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]

Who is Baba Vanga, and how can I contact him?

But in all seriousness, people new to the industry are going to have hard-knocks at the beginning. But as they learn the market, they will even find solid hand regs that sell. And that, my friend, is a skill.

Cheers.

I have said this before, but most overnight success stories are actually years in the making.

It took me quite a while to reach a tipping point into what eventually became a sustainable business model.

But I also had proof of concept along the way. I was actually getting inquiries and offers, which lead to sales.
Without that, it is hard to even know if you are on the right track.

Brad

 

[DealMaker1]

It is increasingly unlikely a human could be very successful with only hand-reg domains.
And, increasingly very likely AI registrars will be very successful with hand-reg domains.

The sun is setting on humans hand-reging premium domains, and human domaining in general.
Of course, a smart AI assisted human can still have 'some skin in the game'.

Interesting. AI can never write poetry. It can try within the trillions of permutations it can come up with but it always comes across as tinny and angular. But it is always missing one element which can never be permutated and only humans can put forth - extemporaneous, subjective emotion. And that is the art of it.

Domains are somewhat similar, but not exactly. You need a little bit of feel for what sounds and looks good but there is more AI that can be used in this industry than others.

I can say I have fifteen possible hand regs off the top of my head (actually they are sitting there, and I have enough for my goals) that are better than 95% of the domains I see here being regged by beginners (that includes dropped domains). That just comes from refinement over time, whittling down til you know more of the essentials within word dynamics and what you could possibly cold-call someone about. But it is also experimentation. Sometimes a person can be quite baffled about what works and what doesn't.

The best thing beginners can do is stay away from lottery registrations ie trying too hard to make their words mean something (often it comes off as awkward from trying too hard) in order that it will become popular vernacular and a big cheese will buy it for millions. It may happen in a blue moon, but it is very rare (and don't fool yourself that you have so much luck that you are that rare person...) Better to go slow in the beginning and you will learn and then luck will come on its own accord. Pretty much the same in most industries.

Ever ask yourselves why 80% of lottery winners go broke or would say their lives are WORSE than before the windfall? Think about it for a while, and maybe it will tell you something about what money-wisdom truly is. And this can be applied to every business venture.

Best of luck.

 

[magnificentdomains]

I think to be very successful in had reg domains the key ingredients would be time and self discipline. You would also need to be very good with data and have multiple parameters that each domain has to pass through before registering. This way you overcome most of your own bias when selecting domains. If instead you are just picking domains that look good to you then I think it would be a waste of time and money. I think to do it right you would need 1-2k/MTH to invest and 20-30 hours/week.

 

[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]

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

 

[DomainNature]

If you can foresee the future like Baba Vanga then the answer is yes, you can be successful with hand regs.
But if you can't foresee the future like Baba Vanga, then the answer is a straight no, better go grow potatoes, it can turn out to be more rewarding.

 

[NameInbox]

 

[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.

 

[DealMaker1]

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...

Keep at it! This game is one of quality. So keep refining and refining til you just have great names. Then you will see the percentage you sell go up.

 

[DealMaker1]

"than the rabid misinformation being bandied about by charleton neo-analytics freaks"....holy shit, are you articulate. I guess that was directed at me, at least I hope so. First, your opinion about the extension .link is just that, and you know what they say about opinions Now lets take the .link extension off the table despite it's growing in registrations and popularity. Lets compare left of the dot "openingabankaccount" to "freechecking", and see what Google Adwards has to say about that? I don't have time to research it now, but with both "free" and "checking" being keywords, i can predict the results.

I look at hand regs as a game similar to offshore fishing where you never know what you're going to catch. Also, the more you do it the better you get. As soon as I finish keying this I intend to hand register the domain SWOTSPORTS.com....note too that it's a .com and not a .link, only proving I'm not stupid.

My personal business background tells me that a simple S.W.O.T. analysis applies as much to sports as it does to business. For anyone else reading this the acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and the analysis done right can even save a marriage.

Gotta run....gotta do another hand reg

Well, if you can predict results with such accuracy that's quite the gift. And there was nothing directly at anyone in particular. Just "arbitrary Joe"...

The point here is that it is openingabankaccount.com and not openingabankaccount.link. I would also rather have freechecking.com than freechecking.link. .com is an institution and Google DOES play favourites.

If you need to use SWOT to save a marriage, I'm afraid it was already over. Maybe it was analytics that destroyed it in the first place...hmmm.

Actually SwotSports.com is decent. Best of luck with it.

Cheers

 

[bmugford]

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.

I believe I could handreg domains (.COM) at this point and hustle enough low - mid XXX sales to make a profit. That is after many years of experience though on the buy and sell side.

However, that is not that easy for someone to do with limited experience. It would also take an extreme amount of time & energy.

It might be viable for someone getting started, but then you have the problem that newcomers don't have the experience to know what to buy.

Many people start on handregs, but it is hard not to eventually graduate to higher quality domains when you start making sales.

Brad

 

[eyedomainous]

It is increasingly unlikely a human could be very successful with only hand-reg domains.
And, increasingly very likely AI registrars will be very successful with hand-reg domains.

The sun is setting on humans hand-reging premium domains, and human domaining in general.
Of course, a smart AI assisted human can still have 'some skin in the game'.

 

[Zanok]

My answer would be the exact same if your question was if it's possible to become a millionaire by buying a lottery ticket every day.

If you simply want to know if it's possible or not, then yes would be the answer.
However, it's very unlikely to happen.

To stay on topic, factors such as industry knowledge, budget, opportunism, timing, luck and many others can slightly increase the odds in your favour... to a certain extent.

 

[Chieff]

I think acquiring knowledge about domaining is the key to success

what names to register, who needs such domain, how long it takes to close the sale are the key

most of these are only gained thru experience and understanding the market

 

[MKA]

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...

Realistically, no. For someone to buy your domain they have to be interested in it from the get-go. If it's available for registration then there hasn't been an active interest in it , and if the resellers haven't noticed a potential in it it likely doesn't exist.

Is it possible for something to have gone unnoticed for decades? Yes. But it's extremely unlikely.

Your best bet would be if you caught a new word or phrase during its inception, or registered a good domain in an underdeveloped country's language. But in general I think it's a bad idea.

 

[DealMaker1]

I could hand-reg a few great domains in the past 2 years, but nowadays I struggle to find good names which are still available for hand-reg. I am talking about .com domains only.

I think don't waste your time and money on hand-registration.

There are a number of ways to go about finding them and you have to have a good feel for it. You also have to be creative and have a musical ear. Not everyone does. If you don't, probably best to quit while you're ahead. But every good portfolio should have some hand regs.

 

[JB Lions]

.com is the king but we don't know what will happen in the future.
As we are talking about investments, we have to think about the market of the future and not on the actual rules.
You have to build a website for your new hotel. Do you buy a combined hotelsomething.com for xxxx$ or xxxxx$ or you choose a domain like hotel.something for xx$ or xxx$? I would prefer for example hotel .farm or .maison or .gallery

Again, you can't show me a mathematical path of another extension taking over, try it with your next reply. Pick an extension you think can take over. Tell me how many regs .com has and the one you chose. Then tell me how many regs that new extension needs to make every year to take over. You can't.

And the argument you just made has been take apart already. People buying new extensions aren't pricing hotel.whatever at $xx or $xxx. Sometimes they're pricing it even more than the .com. And smart businesses go with .com, since you won't ever have confusion with that extension.

Already existing long threads on this all over this forum.

 

[bmugford]

Again, you can't show me a mathematical path of another extension taking over, try it with your next reply. Pick an extension you think can take over. Tell me how many regs .com has and the one you chose. Then tell me how many regs that new extension needs to make every year to take over. You can't.

As far as .COM dominance, as long as domains are relevant it will lead the way.

More websites are launched on .COM each day than any other extension.

There are still opportunities in non .COM, but that doesn't change the dominance of .COM.

Brad

 

[JB Lions]

Haven't checked stats in awhile.

.com over 160,000,000
all new gtlds combined - 30,000,000

.com is 5x + all new gtld combined

#1 new tld as far as count is .xyz at a paltry 4.3 million regs and dropping

https://ntldstats.com/tld

https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=tlds

There is no catching up.

----------
Plus, some of these new gtlds have some crazy renewals for the better keywords. .com doesn't.

Look at this poor guy @ThatNameGuy

"For instance I registered connector.link a few days ago for $159 and it renews for $159."

https://www.namepros.com/threads/link-binge-continues.1289392/page-17#post-8830371

And I've seen some for much higher than that.

 

[buydomainnames]

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) ?

Anything is possible , but I prefer to follow friendly advice from most of successfull domainers. I listen to their wise advice and learn their experience everyday

 

[kor]

Majority of my domains are handregs (primarily dropped domains)

It's called dropreg, not handreg.

To be able to say handreg, you need to register the domain name using your own creativity without being inspired by a ready-made list.

 

[yb1313]

Majority of my domains are handregs (primarily dropped domains) and I have sold at least a few .com and .org for $xxxx. You really need to find those gems. Along with that I also sometimes get carried away and buy some useless ones also from time to time.

Cool, but one can buy thousands of domains and sell a few, the question here in this thread is whether you're profitable overall with your handregs domains. Regards

 

[Jeffrey]

Yes, but very rare. My first ever domain sale was a handreg, but it there was no handreg from then on as far as I could remember. Most of my sales now were domains I got at Snapnames.

 

[MKA]

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

fb.com was registered in 1990, facebook.com was registered in 1997. Granted, all domains were hand registered at one point or another. But the situation is a bit different today from what it was 30 years ago.

 

[Kuffy]

Don't do it unless you are sure you know what you're doing.

I'm a suck it and see sort of guy. I think it is better to try domain dealing with a couple of hand regs for $20 or so, and see how you get on. Even if you only sell them for $50, you have made a profit and learnt a lot, probably. If you haven't sold them in a year, then just write them off and let them drop. You can ask for opinions here as well, and that will boost your knowledge.