I want to buy a name, but it’s so hard!

[Cataclysmic]

Well, the hard part is finding a name that I can be confident is actually worth buying.

I’ve already hand-regged a pile of names, but in total they make just a few dollars a month when parked.

Now I want to buy a name with type-in traffic and revenue, whose value is based primarily on those two factors. I want to be confident that I’ll get a reasonable monthly return on my investment.

I’ve tried Sedo – but they don’t show traffic unless the domain has an actual website attached to it. shows traffic for actual websites, so that doesn’t help me.

I’ve tried Auctions.GoDaddy.com – they show traffic for some domains, but I’ve heard it’s not accurate, and I can’t see revenue anyway so it’s still not useful.

I’ve tried the Martketplace on NamePros.com – it’s nice that I can actually communicate with the sellers on here, but there are not many names posted in the “Domain Names with Traffic Stats” forum, and how can I trust screenshots of traffic and revenue anyway – they’re so easy to photoshop?

I also tried posting a thread (http://www.namepros.com/domain-names-wanted/522249-wtb-com-with-revenue-budget-xxx.html) about what I'm looking to buy, but it didn't generate any good possibilities.

I’d really like to buy something, but at the same time don’t want to rush into a potentially bad deal… so how can I make this happen??

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Sleepys]

Well, the hard part is finding a name that I can be confident is actually worth buying.

I’ve already hand-regged a pile of names, but in total they make just a few dollars a month when parked.

Now I want to buy a name with type-in traffic and revenue, whose value is based primarily on those two factors. I want to be confident that I’ll get a reasonable monthly return on my investment.

I’ve tried Sedo – but they don’t show traffic unless the domain has an actual website attached to it. shows traffic for actual websites, so that doesn’t help me.

I’ve tried Auctions.GoDaddy.com – they show traffic for some domains, but I’ve heard it’s not accurate, and I can’t see revenue anyway so it’s still not useful.

I’ve tried the Martketplace on NamePros.com – it’s nice that I can actually communicate with the sellers on here, but there are not many names posted in the “Domain Names with Traffic Stats” forum, and how can I trust screenshots of traffic and revenue anyway – they’re so easy to photoshop?

I also tried posting a thread (http://www.namepros.com/domain-names-wanted/522249-wtb-com-with-revenue-budget-xxx.html) about what I'm looking to buy, but it didn't generate any good possibilities.

I’d really like to buy something, but at the same time don’t want to rush into a potentially bad deal… so how can I make this happen??

Thanks in advance for any replies.

If it was easy to figure out traffic names, everyone would always only buy good ones, which would get extremely expensive and then become less worth it. The names that are easier to tell already get too expensive a lot of the time. You can't really have a sure thing, as far as guaranteed return on investment. If you want to figure out how to tell, it takes some trial and error. Learn from your successful purchases and your unsuccessful ones.

Sedo does show traffic stats for any domain that is parked there. People have the ability to hide traffic, if it is under 50 a month, but otherwise, they have to show the traffic. Tdnam traffic stats are usually completely inacurate, but can help you narrow your search. Use your own metrics other than the stats shown. Google result, backlinks, Alexa ranking, Wordtracker, etc. Figure out what metrics have been working best with your purchases and continue to work on your strategy. If you find a name that should have a lot of traffic, but tdnam says it doesn't, don't be discouraged out of your purchase. If you have two names you are interested in and all of your metrics look similar and you just can't tell which is better, if tdnam says 0 for one and 50 for the other, I would probably say that the 50 one is more likely to be a success, but they both could be, or neither could be. Also, if everything matches up, one name is $10 and the other is $100, I would much rather buy the $10 name (so long as the metrics I use are comparable).

Be carful buying traffic names on any message board. There are tons of great deals, but traffic names can dry up overnight. Just be careful and don't jump into things too fast.

Good Luck

 

[GF]

With regard to the Domains with Traffic Stats subforum, I pay close attention, and we make sure that we keep the traffic stats after the domain has sold to make sure that nothing was faked.

I personally buy most of my traffic domains from the NamePros traffic stats subforum.

It's safe, and I recommend it. Always look at someone's Trader Rating, and be more cautious when buying from someone who doesn't have an established reputation.

- GF

 

[Sleepys]

Good Point. I should have written a little more on that. I meant to write, "be careful not to overpay". The reason is because when the traffic is known, the price is often times a lot higher than when it is an unknown that you have to try and quantify. There is more risk in the unknown, so the price should be lower.

Of course the mods on here do a great job. :tu: You will find a lot less fake traffic on here than on a marketplace like tdnam. No one can guarantee that the traffic won't dry up though, if it is really a "traffic name" and not a generic name.