question Is it possible to be very successful in domaining only with handreg domains ?

[Domain Name Invest]

I often hear that handreg domains are for beginners (often because they are just starting out and it's better to fail with domains registered at handreg fee) and that as the domainer progresses, they move almost exclusively to dropreg domains...

Do you know of any examples of successful domainers who have built their fortunes largely on handreg domains (except for the early investors in domaining of course) ?

 

[bmugford]

Anything is possible, if the likelihood is low enough.

There are some people that do well with handregs, but most portfolios end up being a mixed blend.

If you are able to handreg domains and make sales, why not reinvest some of that money into higher quality domains? That is normally what happens.

There are opportunities in handregs, but there are also 150M+ .COM taken. It is not like amazing domains are just sitting out there to reg on a consistent basis.

Brad

 

[Leo2k]

Sure. Just keep track of what is in trend in all the industries and their relative new keywords.
Register meaningful, attractive & matching domain names based on those keywords and the domain name will definitely have a value.

 

[NameInbox]

 

[VadimK]

I would say it's only possible nowadays if you are a skilled mathematician/analyst who is capable of building a model which counts multiply factors to predict the upcoming trends (reading 5 online articles type of ''Best trends of 2023'' will not be enough)).

But not only that. Is important to understand what kind of combination would be selling (highest probability of it) for each particular niche, which is very difficult for newbies to spot, unless, again, you can analyze different data in the way you need.

And then you have to wait, because trends do not develop in days, nor in weeks. For most of them it will take years, or at least months (for anything truly revolutioning).

Witout trends it's impossible to hand-reg enough ''non-trending'' domains to justify the cost and make profit (since they will be of an average to low quality you'll need lots of them to generate one sale which is also not gonna be of a high digit).

So, yes, the shortest way is a combination of hand reg and expired names, definitely.

 

[karmaco]

I am of the opinion that only experienced domainers will do well at hand reg. Someone just starting out with zero experience or knowledge will inevitability register large amounts of garbage because they don’t know any better and then drop most if not all of it 365 days later.

There are plenty of opportunities to get drops and allready regged names pretty cheap especially in the current market. Don’t hop into auctions until you know what is a good name and have the funds.

I think part of the reason so many fail is because they enter this business thinking hand reg makes it an even playing field (It doesn’t) and they can succeed on shoestring budget. They don’t have cash on hand for good names with some age.

Even good hand regs will likely take years to sell. Its not some shortcut to profit.

 

[Kuffy]

Always remember that all names were handregs at one time.
Most of my names were handregs, and I ended up with too many. Couple this with the life style changes forced on us by the Covid nonsense, and I ended up losing some good names through my inattention. If you are going to major in handregs, then keep the volume within a manageable level, and work the names. You will soon learn the types of names you can sell. If one looks to be a dog, then get rid of it. Either drop it, or sell it via a trade platform like Name Pros.

 

[biggie]

Hi

depends on what success means to you.

one could hand reg a name for $10 and resell for $15, then keep repeating the process.

if you're willing to take on and make profitable low dollar transactions, in time your capital will grow.

imo...

 

[bmugford]

Always remember that all names were handregs at one time.

True, but most quality domains were not handregged at a time where 150+ million registrations existed.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Hi

depends on what success means to you.

one could hand reg a name for $10 and resell for $15, then keep repeating the process.

if you're willing to take on and make profitable low dollar transactions, in time your capital will grow.

imo...

You would need an absurd sell-through rate for that math to make sense. 🤔

If you are willing to hustle enough I could see registering domains for $10 and proactively selling enough for low $XXX to make money, but that is more like a job than investing.

Brad

 

[iTesla]

When I got into domaining at the end of 2019 year, domaining was already a 80% dead biz. I got into it because i know something from the future, you can be successful if you know something will pop up like crypto, NFT, GPT etc and hand reg/dropcatch the best domains, only in this way i see some success.
But also as mentioned by others you should have EXP to be able to detect those diamonds that will sell, one of those respectable members I have seen is Twiki, he knows 100% what he is doing, of course there are others.
My opinion about Domaining is 80% fail vs 20% success.
I did not sell any domain until today, only got offers and still unknown if they were real, cause I did not received a reply back from those morons that I contacted with more info.
I have one of the most important biotech domains in the world and you know what the guy who started a biz offered me 500$ for it and he continues to operate his biz from a dashed domain. People will find alternatives always, to get those alternatives from under their nose, you will need allot of money so that you will be the only provider of such names.
So to protect my names i went and registered such words biotec, biotek so that guy does not have the alternatives, but I m wrong because the net,org and others could be available.
Do you know who sell domains? Morons that work at Godaddy, they will sell pretty any crap that is sweet to brainmarketed (washed) end users.

 

[boker]

You would need an absurd sell-through rate for that math to make sense. 🤔

If you are willing to hustle enough I could see registering domains for $10 and proactively selling enough for low $XXX to make money, but that is more like a job than investing.

Brad

If you check reported sales here or namebio reports, SH, BB or others, in a year you will find thousands of hand regs which sold for xxxx. So, if you manage to find your way and discover the formula for xxxx sales, it should bring you good money, as in low-mid xxxxx profit a year. If you want to make xxxxxx a year or more you need either high volume( thousands) of hand regs or higher value domains. I wonder how many domainers( percentage) doing drops or auctions are making xxxxxx profit a year.

 

[bmugford]

I wonder how many domainers( percentage) doing drops or auctions are making xxxxxx profit a year.

Probably not many. I would venture a guess that the vast majority of people who have ever invested in any domains have actually lost money.

The main difference between a handreg and say buying a much higher quality domain for $500 is when it comes to renewal time. Paying $10 to renew a higher quality domain is not that big of a deal.

Higher quality domains also tend to gain value over time.

Though if you don't know what you are doing, more expensive domains just become a faster way to lose money.

Handregs in general tend to lead more towards a churn and burn business model, with lower prices and and a higher STR.

Brad

 

[biggie]

that is more like a job than investing

Hi

putting in the work, before investing, is the job.
but some don't learn that until after the fact.

to me, str is not as important as roi per sale, during same period.
as you've said before, "the profit is on the buy side"

i started by hand-regging domains, paying $6.95 and reselling for $$ and up, some on same day
it was a matter of working my way up.

after gaining years of experience, now i'm at the point where some of those long-term investments are paying off.

the new folks may have to go through same ordeal, depending on their budgets and what they bring to the table.

imo...

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I often hear that handreg domains are for beginners (often because they are just starting out and it's better to fail with domains registered at handreg fee) and that as the domainer progresses, they move almost exclusively to dropreg domains...

Do you know of any examples of successful domainers who have built their fortunes largely on handreg domains (except for the early investors in domaining of course) ?

Sure, anythings possible and while I haven't been as you queried "very successful", I've been able to hold my own since getting into the business in 2017. The last few years I've become a believer/investor in the new gTLD's, and of late I've hand registered 1,600 .LINK domains.

One of the main reasons I haven't been more successful has been my lack of follow through ie. getting my domains listed for sale. That said however, I'd promised a number of NP members that I'd have my domains listed on various platforms like DAN and Sedo by January 31st and Voila!......95% of my domains are listed as of today thanks to a little help from a friend

Finally, i just hand reg'd a Premium .link domain a few minutes ago whose similar .com equivalent just sold for 10 Million dollars according to Namebio (04/15/22).

Good luck

 

[bmugford]

One of the main reasons I haven't been more successful has been my lack of follow through ie. getting my domains listed for sale. That said however, I'd promised a number of NP members that I'd have my domains listed on various platforms like DAN and Sedo by January 31st and Voila!......95% of my domains are listed as of today thanks to a little help from a friend

Excellent. You don't even really have a proof of concept until they are listed for sale.
At least now they have a fighting chance.

Brad

 

[branding]

Sure, anythings possible and while I haven't been as you queried "very successful", I've been able to hold my own since getting into the business in 2017. The last few years I've become a believer/investor in the new gTLD's, and of late I've hand registered 1,600 .LINK domains.

One of the main reasons I haven't been more successful has been my lack of follow through ie. getting my domains listed for sale. That said however, I'd promised a number of NP members that I'd have my domains listed on various platforms like DAN and Sedo by January 31st and Voila!......95% of my domains are listed as of today thanks to a little help from a friend

Finally, i just hand reg'd a Premium .link domain a few minutes ago whose similar .com equivalent just sold for 10 Million dollars according to Namebio (04/15/22).

Good luck

Nice. Good luck Richard! Looking forward to see some reported .link sales. Maybe moderate but some will follow for sure.

 

[EarthWindFire]

Yes but you have to really ahead of emerging trends and hold domains for a long time waiting for that trend to take hold

 

[Recons.Com]

I often hear that handreg domains are for beginners (often because they are just starting out and it's better to fail with domains registered at handreg fee) and that as the domainer progresses, they move almost exclusively to dropreg domains...

Do you know of any examples of successful domainers who have built their fortunes largely on handreg domains (except for the early investors in domaining of course) ?

Of course it is possible! Just ask the guy who hand registered fb.com and sold it to Facebook for 14 million$.

 

[bmugford]

Of course it is possible! Just ask the guy who hand registered fb.com and sold it to Facebook for 14 million$.

You probably have better odds to create a time machine than recreate that.

Brad

 

[DealMaker1]

Yes. As long as you have a plan. Good hand registrations can be hard to find so you would have to have a needle in the haystack attitude as you go along. There are still keyword domains out there that are good...but once again it may take you days to find them, even with the best software tools.

Let me give you an example. A few months ago I hand regged openingabankaccount.com. Sometimes these names will slip through dropcatch and just sit there. But it took me a while to find it. First regged in 2007, 7000 exact match SV and $15 CPC. So obviously this has value because somewhere there is a bank that would love the prospective traffic from such a keyword domain. Banks are of course looking for potential life-long clients who want to open a bank account. But I'm afraid most domainers are addicted to expiring/aged domains only which is a shame, and they don't see how valuable some domains are, even hand regged ones.

But I think BMugford is correct - a mix would be best.

 

[bmugford]

But I think BMugford is correct - a mix would be best.

I have a mixed blend of formats, extensions, price ranges, etc.

I tend to use my low to mid tier sales to cover renewals and make some profit, then I can keep my better domains and wait for the right offer.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Yes. As long as you have a plan. Good hand registrations can be hard to find so you would have to have a needle in the haystack attitude as you go along. There are still keyword domains out there that are good...but once again it may take you days to find them, even with the best software tools.

Let me give you an example. A few months ago I hand regged openingabankaccount.com. Sometimes these names will slip through dropcatch and just sit there. But it took me a while to find it. First regged in 2007, 7000 exact match SV and $15 CPC. So obviously this has value because somewhere there is a bank that would love the prospective traffic from such a keyword domain. Banks are of course looking for potential life-long clients who want to open a bank account. But I'm afraid most domainers are addicted to expiring/aged domains only which is a shame, and they don't see how valuable some domains are, even hand regged ones.

But I think BMugford is correct - a mix would be best.

"openingabankaccount.com" I'll have to say, this is where this industry is truly fucked up imho. As a result I just hand regged FreeChecking.link. Also, i really don't understand your metrics "7000 exact match SV and $15 CPC" That said i do see from Hosterstats that someone owned it (and possibly used it) for 12 years from 2006 to 2018. This might explain the metrics? I also understand your "keyword rich metric", but FreeChecking.link is even more keyword rich. When I Googled "Free Checking" you would not believe the results and ideas I got, especially what i learned from nerdwallet.com (possible buyer).

I could go on and on comparing the two domains but the fact you're probably right is amazing. However, even bank "end users" need to be educated, and therein lies the opportunityimo

 

[biggie]

I have a mixed blend of formats, extensions, price ranges, etc.

I tend to use my low to mid tier sales to cover renewals and make some profit, then I can keep my better domains and wait for the right offer.

Brad

Hi

that's a nice position to be in.

my portfolio is much smaller, but still contains a mix as well, mostly com, org, some LLL.net and some "speculative" extensions.

fortunately, the last couple of years, ppc has managed to produce enough revenue to pay for renewals.
it's a case where a minority pays for the majority.

str for 2022 was 3%, but... i only sold six domains.



imo...

 

[DealMaker1]

"openingabankaccount.com" I'll have to say, this is where this industry is truly fucked up imho. As a result I just hand regged FreeChecking.link. Also, i really don't understand your metrics "7000 exact match SV and $15 CPC" That said i do see from Hosterstats that someone owned it (and possibly used it) for 12 years from 2006 to 2018. This might explain the metrics? I also understand your "keyword rich metric", but FreeChecking.link is even more keyword rich. When I Googled "Free Checking" you would not believe the results and ideas I got, especially what i learned from nerdwallet.com (possible buyer).

I could go on and on comparing the two domains but the fact you're probably right is amazing. However, even bank "end users" need to be educated, and therein lies the opportunityimo

"openingabankaccount.com" I'll have to say, this is where this industry is truly fucked up imho. As a result I just hand regged FreeChecking.link. Also, i really don't understand your metrics "7000 exact match SV and $15 CPC" That said i do see from Hosterstats that someone owned it (and possibly used it) for 12 years from 2006 to 2018. This might explain the metrics? I also understand your "keyword rich metric", but FreeChecking.link is even more keyword rich. When I Googled "Free Checking" you would not believe the results and ideas I got, especially what i learned from nerdwallet.com (possible buyer).

I could go on and on comparing the two domains but the fact you're probably right is amazing. However, even bank "end users" need to be educated, and therein lies the opportunityimo

Here is the first problem - that a person should even entertain .link. What a travesty of an extension. The discussion should end there because there is nothing even remotely similar between .com and .link. .com is an institution, .link is a flash in the pan. .com with classic keywords are always in demand. .link with ANY keywords, are not. As much as an antique Strativarius is worth more than a 2023 factory-made, cookie-cutter violin. I hope you see the picture.

In any case, let me extrapolate or rather keep it much simpler than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks:

7000 exact search SV is a number straight from the Google AdWords planner. And if you can't trust Google, then who can you trust? Month over month, at an avg. CPC of $15, "opening a bank account" exact keywords get an average of 7000 type-in searches per month. That means it is something that people are looking for "exactly". How much more dependable can you get than that (and using a bona fide extension on top)? And yes...it is that simple for SEO purposes.

These days I see too many want-to-be online businessmen over-complicating things in order to seem smart. But which is smarter, to spend $15 on a hand reg which is sure to make you more than that back or an expiring domain that was bid up at auction to $5000 and now you are left in a hole to make the money back? I'm not against expiring domains as I buy them myself, but clearly one must realize that a hand reg can still be equally, if not more effective. These types of domains are more for SEO strategists, not for pure domainers, so please keep that in mind.

I'm happy you have taken to re-educating bankers. I'm sure the world needs more people like you!

Cheers