Do you make a living selling domains?

[Shawn Haghnazari]

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

 

[shig]

If this was 2006 that would be a good idea. Nowadays, it is a Herculean effort to make a good site that makes any money. You need an entire company to do this now. Developer, SEO, social media, and tons of hours and lots of money. I have never met anyone in the last 10 years who can do this successfully. Kind of like UFO's and smart blondes.

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

Haha - Two that don’t but there are many others that stay anon.

 

[kemjika11]

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

Well both of them are very well off domainers, but they are also celebrity domainers. Just sayin..lol

 

[MapleDots]

Well both of them are very well off domainers, but they are also celebrity domainers. Just sayin..lol

Ohh... I could quote a few more but yes.... there are a number also keeping a low profile

 

[Fancy.domains]

Even in US $100K/ year is great income for 1 person. highest income ta x bracket starts at around $125K and above, so that tells u what IRS considers common man "rich".FYI 60% of US population makes $50Kyear or less. $100K/ year anywhere is at least good money. Biut if ur a westerner who thinks and believes they can afford every comfort on earth, yes, $100K/ year aint that good.

Yes, wealth is definitely relative.

The U.S. annual median personal income was $31,099 in 2016.

Source: Census.gov

 

[Addison]

@Addison
Not all hard work pays large dividends. There are some, that work their ass off day in, day out, for a meager living, valuing other benefits over money.
I believe (hope) you were referring to how hard you work in relation to domaining. Completely agree, we get what we we're willing to put in.

Yes, and superb point.

 

[OptiMax]

1000 usd/month is not easy. If it is easy then repeat what you are doing and make 10k per month. I consider myself as a professional domainer, but I can't guarantee profit. You can handreg domains with 5 figure potential. But among 100 potential buyers, noone buys even if you sell for 1 percent of actual value. I can anticipate other drivers' plans when driving, next move of the opponent when playing chess, but outbound emails are sent to plants and plants don't have any sense or emotion or reaction.
It looks like I made a profit in the second half of this year, but profit is in terms of domains, not in terms of cash, and those domains need renewal. Those domains can sell for a million theoretically, but I can't guarantee they will sell for 1k quickly.

This is candid, truth is, whatever you do not have a means of influencing by eyeball to eyeball and other marketing advantages offline, it is not just enough.

I am into marketing, what I've come to understand is that if anything gives you 10k and you can't rinse and repeat it with equal time frame and predictability, its like gambling, it takes the same amount and more from you in the same process in gradual progression (with you thinking its your smartness/knowledge that got you the pay, not knowing that its windfall from happenstance that may have rob the experts to pay you the newbie). At the end, time flies.

Whatever put food on your table presently must be equally catered for as if its the new business, or "new mum", then this will be your "baby business" that you cater for and expect to feed and not to milk from right from the start.

Every business is a new form of responsibility, if you can manage the affairs right, success is inevitable. Apply wisdom, be tenacious and build your offline business as well, online business can be time consuming and the promises are plentier than the profits. @OP

 

[Kazzia]

I live in Vietnam, where people can live well with only $200/month. The Director salary here is just $2000/month.
Selling more than $40k this year (2% of my portfolio - which cost me only $1500 for those).
I could reach at least $55k sales in 2018 if i accepted all offers - but i don't have to do that.
Of course that all my profit is turned into inventory - 98% domain was not sold.
But they are good .COM domains and i could hold them for a long term.
I'm planning to reach $150k in 2019.
When i posted my entire portfolio in early 2018, people laugh and someone said i would earn only $5k yearly with this type of portfolio.
So the key factor is : keep learning, keep working, keep fighting and don't complain, don't explain.
You don't have to listen or think about people's thought.
You have to build your own strategy, your own plan. Everyone has their own resources (Time-Money-Skills) so their strategies are different, you could not win this game if you just only copy another guys tactics ( i've seen many domainers bought tons of names that similar to a domain that had been sold in the past).
I have a 5-years plan - all my profit would be turn into domains. I'll buy at many quality domains as i can in 5 years.
But if you live in Western Countries, it's really hard to become a full-time domainer. You have to pay tax, insurance. Your wife needs cosmetics and your kids need braces.
It takes more than 3 years to get $100k if you do right and work really hard.

Can you share more details on your success? Total amount of names? Cost of acquisitions? Sell through rate? > or < than 2%, and what marketplaces?

 

[shig]

This is my story

Thanks for sharing and best of luck!

BTW
I would make this:
WE FIND GREAT AGED DOMAIN NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS

To this:
WE FIND GREAT AGED DOMAIN NAMES FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 

[Bonsu]

I have total three businesses since 12 years but i didnt started altogether my rule is alway run first business and set on autopilot then go for second so now domaining is my 4th business and 3 still running i started domaining since march 2018 after alot struggle and losses finally i m improving in domaining... so if my domains doesnt sale i have my income alreasy through other businesses like himalayan salt export apparel stocklot exports and used clothing export
But in last two month i earned 12k usd from just 500 usd domains...so i guess if you have support of othet businesses then domaining is gold...
I live partially in dubai and partially in pakistan here and there
But i m not giving attention to my last three businesses as they are controlled by brothers now amd i m just focusing on domains as soon this will be up for sure then my brothers will join me too in this as group of investors.
We invested till yet 30k usd and going more deep
This is my story

impressive

 

[Giode]

"You see, through the 18 years I have been doing this and been on this forum, I have seen countless SO CALLED professional domainers, then they just disappear, I guess they just got so wealthy they didn’t need to domain anymore

A lot of the old faces are gone, which is kind of sad. I was once very active on this board, especially when trying to learn the business. Over the years, I've visited the forums less and less as they seem more overrun by noobs (no offense to noobs of course). Many of us have just moved on.

Can't speak for others who have disappeared, but I've made a very good living on domains as my only income source the past 12 years. a lot tougher getting started these days though. It takes a large investment to make money in domains, and if you're relying on hand reg domains, the odds are you won't make it.

 

[ak1985]

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.

I live in Vietnam, where people can live well with only $200/month. The Director salary here is just $2000/month.
Selling more than $40k this year (2% of my portfolio - which cost me only $1500 for those).
I could reach at least $55k sales in 2018 if i accepted all offers - but i don't have to do that.
Of course that all my profit is turned into inventory - 98% domain was not sold.
But they are good .COM domains and i could hold them for a long term.
I'm planning to reach $150k in 2019.
When i posted my entire portfolio in early 2018, people laugh and someone said i would earn only $5k yearly with this type of portfolio.
So the key factor is : keep learning, keep working, keep fighting and don't complain, don't explain.
You don't have to listen or think about people's thought.
You have to build your own strategy, your own plan. Everyone has their own resources (Time-Money-Skills) so their strategies are different, you could not win this game if you just only copy another guys tactics ( i've seen many domainers bought tons of names that similar to a domain that had been sold in the past).
I have a 5-years plan - all my profit would be turn into domains. I'll buy at many quality domains as i can in 5 years.
But if you live in Western Countries, it's really hard to become a full-time domainer. You have to pay tax, insurance. Your wife needs cosmetics and your kids need braces.
It takes more than 3 years to get $100k if you do right and work really hard.

Even in non-western countries people have to pay tax (very high and on nearly everything in many countries), you have insurance and compulsory insurance on vehicles, people do use cosmetics and many kids do have braces on their teeth. Even i had it even though i'm not from western country.

 

[lock]

oh something isn't right.

 

[namekahuna]

It can if you take it seriously and hone your craft. That means enough capital to get some really good domains in your portfolio without overpaying for them ( aka, master your appraising skills) unless your started early when the market was less saturated, or active selling efforts of building potential buyer contacts through phone calls, direct marketing and ads or hiring brokers if you have worthy names.

Buying or registering a bunch of domains and then throwing them up on all the marketplaces is not going to afford you a living in most cases. You may get lucky every now and then with some decent sales and you might even hit it big with one sale that sets you up for years to come but that's the exception.

The barrier to entry for domaining is so low that I can almost guarantee that 90% of people in the business can't make a living solely on it, are not even profitable or actually lose money. The 10% that make it their job and are good at it are making a killing.

 

[maya-zir]

New your question is incomplete.. because different people need different amounts of money to live..

and this in trun will depend not only on person.. but also on his location etc..

Really?
Dont compare african or indian and european prices.
If I get 500 for domain it will cover just 1 month of rent here and I dont live in the center or luxuary house, I just rent a small studio of 50m.
In africa or india you pay more months for rent with the same money.
I know a lot of people from russia who rent a bigger apartment than me and pay less than me.

 

[maya-zir]

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...

Look, last month I sold a few domains and totally got 300$ (250 euros).
I pay 500 euros for rent and with 250 I just paid 50%.
Yes, we sell for the same price, but in some places we have higher prices for rent, food, etc.
So, my 1k and 1k of somebody from africa or india is not the same...

 

[Abiashue lucky]

I agree with @alcy as $1000 would pay my 1 year house rent of 2 bedroom. So if sell $4000 each month then I'd quit my job and focus on domaining as it puts me in the millionaires club

Are you making about $1000 a month? I think it may be a hard job making consistent $4000 every month

 

[sadiq3051]

in my opinion I think one can make a living on domaining, only as your secondary job

 

[viniproject09]

I think there are very few who live just selling domains. I am sure they have some other profession as well to earn their revenues.

 

[Hroppi]

You can buy drop domains

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

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.

 

[viniproject09]

We I keep looking opportunities not just living selling domains. For me its a matter of luck if I get some good piece of domain in my hand.

 

[alcy]

The common conception that it's so cheap to live in a so-called "3rd world country" is rather funny in my opinion. Just because you move to a country with a larger percentage of "poor" people, doesn't mean that you need to live from the cheapest local food, drink rice beer and live in a dirty shed.

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

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Regarding TOP countries...
In this case you have even more possibilities to make money... because potential buyers are everywhere around you...

 

[shig]

Lol very true but even just building something simple on a domain gives the seller more power when an end-user comes looking to purchase.

 

[topdom]

Lol very true but even just building something simple on a domain gives the seller more power when an end-user comes looking to purchase.

Like using Efty?