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opinion Hand Registering Domains Is Not Domain Investing

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Admittedly, this may be somewhat a sensationalized title. But hand registering is only a bridge or gateway to investing in domains. This article discusses why. What are your thoughts? Looking forward to them. Here is the link to the article:

Hand Registering Domains Is Not Domain Investing
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I agree... i did that from the get-go and it feels like gambling more than anything.

Especially for the POV of a guy who doesn't even understand the market yet XD
Noobs should hear about aftermarket before going for hand registration. Wish I had :P

Thing is, ALL domains are or were hand registered, so you never know! (Hence the lottery part)
The article is not written especially for noobs but from my POV, Beginners just don't know all the subtilities of the market to be able to successfully hand reg.

Just my 2 cents though, feel free to disagree :P Debates are healthy! :)

-Phil-
 
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I agree, that's why I call myself a hobbyist and collector when it comes to domaining.

Investing in domains requires a certain degree of assurance that you are going to get a positive return on the domains that you are acquiring like when you buy a three letter .com or a single word category defining .com on the cheap and you know for sure that they are going to increase in value based on scarcity and increased demand for them, but when it comes to hand registering domains nothing is guaranteed and you may end up dropping a lot of them in a year or two.

As a Human Rights and Environmental intellectual and activist I also hand register domains in order to express my concerns for certain issues like this one that I just hand registered today:

EndingChildPoverty.com

Although I have sales landers for almost all my domains in the hopes that I can sell a few to pay for my renewals, but in general I like to be able to hang on to my domains in order to redirect their traffic to my future development projects.

I do think that I have been hand registering too many domains lately so I am going to give it a break for a little while.
:xf.smile::xf.wink::angelic:

IMO
 
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Thing is, ALL domains are or were hand registered, so you never know! (Hence the lottery part)
The article is not written especially for noobs but from my POV, Beginners just don't know all the subtilities of the market to be able to successfully hand reg.

Just my 2 cents though, feel free to disagree :P Debates are healthy! :)

I'm trying really hard to find something to disagree with you on. Indeed, all domains began with a hand registration. If you are willing to renew a domain for multiple years you step into the realm of investment. This is because you see clear value in the domain and see that the domain can increase your material interests either through sale or development. Most hand regs are dropped after the first or second year.
 
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My answer: Depends

If you have the foresight of a trend (NFT, easiest example), then buying up the hand reg "NFT Market" would be considered an investment (it is still the action or process of investing money for profit, that you believe to be prudent ...hopefully)

I give an exception to trends. They pop up, they get registered ...a handful do well
 
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Saw yesterday kfzplus.de, available on sedo (kfz = car in german). It looks like a decent german domain, then I saw all the other names.

There are over 2000 available domains related to the kfz keyword with the .de tld. These domains can only be used in the german market, with german customers.

kfzversicherungtarif-rechner.de has a 7500€ BIN, useless nonsense with birth year in 2013.

So why would somebody hand register all these domains?

Buy 100 to sell 1 is an explanation and you won't see, which of the 100 actually got sold.

So just judging by the 99 unsold items, it looks more like gambling, then real investment.
 
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My answer: Depends

If you have the foresight of a trend (NFT, easiest example), then buying up the hand reg "NFT Market" would be considered an investment (it is still the action or process of investing money for profit, that you believe to be prudent ...hopefully)

I give an exception to trends. They pop up, they get registered ...a handful do well

You might be right if you were able to have consistent number of sales every month to be able to maintain a large enough portfolio that you could make a living off of.

But in most cases the only reason that we are able to hand register a half decent domain is because soneone else didn't have the financial stability and the staying power to be able to hold on to their domains and had to let them drop.

Most domainers (including me :xf.frown:) are struggling just to break even because most don't have enough number of the kind of investment grade domains that would guarantee them a profit on a consistent basis.

Our hats should be off to the few lucky domainers who are able to make a profit on a consistent basis because it is a really hard thing to achieve.

IMO
 
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It depends.

I sometimes hand reg names and trust me, I've sold lots of that. Hundreds.

The other thing to mention is that preowned domains perform better overall. But there is a business in manual regs, especially in forward-looking niches that you are 100% sure will be there. There are a couple I invest in and have a few tens of names which are being renewed as the niche grows.
 
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It depends.

I sometimes hand reg names and trust me, I've sold lots of that. Hundreds.

The other thing to mention is that preowned domains perform better overall. But there is a business in manual regs, especially in forward-looking niches that you are 100% sure will be there. There are a couple I invest in and have a few tens of names which are being renewed as the niche grows.

We all know that you have a proven track record when it comes to making consistent sales, but in a way you are the exception since domain sales seems to be very sporadic and inconsistent for the majority of domainers.

IMO
 
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We all know that you have a proven track record when it comes to making consistent sales, but in a way you are the exception since domain sales seems to be very sporadic and inconsistent for the majority of domainers.

IMO

Hmm I never saw it like that. But on better thought, you are probably right.
 
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only difference between hand reg and aftermarket is someone saw the value in the name before you
aftermarket or hand reg we all speculate no one knows the future
 
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only difference between hand reg and aftermarket is someone saw the value in the name before you
aftermarket or hand reg we all speculate no one knows the future

Unlike hand regs, with drops you don't speculate. You make a safe bet. That's what I do.

I know that certain terms, niches etc. are valuable and have idea of the usage of any domain I get at drop before I get it. Statistically, over a larger number of names, I get a safe ROI. The other important part is to list effectively and price correctly.

Domain investing is not guesswork. It's part art, part science and if you only rely on randomness you're "dead in the water" already.

Edit: Some drops even have sales track, well, that's another factor for getting a positive return.

Edit 2: Also, don't forget that each domain in a domainers' portfolio today, has started back then as a hand reg. So that's that.

Notably, biggest investors in our field still have a ton of domains they regged themselves, countless years ago, renewed each year and sell today for a tidy sum.
 
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@twiki same things can apply to hand registration you can do research on a domain that was never registered before
only difference between the two is someone else saw the value in the name and that makes you feel at ease

just think for a moment what if scarcity didn't exist in the market what if we went back to 1985 would hand registration be any different from dropped domains ?

i see your point about drops being safer and i do agree but to dismiss hand reg as 'luck' or not real domain investing is just ignorant thinking (referring to op not you on this one)
 
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Hand registering domains to be a domain investor is like building a teepee in the forest to be a real estate investor. Sure you could get lucky, but much of the money to be made right now is in existing properties.
 
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@enterscope actually real estate development is more profitable :) @redemo your line of work broski
 
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@twiki same things can apply to hand registration you can do research on a domain that was never registered before
only difference between the two is someone else saw the value in the name and that makes you feel at ease

just think for a moment what if scarcity didn't exist in the market what if we went back to 1985 would hand registration be any different from dropped domains ?

i see your point about drops being safer and i do agree but to dismiss hand reg as 'luck' or not real domain investing is just ignorant thinking (referring to op not you on this one)

Unfortunately, 99% of those trying to make a buck in domaining don't see the value in domains they reg.

They just hope it's there.

That's quite a difference.
 
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@twiki great point that i agree with you on but i would like to add even if it is off-topic why is luck never mentioned when it comes down to domaining ? you mentioned art and science do you really not see luck having a huge role in a domain selling ? with the market being over saturated with domains
 
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You might be right if you were able to have consistent number of sales every month to be able to maintain a large enough portfolio that you could make a living off of.

But in most cases the only reason that we are able to hand register a half decent domain is because soneone else didn't have the financial stability and the staying power to be able to hold on to their domains and had to let them drop.

Most domainers (including me :xf.frown:) are struggling just to break even because most don't have enough number of the kind of investment grade domains that would guarantee them a profit on a consistent basis.

Our hats should be off to the few lucky domainers who are able to make a profit on a consistent basis because it is a really hard thing to achieve.

IMO

You make a compelling point, that is very true. I wouldn't argue with that
 
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@twiki great point that i agree with you on but i would like to add even if it is off-topic why is luck never mentioned when it comes down to domaining ? you mentioned art and science do you really not see luck having a huge role in a domain selling ? with the market being over saturated with domains

Luck? Absolutely not.

In my domaining work there is no luck involved. Everything is based on, as I said, part art part science. That's how you get consistent results. And trust me, bigger investors also don't bet on luck. In fact anyone doing great business in the world bet on safe things (even a Warren Buffet quote says the same thing).

The fact that the market is saturated or not is irrelevant.

What matters is how you compete and the edge you have.
 
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In hindsight, I realize that everyone starts almost blind in this business.

That's how I started. In my first year I was obviously blind and buying crap. But then, gradually I started to see. And each day that passes I see better. Even today the process is still ongoing.

What I did different than others, perhaps, was: I knew I will be blind from the very beginning, so I planned for it from the start. I moved fast, spent money, failed fast, learned, rinse and repeat.

Made a 14K loss in the first year but I was really happy with that, because I knew I was onto something cause I only needed 1 or 2 more years to break into profit. I even celebrated the loss. It was amazing to see the potential.
 
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Too bad 99% of so-called domain investors are NOT developing anything. Then you might have a point.

Developing domains is a different business, and requires a very different skillset. It is what I did for many years. In fact part my capital originated from developed domains and ad income.

Today I stopped developing names but who knows, maybe I'll start again.
 
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@enterscope bad comparison from the start on your part ;D
i know guys that are holding tens of acers of land from 1980 with no price increase and some guys that bought 2 acres of land couple of years ago that got 500% price increase it is all about foreseeing the future )
 
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@twiki i don't nearly have enough experience to go against yours but i would have to disagree no matter how much work you put into a name from research stand point you might never be able to make a profit on it i do believe luck plays a role into this we might argue the size of the role but it has one for sure
 
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