said I compared it because to me this is partly what makes domaining intereting option for income... that someone who lives in africa... can make same money on a sale.. as someone who lives in usa.

u do not find it intereating? I am fascinated by this idea. it makes things more equal for all in this sense... like equal opporunties you know.. you don't get this with most other jobs...

but the basic idea I was making is that diff people need diff amounts to live.. whether they both live africa... or one in africa or one usa.. which in turns like I Said makes his question incomplete.

I guess a more complete question would be something like....... "how likely is it to make 5k per month from domaining"... or....."do most people make or lose money domaining"... stuff like that you know

 

[Fancy.domains]

But ok, to be fair, compared to the estate in the link above, our house might be considered a ”hut”

 

[Josytal]

No. I don't make a living by selling domains, only professional domain investors do.

 

[maya-zir]

Nope! It's not easier. Most of the countries (3rd world countries) you're referring to don't even have round-the-clock electricity, basic amenities, access to internet expensive or limited.
Most things you take for granted in Europe and USA they still have to struggle for in order to survive.

Let's take each country as a Brand. All things being equal, which brand will you, as a buyer, prefer to do business with: European, USA or 3rd world?

Lastly I don't think you'll ever agree to change places with a domainer in any of the so-called 3rd world countries

I dont know where you live, but in Spain I need at least 1000 euro to just pay where to live, food and pay electricity.
Dont compare it with countries where you live in luxuary with just 500$ monthly.

 

[Fancy.domains]

It's true, a lot of stuff is more expensive because it has to be imported.
If you want to live comfortably, or to Western standards, living in a Third world country is not so cheap.
High-speed, reliable Internet is not cheap or available everywhere. In some countries, the electricity runs a few hours a day.
As said above, some of the things we take for granted are not affordable to everyone.

Yes, a german car (Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche) is 2-3 times more expensive where I live, than in most EU countries. If I want some salami, cheese and a bottle of decent red wine for the weekend, I can expect to pay twice as much as in EU or the US. And so on...

But sure, local groceries and foods, go to the movies, labor, hotel accommodation, small motorbikes etc, it’s all pretty cheap here.

 

[Bonsu]

And not just selling...

You can pay for your electricity even from parking revenue...
Just as example: ~1K visits daily x ~$10 avg. RPM (ZeroClick) = ~$300 monthly.

Are there still names with that much traffic?

 

[wot]

I used to.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Are there still names with that much traffic?

10 domains x 100 visits daily = 1K visits daily.
What problems???
Nothing special in this volume.

 

[Fancy.domains]

i think the funy part is what u said

when people talk about lower living cost in poorer country it means it will cost u less to buy good food and good house there than in usa... this isnt about sheds and eating yer own excrement

My food expenses are pretty much the same as in Europe, because I tend to buy yoghurt, potatoes, good coffee etc that is more expensive here. Eggs, chicken and vegetables are often cheaper than in Europe. Imported stuff such as good cheese is much more expensive.

The price of building a ” good house” is obviously depending on what standard you expect. If you want good standard and quality material where I live, the price often exeed $1000 per m2. Land prices is totally up to the location. On the island where I live there is hard to find a 1000 m2 plot for less than $30k. Beach land can be a million dollar per 1000 m2. But on the main land you can find land for almost ”nothing”.

Labor is obvioulsly cheep here.

 

[stewmath]

Great question. I was doing this as a side hustle for 10 years. Not making any money to live on, but just reinvesting and building my portfolio with more and higher quality names. The last year it has been domaining only. 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day average. With a normal sell through rate of 2-3% on 700 domains it comes out to a US minimum wage at best after expenses. As I never take anything for myself and reinvest, it gets better. I would say if you have "normal" US expenses, and do this exclusively, you have a very large high quality portfolio.

Here is the math: If you have 1,000 names selling at an average of $2500 with a sell through rate of 2% you sell 20 for a total of $50,000. Maybe 15 of them come through marketplaces so take a $10,000 bite out of that - $40k. Renewals on 1000 names - $10,000. Now you have other expenses on that such as monthly fees on site tools, etc., but you are left with $30k. Now taxes, and since you don't have a job that pays insurance you pay yourself. You might have $20 to $25k left. That is not enough for most single people to live on in the US. And that is with no reinvestment into building your portfolio which is suicidal.

I travel full time so I might pay one dollar per night for a cool hostel in Sumatra including breakfast, $4 for a small penthouse apartment in Myanmar, $5 for a fancy dive resort in the Philippines. And don;t forget daily massages for $2 to $4.

Answer is either you have a high quality portfolio and spend a lot of time building it and live very frugal, or you have 5,000 to 10,000 or more HIGH QUALITY names, spend a lot of time and reinvest, and then live a "normal" lifestyle in the US.

So you're what we call a digital nomad. My sort of lifestyle but its not for my wife

 

[shig]

How do you make money when you buy land?

1) buy it
2) build on it
3) sell it

Just buying and selling land can take decades to profit from. Buying land, building something on it and selling is much quicker and can be more profitable. Imo domains follow the same rule.

 

[MapleDots]

in trying to clarify something you made an unrealistic comparison. $100K for a vacation is surely for the few rich people. $100K income/year is great for the vast majority of people in the world.

You say it's enough for the majority in the world and you are probably right... ie china, india etc.

However in North America it would be a hard thing to feed a family and provide housing for 100k. I know in my area of the world you cannot rent an apartment for under 2k per month much less buy a car and make a living.