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

 

[NameFu]

Rick Schwartz disagrees, based on what he's been saying about the power of hand registering. People have become wealthy on hand registering the right domains in the early days of an industry. It's not exactly the same kind of domain investing as purchasing domains but to be honest, purchasing doesn't not guarantee making a profit if you but a shitty domain. Registering and buying high quality donasibs requires brains and vision regardless. This is the nature of investing whether you are regging or purchasing.

 

[NameFu]

Too bad 99% of so-called domain investors are NOT developing anything. Then you might have a point.

Even many pros are not developing domains... Saying they don't have the time and would rather sell it to someone who has the patience and skill in that area. People in this thread are attaching some strange, biased requirements to be considered an "investor".

 

[NameFu]

I see nothing wrong with a mixture of purchasing and regging, especially for a beginner or someone with low funds. It's all investing if he/she can make returns..

 

[boker]

Let's be clear. Hand reg'ing is a thing and is completely part of domaining as a whole. You can make a business out of it and selling within a year or so if you are good at it. However most hand reg's are dropped before renewal. Why? Because no one sees a value in them, including the registrant. The moral of the story is that it's not a true investment unless you see the value of the registration by renewing it for multiple years and/or developing. Like real estate, quality domains will increase in value over time even if you don't actively try to sell them, taking into account ups and downs in the economy. However, the majority of hand regs are simply wishful thinking or playing the lottery, they won't sell even for reg fee. You can buy into stocks early and cheap because you have some insights into the company and the industry or market trends. But selling them early is not really an investment. So invest your money wisely.

So, you are saying that investing 1k in one domain and waiting 5-10 years to sell it for 10k or so( it could sell or not) it's called investment, but buying 150-300 hand regs for the same amount and making 1-5k in the first year and to renew just the best of them it's called wasting money...does it sound right for you?

 

[The CEO]

I assumed that www.dnplaybook was hand reg in 2017. And you developed it into website? why?

 

[enterscope]

I think people are missing the point of this thread.

Nearly every professional domain investor, including Domain sherpas like Andrew Rosner, Michael Cyger and Rick Shwartz will advise against newbies hand-registering domains.

It's not to say you can't make money with hand registered domains, it's that 99% of new domain investors will LOSE MONEY by hand registering domains. If you don't understand this concept then chances are you are a newb and shouldn't be hand registering domains.

 

[boker]

I think people are missing the point of this thread.

Nearly every professional domain investor, including Domain sherpas like Andrew Rosner, Michael Cyger and Rick Shwartz will advise against newbies hand-registering domains.

It's not to say you can't make money with hand registered domains, it's that 99% of new domain investors will LOSE MONEY by hand registering domains. If you don't understand this concept then chances are you are a newb and shouldn't be hand registering domains.

So, do you think that a newbie who can't make money from a 7-8$ investment, he will do a lot better buying domains in auctions at 500$-1k, biding against Andrew Rosner, Michael Cyger and Rick Shwartz? Does it sound logical?

 

[NameFu]

I think people are missing the point of this thread.

Nearly every professional domain investor, including Domain sherpas like Andrew Rosner, Michael Cyger and Rick Shwartz will advise against newbies hand-registering domains.

It's not to say you can't make money with hand registered domains, it's that 99% of new domain investors will LOSE MONEY by hand registering domains. If you don't understand this concept then chances are you are a newb and shouldn't be hand registering domains.

You are wrong. I've seen interviews where Rick Schwartz, Mike Cyger and Andrew Rosener have said that you can make great returns with hand regging. In fact Andrew Rosener is Brokering a domain I hand regged. You are thinking in a strict, formulaic way without reading between the lines. No industry works like that. Don't base your strategy on one liner gimmicks. Look at the whole playing field and think broadly at all of your options as part of your playbook. Millions in hand regged donains sell every year. Be dynamic in your thinking, fluid not stiff and ridged....

 

[NameFu]

In fact Rick Schwartz did an entire interview with Domain Sherpa demonstrating that you can find profitable hand registrations.

Get your facts right before misleading people on here.

 

[enterscope]

You are wrong. I've seen interviews where Rick Schwartz, Mike Cyger and Andrew Rosener have said that you can make great returns with hand regging. In fact Andrew Rosener is Brokering a domain I hand regged. You are thinking in a strict, formulaic way without reading between the lines. No industry works like that. Don't base your strategy on one liner gimmicks. Look at the whole playing field and think broadly at all of your options as part of your playbook. Millions in hand regged donains sell every year. Be dynamic in your thinking, fluid not stiff and ridged....

It seems like you are arguing just for the sake of arguing...

Where are these interviews you speak of?

Did you not read in my post where I said you can make money with hand registering it's just not recommended if you are a newb. You must be a newb! What is the hand registered domain Andrew Rosner is brokering for you? I doubt he is actively doing outbound on this name, chances are he just listed it for sale so in the rare chance it sells he gets a commission.

Point is, if you don't have experience and knowledge you shouldn't hand register domains.

This is RULE #1 of domain investing.

I have hand registered domains in the last year, but I am not a newb. Once again, you are arguing just to argue without actually reading what people are saying.

 

[enterscope]

In fact Rick Schwartz did an entire interview with Domain Sherpa demonstrating that you can find profitable hand registrations.

Get your facts right before misleading people on here.

How about you post some of your hand registered domains in this thread so we can see the gems you acquired.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Hand Registering Domains Is Not Domain Investing

I disagree with that because I have sold many dotcom hand regs for xxx-x,xxx.

Great example domain not sold with bin $10 here on my sales thread but sold through Godaddy for mid $xxx it was a hand reg domain idea based on recent news..

 

[The CEO]

Hand Reg Domains ==> Quality + Market Niche + Potential End User = Profit $$$
Sample: No Argument just an example. I can easily sell ivideocall(dot)com for $50

jdksfhfjdkf.com for $15? yes or no
iVideoCall(dot)com for $15 yes or no?

The game is quality, brandable and easy to remember when it comes to hand reg.

 

[NameFu]

It seems like you are arguing just for the sake of arguing...

Where are these interviews you speak of?

Did you not read in my post where I said you can make money with hand registering it's just not recommended if you are a newb. You must be a newb! What is the hand registered domain Andrew Rosner is brokering for you? I doubt he is actively doing outbound on this name, chances are he just listed it for sale so in the rare chance it sells he gets a commission.

Point is, if you don't have experience and knowledge you shouldn't hand register domains.

This is RULE #1 of domain investing.

I have hand registered domains in the last year, but I am not a newb. Once again, you are arguing just to argue without actually reading what people are saying.

Many (not all) of the pros advise against beginners regging domains, but having a strict anti regging stance is misleading. No pro that I've seen has an absolute anti "regging is not investing" stance. That's just nonsense.

Talking shit about Andrew Rosener's service is kind of funny... I think that he and his team out in time with all of the domains he brokers. You slandering his award winning service without knowing exactly what he does just slows that you're just trying to win an argument instead of having a productive conversation and I'm certainly not going to post any of my hand regged domains here just so that you can try to degrade them lol...

You've got no class....

 

[HotKey]

Point is, if you don't have experience and knowledge you shouldn't hand register domains.

This is RULE #1 of domain investing.

I kind of disagree with this. Handregging as a newb can be a rite of passage, providing it leads one to domain investing betterment. It can help find your groove within the domainer realm.

And as far as rules, its better to lead with guides. The mindset of a "rule" can cloud newbs with artificial guarentees.

 

[NameFu]

I kind of disagree with this. Handregging as a newb can be a rite of passage, providing it leads one to domain investing betterment. It can help find your groove within the domainer realm.

And as far as rules, its better to lead with guides. The mindset of a "rule" can cloud newbs with artificial guarentees.

Exactly... I've learned a lot from hand regging when I started and still hand reg. I know someone who made over 400k in hand regged domains in less than a year.

This thread is misleading. Especially the title.... I'd advise shifting from the absolute stance to a more balanced approach of warming against regging MANY domains when beginning. There is nothing wrong with experimentation in the beginning...

 

[The CEO]

Hand Reg Domains ==> Quality + Market Niche + Potential End User = Profit $$$
Sample: No Argument just an example. I can easily sell ivideocall(dot)com for $50

jdksfhfjdkf.com for $15? yes or no
iVideoCall(dot)com for $15 yes or no?

The game is quality, brandable and easy to remember when it comes to hand reg.

and don't get me wrong. sometimes it sold at gd auction for 3k$ jdksfhfjdkf.com

 

[gericsb]

7 months after re-entering the domain game, my only sale has been a hand reg:A/d/v/i/s/o/r/F/e/e/s dot com.

Only offer (I rejected) has been a hand reg: C/o/m/e/Z/e/n dot con

Portfolio is about 30% hand regs, 50% expired, 15% closeouts and 5% outright purchases from other domainers.

 

[bmugford]

So, do you think that a newbie who can't make money from a 7-8$ investment, he will do a lot better buying domains in auctions at 500$-1k, biding against Andrew Rosner, Michael Cyger and Rick Shwartz? Does it sound logical?

You are going to lose money either way if you don't know what you are doing.

Brad

 

[boker]

You are going to lose money either way if you don't know what you are doing.

Brad

It's easier to sell a $7 hand reg for $50-$100-$1000, than to sell a $500-$1000 one, for which you have obviously overspent, because you can't win a bid with a pro.

 

[Manik]

I've personally made bank with handregistered names only. The ngtlds, the cctlds, the trends and the brandables.

On the other hand, my biggest mistake would be constantly renewing the handregs, that totally wiped my account.

Over the years, one major lessen I've learnt is be diversified.

So as an experiment, create a budget. Split it into two halves,

Budget1: buy many many handregs and list them for sale. (Do not renew)
Budget 2: use the same amount in budget 1 for just one domain to catch or buy

See which ones working for you. Back when I joined domaining, everybody mentioned .com is king. But had I not taken the advice with a grain of salt I would have been poorer.

Always be open to experimenting and adventures. Cheers

PS: changed my handle from tweetsgonewild to this one

 

[gericsb]

Totally agree with Manik,

Buy the handregs but be brutal about renewals. For me, no inquiries and I am not absolutely in love with the name...drop.

Keep pruning, pruning, pruning as you continuously improve the quality of you portfolio.

 

[bmugford]

On the other hand, my biggest mistake would be constantly renewing the handregs, that totally wiped my account.

It's easier to sell a $7 hand reg for $50-$100-$1000, than to sell a $500-$1000 one, for which you have obviously overspent, because you can't win a bid with a pro.

Yep, that is a major issue. It is very easy to get loaded down with renewal fees on marginal domains.
The more valuable the domain, the lower % of value a renewal is.

It is a lot harder to justify renewing a domain that might sell for $50 - $100 vs one that might sell for $2,500 - $5,000, especially when you factor in a standard 1% - 2% sell-through rate.

You would need a much higher sell-through rate to justify renewing domains that might sell for low $XXX or less.

Brad

 

[Brandster]

You should check some gaming/betting domain name sales and look at their whois records. Most of them are hand regs from 2019-now, and they sell at 4 till 5 figures...

 

[enterscope]

Ok you are all right. Keep hand registering junk, best you stay away from the aftermarkets.