I'm Shane Cultra, Ask Me Any Question

[Domain Shane]

Lets have some fun. I promise to be open and honest with the questions if we can keep it civil.

A little background. I'm nobody special, just a guy that runs a nursery, runs a lot, and loves domains. I am part of team that runs DSAD.com, used to have a blog called DomainShane, used to be part of a little show called Domain Sherpa, sold my first blog WallStreetFighter to Break.com and Lionsgate Film, part of group that sold a show called WallStrip to NBC for $5 Million, and ran 20 plus marathons and 2 Ironmen in between then and now. Bought and sold a few domains along the way

Post any question and I'll have my team of assistants, just kidding, I'll do my best to answer it.

 

[DnEbook]

How long until robots rule the earth? many thanks.

 

[stewmath]

Hi Shane

What are your thoughts on the .CAM extension? Mostly for the future rather than the present

 

[Domain Shane]

Hey there @Domain Shane!
Just wondering if you could sum up your business philosophy in a few short words, what would it be?

Good people, good products, have fun, make money

take out any of these and it's a tough day for me

 

[Domain Shane]

Whats up Shane.

What are your last three or four most recent domain sales?

Date of purchase.

Purchase price.

Sales price.

I think this would be a nice inclusion for the members.

Thanks.
Kevin

Good question. I guess that is how we make money.

Phormium $2500 Purchased in 2013 for $12

Deejo.com $5000 Purchased in 2011 (I think) for $69

S70.com $3300 purchased in 2015 for $1500

I will say I have sold very little domains this year. Probably the least I've ever sold. But I haven' t auctioned hardly anything and been high on my prices (in hindsight I should have let up a little more on a few) But I had a good year last year. Auctioned off some names fall and spring and put money in the buying account and had my one and one more bigger sale that allowed me the money to buy the names I purchased this year that I have posted. I hate to be that guy but I did have one good sale back in Spring and it was my only NDA in the last few years. But it was enough to allow me to not have to sell anything that isn't a great return. Since this is a side gig, once I've reached $50K in sales my prices become tighter because I have the money to feed my buying addiction for the year.

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane.. Thanks for your time..

I've read either in your blog/somewhere.. that you also have few other revenue producing websites?

Are those related to your Nursery/Affiliate marketing? n What's your take on domain development? Any thoughts and Ideas? Thanks again

They used to be good revenue producing sites but I have let them go (no updates) and they have fallen off the rankings in the last few years. Heucheras dot com, Coneflower dot com, viburnum dot com, and vermicomposting dot com I have a few others that make a few dollar a week.

I think domain development should be treated like running a business. A lot of time and effort needs to be put in. Almost everyone doesn't or they are like me and go all in and then move on leaving the car to rust

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane

What are your thoughts on the .CAM extension? Mostly for the future rather than the present

I think people use it. I see a future with dot cam with lots of beaches, rivers, and dicks but very little profit

 

[Domain Shane]

How long until robots rule the earth? many thanks.

Negative 2 years

 

[GeorgeK]

Thanks for sharing. Here's my question (hopefully the answer is educational to all):

You mentioned "threats" above. With a large domain name portfolio, you must get overzealous companies and trademark lawyers contacting you from time to time, to attempt to threaten your ownership of your domains, rather than buy them in good faith. How have you handled those threats over the years, and do you have any interesting "war stories" to share? How do you minimize those risks?

 

[mwzd]

Hi Shane,

Good to see your AMA, great learning for those inclined to do so.

Ironically you and me started at the same time, though you seem to have done way better because you stuck to .com. I wish I'd done the same, but then hindsight is always 20:20.

Here's my question: If you were to start today, knowing what you know now and with a small (say $5k) budget, how would you go about it?

Always been a fan of your work btw, even when I didn't agree with what you're saying, your level of candour is rare in any industry, specially this one, so keep on doing what you're doing, congrats on your success, cheers!

 

[UncleBrand]

Hi Shane,
you have daily lists of auctions running for years on your blog, covering Sedo, Godaddy and Namejet

my question: based on your experience, in 2017 Which auction platform is better for which kind of domains? 4L | Brandable | Generic | .com | .org | .net

Kind regards,
Halille

 

[atinc]

@Domain Shane

You are a well known personality in domain community.

Does it give you hard time while making aftermarket domain purchases from domainers?

and

Does it provide you any advantage in terms of sales? As End-user or Reseller point

As far as I know you have been in domaining for a long time. When you compare your investments with the return of investment you made so far in domaining - Did you meet your expectations while starting out domain investment? ( publication profits excluded )

 

[Nikhil Jain]

Hello Shane. Just one question here in order to learn from your experiences.

What do you think would be the best strategy to sell a Made-up/brandable 5L .com apart from just passively waiting for incoming leads ?

Thanks for your time here .

 

[Domain Shane]

I have to head in to work. Will get to all those great questions this morning

 

[Nahdism]

Hello Shane,

I have like 5-6 domains that I am looking forward to selling. I have listed them at sedo and afternic but got no response till date. Where do you suppose I should sell it to get instant offers or customers without investing in auction fee or any other stuff !

Cheers,
Miss Nahdi

 

[Domain Shane]

Thanks for sharing. Here's my question (hopefully the answer is educational to all):

You mentioned "threats" above. With a large domain name portfolio, you must get overzealous companies and trademark lawyers contacting you from time to time, to attempt to threaten your ownership of your domains, rather than buy them in good faith. How have you handled those threats over the years, and do you have any interesting "war stories" to share? How do you minimize those risks?

I have been fortunate that I haven't had any issues with companies at all. I have been removing my names from parking in order to avoid showing any intent on using other companies that share the name to make money. Also, many of my generics are horticulture related and proving I bought them for such would be easy in my case. In short, it is certainly a huge problem and I understand the importance of protecting generics, I have just been fortunate in that no reverse hijacking has come my way. And my portfolio is small. 500 names or so

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,

Good to see your AMA, great learning for those inclined to do so.

Ironically you and me started at the same time, though you seem to have done way better because you stuck to .com. I wish I'd done the same, but then hindsight is always 20:20.

Here's my question: If you were to start today, knowing what you know now and with a small (say $5k) budget, how would you go about it?

Always been a fan of your work btw, even when I didn't agree with what you're saying, your level of candour is rare in any industry, specially this one, so keep on doing what you're doing, congrats on your success, cheers!

Thank you for the kind words,

If I were starting over I would flip names. I would buy them on the forums, in auctions. Look for names that didn't go for as much as I thought and then flip them. Making a little on each. Which names? It's hard to be exact but a name that perhaps sold on Flippa for $300 and flip on Namejet for $500. Or buy a LLLL.com here and put it on Godaddy. There is some opportunity there to make money. Just have to know the markets and wholesale value. I see people doing it all the time. Because they buy spots on my list to promote the flipped name. It's not huge money but with time you can build up a bankroll to build a portfolio that you wait for higher prices but don;t need to flip them for cash

 

[Domain Shane]

Hi Shane,
you have daily lists of auctions running for years on your blog, covering Sedo, Godaddy and Namejet

my question: based on your experience, in 2017 Which auction platform is better for which kind of domains? 4L | Brandable | Generic | .com | .org | .net

Kind regards,
Halille

I think 4Ls would be Godaddy, CHiPs do well at Namejet but lower quality get buried there. Sedo has been showing some good results but the auction fee eats away at the total

Brandable is Namejet all the way

Generic Namejet, then Godaddy. Again Sedo can have good results since all the eyeballs go to your name
.net, org and the rest all pretty much Namejet

 

[Domain Shane]

@Domain Shane

You are a well known personality in domain community.

Does it give you hard time while making aftermarket domain purchases from domainers?

and

Does it provide you any advantage in terms of sales? As End-user or Reseller point

As far as I know you have been in domaining for a long time. When you compare your investments with the return of investment you made so far in domaining - Did you meet your expectations while starting out domain investment? ( publication profits excluded )

1. Yes its tough to make purchases from other domainers privately. But I buy from them all the time. It is mostly LLLL.coms though because they are easy to price. The generics and brandables almost never. They value them too much. Drew Rosener and I have worked together well. We seem to agree on price more than others. On the auction houses, no. I could care less who owned the name before me. I justify my price based on the name, not the owner. Most domain owners don't work their names anyway. The sit and wait.

2. Not sure what you mean by advantage

3. I have done better than I thought in domain investing. I thought I would get bored with it or make a little extra money here and there. Didn't realize what a big part of my life and livelihood it would become. I've been pecking at it a long time though so its not been a windfall, just a nice added bonus

 

[Domain Shane]

Hello Shane. Just one question here in order to learn from your experiences.

What do you think would be the best strategy to sell a Made-up/brandable 5L .com apart from just passively waiting for incoming leads ?

Thanks for your time here .

Afternic and Sedo BIN. Get it on the Godaddy fast transfer so when they type it in Godaddy it can be purchased immediately. Many people don't even realize they are buying it privately. They think Godaddy is selling it and buy it.. Its much stronger than Brandbucket because 10 times the amount of people searching for names. And you can list on Sedo as well to get even more exposure. That's really the only way I know how.

 

[promo]

I have a question.

How come you posted this self promotional thread in "general domain discussion" ?

Looks like mods are eating it. But usually this sort of thing would be more correctly placed in reviews or greetings. Just a bit of sour grapes.. Rules should be rules. Even for you.