My proposed aftermarket game plan: feedback appreciated!

[G_C]

Dear all,

I'm thinking of taking another swing at the domaining business, now that I have a bit more cash to play with.

The plan is to only buy domains that have bidders on SnapNames, NameJet, etc - in short, domains that are already worth something to someone, however little. I will not hand-red with the expectation of turning a $7 acquisition into $700 overnight - that might happen to someone, but it just sounds a little bit like playing a lottery.

Instead, the idea is to focus on generic two-letter industry .com names - for instance, UsedAutos.com, BicycleChains.com, KnittingSupplies.com, etc (note that these are just random names I came up with to give you an idea of the sort of thing I'd be looking for), which I expect to get for around $200 - $300 each.

For example - and just to give you an idea of what kind of domains I'd be treating as having immediate end-user potential - from the currently list of NameJet auctions about to close, I'd go after ContractBuilders.com, ArabicTutor.com, MedicalEscorts.com, HomeWear.com, and SecurityFAQ.com.

I will then contact end-users by e-mail (e.g., user car salesmen, manufacturers of bicycle chains, distributors of knitting supplies) and offer the domain to them for sale.

Thoughts? Ideas? Most importantly, critiques?

 

[iowadawg]

Sounds like a good plan to me.
Labor intensive, but roi should be good.

Go for it.

 

[johname]

MedicalEscorts It has 35 bidders and is past your $ limit before it even goes to auction. Your going to have to pay at the pump for the higher octane. Goodluck

 

[G_C]

MedicalEscorts It has 35 bidders and is past your $ limit before it even goes to auction. Your going to have to pay at the pump for the higher octane. Goodluck

Thanks! Indeed, some domains will end up being priced right out of my reach, and that's fine. The goal is to identify a method that will filter out junk acquisitions. In other words, knowing a good domain but not being able to afford it is already one step ahead of not knowing whether a domain is good or not.

 

[ImageAuthors]

Sounds like a smart strategy. Announcing which domains you're bidding for on NJ isn't, though! ; )

If you'd like to try selling domains by reaching out to people, maybe we should talk.

I don't have time for that these days, since I want all the hours I can get to write code for a market place I'm planning to launch.

With me, you could stretch your sales muscles without investing a penny. Some of my stuff is well worth the effort. 3 of them in the next HA auction, for instance.

Sorry if I've gone off on a tangent. What you're thinking of doing is a very sane approach to domaining.

 

[NameOmnia]

It's a good approach but certainly not original as you are going to bid on names that have bids already so unless you are magic at underpaying them you will end up with a bunch of names you won't be able to flip to a reseller. Looking for an end user involves 100s of emails to reach those same end users who 200 other domainers have already emailed to, if you buy only into some specific niches.

Understanding what a good domain is not rocket science; being able to value a name better than any other domainers is a totally different story...

 

[G_C]

Sounds like a smart strategy. Announcing which domains you're bidding for on NJ isn't, though! ; )

Thanks! I wasn't actually bidding on these domains, of course - the goal was to indicate what kind of domains I would consider to have end-user potential, and I reckoned that NJ domains was fair game since everyone is eyeballing those anyway, so I wouldn't be ruining someone's acquisition efforts by bringing unwanted exposure.

It's a good approach but certainly not original as you are going to bid on names that have bids already so unless you are magic at underpaying them you will end up with a bunch of names you won't be able to flip to a reseller. Looking for an end user involves 100s of emails to reach those same end users who 200 other domainers have already emailed to, if you buy only into some specific niches.

Understanding what a good domain is not rocket science; being able to value a name better than any other domainers is a totally different story...

Yes, true - worst comes to worst, I would have to sell them to a reseller for a loss. However, since we aren't talking reg-fee domains here, I would assume that I can sell those without too great a loss. In other words, I expect that, even from the reseller perspective, these domains would be relatively liquid, as opposed to me shelling out $300 for a domain that I can't sell at all. After all, purchasing inventory up-front is a risk that exists in almost all businesses (I believe in operations management there's even a formula for calculating the cost of goods kept).

Also, I beg to differ with the notion that knowing a good domain isn't rocket science (once you have eliminated the obvious one-word generics) - seems this entire forum is littered with threads starting with "appraise my domain which I think is $x,xxx" and ending with "what do you mean it's reg-fee/TM?!!"

 

[NameOmnia]

Thanks! I wasn't actually bidding on these domains, of course - the goal was to indicate what kind of domains I would consider to have end-user potential, and I reckoned that NJ domains was fair game since everyone is eyeballing those anyway, so I wouldn't be ruining someone's acquisition efforts by bringing unwanted exposure.



Yes, true - worst comes to worst, I would have to sell them to a reseller for a loss. However, since we aren't talking reg-fee domains here, I would assume that I can sell those without too great a loss. In other words, I expect that, even from the reseller perspective, these domains would be relatively liquid, as opposed to me shelling out $300 for a domain that I can't sell at all. After all, purchasing inventory up-front is a risk that exists in almost all businesses (I believe in operations management there's even a formula for calculating the cost of goods kept).

Also, I beg to differ with the notion that knowing a good domain isn't rocket science (once you have eliminated the obvious one-word generics) - seems this entire forum is littered with threads starting with "appraise my domain which I think is $x,xxx" and ending with "what do you mean it's reg-fee/TM?!!"

First of all I just noticed you are from Switzerland so we are in some way neighbours..

Secondly what I have noticed is that some strange things happen on Namejet ( and generally on auction sites )
- Names there seem to have more bids than you would expect anywhere else
- Many names are privately owned which means sellers have friends who put bids in them to increase the price
- Bidders tend to bid where other people are bidding already
- " Auction collective exaltation " leads to people bid more than the actual value of the name

So yes, if you make a mistake for one name it won't ruin you but if this is your strategy personally I think it's really risky. As I stated before the secret is being able to value a name better that anyone else.

I confirm that knowing if a name is good or not is not rocket science as there are parameters and a lot of criteria that are taken in consideration when determining the value and the sellability of a domain name.

I am not saying you are doing it wrong I am just saying it's as risky as trading on forex.

 

[ImageAuthors]

Secondly what I have noticed is that some strange things happen on Namejet ( and generally on auction sites )
- Names there seem to have more bids than you would expect anywhere else
- Many names are privately owned which means sellers have friends who put bids in them to increase the price
- Bidders tend to bid where other people are bidding already
- " Auction collective exaltation " leads to people bid more than the actual value of the name

So yes, if you make a mistake for one name it won't ruin you but if this is your strategy personally I think it's really risky. .

Completely agree.

Shill bidding is a rampant problem. What you buy on NameJet will have had maximum exposure. Often you're bidding against end-users who have already been contacted by domain front-runners.

You can buy a domain there with 146 bidders.
Yet if you turn around to sell it anywhere else, you'll be lucky to get 5-10 bidders.

Don't assume that NameJet bidding represents the wholesale price you can liquidate that domain at. It's seldom true.