showcase First domain sale over $1,000?

[kaz2]

Hi, we are a mix of domainers here - some experienced, some not so experienced. What I'd love to know is who, if anyone, sold their FIRST domain name for over $1,000 and how much was it sold for?

I'll kick off by saying that I sold my first name for $11 so way below a grand - however, it was a thrilling feeling nonetheless.

It would be interesting to see who, whether by beginners luck or shrewd domain trading, had a first sale of over $1,000.

Look forward to hearing from you!

 

[Bram C.]

Did you know it was Fox when you sold it? It was a good sale, learn and look fwd.

Well it was in 2009. It was a third party which approached me, I didn't know they were representing Fox. But even if I had known I would probably still have sold it for $2K back then.

At present time, if I would know I'm selling a domain to Fox, I would of course ask for much more (but it will be unlikely for a scenario like this to happen since I'm selling domains with a BIN nowadays).

 

[wot]

A hand reg .ws in 2003 which I see is now back at the registry so must have dropped.

 

[creataweb]

Cool stories. All of my early sales were $xxx each on hand-regs and I was contacted by the buyers to sell the names. They were not posted for sale as far as I can remember. Simple whois lookup then money came rolling in. Easiest money I ever made (up until that time.)

Forgot to add, one of the names I sold is still parked to this day. I kept checking it each year to see if it was developed and what it would look like. If it gets dropped I'll reg it again!

 

[kaz2]

Cool stories. All of my early sales were $xxx each on hand-regs and I was contacted by the buyers to sell the names. They were not posted for sale as far as I can remember. Simple whois lookup then money came rolling in. Easiest money I ever made (up until that time.)

Forgot to add, one of the names I sold is still parked to this day. I kept checking it each year to see if it was developed and what it would look like. If it gets dropped I'll reg it again!

Hi creataweb, thanks for getting in touch about your hand registration domain sales! When did you sell most of domains? Was it a while ago or are you still hand registering and selling domains today?

 

[creataweb]

Hi kaz2 - I still sell names today. I took a break for awhile but kept a portfolio and still have some names from 15 years ago.

 

[simran.net]

Sold Rushh.com (my first domain -Hand reg) for $1200 in 2003.

 

[sittingducks]

Still waiting for it. Pray for me.

 

[Doron Vermaat]

My first domain sale was Obria.com which sold for $4,696 - got me hooked on domaining and especially brandables!

 

[vital]

Sold my first domain after a month or two since I bought my first domain (not the same name), it was a .info and sold for $900. Well, it doesn't count, but that was the decision making moment for me.

First sale over $1,000 was probably $3k for a domain I bought here on namepros for ~$50, few months later.

 

[joethrows]

Org/Net, stick to one word unless the combo is extremely strong like homeloan carinsurance that type of thing, very hard to get btw

$200, that is a tough one, if you could bump it to $500-$1000+ it would be a whole new world in terms of chasing .org .net LLL and flipping for $XXX profits in org and $XXXX .net. Again tough but not wanting to bump your figure too high.

i just picked up refinancehome dot org a few weeks ago

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Not bad Joe but use a tool to look at keyword combo searches

 

[joethrows]

Not bad Joe but use a tool to look at keyword combo searches

this one was purchased specifically to add some value to a small portfolio of mortgage related domains i own. synergy this time rather than searches

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Cool

 

[kaz2]

My first domain sale was Obria.com which sold for $4,696 - got me hooked on domaining and especially brandables!

Hi Doron, thanks for replying - great sale for a brandable - was this sold via your own landing pages?

 

[kaz2]

Sold my first domain after a month or two since I bought my first domain (not the same name), it was a .info and sold for $900. Well, it doesn't count, but that was the decision making moment for me.

First sale over $1,000 was probably $3k for a domain I bought here on namepros for ~$50, few months later.

Hi, great sale for a .info - ironically my largest sale has been a .info although in volume more .com's sold.

What is your strategy in terms of (a) registering domain names (eg hand reg) and (2) selling them?

 

[kaz2]

Well it was in 2009. It was a third party which approached me, I didn't know they were representing Fox. But even if I had known I would probably still have sold it for $2K back then.

At present time, if I would know I'm selling a domain to Fox, I would of course ask for much more (but it will be unlikely for a scenario like this to happen since I'm selling domains with a BIN nowadays).

That was a good learning curve there - I am sure you wouldn't make that mistake today!
What is your strategy in terms of (a) registering domain names (eg hand reg) and (2) selling them?

 

[Mario86]

Hi, i sold my first and only domain for 1.300 $ . Was some months ago and it was Catholic.Global
I have been in this business for 6 moths now

Good luck and best regards !

 

[Fancy.domains]

Khosamui (dot) com and Kosamui (dot) org were the first two names I sold for more than $1000.

These are alternative spellings of the islands were I live. As far as I remember, they were bought by an American domainer. Maybe a member here?

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

Wiesn.tv ( Wiesn = Octoberfest ) 1.500.-Euro private sale

 

[Kunal Joshi]

Good to read your stories..Congrats on your sale.

 

[vital]

Hi, great sale for a .info - ironically my largest sale has been a .info although in volume more .com's sold.

What is your strategy in terms of (a) registering domain names (eg hand reg) and (2) selling them?

I started by registering a dozen and buying like 2 - 3 domains for more than reg.fee, but still in low $xx. After I realised there is an actual aftermarket for domains, I sold what I had at the time, bought few more, regd few more, and it's been a long distance run, but my domains have been slowly selling over the time. After some time, I improved my taste for domains, and I was buying and registering more. In numbers, my handreg investments were yielding ~500 - 600% profit. Even though these figures were nothing for old time domainers, it was great for me. Also, had some luck with liquid domains (LLL.net, LLLL.com etc.). Last year I changed my strategy for a last few months, when the chinese premium goldmine started. I've been able to flip ~20 in the beginning making around $15 - 20k profit in a month, which was really cool and helped me a lot. I am domaining full-time since September 2015 and now I quiet focus in ccTLD of my country, while still being active in gtlds (not the new ones),

To answer your questions:
a) I do some automated searching for domains. Since I have background in computer science, I am able to do my own stuff, and automate it a lot. It makes a whole lot of work for me (that I wouldn't be able to do even in 8-10 hours a day) in a few minutes/day, so I just check results and register what I like.
b) I don't do outbound, so for me selling is all about maximising exposure. DNS, Sedo, Afternic, GoDaddy premiums... Getting your domains in front of your buyers is the key, imo.

 

[kaz2]

I started by registering a dozen and buying like 2 - 3 domains for more than reg.fee, but still in low $xx. After I realised there is an actual aftermarket for domains, I sold what I had at the time, bought few more, regd few more, and it's been a long distance run, but my domains have been slowly selling over the time. After some time, I improved my taste for domains, and I was buying and registering more. In numbers, my handreg investments were yielding ~500 - 600% profit. Even though these figures were nothing for old time domainers, it was great for me. Also, had some luck with liquid domains (LLL.net, LLLL.com etc.). Last year I changed my strategy for a last few months, when the chinese premium goldmine started. I've been able to flip ~20 in the beginning making around $15 - 20k profit in a month, which was really cool and helped me a lot. I am domaining full-time since September 2015 and now I quiet focus in ccTLD of my country, while still being active in gtlds (not the new ones),

To answer your questions:
a) I do some automated searching for domains. Since I have background in computer science, I am able to do my own stuff, and automate it a lot. It makes a whole lot of work for me (that I wouldn't be able to do even in 8-10 hours a day) in a few minutes/day, so I just check results and register what I like.
b) I don't do outbound, so for me selling is all about maximising exposure. DNS, Sedo, Afternic, GoDaddy premiums... Getting your domains in front of your buyers is the key, imo.

Very interesting and educative post vital. Great information. Have a few queries, hope you have time to look at them :

1. What gtlds, if not the new ones, are you focussing on?

2. You said that you have a process for filtering domain lists - I'd love to know a bit more about this. Do you have a list of keywords you filters against, is there a certain length, do you look at keyword volume, where do you get your look lists to filter etc. If you could give a bit of detail on this process I am sure it would help a lot of newbies out there.

3. Exposure for your names - do you list them as make offer or buy it now and do the vast majority of your sales/enquiries come from these 3rd party platforms?

Thanks.

 

[vital]

1. .com, .net, .org (in this particular order)

2. I do a lot of experimental stuff so to be honest, I try everything that comes to mind, because it's just about changing few lines, digging some data, and cross checking against some defined rules. Sometimes I check short domains, like five letters, six letters, pronounceable schemas, sometimes geos, keywords and combinations, sometimes just random made up words. Depends on my mood

3. I'd say 95% BIN, make offer just for the top 5% of my domains (like names on which I received good offers before, or so). Majority of inquiries (and sales) come from these venues.

 

[Bram C.]

I kept checking it each year to see if it was developed and what it would look like. If it gets dropped I'll reg it again!

Funny you would mention that. I have sold some domains in the past that got dropped a few years later. I then regged them for a second time and managed to sell most of them for a second time.

 

[Bram C.]

What is your strategy in terms of (a) registering domain names (eg hand reg) and (2) selling them?

a) To be honest I rarely do hand regs nowadays.
One of the things I do to find (soon to expire) domains is use the Estibot drop lists. Then I use my own custom filters to find the best ones. This process takes around 30 minutes to 1 hour (not doing it every day though). I will then try to catch those filtered domains using backorders on Namejet, Snapnames, Pheenix..etc.

b) I rarely send emails to potential buyers but to sell my domains I do the following:
- I make my own landing pages for all of my domains. They are all priced with a BIN and I also offer a payment plan and the possibility to lease the domain.
- I list my domains on my own portfolio site.
- I list my domains on as many marketplaces/domain auction houses as possible to maximize exposure.
- I make sure my WHOIS isn't private and make sure that for example the second address field in WHOIS has the text “this domain is for sale".