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poll How many domainers in the world?

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What is total number of domainers worldwide?

  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.
  • One thousand to ten thousand

    13 
    votes
    18.3%
  • Ten thousand to one hundred thousand

    27 
    votes
    38.0%
  • One hundred thousand to one million

    10 
    votes
    14.1%
  • One million to ten million

    votes
    9.9%
  • Ten million to one hundred million

    votes
    7.0%
  • None

    votes
    4.2%
  • Oh come on, this is beyond stupid

    votes
    8.5%
  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

redemo

Mug RuithTop Member
Impact
3,028
A domainer is a person who registers domain names as an investment. How many domainers do you think there are on our lonely planet? What data backs up your estimate? I think the number is up to one million because most domainers are probably Namepros members and there are over one million members but not all members are active. So up to one million domainers seems like a good estimate. Then again, not all domainers speak English so maybe it's more like two million?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
It really depends what you mean by investment.

If the bar was say people who own 10+ domains with hopes of selling them for a profit down the road, I think the number is 100k or under.

The vast majority of registrations are made up of end users and large portfolios.

Another question is - what percent of .com even has value above registration fee?

I would be surprised if it is over 5%. Maybe 10% would have any chance to ever sell.

Brad
 
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How Many .com Domains are There?​

If you’re wondering how many domains are there, chances are you’re talking about .com and .net domains. After all, they’re the most popular.

With 157.4 million domain registrations at the end of Q3 2019, .com and .net TLDs increased by 1.3 million, or 0.8 percent, over the second quarter of the same year. Year-over-year, .com and .net TLDs increased by 5.7 million domain registrations, or 3.8 percent. At the end of Q3 2019, there were 144 million .com domain name registrations and 13.4 million .net domains.
 
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It really depends what you mean by investment.

If the bar was say people who own 10+ domains with hopes of selling them for a profit down the road, I think the number is 100k or under.

The vast majority of registrations are made up of end users and large portfolios.

Another question is - what percent of .com even has value above registration fee?

I would be surprised if it is over 5%. Maybe 10% would have any chance to ever sell.

Brad
Sounds reasonable
 
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must incooperate china & india.

mostly tech savvy nations, interested in IT & internet.

Professional Domainers (earning all their income from it) I bet far less than 1 mio.,
but amateur domainers...
xx mio. (?) or more.

And not just for internet domaining, but for all kind of naming.
 
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I would think anyone that owns a domain could have an opinion of what that means. I like to network so know who has what niches find serious brokers buyers sellers with open portfolios.
 
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Is there a standard to define a professional domainer? Is based on numbers of domains in your portfolio that define the probability to sell valuable items and define your income that define how much you can re-invest and...loop.?
 
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A domainer is a person who registers domain names as an investment. How many domainers do you think there are on our lonely planet?

A definition for Domainer that makes sense to me "a person who registers a domain name, and sells it for a profit."

If you haven't sold a domain for a profit, you are not a Domainer, just a domain debtor.

I'd argue there are less than 5,000 Domainers on the planet making an annual profit when you consider this elite group may own 25 million domains among themselves.

Something I am sick of, is the domain offer showcasing I see on social media, esp. Twitter; where an actual sell is never confirmed. This trend grew during the rise of NFT showcasing in 2021, hopefully this need to announce unactualized sells dies quickly.

Domainers sell domains for profits, and I'd bet less than 10K persons are doing so in any given year.
 
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How many active members on Namepros? That should be most of them...
 
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A definition for Domainer that makes sense to me "a person who registers a domain name, and sells it for a profit."
I didn't start this thread to push an agenda, but domaining isn't only selling. Domaining is registering a domain name as an investment. If a person registers a domain name in order to make money from that investment then they are a domainer. Millionaire domainer, failed domainer, newbie domainer. You smoke cigarettes you're a smoker. Don't matter how many.
If you haven't sold a domain for a profit, you are not a Domainer, just a domain debtor.
I disagree, but it seems like a debate is getting fuelled as to what exactly is a domainer. I'm saying it's anybody, anywhere, who registers any domain name as an investment by any means.
I'd argue there are less than 5,000 Domainers on the planet making an annual profit when you consider this elite group may own 25 million domains among themselves.
Interesting. Got any sources mate?
Domainers sell domains for profits, and I'd bet less than 10K persons are doing so in any given year.
So a person who registers domains and parks them for profit isn't a domainer? A person who solely leases domain names for profit isn't a domainer? A person who buys domain names in order to develop and later sell them isn't a domainer? ONLY selling domains for profit makes you a domainer, is that what you're saying? I'd say ALL of the above makes you a domainer, regardless of your income level.
 
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Is there a standard to define a professional domainer? Is based on numbers of domains in your portfolio that define the probability to sell valuable items and define your income that define how much you can re-invest and...loop.?
Not really, that is why I defined it in my estimate.

Before you can estimate, you need to define what it is.

Brad
 
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I disagree, but it seems like a debate is getting fuelled as to what exactly is a domainer. I'm saying it's anybody, anywhere, who registers any domain name as an investment by any means.
Well, then you need to define what "investment" means.

Are we talking about only people who believe they can sell the domain for more in the future or people who are going to try to use the domain to make money AKA is it considered an investment if you buy a domain to possibly use to grow your business?

You could argue that buying a domain name to use is an investment in your business, though if that was the case basically all end users would qualify.

Brad
 
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You could argue that buying a domain name to use is an investment in your business, though if that was the case basically all end users would qualify.
That is a very, very, very, very good point. You've left me dazed and confused. Still shaking from the impact.
 
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Are we talking about only people who believe they can sell the domain for more in the future or people who are going to try to use the domain to make money AKA is it considered an investment if you buy a domain to possibly use to grow your business?
Are serial domain name parkers domainers?
 
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I didn't start this thread to push an agenda, but domaining isn't only selling. Domaining is registering a domain name as an investment. If a person registers a domain name in order to make money from that investment then they are a domainer. Millionaire domainer, failed domainer, newbie domainer. You smoke cigarettes you're a smoker. Don't matter how many.

I disagree, but it seems like a debate is getting fuelled as to what exactly is a domainer. I'm saying it's anybody, anywhere, who registers any domain name as an investment by any means.

Interesting. Got any sources mate?

So a person who registers domains and parks them for profit isn't a domainer? A person who solely leases domain names for profit isn't a domainer? A person who buys domain names in order to develop and later sell them isn't a domainer? ONLY selling domains for profit makes you a domainer, is that what you're saying? I'd say ALL of the above makes you a domainer, regardless of your income level.

1. Domaining isn't only selling, but its about profits. This is my definition, and your definition is your definition. Both are debatable, neither is law.

2. You posted an opinion based poll.

My opinion is that there are less than 5k-10k profitable domainers. I derive this from reading about those like Rick Schwartz and Mike Mann.

For example, Rick Schwartz has owned 6K-8K domains at different times over the last few years.

Mike Mann has registered 10K domains in one day before.

As far as a source, you are on Namepros, there are plenty of threads about small numbers of domainers owning thousands of domains.

3. If a person parks or leases their domain, they would fall under my definition of Domainer. Leasing is just selling temporary access to your domain for a fee. Until a profit is realized, you are not a domainer in my book.

4. Domaining is about profits.
 
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namepros.com has a million members so they all at one time were thinking domaining and being a domainer whether they all are current or not. rite?
 
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Are serial domain name parkers domainers?
I own thousands of domains.
I park most of them.
I make profits via sales.

Sure. They can be.

Brad
 
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domainers is a more fun name for domaining, elite domainers comes about by the sorting class of domains themselves.
 
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digital real estate investors is what it should be officially. I actually put this on my taxes last year and it accepted it. lol.
 
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First:

A "domainer" is a casual hobbyist, part-timer who attempts to earn a profit running an informal, loosely-organized portfolio of domain names but, in more years than not, fails to turn a profit on the portfolio.

A "domain investor" is a professional investor, full-timer/part-timer who attempts to earn a profit running a well-organized portfolio operation and, in more years than not, successfully turns a profit on the portfolio.

Second:

I'd guesstimate that there are upwards of 30,000 "domainer" participants and fewer than 3,000 "domain investor" participants in the aftermarket, worldwide.

The turnover rate among "domainer" participants is likely much higher than "domain investor" participants, who depend on the portfolio profits for household income, in whole or in part.
 
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Total active and inactive domainers might be 50k.
Number of forum users never show number of real humans. I don't think this forum has 1 million real human members, active and inactive combined.

Probably 50M people bought a domain at some point in their lifetime. Remember, domains are around for 30-40 years. Some of them may open account at forums to learn more or to buy a few domains.
 
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Is there really a registry where one can register themself as a domainer?
Do Godaddy/Sedo/Sav/Dan release any such stats on an yearly basis (they actually can)?

Choosing a number here would more feel like a wild guess
 
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Choosing a number here would more feel like a wild guess
I wonder if I.C.AN.N., as the regulatory body, has a definition of domainer?
 
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The most well known domainer domainking only have 6000+ followers on Twitter so I could guess less than hundred thousand domainers in the world.
 
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