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guide For Newbies Only

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johnn

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Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack.

1. Spend time to read before buying any name
2. Cheap names are not good - Good names are not cheap
3. Stay away from Trade Mark names: Apple, Toyota, Dell, etc...
4. Ignore any Appraisal. They mean nothing - The price is set when there is an agreement between Buyer/Seller. You can sell the same name for small company for $1,000 and big company for $100,000
5. Stay away from cc/tld name - Focus on .com only
6. Understand what is a dictionary word. Adverb or adjective is not a word
7. Any sale information from the past does not guarantee the sale price in the future
8. Buy names from Forum and list them somewhere (Afternic, Sedo, etc...) You will have a hard time to sell names here as everyone here is looking for a bargain (They claimed they are Resellers).
9. You need to have money to invest before starting. You just waste your time if you only have $10 or $20. Don't expect to buy something for $10 and turn around and sell them for $1,000 - It may happen if you have experience but the chance is 1/1,000
10. AND THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE even OldTimer Make is putting 2 Words together. It may sound good but it worth NOTHING. Ex: CasinoHusband, PlasticMoon, PaperCoin, etc...

There are many more but these are the common mistakes.

Good Luck.

Next: *** For Newbies Only #2 ***
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Thanks @johnn for sharing these great tips.
 
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Thank you for this post! I agree with most of your points as a newbie.

Interesting to note that I've been doing things against the grain, breaking a lot of those rules.

However, I'm looking to make my first sale on a hand-reg of a non .com cctld domain that I bought for less than $5 and held for 2 months exactly. It'll be a low X,XXX sale.

BUT I have to say, I am exploring the "niche" I'm going into for the domains I purchase.
 
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And then there are newbies who, instead of trying to introspect on their mistake start getting defensive of their buys.
 
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I must say one point of growth I have made is realising what a shit and unsellable name might be. At the start, I really regged a few of these, now I pick slightly better names (or so I would like to think)
 
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The point no. 10
Did you mean 2 words domains are not good ?
Or you mean two unrelated words domain ?
 
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The point no. 10
Did you mean 2 words domains are not good ?
Or you mean two unrelated words domain ?
Exactly - don't throw any old random words together - they need to make sense

For example some good combinations could be.....

SmartTech
GreenEnergy
GoVegan
StyleStudio (on expired domain list atm)
 
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It is a good list @johnn - I particularly think points 7, 10 are too often overlooked or ignored. And glad you started with #1!

But with respect to...
Adverb or adjective is not a word
I think most literary folk would say that adjectives or adverbs are definitely words! Perhaps your intention is to say they are not good domain names (in many cases)? Definitely true that in general nouns preferred and then verbs. But of course this, and all, rules come with exceptions. For example in 2020 two adjectives that sold for high amounts include profitable at $200,000 and satisfying at $50,000.

I personally do not agree with #5 as worded. Had it said focus mainly on .com I would have been fine with it (or perhaps even if you are in the USA focus on .com). An important principle is to invest in what you know, in my opinion. Many know their own country code landscape well, and also if someone had expertise in say artificial intelligence it seems strange to me to tell them to stay away from .ai. While the vast majority of names that sell are in .com, so are the vast majority of names for sale in .com. The sell-through rates are not very different across a number of TLDs (e.g. .org and .com are very similar in sell-through rate in recent years, and .io has a sell-through rate advantage over both), and that, along with average acquisition, holding and selling prices, are the key factor in what is a better investment. I do realize many do agree with you on #5 (and will probably jump on my post), just giving my view.

Of course there are exceptions to all rules, yours or anyone else's. We saw a $300,000 exception to your rule #2 last month.

But, to end on a positive, i do agree with most of your list, and thank you for your many contributions to the forum over many years, and for taking the time to put together this list.

Bob

PS I just realized your title, maybe I was not supposed to even read this thread? :xf.eek: I do regard myself as still new though!
 
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The point no. 10
Did you mean 2 words domains are not good ?
Or you mean two unrelated words domain ?

Two unrelated words together can create the most excuisite domains.
For example: MicroSoft, BlueOrigin, SalesForce
Theese are not exclusions. Theese are the so called "Brandables"
Thinking outside the box can be rewarding ;)
 
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Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack.

2. Cheap names are not good - Good names are not cheap

not always


9. You need to have money to invest before starting. You just waste your time if you only have $10 or $20. Don't expect to buy something for $10 and turn around and sell them for $1,000 - It may happen if you have experience but the chance is 1/1,000

really? I only have $ 8.99 for a hand reg and sells it here via DM for $ 100 after a few hours
 
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Ive had success with a name that I bought for next to nothing, held for 3 years and then got a 1000 dollar offer for it, but those are rare as you stated.
 
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In regard to 10. AND THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE even OldTimer Make is putting 2 Words together. It may sound good but it worth NOTHING. Ex: CasinoHusband, PlasticMoon, PaperCoin, etc...

Does this include city+niche domains such as ChicagoPlumbers.com. How much would that name sell for?
 
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My favorite is 5;

“Stay away from cc/tld name -Focus .com only”
 
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Just want to share mistakes that Newbies normally make from my experience - Do not attack.

1. Spend time to read before buying any name
2. Cheap names are not good - Good names are not cheap
3. Stay away from Trade Mark names: Apple, Toyota, Dell, etc...
4. Ignore any Appraisal. They mean nothing - The price is set when there is an agreement between Buyer/Seller. You can sell the same name for small company for $1,000 and big company for $100,000
5. Stay away from cc/tld name - Focus on .com only
6. Understand what is a dictionary word. Adverb or adjective is not a word
7. Any sale information from the past does not guarantee the sale price in the future
8. Buy names from Forum and list them somewhere (Afternic, Sedo, etc...) You will have a hard time to sell names here as everyone here is looking for a bargain (They claimed they are Resellers).
9. You need to have money to invest before starting. You just waste your time if you only have $10 or $20. Don't expect to buy something for $10 and turn around and sell them for $1,000 - It may happen if you have experience but the chance is 1/1,000
10. AND THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE even OldTimer Make is putting 2 Words together. It may sound good but it worth NOTHING. Ex: CasinoHusband, PlasticMoon, PaperCoin, etc...

There are many more but these are the common mistakes.

Good Luck.
Thanks @johnn for your guide.
 
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Thanks for sharing...
Hand Registrations are still in hand😔
 
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Thanks for sharing :) Very helpful!
 
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Good guide for newbies like me!
Thanks @johnn 👍👏
Of course there may be some exceptions.
 
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Regarding #5:

1 - if You come from the country of the ccTLD it would not apply generally. A good ccTLD from a country where You know the sound in native language might sale good. Especially in bigger countries.
2 - there are exceptions from this - for example me :xf.grin: I started with ccTLD and am happy with this.

Would change #5 to "as a beginner focus rather on COM than ccTLD, especially if its not your country TLD" . Else it sounds that ccTLD is generally bad, but for experienced traders and niche trade it might be an interesting option

Just my point of view to this matters
 
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10. AND THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE even OldTimer Make is putting 2 Words together. It may sound good but it worth NOTHING. Ex: CasinoHusband, PlasticMoon, PaperCoin, etc...

Looking at companies like Brandpa, Squadhelp, BrandBucket, etc. it seems to me like they just mashed 2 dictionary words together and put it on the market for $$$$. I know sales are rare but they're still in business with thousands of names registered. So is there any reliable method to determine if a name is brandable?
 
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thank you for this amazing information.
 
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Looking at companies like Brandpa, Squadhelp, BrandBucket, etc. it seems to me like they just mashed 2 dictionary words together and put it on the market for $$$$. I know sales are rare but they're still in business with thousands of names registered. So is there any reliable method to determine if a name is brandable?

There is no reliable method as such to determine if a name is brandable. We just have to use our logic. Short names (LLL.com or LLLL.com) with one or two syllables that would look great or cool if someone started a business with that name.
 
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Best mantras for starters, thanks @johnn.
All points made by others are for those who are not newbies and have some decent experience. I started recently and hope to get some sales.
 
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