opinion Hand Registering Domains Is Not Domain Investing

[DN Playbook]

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

 

[Clover]

You are half right. The title was to get attention. To start a dialogue. That's what titles are for.

But hand reg'ed domains available today are not as good as domains available over 10 years ago. But you can still find some good ones if you are alert and vigilant.

Yes, I wasn't really pushing a "debate" as a bad thing, it's just a type of thread prefix here.

I agree with the 10 years ago thing as well, along with the idea that investing is really only investing if you really believe the return will be greater and have data to back that assumption, otherwise yes it is a gamble. I think most handregs are indeed a gamble, but there are many that are not as well.

Good thread non the less.

 

[HotKey]

This smart investing theory should be geared towards end users, not domainers. In terms of hand-regging or looking at the aftermarket.

As investor's it's not always sustainable to be buying off each other as we're looking to maximize profits are we not. So whether our portfolios are made up $xxx or $xxxx aftermarket investments, or hand registrations or a mix of both, it comes down to quality and gearing them to end users who are making an investment of their own on a good name for their business rather than just registering one that might be "close enough".

The problem is the dot-com market, it is so saturated that indeed hand-regging really breeds short-lived names. But most folks are stuck on it, so it's like a revolving door. At the same time as I mentioned earlier we can indeed look to each other's names and we often do, but it takes just a keen eye to recognize potential that the original holder may not or does not care to maximize on, as it does on hand registrations.

 

[redemo]

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

Investing "put (money) into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit."

So you're wrong.

 

[DN Playbook]

Investing "put (money) into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit."

So you're wrong.

The keyword there is "expectation" not "hope". The expectation has a reasonable chance of becoming realized. Based on information and knowledge.

It is common knowledge that as soon as you drive a car out of the dealer's parking lot it depreciates in value. But if that car is a 65 Ford Mustang it will appreciate in value. You want to acquire domains, no matter by what manner, that you can expect to sell for more than you paid for them. Most hand reg's don't even sell for registration price. So as @HotKey wrote, it takes a keen eye. You have to see value in a name to be motivated to renew it year after year until the right buyer comes along. If you don't see a value and allow it to drop then it can't be said truly that it was an investment.

To some extent this is semantics. But words we use reflect how we view things. And how we approach the business will determine our decisions and impact our results.

 

[redemo]

You have to see value in a name to be motivated to renew it year after year until the right buyer comes along

Do you think that selling is the only way to make profit from domain name investment? Profit comes in many forms. Development is included. For if outbound takes time, and if domain listing takes time, and domain name development takes time, then what is the difference? The end result is profit.

 

[DN Playbook]

Do you think that selling is the only way to make profit from domain name investment? P

No.

There are 2 key aspects to investing: 1. Expending money, and 2. Achieving profit by either reselling or developing.

 

[redemo]

Good. So where is the hope in developing compared to selling?

 

[DN Playbook]

Good. So where is the hope in developing compared to selling?

If you do anything based purely on hope you are in a lot of trouble. IMHO.

 

[DN Playbook]

Another thing. We should not be reinforcing bad behavior by liking posts like here:

Your reg. of the day - NamePros

If it is truly a good domain, fine. But don't just hit like because it is yet another post. Encouraging burning money is not helpful to anyone.

 

[M.Rovert]

Why would it not be investing?
Because you do not "invest" more than a hang reg fee?
One can invest in reading, listening to podcast, looking for trends and making research. So it is not only money that one can consider as an investment. (time=money)
Say you reg a domain 4 months ago for the reg fee, because you saw some value in it, you would not consider that as an investment?
Four months later I see the value you saw before me and i spend "x" amount on it, and buy it from you, then yes that would qualify as investing?
Same goes for drops. Plenty of them go for way much higher amount on bids, that it was actually the asking price of the seller before it was left unrenewed. But that is investing (smart investing) ¿?
I dont really care the tag or name one decides to put on the way one gets or holds on to domains.
Same for any asset, like virtual land or any other NFT. How much Ethereum would you of payed for a Cryptopunk in 2017? or even 6 months back? or on a Bored Ape? CryptoPhunks have been delisted from Opensea and Rareble (now relisted on this last one) because Larba Labs sent a DMCA. Could that add value to that project? Maybe yes, maybe no? Nothing is certain on its initial stages, same as for domains.
In a nutshell, hand reg does not mean the opposite on investment by any means.

 

[S8Power]

IMO hand registering domain names is investing. I must say I have registered hundreds of (rubbish) names starting in 2015 and dropped many of them. However I have kept the names of which I am truly convinced of the fact that some day my investment (of x years reg fees) will pay out. Some examples:

PillsPrinter.com
DrugsPrinter.com
MedicinesPrinter.com
CashDrones.com
HydratedFood.com

Have a nice day

 

[oldtimer]

In many cases we as domainers are considered to be Speculators and not really Investors (specially when it comes to new trends or technologies).

In my opinion in order for domaining to be considered to be an investment and for us to call ourselves domain investors (like putting that on a business card) there has to be a high level of assurance that our domains have a substantial liquid value and that only applies to investment grade domains that only a small percentage of domainers are dealing with.

Yes there are some domain investors whom we all know in the domain Industry, but most domainers fall more under the category of Speculators than Investors specially when considering that most domainers don't have much of an RIO portfolio wise even though they might have managed to sell a few domains here and there sporadically.

Nevertheless this is just my opinion and that's how I think about this.

 

[DN Playbook]

Why would it not be investing?
Because you do not "invest" more than a hang reg fee?

IMO hand registering domain names is investing. I must say I have registered hundreds of (rubbish) names starting in 2015 and dropped many of them. However I have kept the names of which I am truly convinced of the fact that some day my investment (of x years reg fees) will pay out.

Does the fact I pay for something retail price make me an investor? Paying for a year for a new reg and then letting it drop is not investing. It is testing. But as I wrote earlier, hand regs can turn into investments if we see the value in them to keep renewing them and especially if we develop them because there is reasonable expectation that those will turn a profit. But it cannot be based on blind faith or hope.

 

[johnn]

I am sure that we will get nowhere after 1,000 posts here.
May be the reason for the thread is to promote your own website?
Because the topic does not make any sense and you are 99% wrong.
Who care about the definition as long as people making money.

 

[DN Playbook]

I am sure that we will get nowhere after 1,000 posts here.
May be the reason for the thread is to promote your own website? because the topic does not make any sense and you are 99% wrong.

I would love to engage you @johnn. And I agree with your comments that if we simply say "You're wrong" or reply with "No, you're wrong", we get nowhere. So would love it if you would expound as to why you feel that way. Then we could have a meaningful dialogue.

 

[DN Playbook]

Who care about the definition as long as people making money.

Would you not agree that although many are selling domains here and there, most are not making money, ie profit. At least not more than some extra spending money.

 

[elevator]

Look I completely disagreed with your point. All domains are once hand regs, can you show me any good domains that were not once hand reg ?
According to endglish dictionary:
An investment is essentially an asset that is created with the intention of allowing money to grow. ... Investment may generate income for you in two ways. One, if you invest in a saleable asset, you may earn income by way of profit.

It is not all investment that can yield interest or profit incase you invest on bad property or goods or whatsoever, it is not likely for you to make money from bad investment.

So such could be the case of bad domain names when you invest on bad domain names.
We have seen new or hand reg domains that sold big and we have seen some valuable names that sold at loss of capital.

Don't forget that brandable domains are mostly hand reg domains and companies like brandbucket and squadhelp and etc do registered many hand regs and they are making their cool money on daily basis.

What you can tell me that I will agree with you is that; before you can go on domaining busness or call it investment; you must know what makes up a valuable domains. So if you invest on valuable domain names, be it hand reg or old, you are very sure of making money out of it.

 

[oldtimer]

I am sure that we will get nowhere after 1,000 posts here.
May be the reason for the thread is to promote your own website?
Because the topic does not make any sense and you are 99% wrong.
Who care about the definition as long as people making money.

@johnn , you don't have to try to kill off every thread that is about hand registering domains just because you want the Newbies to buy their domains from you and not to hand register them themselves,

We all agree that the Newbies are probably better off buying domains from the aftermarket than trying to hand register them themselves at least untill they can develop an eye for what a good domain is to hand register,

So no need to always be trying to dissuade the rest of us from talking about hand registering domains because hand registering is only recommend for experienced domainers and is no threat to your business model of trying to sell domains to the Newbies on the forum.

I have noticed that you and some others put up some good domains for sale on the forum at bargain prices occasionally which are probably much better choices for Newbies to get started with than them trying to hand register domains on their own,

So don't worry so much about us wanting to talk about hand registering domains, live and let live

IMO

 

[Hankish]

so the article admits that HR "can be" over a period of time. HandRegi is no less/more speculation than most aftermarket domains. But generally be ready to add years or drop prices. Brandables, 5L, and new keywords are a plenty. Any one turning their nose up is just plain dumb. I think many need to revisit the basics of "Longterm vs Swing vs Momentum" investing.

and selling a HR for $80+ is 1,000% roi (fyi)

 

[Henry Y]

I think the OP has a misunderstanding about investment. And this thread is actually about portfolio management, not about whether it is investing or not.

Hand registering domains is an investing because domainers want to earn profits by expecting the hand registered domains to increase values in the future, regardless of time period.

Domainers always adjust their portfolios by replacing worse domains by better domains, in an attempt to achieve higher expected returns and lower risks within their cost budgets. Letting a hand registered domain be dropped in 1 or 2 years may be an outcome of portfolio management.

 

[lock]

All my names were hand registered oh well. Same logic means you need to wait for someone to delete perfectly good domains.

 

[DN Playbook]

Hand registering domains is an investing because domainers want to earn profits by expecting the hand registered domains to increase values in the future, regardless of time period.

Using the term investing when it comes to domains that have little to no hope of profiting above reg price is dignifying a practice that will break your bank. Yes, you can certainly have domains in your portfolio that can legitimately be investments. Let me reiterate that I am not against hand regs. Just hand regs of domains that are not worth the price of a registration or worth renewing. And I understand that that is somewhat subjective. But just as with other investments, you need to register domains based on reliable information and understanding of the buyer pool.

 

[bmugford]

All my names were hand registered oh well.

My only real points on this are -

1.) On average, domains registered years ago are higher quality, as what was available at the time was higher quality.

Is every old domain good? No.
Is every good domain old? No.

Are there far more old domains that are good than new domains that are good? Yes.

2.) On average, existing registrations are higher quality than unregistered domains.

If you are new to investing it might make more sense to start with hand registrations. At least that way you are limiting your losses. If you don't have a clue and start investing on the aftermarket that can just expedite the losses.

Ideally if you can turn hand registrations into a viable business model, you could likely do even better re-investing the profits into higher quality aftermarket domains with larger pools of buyers.

Brad

 

[DN Playbook]

And by the way, dnplaybook.com was a hand reg. And I have hand registered other domains. I consider them investments because I have either developed them or renewed them and plan to keep renewing them. Other domains I hand reg'd were duds. I let them drop after the first year. But domains I bought on the aftermarket I consider true investments. I didn't start doing that until I felt comfortable with understanding what makes a good domain through trial and error.

 

[Henry Y]

Using the term investing when it comes to domains that have little to no hope of profiting above reg price is dignifying a practice that will break your bank. Yes, you can certainly have domains in your portfolio that can legitimately be investments. Let me reiterate that I am not against hand regs. Just hand regs of domains that are not worth the price of a registration or worth renewing. And I understand that that is somewhat subjective. But just as with other investments, you need to register domains based on reliable information and understanding of the buyer pool.

The definition of investing is objective, while your way of defining domain investing is subjective that is based on values of domains which are subjective. So I said you misunderstand investing.

When a person hand registers or buys a domain, expects the domain value will increase and wants to earn a profit from selling the domain in the future, then it is already an investing activity, regardless of the true value of the domain, the holding period, the way of getting the domain, the chance of selling the domain and the research method used. If he cannot earn a profit from selling the domain or just lets the domain expire, then it is called investment loss rather than saying it is not a domain investing.

Instead of saying hand registering worthless domains is not investing, I think a more proper saying is that people should invest domains in a wise way.

I think I have explained a lot about investing. You can try to take some investment courses to better understand investing. But it is still your choice to insist your thought.