It's Hard to buy good name now.

[GeorgeQuang]

Hey everyone, i'm just a rookie. I started investing in Domain late - 2017, so i just have a small portfolio ( about 400 domains). Recently, i realized that it's too hard to buy a good name now. Why ?
1> GoDaddy Expired Auctions : as you know, HugeDomains gets 40% -50% good domains, 20-30% will belong to big players ( who has big pocket - huge capital to burn), and the rest belong to us. You can see some names below with their prices.
ensureit.com $175
searchmind.com $295
deyde.com $215
ablepower.com $425
aceadvisory.com $117
innovacenter.com $120
bellecreative.com $127
crownalliance.com $127
corptex.com $273
2> Dropped List : nowaday, we can't find many high quality domain names on dropped list because of the increasing of Drop Catching systems.
- With individual domainers: they prefer to pay 59$-79$ for the name that they think it good enough than wait and reg it on Dropped List.
- With Domain Companies: they have their own Registers, so that they can catch expired names quickly. And the rest in Dropped list almost are junks.
3> Auctions : people now become crazy in bidding war. They are willing to pay more and more money for a name that has bids despite its quality. If you want to get a good one, you must pay more 30-40% than before.
Domain's price now is crazy.
So what do you think ?

 

[Haykay2005]

Money is truly needed to stay afloat in this business

 

[biggie]

i think.....
you and many others, worry too much and/or focus too much, on what hd, bd, dk, mm, fs, or anybody does.... to concentrate on what "you should be doing" and how to get it done.

if.... you thinking about trying to flip your way up a virtual ladder to recognition, then forget that route, cuz it's too many mofo's already climbing those steps.


instead, look at the low hanging fruit or the shiz-zit that drops to the ground.

be a bottom-feeder
cuz as Clint Eastwood said as Josey Wales...."maggots gotta eat too"

well, you may not wanna be characterized like that, but that's where i dwell -

you'll find me somewhere under the leaves, rustling thru the dead grizz-ass, picking up nuggets of nourishment, to store for the season ahead.

and buy and buy with 500 or less domain names..... i get by

imo...

 

[1Darko]

1> What is "good name" ?
For me, good name is a domain that can reaches at least 1 of some conditions below :
- Hot trend (2015 is Cloud , 2016 is AR/VR, 2017 is Robot and Crypto $ block chain)
- Clear history background : hasn't been held for so many domainers or been held for a domainer in a long time. Having real companies in its life cycle is an advantage.
- Potential Buyers : ( Pbs is Potential Buy - who are owning a similar domains in other gTLD, ccTLD or a longer version than yours) the more Pbs your name has, the more opportunities it can be sold.
2> There are so may rookies now.
People think that domain industry is phenomenal: you can get 5 6 or 7 figures sales with only $8-$9 investment. Me too, i decided to join this industry when i watched Interviews on Domain Sherpa, tons of fairy tales there. I just thought that i could bought a name for $8 or $9 then waitted for 4-5 months then flipped it for 5 6 7 figures. But my heart was broken.
- First : the domains that i thought they were cool and can be profitable were not available to reg. I must hunted them on Auctions, Dropped List ... so the hole process took more time than i expected.
- Second : there were some good name on Dropped List, but i couldn't flip it and got many bucks. Flipping a Hand-reg name for 1k or 2k on Dropped List is a big success now. There are still some good profitable for 5 or 6 figures out there, but the ratio is too small. Don't mention hand-reg domain, because i;m talking about Dropped List domains, not the ones you Reg for the future like some guys did in this forum: investing in BlockChain in 2015, so now they are making tons of money. I'm mentioning Dropped List. So please don't tell me " Oh you are wrong, BitcoinCash.org was sold gor 4X XXX. Yes, but how many name you can flip like this ? I'm talking a huge picture, not a point".
- Third: rookies is less knowledge. People now just fight against each other for the names that have more bids ( Thanks to Drew's advice) without researching what is good and what is bad investments. They just burning their money. So i couldn't get cheap names like i did in the early of 2017.
3> I read the article that mentioned " ICANN will shut down over 800 registers to avoid Catching domains so quickly" in May -2017, but now i still can not hear any news about this. I hope they will do it, so that the Dropped List will contain more quality domains like it used to be.

I just have only 2-3 good names after hunting for over 8 hours a day. I'm so tired and low-morale now.
The names that i think it just valued $20 were sold in Expired Auctions for over $100.
The names that i think i can invest in them for hundreds bucks were sold in Expired Auctions for thousands.
And what's next ????

You wrote in the header: "It's hard to buy a good name" . I don't want to be rude, but the buying part is easy. You can buy a "good" domain for a few hundered bucks. You say you have around 400 names. That means you have probably invested up to $4,000. At this point you should probably focus on selling, not on buying.
But here comes the second part of your header you didn't wrote:" It's even harder to sell a good name".
Maybe try to focus on sales and not buying anymore until you will sell something.
Wish you all the best!

 

[Smiles76]

Small time domainers have yet to realize they are just pawns to keep the domaining industry going because most domains are not sold to end-users but other domainers so that requires a constant influx of new domainers to pass domains off on. Big time domainers highlight their sells to keep this system going knowing that the average domainer has neither the quality of names or capital to achieve any real level of success in domaining but nevertheless they keep selling the dream.

 

[iAchilles]

The beauty of this industry is that not every domain investor can know every niche inside out, hence commercial value in domains isn't always immediately obvious.

I'm still finding stuff slipping through the cracks on the drop and in expired auctions. Now is the time to focus on selling, trust me, those who are now overpaying will be forced to liquidate when the well runs dry, and it will because their asking prices will likely be over what an end user will pay due to their acquisition cost.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

You wrote in the header: "It's hard to buy a good name" . I don't want to be rude, but the buying part is easy. You can buy a "good" domain for a few hundered bucks. You say you have around 400 names. That means you have probably invested up to $4,000. At this point you should probably focus on selling, not on buying.
But here comes the second part of your header you didn't wrote:" It's even harder to sell a good name".
Maybe try to focus on sales and not buying anymore until you will sell something.
Wish you all the best!

Thanks buddy. Focus on selling or buying domains depends on our private strategy. My strategy is focus on buying good names with the best potential prices, then list it on aftermarkets like Sedo, Afternic. Besides that, i have my own Landing Page to catch offer from people who access my domain directly. I'm on my own process because :
1> The most factor that can ensure your domain will be sold or not is its self - High quality domains with great traffic always have high ratio to be sold than others. Your business is profitable or not depends on the way you get your name. Buy low and sell high.
2> I just sell domains to end users, so that i can optimum my profit - But yes, it takes time to waif for end users offers than trying to sell to other domainers.Or maybe my name will never be sold. So i try to minimum my lost by researching names before deciding to buy.
3> When you get inbound offer, you know that you have huge advantage to sell names with high price. But if you do outbound marketing, the potential buyers know that you need money, then they will keep the price as low as they can.
Those things above are just my opinions. I'm a newbie and a young guy, so maybe i'm making a huge mistake with my strategy. But Rome was never built in one day, a stunning portfolio will never be built in 1 year. It takes time to try and fix our own tactics.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

i think.....
you and many others, worry too much and/or focus too much, on what hd, bd, dk, mm, fs, or anybody does.... to concentrate on what "you should be doing" and how to get it done.

if.... you thinking about trying to flip your way up a virtual ladder to recognition, then forget that route, cuz it's too many mofo's already climbing those steps.


instead, look at the low hanging fruit or the shiz-zit that drops to the ground.

be a bottom-feeder
cuz as Clint Eastwood said as Josey Wales...."maggots gotta eat too"

well, you may not wanna be characterized like that, but that's where i dwell -

you'll find me somewhere under the leaves, rustling thru the dead grizz-ass, picking up nuggets of nourishment, to store for the season ahead.

and buy and buy with 500 or less domain names..... i get by

imo...

It seems like The Blue Ocean Strategy i leaned in University

 

[GeorgeQuang]

The beauty of this industry is that not every domain investor can know every niche inside out, hence commercial value in domains isn't always immediately obvious.

I'm still finding stuff slipping through the cracks on the drop and in expired auctions. Now is the time to focus on selling, trust me, those who are now overpaying will be forced to liquidate when the well runs dry, and it will because their asking prices will likely be over what an end user will pay due to their acquisition cost.

I hope so, but if almost names are bought by HugeDomains, they will keep them for a long time, and there is no chance to buy

 

[GeorgeQuang]

in order to shut dropcatch down
they would need to shut down 2000 registries

http://domainincite.com/21309-dropcatch-spends-millions-to-buy-five-hundred-more-registrars
They spends millions to buy hundred registrars,so if ICANN shuts down all of them, they will be get into a big lawsuit against Turn Commerce ( the mother company of Dropcatch, HugeDomains, NameBright).

 

[GeorgeQuang]

GoodNameNow.com is available for hand reg.

You literally can buy good name now.

The funniest thing in a terrible day.
Good job buddy

 

[MackieMesser]

too many fish in the pond... the strong will eat, the weak will starve

The weak will ally and together eat the strong - like in every good story with a happy end

 

[garptrader]

While the domain blogs like to promote the lottery winner exception of a handreg or backordered domain which sells for five figures, those cases are extemely rare. There is more competition in the domain space than in the past. So it is not realistic to acquire a five-figure .COM for reg fee. If the drops are 99.9% junk and the few decent ones extremely competitive then go where most domainers don't usually look - the aftermarket. I am not saying offer Rick Schwartz $50 for a twenty-year old .COM which makes that much in parking every day. However you can probably find some undervalued domains at Godaddy Auctions or on NP.

 

[gilescoley]

Hot trend (2015 is Cloud , 2016 is AR/VR, 2017 is Robot and Crypto $ block chain)

Cloud is still hot and that wont stop anytime soon, its actually hotter now than it was in 2015

VR/AR is more 2017/2018, 2016 was pretty quiet in terms of domain sales, news, hardware being released etc

Robotics is still on its way, hasn't hit us properly yet, its coming though

 

[Dominic Belley]

I don't think its hard to buy good names. You just have to pay.

I think the problem is more that people think they will easily make thousands in profit on a 9$ investment. They are simply not realistic.

Stock investors would be happy to make a 10-15% return per year.
Other people buy houses for $80000, put $25000 in improvements and resell for $130000.
Other people buy cars for $2000, put $4000 to fix them and resell for $10000.
Other people buy baseball cards for $100 to resell $150.

But new domainers think a $9 hand-reg will bring $5000 in 2 weeks.

 

[GeorgeQuang]

While the domain blogs like to promote the lottery winner exception of a handreg or backordered domain which sells for five figures, those cases are extemely rare. There is more competition in the domain space than in the past. So it is not realistic to acquire a five-figure .COM for reg fee. If the drops are 99.9% junk and the few decent ones extremely competitive then go where most domainers don't usually look - the aftermarket. I am not saying offer Rick Schwartz $50 for a twenty-year old .COM which makes that much in parking every day. However you can probably find some undervalued domains at Godaddy Auctions or on NP.

Stunning advise, buddy.
Maybe i must dig deeper to find niches in other domain mines like Auctions as you mentioned

I don't think its hard to buy good names. You just have to pay.

I think the problem is more that people think they will easily make thousands in profit on a 9$ investment. They are simply not realistic.

Stock investors would be happy to make a 10-15% return per year.
Other people buy houses for $80000, put $25000 in improvements and resell for $130000.
Other people buy cars for $2000, put $4000 to fix them and resell for $10000.
Other people buy baseball cards for $100 to resell $150.

But new domainers think a $9 hand-reg will bring $5000 in 2 weeks.

Oh yes, there are always good name out there. The most important thing that i just started and don't have huge pocket to buy them. The fields i'm focusing due to my personal investment funds is Expired Auctions and Dropped List. I'm trying to sell more to have enough money to join other Fields.
Btw, if you can sell a $9 hand-reg name for $5000 in 2 weeks, it's fantastic! But like @garptrader mentioned, it's very rare.

 

[fatter]

I agree with op its extremely tough to make a profit today with dropped domains auctions,. I have never bought a domain I only reg them, I keep a small portfolio, so I can always be in the black, in fact some of the names I let drop over the years or sold to low at auctions I could have made another 50k, but I decided to keep a small portfolio. There are plenty of niches to invest in but you have to be one of the first ones on the bandwagon to make a good profit. Just a brief analysis is I had mountDenali.com for years till I let it drop, then president Obama decided one day to change the name from mount mckinnley to mount denali, the indian name, it was always mount denali park, I didn't realize the president could change the name so quickly. I have about 20 of those stories over the years so for every hit I have 10 misses. Not to go on forever, but my main point is keeping a small portfolio means its easier for me to stay in the black, I have seen thousands of businesses go out of business because they overshot in there expansions, This year I expect to have 40 names tops.I do this for side income and not as my primary job, if it was my primary job I would have lost my(beautiful) wife of 38 years, declared bankruptcy and lost my home and everything else.
Joe T

 

[frank-germany]

Or

I agree with op its extremely tough to make a profit today with dropped domains auctions,. I have never bought a domain I only reg them, I keep a small portfolio, so I can always be in the black, in fact some of the names I let drop over the years or sold to low at auctions I could have made another 50k, but I decided to keep a small portfolio. There are plenty of niches to invest in but you have to be one of the first ones on the bandwagon to make a good profit. Just a brief analysis is I had mountDenali.com for years till I let it drop, then president Obama decided one day to change the name from mount mckinnley to mount denali, the indian name, it was always mount denali park, I didn't realize the president could change the name so quickly. I have about 20 of those stories over the years so for every hit I have 10 misses. Not to go on forever, but my main point is keeping a small portfolio means its easier for me to stay in the black, I have seen thousands of businesses go out of business because they overshot in there expansions, This year I expect to have 40 names tops.I do this for side income and not as my primary job, if it was my primary job I would have lost my(beautiful) wife of 38 years, declared bankruptcy and lost my home and everything else.
Joe T

Or..
you would be fatter ...

 

[stewmath]

I am struggling to get good names nowadays as i dont have the capital to pay vast sums for mega good names

 

[Kuffy]

I always seem to be able to find a usable name for a project. I've just bought a second hand van, and I intend to convert it into a camper over the next year of so, and I thought that I would run a blog on the project, there are loads of these sites, but they seem to be popular. I managed to find OffgridCamper.com on an old drop list, so I reg'd that. It's not a great name, but it's a perfectly usable name for a project like this. The availability of usable names that can be picked up for reg fee makes it difficult to charge much for names like these.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to offer a name finding service, and thus avoid the cost of holding a large stock of names.

 

[fatter]

I always seem to be able to find a usable name for a project. I've just bought a second hand van, and I intend to convert it into a camper over the next year of so, and I thought that I would run a blog on the project, there are loads of these sites, but they seem to be popular. I managed to find OffgridCamper.com on an old drop list, so I reg'd that. It's not a great name, but it's a perfectly usable name for a project like this. The availability of usable names that can be picked up for reg fee makes it difficult to charge much for names like these.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to offer a name finding service, and thus avoid the cost of holding a large stock of names.

There used to be a site that paid 50 bucks if you suggested names that users regged,based on there business model, after about 10 suggestions I stopped doing it. But I believe you are right a memorable name is usually available for reg fee. On a side note it cracks me up when I see email addresses used, like [email protected] ever try and email people with the craziest emailaddress most of the times there fullname and a number or two are available but they choose a name that only someone with a photogenic memory could remember. These same people come up with domain names and see nothing wrong with them.
JoeT

 

[Templr]

be a bottom-feeder
cuz as Clint Eastwood said as Josey Wales...."maggots gotta eat too"

Classic!
The only maggots I've got are on the end of a hook.

 

[dr manos]

GeorgeQuang said: ↑
3> I read the article that mentioned " ICANN will shut down over 800 registers to avoid Catching domains so quickly" in May -2017, but now i still can not hear any news about this. I hope they will do it, so that the Dropped List will contain more quality domains like it used to be.




What has, number of registrars that dropcatch, to do with the quality of the dropping list.
Drop list will be the same.

Quality of the drop list, that is more and more poor (regarding old gtlds and cctlds) depends
on number of registrars that send their expired names to auctions before redemption period so will never drop.
And day by day more registrars do it in order to get more profit.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Although it's getting harder compare to past in terms of buying quality domain at cheap but it's more difficult to sell a quality domain.

Before a domain of XYZ quality you used to get for $500 has gone up to $2,000. The difficult part is you are paying additional $1,500 for every domain of that quality and holding it for no fixed period (which is always the case) makes an investor more impatient as more money is involved and return isn't coming with flow.

Also one thing I have noticed for least couple of years or so that domain prices have gone up in auction houses but endusers have not started paying the prices what the domain actually deserves for. That's bonus frustration

 

[jideofor]

Money is truly needed to stay afloat in this business

HD is frustrating everyone... if not, selling domains could have been much easier.

 

[Kuffy]

Aren't HD pushing up the price of domain names?