My First Year in Domaining – Small Wins, Frustrations, and Lessons

[truepng]

Hi folks,

I thought I’d share a bit of my experience as a beginner in domaining. I started in August 2024, and honestly, it’s been a rollercoaster.


When I first jumped in, I had no idea what I was doing (still don’t, to be honest ). I started with around 10 domains, just testing the waters and hoping at least one of them wasn’t a complete disaster. After about 3 months, I had my first real breakthrough: I sold CrashChat.com for $2,988. That was a huge moment for me; it gave me the confidence that domaining works if you stay patient. Later on, in March 2025, I made another sale for $375. Not life-changing, but it felt good to see progress. Along the way, I’ve also had a few tiny auction flips here and there, nothing major, but they kept me moving.

Looking at the numbers, I’ve invested a little over $1,000 (around 100 domains now, most of them garbage if I’m being honest). From that, I’ve sold 2 domains plus a few small auction names, so the ROI is decent. But I’ll be real, it’s also frustrating. I expected more liquidity, and sometimes it feels like you’re just stuck waiting for months with no movement.

Still, the sell-through rate on my portfolio has been encouraging (Roughly 2%), and I’m learning to focus on quality instead of quantity. One big lesson I’ve realized: it’s often better to start low, get some quick wins, and recycle funds rather than sitting forever on names you’re not even sure about.


I know many of you have been through this “beginner phase,” so I just wanted to share my journey. Hopefully, a year from now, I’ll look back and see more progress.


Best,

 

[Planet9]

What's wrong with you, man?

The civilized way to interact should be "would you mind sharing the name?", or something along those lines.

No one owes you anything in this thread.

That's fine that no one owes me anything but it works both ways as well, I don't owe you guys anything either and about 20% of you I'm estimateing are rude, uncouth. and time wasters to me. Sorry but many of these posts or replies are, "I just made x amount of money selling unamed domains today" followed by "I just made x amount of money selling unnamed domains today" followed by I just made" X amount of money selling unamed domains". It's like a pissing contest with unamed domains.

 

[sellian]

That's fine that no one owes me anything but it works both ways as well, I don't owe you guys anything either and about 20% of you I'm estimateing are rude, uncouth. and time wasters to me. Sorry but many of these posts or replies are, "I just made x amount of money selling unamed domains today" followed by "I just made x amount of money selling unnamed domains today" followed by I just made" X amount of money selling unamed domains". It's like a pissing contest with unamed domains.

Are you familiar with the concept of 'Main Character Syndrome'?

 

[truepng]

Congratulations. Can you tell me through where these domains were sold? I still am not clear if domains purchased on Godaddy go into Goldaddy Auctions or Afternic Auctions automaticaly or if they are both one and the same. The few domains I've sold were from people who wanted to buy the domain at registered price but saw they were only available for $400 from Godaddy from me and they bought them from Godaddy. My big question is, once your domains expire are you renewing them? To me the initial outlay isn't the problem, it's renewing that's the problem. While I personally don't understand the idea of CrashChat and registering it, you did & it paid off. How did you price it? What was the basis if you used a Buy it now price. What was the $375 domain out of curiosity. Even in the beginning when I registered a domain like UKRealEstate.com around 1996I got no nibbles but I should have renewed it and didn't. The only saving grace is I didn't and haven't put that many hours into this stuff, maybe 100 hours a year at most, probably no more than 50 hours a year and it was my equivilent of buying lottery tickets but I got a better return on lottery tickets. That does not include time reading forums. If I could go back in time, I would have gotten some decent AI domains when they were available, but after getting butmed on things like .tech, .tv, .mobi- lol and other non Coms I just ignored any non com till matybe a year ago.

To clarify:

• My sales went through Afternic. Afternic isn’t an auction platform — it’s a marketplace. When you list a domain with a Buy It Now (BIN) price, it gets syndicated across their network (including GoDaddy), so buyers often purchase directly at GoDaddy.
• GoDaddy Auctions is only for expired GoDaddy domains, not for investor sales.
• Renewals: If a domain doesn’t show any potential after about 6 months, I don’t think about renewing it.
• Pricing: for CrashChat, I looked at similar “Crash” sales and also used a tool called DNRater to guide the BIN price.
• The second domain I sold was IamRooted.com. I did some outbound on it, so I believe the sale came from there.

 

[truepng]

What's wrong with you, man?

The civilized way of interacting should be "would you mind sharing the name?", or something along those lines.

No one owes you anything in this thread.

Just waiting on the payment to come through, I’ll share the name after that of course

 

[Blueleaf66]

Congrats on your success! Wish you even more sales!

I'm myself only 2.5 years into domaining. 95% of my portfolio are handregs (mostly .com).

Excluding wholesale deals, 1 private sale & 1 Atom sale, this is from my Afternic dashboard.

All time revenue:

This year:

It's getting better I guess Still hunting for good regs almost everyday even though the majority of them will never sell.

Portfolio size varied between 400-600 names and is now at around 500 names.

It can be done. It's not easy. But it's fun. You have to be obsessed though.

 

[Planet9]

Just waiting on the payment to come through, I’ll share the name after that of course

Fair enough, thank you. Congratulayions for your sale.

 

[cooljub]

It can be done. It's not easy. But it's fun. You have to be obsessed though.

Thanks for the timely reminder.

 

[Planet9]

Are you familiar with the concept of 'Main Character Syndrome'?

Are you familiar with common sense, talking in plain English and not being a time waster?

 

[alcy]

3 words:

it takes waaaay longer than 1 year to master domains

that's all I gotta say about that.

 

[truepng]

3 words:

it takes waaaay longer than 1 year to master domains

that's all I gotta say about that.

Exactly, it’s a long game. Since you’ve got valuable experience, would you mind sharing some insights from your journey?

 

[alcy]

Exactly, it’s a long game. Since you’ve got valuable experience, would you mind sharing some insights from your journey?

the only one I got is...

nobody can tell u what the matrix is u have to get there by yourself. because the matrix of domains is a state of being and awareness.

u have to feel a domain. with eyes closed. and know its value without even seeing it

 

[Planet9]

the only one I got is...

nobody can tell u what the matrix is u have to get there by yourself. because the matrix of domains is a state of being and awareness.

u have to feel a domain. with eyes closed. and know its value without even seeing it

Given that how come people on here seem obliged to attack your selections?

 

[alcy]

Given that how come people on here seem obliged to attack your selections?

because the saviour always has to be crucified. it's part of his journey. and fulfillment of his duty. the crucifiction is proof of his devotion and proof of ignorance of the masses.

so in the domain matrix the alcies are always crucified. so others may rise above their domaining ignorance

like so:

 

[sellian]

Are you familiar with common sense, talking in plain English and not being a time waster?

I am not. Is "Congratulayions" an example of plain English?

 

[Irfan Zaman]

Thanks so much for sharing your journey. It's really encouraging to read about your progress and that first big sale—

I've been in domaining for 3-4 years myself, and your post really hits home. I've had my share of losses from non-renewals and am still working my way toward that first profit. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and hearing stories like yours is exactly the kind of motivation that keeps us going.

Your point about focusing on quality over quantity is a lesson I'm learning the hard way, too. Wishing you many more sales in the future

 

[Planet9]

Thanks so much for sharing your journey. It's really encouraging to read about your progress and that first big sale—

I've been in domaining for 3-4 years myself, and your post really hits home. I've had my share of losses from non-renewals and am still working my way toward that first profit. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and hearing stories like yours is exactly the kind of motivation that keeps us going.

Your point about focusing on quality over quantity is a lesson I'm learning the hard way, too. Wishing you many more sales in the future

I still say Quality costs!

 

[Planet9]

I am not. Is "Congratulayions" an example of plain English?

No it is an example of typos and not proofreading. Is that the best you got, dude?

 

[truepng]

These are my sales on Afternic:

browserforge. com: $475.00, Aug 19, 2025

iamrooted. com: $375.00, Mar 19, 2025

crashchat. com: $2,988.00, Nov 18, 2024

Reminder: By no means am I saying this is effortless — for me or beginners. I’m just sharing my small journey. It could be a mix of luck and a little experience. Please DYOR.


I believe sharing brings more good vibes and good luck.

 

[Planet9]

These are my sales on Afternic:

Domain Name Payout Amount Sale Price Sold Date

browserforge.com $332.50 $475.00 Aug 19, 2025
iamrooted.com $262.50 $375.00 Mar 19, 2025
crashchat.com $2,091.60 $2,988.00 Nov 18, 2024

Reminder: By no means am I saying this is effortless — for me or beginners. I’m just sharing my small journey. It could be a mix of luck and a little experience. Please DYOR.


I believe sharing brings more good vibes and good luck.

A question for you if you don't mind. I'm asking you because you said you sold them on Afternic. This is what Ido not understand or maybe I do but it just seems absurd to me. Is this correct? The only reason these peope purchased them from you is they were looking to register these exact domain names and they were registered by you and as a result he bought them on Afternic. If he wasn't looking for these exact spelled domains he wouldn't have discovered your domains had existed, correct? I'm trying to say that if a person is not looking for a specific spelled domain name he is not going to discover yours, correct?

 

[truepng]

A question for you if you don't mind. I'm asking you because you said you sold them on Afternic. This is what Ido not understand or maybe I do but it just seems absurd to me. Is this correct? The only reason these peope purchased them from you is they were looking to register these exact domain names and they were registered by you and as a result he bought them on Afternic. If he wasn't looking for these exact spelled domains he wouldn't have discovered your domains had existed, correct? I'm trying to say that if a person is not looking for a specific spelled domain name he is not going to discover yours, correct?

Yes, you’re mostly correct, but there are some nuances. The buyer could be an end user or a domain investor. For example, CrashChat was relisted on Afternic, and platforms like Atom handle premium domains differently—they do promotions.


Some end users might type a keyword and get suggestions of the most relevant names, or see domains promoted on social media. So while many sales happen because someone specifically wanted that exact domain, there are cases where discovery happens through suggestions, exposure, or promotions.


I should also mention I’m still learning this myself, so this is just my understanding as a beginner.