It's all made up

[maven]

Full disclosure: I'm just a kid and I've found out what a domainer is less than a year ago.

That being said I went from “this is kind of stupid” to “maybe I should learn more” to “this guys are genius” to “I should get into this before is to late” to “that's an exception” to “that's another exception” to “that's actually the rule” to “this is so stupid”.

I've analyzed close to two hundred portfolios and the majority of names are not worth register. I see the word end-user a lot, but the truth is that the majority of domainers are the end-user for the majority of their names. Just because you don't know how to use it doesn't mean that you are not the end user, if you don't let it drop nobody will come after you.

Even the very pillars of this industry have hundreds, and in some cases, tens of thousands of worthless domains. You can literally register something for 10 bucks and put a 10k tag on it.

I mean, for God's sake, casualcasualties.com was registered last year and you can grab it today for just 94888 usd. You snooze, you lose.

The guy with the pigeons keeps renewing incomeproducingproperty.tv every year like clockwork, since … wait for it … 2011. That's obviously a money maker, but I'm to young to understand.

And there are thousands of examples … if the name has no logic, no meaning, no inherited value then is even better because it's a brandable. That means that you buy it for a premium and is up to you to build the value. If you can't do it, is your fault, the name had the potential to be big (and now you ruined it, buy another one). If you can brand airbnb I think is safe to say that you can brand anything. Your chances will undoubtedly increase if you buy the brand (basically a five dollar logo), not just the name, from a brand marketplace. There is one that sits on a inventory of between 4.5 and 22.5 mil. USD in artwork alone. No, is not BS … is BB.

So yeah … it's not all made up, but 99.9% is!

 

[campout]

It's not "all" made up. Also remember that a successful business model in domaining often involves only selling something like 1% of your names a year.

 

[hugegrowth]

Like any investing or business, if you don't know what you're doing you will lose money likely. But if you learn, domaining has the benefits of working at home or anywhere, the hours you want, low barriers to entry, and potential for high percentage return. You get to have creativity and maybe learn some internet marketing. At a minimum you can earn a side income with it.

 

[carob]

Any industry exists because there are buyer and there are sellers - nature of the commodity is what makes this 'domain industry' unique.

The supply of domains is infinite.

Demand for aftermarket domains could disappear at any time.

Imagine that of all the rocks on all the beaches in the world there are just a few rocks that some individual feels matches their own appearance enough to pay for as a fashion accessory. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to match the right rock to the right buyer. Happy surfing.

 

[Kuffy]

The harsh truth with domaining is that if your not making a profit you don't know what your doing..

Not completely true, you discount the possibility of buying names as a long term investment. In this case, a name sold is an investment lost. However, I do agree that a domain name portfolio should be managed, and it should be subject to regular pruning, and hopefully that will generate a profit on an individual sale.

 

[D Haynes]

Not completely true, you discount the possibility of buying names as a long term investment. In this case, a name sold is an investment lost. However, I do agree that a domain name portfolio should be managed, and it should be subject to regular pruning, and hopefully that will generate a profit on an individual sale.

Very true although 95 percent of the domains in the hand reg of the day thread will never sell. Its knowing what you can call an investment and whats money down the drain. Id rather assume everything is money down the drain untill its sold than everything is an investment unless it doesnt sell in ten years if that makes sense lol.

 

[frank-germany]

Very true although 95 percent of the domains in the hand reg of the day thread will never sell. Its knowing what you can call an investment and whats money down the drain. Id rather assume everything is money down the drain untill its sold than everything is an investment unless it doesnt sell in ten years if that makes sense lol.

I frequently sell domains I have completely forgotten

so how do you calculate that?

 

[Cdomains]

Very true although 95 percent of the domains in the hand reg of the day thread will never sell. Its knowing what you can call an investment and whats money down the drain. Id rather assume everything is money down the drain untill its sold than everything is an investment unless it doesnt sell in ten years if that makes sense lol.

Yes, I agree, most of the names posted in the hand reg thread are probably never going to sell.

But, I have seen a few good ones in there, on occasion!

 

[Aspiring Billionaire]

I went from “this is kind of stupid” to “maybe I should learn more” to “this guys are genius” to “I should get into this before is to late” to “that's an exception” to “that's another exception” to “that's actually the rule” to “this is so stupid”.

Chance are ... you'll change your perception again (if you choose to continue reading and learning). Patience is a valuable commodity, not just in domaining.

 

[kandyan]

Good read.. lots of valid/valuable points..

 

[D Haynes]

I frequently sell domains I have completely forgotten

so how do you calculate that?

I guess you can't calculate that. I'd say if you've forgotten you had the name, you've already accepted it as money down the drain, then when you sell it it's a nice surprise.

My personal opinion is that if you forget names you own, you own too many.

 

[dotcomdomainer]

I've been saying that domainers are actually domain collectors but many don't realize it. For domainers to be their own end users, they must own domains worth developing to begin with. Too many names are garbage and unusable and they have no future.
Domainers must also be in the mood for developing their domains, but often they have no use for them.

Domaining can be profitable but it's not lottery. Because you get a chance to pick your ticket. The only thing you need to pick the right ticket is discernment (hi @Bannen) and adequate funding. Investing is not the same as gambling.

People expecting big payouts for no work will be disappointed with domaining. If you want to make money, you have to be dedicated and treat it like a real business. But the vast majority of domainers are hobbyists. I'm not exagerating, see for yourself how many (few) are incorporated, how many have a CPA, how many pay taxes on domain sales, how many even keep accounts...

It's pretty normal that the majority of domainers are losing money. It's a specialized trade, not everybody can do it. Not without dedication, patience, a sound business plan and the willingness to learn.

I agree, you should also write a book or a blog. It could be really helpful for all of us.

 

[Nerevar]

It does not matter if you sell 1% of your stock like in domaining, or 99% like in drinks retail.
If you do make profit, even by doing something that looks stupid, it's a good business
If you do not make any profit, it's an expensive hobby.

 

[MapleDots]

The problem (as I mentioned numerous times before) is the exorbitant amount some people ask for domains. I visited a site a few weeks back and the guy seemed to think every domain was worth 100k.

If you look at actual sales very few domains ever hit 100k. A lot of successful domainers deal in the 1k-5k range and make a good profit. I visited a site this morning (member from here) and his domains were actually priced within reason, what a pleasant read that was.

 

[Cdomains]

My personal opinion is that if you forget names you own, you own too many.

Many times I go to reg a domain and find I already own it.

Too many domains to keep track of.

Working on fixing it.

 

[D Haynes]

Many times I go to reg a domain and find I already own it.

Too many domains to keep track of.

Working on fixing it.

Im sure many people make a proffit from large portfolios where they have more names than they remember but its not an optimised business model. I mean how can anyone be in the business of sellig when you dont know what you have to sell.

 

[MapleDots]

Im sure many people make a proffit from large portfolios where they have more names than they remember but its not an optimised business model. I mean how can anyone be in the business of sellig when you dont know what you have to sell.

I know a very successful domainer who does nothing, and I mean nothing, his domains don't resolve and he counts exclusively on whois lookups. He says if you want the domain you will come to him. I can't argue with him because he does it full time, has waaaaayyy more domains than me and makes a lot of money.

 

[D Haynes]

I know a very successful domainer who does nothing, and I mean nothing, his domains don't resolve and he counts exclusively on whois lookups. He says if you want the domain you will come to him. I can't argue with him because he does it full time, has waaaaayyy more domains than me and makes a lot of money.

Yeah there's not a lot I can say against that lol. I guess if you have good names and enough of them, your bound to turn over a certain amount.

 

[Haykay2005]

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