poll Making money out of domaining today compared with 2007?

[Fancy.domains]

A poll for you guys who have been doing is this for (more than) a decade:

How easy, or hard, is it to make domaining profitable today, compared with 2007, ten years ago?

 

[toughdomains]

domaining is tough!

Been domaining since around 2001....certainly there was more money then with the first tech boom...there was little to no justification for business or domain buys...

Also feel like the offers pour in when economy is worse.... people lose their jobs and start their own biz...also feel like the tlds and brandables have diluted the .coms a bit....many statups using names like shyp
lot of people have questioned our name for a domain toolkit and I reply with explain to me what godaddy means. for the most part more education needs to be done with domain valuation....still alot of people that think a name is worth a couple hundred.

I also think around 2010 there were a ton of domain tools you didnt have in 2001. many of them went bust but there are many more tools today for domainers esp in the last 2 years. china also breathed life into the industry again with their consumption of 4 letter chips...

 

[garptrader]

I believe it is more difficult due to Google's search engine algorithm changes which devalue exact match domains, the proliferation of new extensions and usage of social media accounts which allow an internet presence without the need for a domain name. I guess we have always had the issue of end users not understanding why they should pay a premium for a domain but I see no evidence that has changed in recent years. End users are as clueless as ever. I was walking in the City Place area of West Palm Beach this weekend and noticed someone offering website development services with the domain name on the rear windshield. It was an obvious reg fee domain yet how much do you think they charge for such services.

 

[Fancy.domains]

I believe it is more difficult due to Google's search engine algorithm changes which devalue exact match domains, the proliferation of new extensions and usage of social media accounts which allow an internet presence without the need for a domain name. I guess we have always had the issue of end users not understanding why they should pay a premium for a domain but I see no evidence that has changed in recent years. End users are as clueless as ever. I was walking in the City Place area of West Palm Beach this weekend and noticed someone offering website development services with the domain name on the rear windshield. It was an obvious reg fee domain yet how much do you think they charge for such services.

Totally agree on this. Good points!

 

[Jim Holleran]

Way harder today. In 2007, many of us made a living just parking domains, without having to sell any domains. Type-In traffic was much higher, and Yahoo was still a great feed in 2007. IMO Google is the #1 reason why it's harder today, they have a monopoly on search, which is bad for everybody. 2015 was a great year when the Chinese entered if you had short names to sell, but it's been down hill since, not sure if the chinese are coming back like 2015.

The GTLD's have poisoned the industry as well. In about 3 years they will buried in the grave, maybe 1 or 2 will survive. Convincing end-users is tougher today than it was in 2007. Many think FB, or other social media accounts is all they need. I don't even try to convince end-users, waste of time, either they get it or they don't, the value of a domain name.

See some good future ahead, especially in growing spanish .com market, and india as well. Just got to follow future trends and be in the best position to capture on those trends to make yourself successful! Good luck to everybody!

 

[Fancy.domains]

Not so many clicks yet, but it seems like it was easier before

I have the same experience, even if I spent a very limited time with domaining at that time.

 

[Kuffy]

I did well with affiliate marketing until active-x, flash, YouTube, review sites and a few other things made affiliate link theft easy. The net is different now, and it seems to be dominated by Google.

 

[Fancy.domains]

I did well with affiliate marketing until active-x, flash, YouTube, review sites and a few other things made affiliate link theft easy. The net is different now, and it seems to be dominated by Google.

Same with me. Lived mostly from affiliate marketing for 15 years.

Everything was easier then. Nostalgia!

 

[Kate]

IMO it is harder because there is more competition. The competition at auctions is driving prices at end user level and beyond. So it's harder to acquire names at prices that leave room for a decent margin. The worst is that you sometimes have to compete against newbies and people who have more money than experience...
So I think that if you started out early and built inventory, you are in a better position than people starting out today... It's expensive and time-consuming to build quality inventory, without which you'll make no sales.

Also, in 2007 there was still some liquidity on the reseller market but domainers have stopped buying among themselves. Now they prefer to give their money to the registries.

While the number of registered domain names across all extensions has increased a lot, the demand for aftermarket domain names has not grown exponentially. End users are still as clueless as ever. Too few understand how a strong domain name is a good investment that can take their business further and pay for itself quickly.

But I don't think it's all doom and gloom. New extensions or facebook pages are not an option for everyone.

 

[Kate]

.

 

[imadoer]

I think its harder to acquire good names now. Theres alot of comp now people with unlimited budgets bidding and buying everything. Stuff dosesn't drop through the cracks like it use too. Doesn't mean a newcomer cant make money its just harder so WORK HARDER AND SMARTER!

 

[Fancy.domains]

WORK HARDER AND SMARTER!

Best advice there is!

 

[.X.]

2007 vs 2017? Night and Day, Apples -n- Oranges , Market saturation, it is a whole different world in domaining from 07 to 17. Some much so, I could write a book to explain it all.

 

[Fancy.domains]

2007 vs 2017? Night and Day, Apples -n- Oranges , Market saturation, it is a whole different world in domaining from 07 to 17. Some much so, I could write a book to explain it all.

You can start writing just a page here

 

[Hootsifer]

Huge difference.

 

[john_karr]

The game is totally different in 2017. Parking is dead for a lot of domainers especially the newbies. Take your best domain name and develop it.

 

[Kuffy]

Don't work harder, work smarter.

Most people spend too much time working to make any real money.

 

[Fancy.domains]

Don't work harder, work smarter.

Most people spend too much time working to make any real money.

I obviously respect your view, but personally I need to use BOTH time and brain for maximum profit from this. I am searching drop-lists about 4 hours a day, 365 days a year. I could probably use some software, but haven't found any yet that works.

 

[Kuffy]

4 hours is a reasonable time.

When I was building affiliate sales sites, I worked pretty much continuously with about 6 hours off for sleep, and the odd break for coffee and food. I got worried when I started to get pins and needles in my legs.

I'm much happier now that I have a more diversified life, and I'm not desk bound. At the moment I'm sitting at a bar in Waitrose ( a high quality supermarket) drinking a free coffee ( I'm a member of their shopper's club), and looking out of the window at the activity of the cars and the pigeons in the car park. This is one big advantage of domaining, you can do it anywhere.

 

[Fancy.domains]

I'm much happier now that I have a more diversified life, and I'm not desk bound. At the moment I'm sitting at a bar in Waitrose ( a high quality supermarket) drinking a free coffee ( I'm a member of their shopper's club), and looking out of the window at the activity of the cars and the pigeons in the car park. This is one big advantage of domaining, you can do it anywhere.

Very true! Congratulations!

 

[biggie]

in 2007, mo-fo's weren't going around posting "i'm a reseller, not an end-user" in their "domains wanted threads".

in 2007, you could still sell a name, just because it had Ovt score w/ext


in 2007, everybody... wasn't a star


and


in 2007, NP wasn't, what it is now.

imo....

 

[hookbox]

Much easier in 2007. You could buy really good closeouts for 10 bucks. Those same quality names will now cost you $300-$500 at Godaddy auctions.

 

[GoKaizen]

Affiliate Marketing is way harder these days.

I did well with affiliate marketing until active-x, flash, YouTube, review sites and a few other things made affiliate link theft easy. The net is different now, and it seems to be dominated by Google.

True.

Don't work harder, work smarter.

Most people spend too much time working to make any real money.

 

[comati]

the problem is that it's easier to lose money now, especially if you are just starting out.
use to be a ton of opportunities in the $ 8-69 range, that is pretty much gone ... you need real money to compete now and the rules of the game are more complicated.

 

[shopman]

I am searching drop-lists about 4 hours a day, 365 days a year. I could probably use some software, but haven't found any yet that works.

Still learning the ropes here after joining late last year. Which websites do you use to search the dropped domains?