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) ?

 

[DealMaker1]

Is she expensive? Can she tell me if my hand regs will be successful?

You can google about her, I have think that you people heard about her.

 

[lock]

There could be a car yard full of Lambos that everyone wants but no-one knows about. The seller has to do some work it might be parking or more but if online and having contact private and the contact form or email not working then it doesn't matter whether you got Lambos or Sparks. The active webmaster with domains priced may have more success selling freeing up money for more than holding out for top money on best. Success in domains requires buying what another wants and turning a profit, or you end up holding trophies as you need to sell not just hoard. Time management is required along with skills over and above just coming up with ideas.
I probably have sparks dragging from my tail pipe as it isn't the most predicted that will get next inquiry.

 

[GoKaizen]

How long did it take Brad?

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

 

[DealMaker1]

Please define "very successful".

"Success" is a relative thing. If you are looking to the public to define what success is for YOU, just don't. Only you know your potential, what that means exactly given your particular circumstances (genetic, social, economic or what have you). If you are an absolute beginner and hand reg ten .com domains for $150 (of hard worked for money) and are able to make $500 after a year, that could be considered a success. If you are Paris Hilton, hypothetically, and get GIVEN $10 million by your daddy for a business and it loses 17 million after a year (just because she can't learn and is no good at), I would consider that a complete failure.

So you see, it is relative.

 

[Charybdis]

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.

 

[kor]

"Success" is a relative thing.

I know, that's why I asked that question.

And I was mentioning the OP.

 

[JB Lions]

If I have to invest money in reg fee domains today, I would do so only on the new TLDs.
There is too much competition on .com and it has been over-explored.
There are dictionary names for a few dollars with the new extensions; I prefer them to a domain like keyword1keword2.com or worse keyword1keword2keyword3.com
We also don't know if in 2033 (and if domains will be still used) what will be the king tld

.com will still be king. I wish we would stop with this amateur hour stuff of some other TLD taking over. You can't show me a mathematical path of how some other TLD could take over .com or which one.

----------------
And yes, you can be successful/make a living on new regs. I can find new regs all day, just keyword combos, I have nice keyword lists or simply looking ahead and buy what's coming.

 

[Goku]

Yes it is possible but you'll have to be very thorough on the current market trend. Like for 2020-2022 the NFT trend was quite exploding. Many handreg domains sold for a good figure.

Likewise, few years back aerial/drone based domains were sold for a good price.
Now currently its GPT until the fad will go away.

 

[Kuffy]

It's a few years since I was active in trading names, but I've kept a few hundred, and sold a couple for £x,000 in the last few months. I really ought to do some reading to get back up to speed, but I thought I would try a hand reg because of this thread. I resigned up for expired domains, and sorted by backlinks.. The name LimoCat.com caught my eye, so I reg'd it to see if I can flip it. I haen't done any research into its toxicity, or any of the other things one should do. I'll put half a dozen pages on the name, and then list it for sale.

I'll keep you guys informed if anything exciting happens. GD thinks it is worth $1,227, but I'm not sure that I'd trust that valuation, as it has been sitting on the expired list for almost a day.

 

[bematic]

I think the beginner mistake is to hand reg 100s of names in domain extensions that don't have established markets yet. I love GTLDs because that's where most of the growth will be, but if you hand reg random 2 word names in .whatever, they might never sell. And you're still paying all those renewel fees, so only the registrar will make money. It's better to get a couple of good one word domains for $xx or $xxx in those new extensions and just wait a few years. If you factor in renewal costs, it will also be cheaper then getting 100s of names. Exceptions to handregging might be the landrush phases, but new registrars started to market or auction premium domains themselves, so I think that strategy is dead.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I think the beginner mistake is to hand reg 100s of names in domain extensions that don't have established markets yet. I love GTLDs because that's where most of the growth will be, but if you hand reg random 2 word names in .whatever, they might never sell. And you're still paying all those renewel fees, so only the registrar will make money. It's better to get a couple of good one word domains for $xx or $xxx in those new extensions and just wait a few years. If you factor in renewal costs, it will also be cheaper then getting 100s of names. Exceptions to handregging might be the landrush phases, but new registrars started to market or auction premium domains themselves, so I think that strategy is dead.

"I love GTLDs because that's where most of the growth will be"......i agree, especially having a background in all sorts of startup's. Come to think of it hand regging a domain is a lot like a startup in that it needs nurturing and exposure in order to be successful

 

[poweredbyme]

^hand reg is priced different, unless the domain hand registered is an exact match to a demand, to a problem of today. Those domains are already taken. Hand reg is usually a domain that has no use today but might have a use in one day in the future.

 

[Joe drake]

^The way I figure it... the low end price for a decent .com in the aftermarket would be around $500.

That cost would cover around Fifty Years of $10 annual renewals. So I like the math, and the payment plan.

only problem is in 50 years its gonna cost 500 bucks to renew a domain

 

[eyedomainous]

only problem is in 50 years its gonna cost 500 bucks to renew a domain

Yeah... if the cost goes up 100% YoY, the emerging market disappears, and I'm still holding the domain.

But, if I am the still holding it in 50 years -than there is a market, especially with $500 .com renewals. So even if I sold it then, at $500, I would still make a profit -based on past and current renewal rates.

 

[kor]

So even if I sold it then, at $500, I would still make a profit -based on past and current renewal rates.

If you calculate the renewal fees cumulatively, how do you make a profit?

 

[eyedomainous]

If you calculate the renewal fees cumulatively, how do you make a profit?

As stated earlier in the thread, I work some domains to (more than) cover the cost of all my domains.
That aside, did you see the "-based on past and current renewal rates" part of my post?

This means the past renewal rate was less than the $10 a year rate in the $10x50=$500 calculation.
And, that that past renewal time period: 15+ years (again from my earlier post) would leave a profit if I sold the domain at the (absurd) reg fee of $500 in fifty years.

 

[Joe drake]

I just handregged 'investment opp' in king. Imagine that. Never registered before.

nice .there are a lot of great domains to be hand regged,but being how addicting it is,there should be a balance of selling along with buying because you will end up owning 200 domains for every one you sell.

 

[magnificentdomains]

All My hand reg domains are priceless and worth millions $$ to me because they bring me joy happiness and emotional stress free .. hobby
Domains like bulllshitwebsites.com, marijuanaguy.com,squarely.com

I really like squarely.com Definitely one to hold to and wait for the right offer.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

nice .there are a lot of great domains to be hand regged,but being how addicting it is,there should be a balance of selling along with buying because you will end up owning 200 domains for every one you sell.

To be quite honest you need a lot more domains than that if you are going to sell any.

 

[Blueleaf66]

To be quite honest you need a lot more domains than that if you are going to sell any.

It depends. I hold around 114 now, sold 2 in the past 6 months. All hand-regs.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I really like squarely.com Definitely one to hold to and wait for the right offer.

i liked it so much....i just accidentally hand registered Squarley.com. Even though it's misspelled it's my opinion few people will know the difference.

 

[Maggie Mae]

i liked it so much....i just accidentally hand registered Squarley.com. Even though it's misspelled it's my opinion few people will know the difference.

Maggie Mae.....about being creative and targeting a "niche or two"......i've been at this game (and i do consider it a game), for over 50 years. Sure domains weren't around 50 years ago but i've started, named and operated dozens of businesses over the years, and I'm not done yet.

A company i named Credit Control Corporation way back in 1973 and sold around 1988 is still in business today and uses the domain CreditControl.net for it's website. As a result of my experience in this particular industry I have hand registered a number of domains specific to the industry. I'm also familiar with the financial services industry, the real estate industry and the medical and healthcare industries.

Currently, and with the help of a technical partner I'm looking to build/develop a marketplace to sell domains and to advise startups.

To the thread originator, yes it's possible to be successful domaining only with handregs, but you should have some practical business experience or at least partner with someone who does. Good Luck!

Congrats on your success and best of luck in your new business ventures!

I stand by my post; if a person has the skills I mentioned at minimum, even without decades of business experience, I believe they can succeed with hand-reg domains. Plus, new trends emerge often, so a newbie, with talent, can compete with the seasoned pros.

 

[evil]

If I have to invest money in reg fee domains today, I would do so only on the new TLDs.
There is too much competition on .com and it has been over-explored.
There are dictionary names for a few dollars with the new extensions; I prefer them to a domain like keyword1keword2.com or worse keyword1keword2keyword3.com
We also don't know if in 2033 (and if domains will be still used) what will be the king tld

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

I just handregged 'investment opp' in king. Imagine that. Never registered before.

 

[evil]

.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