discuss Mike Mann's sales - A look into mastermind investor's strategy

[abstractdomainer]

I was just looking at Mike Mann's post to analyze and see if there are any patterns. Here are some of the domain names that he reported selling, in the past month (see attached images for proof) :

SouthernCharmRealty.com - $15,000
PODGuides.com - $13,000
HawaiiShippers.com - $15,000
MyDID - $8,888
RealPropertyNetwork - $10,000
SourceHealth - $30,000
ManejoDeCrisis - $24,888

Here is the conclusion that I draw from these sales:

1) Mike Mann mostly owns and sells 2 and 3 word .COM domain names (I am talking about his .COM sales mostly).
2) The prices are all in 4/5 figures for the names an average investor would list for 20% of what Mike sells for. For example, I wouldn't put HawaiiShippers for more that $2,000 ever
3) Mike has a large portfolio. So he gets the advantage of selling unusual names for unusual prices (mainly because of the sheer number of domain names)
4) The pricing has been done very aggressively because of the luxury of time or domain name or liquidity or whatever other reason.
5) I think it's a numbers game - he has his maths around it (Investment made, pricing, sell-through rate, annual renewals, reinvestments, and so on. Accordingly, he has put a number that he thinks would work for him). We can do the same.
6) Sometimes, I think the reputation helps although I am not sure how popular he is, outside of the domain community, with the end-users

Learnings for us

1) Carve your own niche - Just because Mike sells 3 word for $20k doesn't mean you can too. It also doesn't mean you can't! Choose what fits you
2) Having a large portfolio with realistic sell-through rate will help plan for the long term - regular liquidity + distributed big sales
3) Some of the things I would never understand - Like the phrases that sell etc but I think that's the edge that comes with experience.

What's your thought on this? Any learnings that you have?

 

[musiquecomforsale]

There really isn't much to say except this guy is the literal Albert Einstein of the Domain Industry. You have to understand the domain industry inside and out in order to be able to pull off what he has pulled off.

 

[Samer]

@Mike Mann doesnt go on NP though!

His significant contributions, still understood.

I love that he shares a lot of his sales with; @OnlineDomainCom writes fantastic pieces

Samer

 

[Mister Funsky]

Mike Mann mostly owns and sells 2 and 3 word .COM domain names

Me too. This is where I, and many others, can excel. Some really great three word domains are out there...the hard part is getting the end user to recognize the value to them and then to get them to come off their wallets. Mann excels in the latter part.

 

[Robin A.]

Thank you for the article! Have been following his sales for years.

Don't want to be a nay-sayer here but I wonder sometimes if he makes a profit every single month. Due to the fact that he has hundreds of 1000s of domains that need renewals. On the other hand, he has been doing this for years so he must be profitable.

I have actually started to copy him in some ways this year, pricing a few of my domains at $xx,xxx, paid for renewals for them for a number of years and now just waiting for the right end-user. But one needs a decently-sized portfolio for this kind of game.

If one has a regular income and doesn't need the domain sales to live off, then a five figure sale can be 100% re-invested. I guess that's how some of the successful domainers started out and built their portfolios rapidly.

 

[johnn]

One of the reason because he does not come here posting nonsense stuffs wasting his time and other people time.

 

[Debasis]

Well he has a marketplace to be honest and Pierluigi Buccioli also making sales like him..but he is specific in betting domains.

 

[tonyk2000]

His fans may find the following to be of particular interest:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/domainmarket-com-mike-manns-domains.1030091/

 

[bmugford]

He has a massive portfolio and sells a handful of domains. That is the secret to yielding large sales.

I am sure the math works out fine, but remember he has to cover about 3 million a year in renewal fees before he turns a profit.

Brad

 

[jiy k]

He is such an Inspiring Guy.

 

[davidc1]

Having sales at $$$$$ from not so good domains is possible when you have millions of domains as it's a lotery game.
I have much less domains but makes enough sales to make tests from $50 to $5000 pricing strategy.
I made several pricing tests on different venues and what i see is that my best ROI is at low $$$
Whereas I can sell same domains at mid $$$$ but i sell much less at this price.

Make offer could be a good option but you miss every impulsion sales and afternic market when you dont price yourself your domains. I waste also a lot of time using make offer as, many clients change their mind after accepting a price.

 

[FolioTeam]

At first glance, you might think the names here are subpar until you look closely at the industries.

Take for instance the MyDID.com sale. It makes sense to me that it sold for that much when you consider the inroads being made in Decentralised Identities (DIDs) as we speak.

So, I have learnt not to write off names simply because they look strange. It pays to take the time to do some research

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The prices are all in 4/5 figures

Keep in mind that he only selectively reports certain sales. He needs to sell many more than he reports to break even with renewal costs. I suspect he does sell many at lower prices than the ones he reports, since it is natural when selective to report the better sales. I agree thought that they are all in 4 fig + though. I seem to recall that Michael did, some time ago, an analysis of his asking prices. Yes some very high, but majority not that different from what other experienced sellers sell at.
Bob

 

[Robin A.]

He does have plenty of domains listed at six and seven figures, especially in the finance category. Probably doesn't report his highest sales... NDAs etc.

 

[bmugford]

He does have plenty of domains listed at six and seven figures, especially in the finance category. Probably doesn't report his highest sales... NDAs etc.

The math obviously works, otherwise he would not be able to renew 300,000 domains a year...but that is still a -$3M hole that needs to be filled in before any profit is made. That is just for renewals, outside other expenses.

Brad

 

[coolhands]

Mike Mann play the lottery technique strategy, when you have a large portfolio of domain names, you just increase the prices for all names even junks one.

 

[tomcarl]

Sometimes it's all in the gut.

 

[aliweb]

To me it's more like "oh domain is being sold by Mike Mann or Rick Shwartz so it must be gold" when in fact the domain is shit.

 

[ATMDS]

the last four domains are listed again for sale ,
generally who ever bought these domain have bought with intention to use it for their won business or to resell for profit , i am thinking may be its like a conspiracy theory? whatever sales reported here are fake , like fabricated, and these domains are for open for sale , they didn't mention the price but gave us a option to " offer " see i casually visits the sales price , i know its sold for 30000$ , i have that value in my mind if i causally make a offer like 5k or 6k , they simply do accept and sells the domain for me or whoever offered them high saying that they need money urgently ?!,
and i am also happy because im getting it in a discounted price,

i dont know , but im thinking it may be possible , or little paranoid

 

[Fancy.domains]

1. He has been in the game for a few decades. You could obviously buy great .com names for much less back in the 90s and in the early 00s.

2. He seems to continuously work hard (searching for decent, good and great drops, and so on) year around, and year after year.

3. As mentioned before, he has tons of names. Some of them might look "random", but if you investigate them further, they aren't.

 

[NameFu]

One of the reason because he does not come here posting nonsense stuffs wasting his time and other people time.

While you may be right, you don't know that for sure. I'm confident that Sherpas come here and waste some of their time under different names, to have a little entertainment... But I doubt they come here as often as the average member here. Wealthy people get bored and what's more entertaining than visiting this silly circus called NP... There's too much comedy gold and occasionally interesting posts here to pass up

 

[NameFu]

Have any of you seen a Sherpa hand-regging dozens or more of domains in a *speculative* niche that has isn't obvious like Law, Attorney, Geos and RealEstate?

One example of what I mean is Crypto in 2011, before the related keywords exploded.

I have only seen a few "pros" doing it here on NP but it would like to know if anyone has seen any of older pioneers doing it.

My theory is that the older Sherpas who have been in the game for decades don't engage in this practice, but I suspect that there are some exceptions. I'm interested in hearing what others have seen.

P.S. Yes I do realize that all of Domaining was speculative in the very early days... I'm talking about more recently.

 

[DomainNature]

His strong point is big portfolio and diversity.

 

[bmugford]

One example of what I mean is Crypto in 2011, before the related keywords exploded.

I have only seen a few "pros" doing it here on NP but it would like to know if anyone has seen any of older pioneers doing it.

My theory is that the older Sherpas who have been in the game for decades don't engage in this practice, but I suspect that there are some exceptions. I'm interested in hearing what others have seen.

P.S. Yes I do realize that all of Domaining was speculative in the very early days... I'm talking about more recently.

There are endless examples here - https://www.namepros.com/forums/niche-domain-discussion.349/

3D, weed, virtual reality, drone, holo, AR, and countless others...

In large part the threads are littered with terrible registrations. By the time this stuff is on a domainer's radar almost everything decent is gone. Some of the people who make the best returns buy quality domains in the field on the aftermarket, they don't just hand register whatever because it is available.

Brad

 

[NameFu]

There are endless examples here - https://www.namepros.com/forums/niche-domain-discussion.349/

3D, weed, virtual reality, drone, holo, AR, and countless others...

In large part the threads are littered with terrible registrations. By the time this stuff is on a domainer's radar almost everything decent is gone. Some of the people who make the best returns buy quality domains in the field on the aftermarket, they don't just hand register whatever because it is available.

Brad

Thanks! I appreciate the reply. But I think you missed my question, which is related to the older pioneers and regging dozens or more of domains in a speculative niche.