It seems there are 3 camps of domain owners/investors.

[End Game]

(1) These type of domainers mostly could care less about what the domain name is. Basicly they are looking for really good backlinks...that will provide good pay per clicks from parking their domains. It seems these owners are not looking to sell their domains...but to drive monthly/yearly revenue as long as it last.

(2) These domainers don't really care that much about back links...but are very interested in good generic domains that can be sold for higher prices...to an end user mostly. Some of these investors will park their domain or even build a simple websites...to help promote their domain. Their end game strategy is to find diamonds among the coal and receive a high percentage return on a sale of their domain.

(3) Number three is a hybrid of 1 & 2. These investors are looking for traffic, back links and good marketing domains too. I find myself more in the camp of #3. My goal is to pick up good generic domains...that I'm willing to sell to an end user at a higher price...but want to park the domain and hope for monthly revenue too. I've been domaining for 10 years and just recently started to re-think my strategy. Reading the forums has given me more insight to what is possible. Thanks to the board.

 

[GiftedDomains]

(1) These type of domainers mostly could care less about what the domain name is. Basicly they are looking for really good backlinks...that will provide good pay per clicks from parking their domains. It seems these owners are not looking to sell their domains...but to drive monthly/yearly revenue as long as it last.

(2) These domainers don't really care that much about back links...but are very interested in good generic domains that can be sold for higher prices...to an end user mostly. Some of these investors will park their domain or even build a simple websites...to help promote their domain. Their end game strategy is to find diamonds among the coal and receive a high percentage return on a sale of their domain.

(3) Number three is a hybrid of 1 & 2. These investors are looking for traffic, back links and good marketing domains too. I find myself more in the camp of #3. My goal is to pick up good generic domains...that I'm willing to sell to an end user at a higher price...but want to park the domain and hope for monthly revenue too. I've been domaining for 10 years and just recently started to re-think my strategy. Reading the forums has given me more insight to what is possible. Thanks to the board.

And then we have camp no. 4
(4) These type of domainers register worthless crappy domains and will never make a single dollar

(actually the largest camp if we are honest)


Now seriously, you forget one category which is not generic, but brandable .com names. These names usually don't have much traffic and/or any monthly searches, etc.... but there is a good market for them and some domainers invest in them (me included).

 

[biggie]

:talk:

what about these?

(4a) folks who register anything and send spam emails randomly, hoping one reaches an end-user

then when it does and they reply asking "how much", they has no idea how to price their domain or how much to ask for it.

(4b) wannabee flippers, folks who think they can buy or register a name today and resell it tomorrow for a profit

(4c) folks who register anything in any extension and think a broker can sell it for them in a week or less



imo...

 

[Traveler]

(4d) Those that register TM domain names because they think that somehow adds value to the name.

 

[End Game]

Good stuff guys. I guess I should've said there are basicly 3 camps of successful domainers.
Plenty of those sub-set camps where the campfire goes out of control. The key there I guess...is to learn from our mistakes. Some folks never will and will give up.

Yeah gifteddomains...I've been reading the brandable domain thread. Seems that's a real art to pick a "nothing word/words" and register or buy a domain...that a company might use for their brand. It's cool that you guys on this board can pull it off!

 

[johname]

(4e) folks who register domain hacks of any word or phrase regardless of an enduser use.

(4d) folks who think all double word phrases can be reversed with minimal value downdraft.

(4e) folks who register domains thinking the estibot value is what they can sell the name for before renewal

(4f) Strek Trek domainer folks who try to buy the next future domain concept before there is a 'show case' thread made on the topic

(4g) folks who think dot tv means television and dot co means company.


lol

But seriously there all types of domainers. Depending on your definition of domainer.

But your right that there are those that think parking first, those that think sales first. Those that think hold first sell much later. And those that collect names for later development.

 

[End Game]

"(4f) Strek Trek domainer folks who try to buy the next future domain concept before there is a 'show case' thread made on the topic."

Forgot that one. I've spent a few lonely nights camping with those. I did register a few "nano domains" before nano was cool though.

 

[SpareDomains]

I'm in camp #2. Almost all of the domains I have sold over the last 10-11 years were expired .com pick ups at reg fee. Most of my sales are in the 1-10k range with the majority in the 2.5-7.5k range. Patience is a little easier when your initial acquisition cost was registration fee. If it takes a few years for the right deal to mature I'm only looking at reg fee x a few years which is a minimal investment when selling in x,xxx range. Don't make a ton of sales but don't really need to as ROI is there. Parking income has never been my concern as end user buyers don't ask about that.

 

[biggie]

Good stuff guys.

Plenty of those sub-set camps where the campfire goes out of control.

:talk:

the campfire scenario is perfect analogy!

I did register a few "nano domains" before nano was cool though.

:talk:

lol, me too


I regged one....nano.ws

(4f) Strek Trek domainer folks who try to buy the next future domain concept before there is a 'show case' thread made on the topic

:talk:


i'm an old school trek fan too


but back in the day, I was regging stuff like 'mobiletvphone com' , cuz of the "Tricoder"

Parking income has never been my concern as end user buyers don't ask about that.

:talk:

I park, but I concur that end-users don't ask about it.

so when an interested party does ask, it's probably a domainer in disguise.




imo....

 

[dnadomain]

You forgot about camp #6:

The domainers who register useless and worthless domain names and then make sure to register all the extensions possible, then go ahead and register the name with hyphen combinations and 's' at the end.

 

[alien51]

(1) These type of domainers mostly could care less about what the domain name is. Basicly they are looking for really good backlinks...that will provide good pay per clicks from parking their domains. It seems these owners are not looking to sell their domains...but to drive monthly/yearly revenue as long as it last.

If you are only betting on the traffic, and not the quality of the domain, then you are a domainer who is susceptible to fraud. Most crappy domains that get tons of traffic, usually get them from paid backlinks, bots, and other dubious methods. Your chances of getting legit income from them, will get busted sooner or later.

And because it is a "high traffic" domain, the seller will usually jack up the price tag when you try to buy it, because traffic (legit traffic) is a high priced commodity in the internet. Unfortunately, you are a gullible sucker who believes in Santa Claus, so you buy it only to find an empty sack not enough for you to break even.

(2) These domainers don't really care that much about back links...but are very interested in good generic domains that can be sold for higher prices...to an end user mostly. Some of these investors will park their domain or even build a simple websites...to help promote their domain. Their end game strategy is to find diamonds among the coal and receive a high percentage return on a sale of their domain.

Generic domains nowadays, are like Rare Earth metals. A lot of them get sold to the "Greater Fool Theory" concept. So you have SEX.COM purchased by a domainer for $13 million, he sells it to another domainer for $14 million. He earns $1 million.

It's the same in the Aftermarket venues for ordinary mortals. Many domainers buy their combined generic word domains in the aftermarket for $750, $1,200, $2,100.... hoping to resell them to an end-user for $1,000, $1,800, $3,000.... so they pocket something in the vicinity of $80, $150, $800.

The money model is: domainer---> domainer---> domainer---> end-user

End-Users are completely shut out, because domainers are fighting for those domains among themselves while they are cheap. It's like a Pyramid ponzi scheme. Whoever starts at the bottom (that's usually Andrew Reberry), will pocket the money more easily.

Problem is, when domain prices get so high, no End-User will buy it anymore. An End-User says "What??? You are asking for $4,500??? That's too expensive!!!". And the domainer will bark back, "Well, i paid $3,800 from another domainer for this! Why would i sell it cheap to you????"

(3) Number three is a hybrid of 1 & 2. These investors are looking for traffic, back links and good marketing domains too. I find myself more in the camp of #3. My goal is to pick up good generic domains...that I'm willing to sell to an end user at a higher price...but want to park the domain and hope for monthly revenue too. I've been domaining for 10 years and just recently started to re-think my strategy. Reading the forums has given me more insight to what is possible. Thanks to the board.

I am not sure if parking is still a viable revenue model these days. Baby boomers of today are now more cyber-intelligent. They can tell a parked page when they see one. Who clicks on a parked page anyway?

In fact, advertising nowadays are shifting to a model where their ads are disguised as content articles because people don't click on ads anymore.

So the unfortunate thing here, is that domainers are not content developers. So evenif you have a good domain, you may not be getting enough traffic revenue.

 

[mis_chiff]

What about the best known Domainers camp
The Showcaser's - commonly known as the pump and dump

 

[DU]

Then there's also the Worlds Worst....

 

[End Game]

If you are only betting on the traffic, and not the quality of the domain, then you are a domainer who is susceptible to fraud. Most crappy domains that get tons of traffic, usually get them from paid backlinks, bots, and other dubious methods. Your chances of getting legit income from them, will get busted sooner or later.

And because it is a "high traffic" domain, the seller will usually jack up the price tag when you try to buy it, because traffic (legit traffic) is a high priced commodity in the internet. Unfortunately, you are a gullible sucker who believes in Santa Claus, so you buy it only to find an empty sack not enough for you to break even.



Generic domains nowadays, are like Rare Earth metals. A lot of them get sold to the "Greater Fool Theory" concept. So you have SEX.COM purchased by a domainer for $13 million, he sells it to another domainer for $14 million. He earns $1 million.

It's the same in the Aftermarket venues for ordinary mortals. Many domainers buy their combined generic word domains in the aftermarket for $750, $1,200, $2,100.... hoping to resell them to an end-user for $1,000, $1,800, $3,000.... so they pocket something in the vicinity of $80, $150, $800.

The money model is: domainer---> domainer---> domainer---> end-user

End-Users are completely shut out, because domainers are fighting for those domains among themselves while they are cheap. It's like a Pyramid ponzi scheme. Whoever starts at the bottom (that's usually Andrew Reberry), will pocket the money more easily.

Problem is, when domain prices get so high, no End-User will buy it anymore. An End-User says "What??? You are asking for $4,500??? That's too expensive!!!". And the domainer will bark back, "Well, i paid $3,800 from another domainer for this! Why would i sell it cheap to you????"




I am not sure if parking is still a viable revenue model these days. Baby boomers of today are now more cyber-intelligent. They can tell a parked page when they see one. Who clicks on a parked page anyway?

In fact, advertising nowadays are shifting to a model where their ads are disguised as content articles because people don't click on ads anymore.

So the unfortunate thing here, is that domainers are not content developers. So evenif you have a good domain, you may not be getting enough traffic revenue.

To read your post...you'd think dot com domaining is dead.

Tell that to the guys in camp (1) that make over 100K/year using backlinks only.

Also...tell that to the guys in camp (2) that sell to end users every month. If it's worth it to a business...they will pay the market price.

As far as camp (3) if the public stops clicking on ads...I assume the parking companies will make changes to bring those viewers backs...even if they have to add video or content. Plenty on here that don't think parking is dead currently.

 

[iowadawg]

Then there's also the Worlds Worst....

Domainer...
Domain...

Now that is a camp where I like to hang out!