poll Lifetime domain profits

[lambo.com]

A poll to assess any domainer profits after paying our renewal fees and writing off costly mistakes.

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Related:

• Domain taxes

 

[Fancy.domains]

domaining is fun.
selling domains if even funner

Sure, be able to catch a great name or sell one is exciting. But personally, I would never do it without a profit.

 

[Anjani]

I don't want to be rude or so, but sometimes I wonder why some people continue with their domaining without a profit.

Is it really fun enough to do it year after year without a profit? Ok, I understand that everyone are looking for "that big sale", but anyway?!

Throwing good money after bad is an universal problem. You kinda lose your senses once you are down under (more of an ego issue and requires financial discipline to call it quits)

 

[trelgor]

I don't want to be rude or so, but sometimes I wonder why some people continue with their domaining without a profit.

Is it really fun enough to do it year after year without a profit? Ok, I understand that everyone are looking for "that big sale", but anyway?!

I domain for profit. Down the road. And last year. Probably this year too. Because you never now when you might have to check out. (And when Huge Domains will flock to your rotting carcass).

 

[Addison]

Over seven figures (lifetime) for me.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It's an interesting poll. It appears that the majority are somewhere between small profit and small loss, which is not unreasonable if the majority are in essence in it as an interest as opposed to a significant part of their income.

I personally am risk averse, which means that I don't plan to put much other money in. By the same token, as I make small sales all of that is put back into more domains, so I will never probably show much of a profit if that is how we interpret profit.

The Q was asked by @Fancy.domains why stay in if you are not making profit.

I think there are several reasons:
(a) You find it fun. Most hobbies take time and money without expected return.
(b) You have lost some and (in a typical gambling way) feel determined to win it back to prove you have it together.
(c) You believe that you have something to offer a wider community by helping them get great names.
(d) You want to change the field, for example, by helping promote domain name phrases, or using domains in some unique way, or a certain set of extensions.

 

[lambo.com]

I domain for profit. Down the road. And last year. Probably this year too. Because you never now when you might have to check out. (And when Huge Domains will flock to your rotting carcass).

By your own admission, you'll never make a profit.

 

[trelgor]

I’ll postpone profit (and tax) by reinvesting. And then I’ll reconsider as I did lat year, because what’s the use of money if you can’t enjoy it? And then the taxman takes most of it. But the overall strategy is profit and tax later.

 

[alcy]

the 3 stages of life of a domainer:

1 - wasting money
2 - getting back to zero
3 - profit

 

[trelgor]

I skipped stage 1. Better not get back and bite me in the ass.

 

[Recons.Com]

but........ they're both called flipping no?

Really good one

 

[lambo.com]

I skipped stage 1. Better not get back and bite me in the ass.

Denial is coping mechanism

 

[Captdocs]

I need to sell more domains..

 

[MR Harrist]

Let me Guess, MR.Patil make more than $500k from domaining

 

[Anjani]

Great Post!

 

[forge]

I get the feeling that what this thread needs right now is a musical interlu.de

 

[Kate]

I don't want to be rude or so, but sometimes I wonder why some people continue with their domaining without a profit.

Is it really fun enough to do it year after year without a profit? Ok, I understand that everyone are looking for "that big sale", but anyway?!

Because:

• domain addiction
• dreaming (lots of dreamers in this business)
• it is a hobby for most, so people don't mind losing a bit of money for the personal gratification and for learning a few things. The knowledge you get from domaining can help in your business or web development efforts.
  
• many domainers are in fact domain collectors. In real life some people spend a lot of money on collections, it could be stamps, postcards, cars or firearms. It usually doesn't shock anyone.
  
• delusion
• many domainers think they are on the right track and should persist because they are making sales from time to time, and that could be true but that doesn't mean they are profitable. Making 5K in sales per year while you spend 10K on acquisitions and renewals is not a good proposition.
  
• I don't think that the majority of domainers keep accurate accounts of revenue vs expenses, it's not that it is hard to do (a simple Excel sheet would do) but I don't think they want to see the figures. They know they are not profitable, but they don't know how deep. Ignorance is bliss

 

[Coinking]

I just enter in domain industry 3 month ago and my total investment was $200 and now i have more than $500 profit because one of my hand reg domain sold to end user $200..

 

[trelgor]

When the numbers rise, you will have to decide if you can muster jail or pay up.

 

[cordoba]

What about income from monetizing names? Does this count as domain profit?

 

[learie]

Just only if I had known what I know now, my credit cards would not have suffered loss...