discuss If you have been a domainer for a decade or more…

[equity78]

If you have been investing in domain names for a decade or more, what is your opinion of the domain business now compared to when you were a year in? Do you think the business is better or worse now? Are you more excited about the future of domaining now then when you started out? What was better back in the good old days? What does the industry have to improve on to keep domain … [Read more...]

 

[toughdomains]

Parking is worse but get alot more offers now than i did in 2008.

 

[garptrader]

As I mentioned on TheDomains, over time a domain investor will tend to drop lower-quality domains and acquire better domains so that while few of us hold superpremium one-word .COMs, one's portfolio tends to improve over time. Yet in 2010 sales were stronger than in recent years. In 2010 I can count 14 sales of $750 or more. In 2017 none. In 2010 I had fourteen low $xxx sales. Most of those low $XXX sales from 2010 if I had to renew them today I would let them drop. So IMO the aftermarket has become much more challenging than say seven or eight years ago.

 

[equity78]

The debate is pretty interesting, many feel domaining is much worse now with a few seeing it better today than years ago.

 

[CrazyTech]

All of this is pretty anecdotal, but it feels like things have moved in the direction of more volume at lower prices. Back in 2008, in particular, it felt more like the sky was the limit. I subsisted off of forum sales in high school and college around that time, and it was enough to basically make what I would working a PT job waiting tables and getting good tips. And that was operating in a reseller market.

Both the direction of the economy, the typical cycles of business, and the prevalence of .everything have changed the face of domaining a bit. I'm not saying it can't be done - rather that it can be done as easily - but the premium reg fees and proliferation of extensions seemed to have clamped down on the rags to riches stories I remember.

Maybe some of it was youthful idealism and memory bias, but things seemed easier. There were also a number of domains I could purchase at one location and sell at another for a relatively quick profit as well.

The biggest thing that stands out in my mind is the sheer number of speculators. Namepros itself feels busier in the sales area, but I can't tell how much is actual transaction activity versus just reams of posts.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Worse.
It can't be better apriori, when supply is many times higher than demand.

 

[Dave]

In 2008, if you had mostly LLLL.com, 4N.com, 5N.com and one or two word brandable domains then it was WORSE back then compared to holding an equivalent portfolio today. Like much worse since 4N .coms were still being sold for mid $xxx (crazy, right?).

In 2008, if you had mostly EMD domains it was MUCH better back then. 2-4 word EMD domains were a goldmine back then, many with 10,000+ search volume were still available to be registered and that domain name was almost guaranteed top 3 on Google with minimal effort. This is why they could be purchased for reg fee and resold for $xxx+, most of the time on the same day, especially on SEO forums and such.

From my personal perspective, domaining was better a decade ago as there were far more opportunities than there are now, also less competitive and more demand for domains in general. The chat room on Namepros used to be filled with people buying and selling every single day and regular auctions, and that was just the reseller market.

 

[BaileyUK]

10 plus years ago the domain market had probably just reached the height of maturity (and profitability) I'm not referring to 'one-off' sales, but, a continuous demand for the better terms held by domainers. The same 'new' demand just doesn't really exist today - it's more of a turnover market of sales generated by those that held on to larger portfolios created in the late 1990's or early 2000's . It wasn't hard to be ahead of the game back then. No Chance today..
If you entered the market 10 years ago, there was no reason to loose your shirt, providing you were pretty-savvy.and a good chance of a nice return. Anybody contemplating starting today needs a fairly good investment pot, and then play the low/mid offer game to the smaller portfolio holders. know who they are then 'Cherry-Pick' Keep a good eye on the drops and the Auctions also have good negotiation skills.. In other words today you need a whole skill set. 10 + years ago you could still be creative on the hand-regs and get it right more than half the time

 

[Dave]

10 + years ago you could still be creative on the hand-regs and get it right more than half the time

More than just creative. Using overture to find keywords with high search volume, running large lists to see if they were still available to be registered, and then snapping them up and reselling was profitable and bizarre because not many seemed to be doing it. Would make more in a month than some full time jobs pay, and this is exactly how I got through University. Whilst others were waiting tables or working at shops, I would just buy and reg domains with high search volume in between studying.

Thanks

 

[BaileyUK]

I agree Dave, and the technology industry was in an Explosion back then, so clever 'two word' (and relevant) connections were there to be had, and that was my particular forte. ahh great days
Just about the time as the first iphone hit the market. and I got told 'by quite a few' Nobody is going to carry a Brick like that about you idiot. Just as all the mobiles had been shrunk to fit into skinny jeans.

Overture - oh yes, So plain simple and bloody mind growing for all of us, that had it on a permanent start-up

 

[Randolph]

• People are stuck in 2005 where you filled your domain with keywords. This is no longer what end-users want. People are paying too much for these useless assets and people are going broke domaining with this methodology. Domains should draw a picture- not domain keyword tool counts.

• Aged domains are thought of too highly. Search engines look at them as unreliable and set you up for a rough start. For the ones who only buy aged domains as a reseller, do your research and realize you're limiting yourself to a pool of people who aren't always experts at branding. Expert domainers/end-users never care about reg dates.

• Godaddy/Estibot/etc Appraisals should never sway your domain choices. IF you can't stop looking at the estimates, use this formula:

Drop the last two digits from the Appraisal Estimate then divide by 25. The result is your end-user domain value.

Example:
Appraisal Estimate: $1400

$1400 / 25 = $0.56 is the end-user domain value

 

[biggie]

before esibot

before google

before crypto

there was yahoo and overture tool
and that's all we needed.



imo....

 

[E-Thunder]

I think it’s the same but different!

Fewer offers and sales now but for higher $ amount.

For me almost no parking revenue now. I miss that!

A lot more buying and selling used to happen here too!

Still plenty of opportunity. Just read the sales threads here and new trends that come up for proof of this.