How did you get into domaining?

[discobull]

I'm curious to know the stories behind how others ended up in this business. Care to share?

I'll start the ball rolling. I came at this sort of through the backdoor. Unlike most people that start off with money they want to invest, I started out with a few domains that I had acquired for a business as an end user. They were all along the lines of CityService.com and ServiceCity.com and when it was time to move away from the city where I lived, I had the "brilliant" and "original" idea that my competitors might have an interest in acquiring those domains. At that point, I had never heard of domaining or even heard of anyone selling a domain. Moreover, I had no idea what I should charge for them but I figured I would give it a shot and try to get as much for them as possible. So, I sent out 40 emails and lo and behold I managed to get one sale. Several months later, I tried again and sold 3 more. That's when I realized that there was potential for a business so I reinvested the earnings from those sales and have been doing this full time for the last 3 years. The End.

Your turn...

 

[biggie]

That's a great story. Do you send your coworker a percentage of your profits?

Thanks disco

by the time I started earning "residuals", that company closed and we went our separate ways.

i did keep a $100 bill in my wallet for a few years, hoping I'd run into her, but we haven't seen or heard from each other since.

but it was truly a blessing, that I will never forget.

BTW, her name was Mary.

 

[hookbox]

I came across this article by Tim Ferriss a few years ago and was blown away and have been hooked ever since.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/02...-pro-10-tips-from-the-founder-of-phonetagcom/

 

[McDuke]

I first was introduced to domains in 2001 when a computer genius i knew would help me with questions. He would get excited and tell me about LLL.com's he had, I didn't get the significance. I was more interested in building computers and flipping them as a hobby.

Then in 2011 or 2012 i saw that .xxx super bowl commercial. I thought because xxx related sites generate alot of money and the xxx industry may move to it's own extension. It's was a logical investment to me, so I registered 20 .xxx names "non graphic media related names" I have kept 3 over the years.

Then in 2013-2014 i was injured and had to keep busy while at home waiting to have surgery, I had a few future business ideas so i went and registered a bunch of names in that niche so i had options down the road.

Now I am a Domainer4Life / com

Frank Schilling is my hero!

Happy Domaining!

 

[ricksinfoshop]

I actually bought a domain on ebay for like three bucks and parked it on sedo..forgot about it and then had an email from sedo a few months later saying i had a 700 dollar offer on the table from a buyer...took it...got me hooked

 

[Ms Domainer]

In 2007, I was writing a book and needed to register the title of the book and my characters' names (In 2001, had already registered my own name).

I just kind of got caught up in it, regging reams of really bad names.

I linked on to my first domaining blog: Domaintools, then owned by Jay Westerdal, who was blogging quite regularly.

I found Namepros in 2008.

 

[forge]

I can't remember the exact circumstances, but back in 1999 I was registering domain names for my own use ($6/year at namebargain). As par of my research, I studied the process by which expired domain names become available again. The next step was manual dropcatching of course, and pushing it further.

I hate to be a doubting Nancy :P, but are you sure about that timeline? Domains in 1999 were $35 (I thought minimum) and you had to register them for two years. Thought that didn't stop until year 2000 sometime. Domain registration below $10 was unheard of. Of course, you may have discovered the holy grail of domain cheapdom, but again I never heard of such a thing in 1999.

p.s. Case in point: Even namebargain.com wasn't registered until July 2000. Doubt they set up shop before that date, unless domains were bought secretly in alleyways back in the day. Which would make for a great story.

 

[hookbox]

I hate to be a doubting Nancy :P, but are you sure about that timeline? Domains in 1999 were $35 (I thought minimum) and you had to register them for two years. Thought that didn't stop until year 2000 sometime. Domain registration below $10 was unheard of. Of course, you may have discovered the holy grail of domain cheapdom, but again I never heard of such a thing in 1999.

Here is the archive from the year 2000. $9.99 per year.

https://web.archive.org/web/20001018000039/http://namebargain.com/

 

[discobull]

I hate to be a doubting Nancy :P, but are you sure about that timeline? Domains in 1999 were $35 (I thought minimum) and you had to register them for two years. .

I thought it was $70.

 

[forge]

I thought it was $70.

Yeah, you had to register for two years at a time, so 35 x 2 = 70.

 

[discobull]

Yeah, you had to register for two years at a time, so 35 x 2 = 70.

I see. I guess I misremembered. Early onset Alzheimer's.

 

[forge]

Here is the archive from the year 2000. $9.99 per year.

https://web.archive.org/web/20001018000039/http://namebargain.com/

But again, 2000 not 1999. I registered my first domain in Jan. 1999. I honestly don't remember specifically how I got the "itch". But I think there were only two registrars at the time, NetSol and Register.com.

 

[Doron Vermaat]

Great discussion and some great stories I got into domaining after a previously owned and developed domain of mine was dropped and then auctioned off on Namejet. I was instantly hooked. I actually wrote about it on my blog just a couple of weeks ago for those interested in the full story: http://dngeek.com/2014/12/26/2-years-of-domaining/

 

[VNA]

Sometime back, I received a $500 offer for a domain that I had bought as an end user. That's how I found out domains could be resold and got into domaining to clear out the domains I didn't need anymore.

 

[lisa777]

I'm so new at this so any advice would be appreciated I've read articles on Ken Ham and all I can say is whoa lol

 

[SpareDomains]

Started a web hosting company in 2003 along with a handful of websites. Someone emailed me about one of my domains that I didn't get around to developing yet and I sold it for 1k. Kinda blew my mind that I turned a reg fee domain into 1k and said maybe something to this so added domain investing into my developing mix so been an end user developer since day 1 and domain investor was added shortly after that sale. Currently have slightly over 500+ owned/brokered .coms for sale and 40+ developed websites. Funny that back then reg fee into 1k blew my mind and today I would consider reg fee into 1k a low end sale as have turned reg fee into 5k, 6.5k, 7.5k etc... I'm pretty passive on domain sales which probably helps get the numbers I manage to pull as honestly I'm too busy with my developed sites which also bring income so I shoot my price and it's basically take it or leave it. If they don't take it I go back to work on my developed sites and no biggie. So good domains, patience, not needing the money and being busy with site work has been a successful formula for me in achieving unbelievable ROI.

 

[Doron Vermaat]

I'm so new at this so any advice would be appreciated I've read articles on Ken Ham and all I can say is whoa lol

Ken Who?

 

[SpareDomains]

Ken Who?

Think she means Kevin

 

[lisa777]

yes kevin

 

[ro5hit]

I ended up my first sale with $15 with a little profit

 

[lisa777]

Dang really?