Looking Back: Mistakes and Success with my first 25

[Spade]

I started in the domain industry, atleast when it came to buying and selling domain names back in 2005 when I worked for Godaddy. After hand regging about 30 or so domain names, I opted to try out Godaddys aftermarket TDNAM. Here is a list of the first 25 domains I purchased as expired in June 2006. All of them are .com (removed for indexing purposes)

FileCore - $45
Xann - $55
Thongo - $141
MatureDiary - $70
Sex-104 - $125
ZumaSushi - $61
AffordableAttorneys - $116
ChocolatePantry - $15
PicturePatch - $58
PoolMasters - $648
CoastalVision - $675
OriginalTrack - $5
InternetPuzzles - $10
IndustryFunding - $5
SavingsHelp - $5
DevelopMobile - $5
Tricktionary - $115
JobNational - $5
Garuti - $5
JustFatties - $25
LeasingIssues - $15
RadioLyrics - $10
IndependentWatchdog - $5
InvestorSpecial - $10
DesignerPictures - $10

Out of my first 25, I have since sold 6 for a total of $6,300 - they are the ones that I have bolded.

Looking back, I made some good moves, and I made some poor ones. I made mistakes about declining perfectly good offers on a couple of those domains names, which would have been around $6,000 total. I took big risks, without understanding what I was asking and unfortunately, lost a few sales.

Some of them were purchased for traffic, like Sex-104 which was a developed site at one point and generated a reasonable amount of money for several months, then I eventually sold it, and made a decent return on that one.

If I could go back, there would be several I would not have purchased, at least not at that price, and my portfolio might be a little tighter. But with patience, My initial trial has proven to be a success.

 

[estibot.com]

That was a good start, and one can instantly see why you would eventually become a full-time domainer. Most of us start by hand-regging a bunch of crap, but you went straight to by far the best method of success for domainers with a low budget - expired names - and grabbed some solid names. All along you have improved your grasp of the market, buying low, selling high - but just high enough, without aiming for ridiculous prices. A sure recipe for success.

The hardest part is to know when to sell, and at what price.

Keep up the good work Justin, you set a fine example to newbies who want to make it in this game.

 

[cache]

you did pretty well. 6/25=24%, pretty high probability of success.

 

[Malaysia]

congrats spade.
garuti is a nice name there. =)

 

[Spade]

congrats spade.
garuti is a nice name there. =)

I had an offer shortly after I got it - only a few hundred, so I held it back. Considering a last name - I figured I could be patient. Also, since it was so cheap, It doesn't hurt me to sit on it.

Only problem is, all TLD's avail (beside .com of course). So, there are other cheaper options.

 

[Aceredbaron]

Maybe working for a registrar would have given you an edge over newbie domainers. Nice selection of names.

Mind sharing your criterion for selecting these names?

Tricktionary? Wouldn't have thought of it at all.

 

[Steven]

A very nice selection of names Spade.
Congrats on your sales

 

[yandig]

Spade, thanks for sharing. I appreciate your willingness to tell us about your past experiences. It should help/encourage newbies and veterans alike.

I originally registered 7 domains back in '04. They have been some of my best sellers.

 

[soggyindo]

Thanks for that Spade! I go through a love/ hate thing with my first 25.
Would you be able to tell us a bit more about where you sold those first 6? I'd find it hard to decide the best venue for some of them, but it sounds like you hit the nail on the head.

 

[weblord]

congratulations for domain sales, still you're someone to look up to.

 

[Spade]

Thanks for that Spade! I go through a love/ hate thing with my first 25.
Would you be able to tell us a bit more about where you sold those first 6? I'd find it hard to decide the best venue for some of them, but it sounds like you hit the nail on the head.

That I can do...

FileCore was sold through Afternic's Extended Service. I had a BIN price, and had negotiated on it once before with no success, then either the same person or someone new just flat out one day bought it. Got an email from BuyDomains - pretty easy transaction.

MatureDiary I sold recently with some other adult domains. That was sold via the forums (not this one)

Sex-104 was also sold via forums. It was a traffic domain, and thats what I marketed it as.

AffordableAttorneys was a direct contact from the end-user. She had made an inquiry through a parked page with her info and submitted an offer through Afternic. I chose to deal with her directly and save some cash =)

PoolMasters was also another direct contact. This one came via telephone initially and from a Pool guy. Ironically, the guy wanted it for his web site (locally) and we had discussions for about 3 months about purchasing it. He finaly did, and it was funny because when he found out that the parking page was a website, he decided to continue to park it and make a few dollars (which it did make)

Tricktionary I picked up with the intent to develop. I had liked this one quite a bit and thought it would make a cool domain for a site that showed different tricks on skateboards, bikes, ect. Shortly after acquiring the owner of the net contacted me. It went back and fourth and I decided to pocket some cash instead.

 

[jeffoverman]

Looks like you had some major success. Congrats!

Well job done!

 

[soggyindo]

thanks for that spade. love the pool guy story - you've even turned end users into domainers!

 

[Smiler]

Wow, you've only been domaining since 2005 and you've already sold plenty of quality names. I certainly thought that you've been in the business for at least about 10 years. How did you learn about domaining anyways and what was your experience working for Godaddy? Was it Good, Bad, Ugly? By the way congrats on your sales.

Smiler :D

 

[deleted984054565403]

Thanks, Justin! I really look up to your domaining career a lot, and I'd really like to follow a similar path, if possible.

 

[Spade]

Wow, you've only been domaining since 2005 and you've already sold plenty of quality names. I certainly thought that you've been in the business for at least about 10 years. How did you learn about domaining anyways and what was your experience working for Godaddy? Was it Good, Bad, Ugly? By the way congrats on your sales.

Smiler :D

Well, I began truely domaining when I worked at Godaddy - thats where I learned the value of a good domain. However, 95% of what Ive learned has come from this forum. Godaddy was a great company to work for, I really enjoyed my time there. However, I enjoy working for myself about 10 times more.

Also, bare in mind. Those were my first 25 Aftermarket Acquisitions. I now have just shy of 1,000 domain names. I am also a full-time domainer, this is the industry in which I make all of my income now. Ive been domaining full time for almost a year now, which is pretty exciting.

My point with this posting was to show that everyone starts somewhere. Looking back, I made some poor decisions, but also some good ones. Take what you learn and move forward and also be patient.

Justin

 

[Name Trader]

From noob to full-time corp in 3 years. Not bad What's your plan for the next 3 years? You do have a plan? Right?

 

[Pred]

That was a good start, and one can instantly see why you would eventually become a full-time domainer. Most of us start by hand-regging a bunch of crap, but you went straight to by far the best method of success for domainers with a low budget - expired names - and grabbed some solid names. All along you have improved your grasp of the market, buying low, selling high - but just high enough, without aiming for ridiculous prices. A sure recipe for success.

The hardest part is to know when to sell, and at what price.

Keep up the good work Justin, you set a fine example to newbies who want to make it in this game.

well said

arnie says: 'spade is a dude' :sold:

although being ex godaddy is something i would keep quiet lol :sold:

 

[Ziggery.com]

I'll have to agree, Spade is one of the best

 

[advaita]

Excellent info it's good to see how things happen in the domaining world - do you think buying expired domains is stil the way to go ?