Probably done with "domaining", I suck...

[Clover]

I have most of my domains listed on Dan, Epik, GoDaddy, and Afternic, I've never made a sale on any of those platforms, well, I did for $100 once but I had sold the domain + 2 other matching ones all for their reg value 2-3 days prior

I get many complements on my domains and my ability to find good hand regs upon request, I was making $100 sales and was doing good at getting my money back for the ones I started with, but the past couple months I've not had any bites, not a buyer in sight, due to the markets and inflation I presume, but still, I feel like I'm holding on for a fantasy sale that will never happen, even a low $xxx offer would give me some hope. So far, this journey has given me a small profit, but with much research, and take a lot of time... Just not sure if things are balancing out.

Thanks.

 

[johnn]

Good names are always sell - sooner or later.
Many people making a mistake by buying cheap names and hoping they can get a big return.
Domain business is not easy as it may look. I am in the business more than 20 years and I am still learning.
There are so many ways that you can make money from this business so there is no straight answers to the question how can you make money in this business.
Many people spend the time to learn the wrong things and end up getting crap names: Appraisal, EDM, How many extensions are taking, volume search results, etc...

I use only one simple technique: Ask yourself what you can do with the name?
I don't care about Estibot, BB or SH approved or not - It means nothing to me.

Good luck!

 

[bmugford]

It's not an easy field. There is really no set path to follow.
There are probably better uses of time and resources for most people.

I am not sure how many successful domain investors could start from scratch now and be that successful in the modern world. It is a different world buying domains today than many years or decades ago.

I was not in super early compared to many others, but it is a different world than 5-10 years ago. You could get decent quality .COM on the aftermarket daily for low $XXX range. The same domains are in the mid $XXX to low $X,XXX range now.

Also, when it comes to hand regs you are buying in a market with around 170 million .COM already taken.

While end user demand might have increased, it has not as much as reseller prices.

When it comes to a standard sell-through rate the math does not make sense on most reseller prices.

I am portfolio investor in the sense I always believe it is a quality + quantity game. Without both it is easy to hit a dead end capital wise.

I personally never worry that much about sales; I worry more about inquiries. If you get inquiries the sales will come. If you are not even getting inquiries though it is normally a quality issue IMO.

Brad

 

[Joshh71390]

It's tough, thats for sure, but the feelings are everywhere... Doming is good imo because of the fact that it's hands off... Register a name today... list it on sedo tomorrow, send out some outbounds on wednesday... theres no EXTREME URGENCY as long as your not like buying names with like a week left hehe...

Anyhow sometimes when we get that next sale it causes us to want more quick quick quick... but thats just not how its gonna happen... unless your portfolio is huge...

The issue is youve already invested that time to learn the info you currently have... so theres no sense quittin now, because, Unless you have some massive portfolio where everyday you have a xx renewals to chose from then sure... cutting it is an option at that point.. but if you just have a few names, and at the expense of the time taken... Your really not going to unlock some major chunk of time in your schedule , becuase you will find that ... a major ity of the time spent domaining is not actually effectively used..

maybe your could try to LIMIT time spent per week. 30 min max a week... get in get out.. thats a good way to bring the kind of profitable hustle into a highly profitable hustle... then your hundred dollar says turn into 1 or 2 hours over the course of a year

... Waiting for sales kind of sucks... but if you dont look at it like something you have to do , but instead something that might or might not happen.. .then when they do happen you will be happy you didnt all togeaterh quit.

If you searched domains every day for 5 hours... you could spend some time trying to work on your filters and such and maybe search once a week... and get it down to 30 minuites per week... and you can prob still get 9 out of 10 of the domains u reged the day of...

not poking holes in your routine just trying to bring up the fact that a semi profitable hustle is better then no hustle at all... scaling back but keeping in business can be a lifesaver because when the market rebounds your here for it... instead of missing xyz years of sales because of this one poor performant year...

 

[satsdifference.com]

how about limit less than 100 domains save time? i don't think there IS Another 23 years to hold on to like january 1999

on positive lessons learned still appreciate the WHOIS know-how to register a .com in any new idea

alternative outcomes yes my digital assets' of interest nbatopshot nfts and 50,+ combined traffic typos..

dear nostalgia it got better!

 

[johnn]

You can see the problems in the appraisal section. Most of them are crappy names (No offended) because many members are not native English speaking and come up with names that don't make any sense at all.

 

[Joshh71390]

You can see the problems in the appraisal section. Most of them are crappy names (No offended) because many members are not native English speaking and come up with names that don't make any sense at all.

exactly the thing about domaining which kind of sucks is Most people are blinded by the words sell domains .. and they dont understand the reasons why some domains sell... They get that inner compitition going... where they say no im not buying a domain from this guy.. and making him profit... im just gonna register my OWN domain and make my OWN profit... And in turn... their new domain is a gaurenteed loss.. instead of pumping money back to the aftermarket . we pump it into godaddys pocket registering 100 domains that suck... and will never sell... then they call it quits... and that person never comes back so its just more noise for a little bit and then nothing ever comes of it in the macro sense


New kids become adults and start businesses and such... if and when someone dies that owns a business... that business isnt dead it usually lives on...

That mixed with i think eventually we will see a mass ditch of the other extensions... at which time .com will make a huge jump???

but again no better time to be here then when it starts getting hard to find good names...

 

[NYJimbo]

I get many complements on my domains

Sorry, but you do not have a good portfolio, not even a fair one. Too many names don't have a real use. Your "Featured Domains" does not have one strong name in it. Your portfolio is tiny and too random.

Don't feel bad about quitting, there are hundreds of other things you can try to make money online.

 

[Recons.Com]

I have most of my domains listed on Dan, Epik, GoDaddy, and Afternic, I've never made a sale on any of those platforms, well, I did for $100 once but I had sold the domain + 2 other matching ones all for their reg value 2-3 days prior

I get many complements on my domains and my ability to find good hand regs upon request, I was making $100 sales and was doing good at getting my money back for the ones I started with, but the past couple months I've not had any bites, not a buyer in sight, due to the markets and inflation I presume, but still, I feel like I'm holding on for a fantasy sale that will never happen, even a low $xxx offer would give me some hope. So far, this journey has given me a small profit, but with much research, and take a lot of time... Just not sure if things are balancing out.

Thanks.

Sorry to hear that.

I believe in your case the problem is the portfolio. Too many names a legit business won't pick up even for hand reg, not speaking of paying xxx or xxxx for it.

Drop absolute majority of those. Then, start from scratch with some learning what sells. Develop your own sense of brand in the process by observing how actual businesses name themselves and the domains the best of them use.

 

[comRaid]

I went through your portfolio. After 18 months in domaining (part time) , I am still not sure about what sells for how much but got a fair idea on what won't sell.
I usually write down all the names popping up in mind every now and then. Also handregged some of them out of "FOMO". But often when I look back at my list after some months, they were not as sexy as they seemed once. I hope after one more year of listening and takings notes from domaining podcasts, my domain appeal might get even better. Start listening to podcasts of Domain Sherpa, Brandable Insider, Kickstart commerce, Josh.co , DN wire etc. Read and stick to what experienced nameprosers post here - Bob Hawks, Twiki... to name a few. Good luck my friend .

 

[karmaco]

If you do continue— stick with dot com. Your portfolio is all over the place. Focus on niches you are familiar with imo. Even with great names, a year is not enough to learn everything or be an expert. The learning goes on forever.

 

[enterscope]

Try to focus on acquiring one really good domain instead of many bad or ok ones. Good luck!

 

[poweredbyme]

If you fail in an industry you will likely fail in all industries, unless there is a downtrend in that particular industry. The opposite is also correct, billionaires operate in multiple industries successfully.

All industries have some most common things which are more powerful than industry specific common things. If you study well what are the most common things, rules, facts of business, you will likely success in any business. That's a kind of deduction/induction in logic. Changing industry will rarely help without fully understanding the most general things in business.

Some of those most commons things are resource allocation, market condition, macro economic variables, technological developments, productivity, etc. That list is long but every single thing in that list has an ultimate power over industry specific things.

 

[Andreas B.]

Drop "not so good" names.

Keep a few quite good ones.

Register at afternic fast transfer with disocunt prices. Maybe, someone will stumble upon it.

(in my humble opinion, this is the best way to increase chances. Waiting for someone to visit your DAN lander may take a Long while or never happens....)

 

[StartupNames]

So sorry to hear that. Try to drop domains that are hard to sell and park the good ones, probably? Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Have you tried investing in xyz?

 

[boker]

I have most of my domains listed on Dan, Epik, GoDaddy, and Afternic, I've never made a sale on any of those platforms, well, I did for $100 once but I had sold the domain + 2 other matching ones all for their reg value 2-3 days prior

I get many complements on my domains and my ability to find good hand regs upon request, I was making $100 sales and was doing good at getting my money back for the ones I started with, but the past couple months I've not had any bites, not a buyer in sight, due to the markets and inflation I presume, but still, I feel like I'm holding on for a fantasy sale that will never happen, even a low $xxx offer would give me some hope. So far, this journey has given me a small profit, but with much research, and take a lot of time... Just not sure if things are balancing out.

Thanks.

I'm doing hand regs for years and I'm doing pretty well, so you can compare your hand regs with some of mine's from the last 12 months, all com's: ParallelFi, AutomatedDoctor, Ecsclusive, HyperTactile, Irreverse, Educativerse, MetaQuay, NftCreditor, NftPrepay, NftOrient, MetaAutomaton, AutomatedSound, bEternity, Realistique, DebridgeFinance, HyperSand, Spatyal, OmniEternity and another 1000 or so a year.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I'm doing hand regs for years and I'm doing pretty well, so you can compare your hand regs with some of mine's from the last 12 months, all com's: ParallelFi, AutomatedDoctor, Ecsclusive, HyperTactile, Irreverse, Educativerse, MetaQuay, NftCreditor, NftPrepay, NftOrient, MetaAutomaton, AutomatedSound, bEternity, Realistique, DebridgeFinance, HyperSand, Spatyal, OmniEternity and another 1000 or so a year.

Yeah, but what about sales.

 

[boker]

Yeah, but what about sales.

I'm selling a dozen or so a year at xxxx, a few tens a year at xxx and a few hundreds a year at xx (resellers).

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I'm selling a dozen or so a year at xxxx, a few tens a year at xxx and a few hundreds a year at xx (resellers).

Wow.

 

[VadimK]

If you decide to stay with domaining, I'd say the main point (at least for the first 3 years) is to think about domaining as an investment, not a business. This is a big mistake a lot of people make - they think about profits and selling names relatively fast and for lots of money (who hasn't heard about XXXXX sales?!). Even those who understand the complicity, still take it as a business opportunity. It's not. It's really an investment, and you have to master it a lot, too. At a later stage you have a chance to convert it to business, but it's a loooong way (I am not there myself, for example).
Just a write mindset is what is necessary, imo.

Good luck!

 

[bmugford]

If you decide to stay with domaining, I'd say the main point (at least for the first 3 years) is to think about domaining as an investment, not a business. This is a big mistake a lot of people make - they think about profits and selling names relatively fast and for lots of money (who hasn't heard about XXXXX sales?!). Even those who understand the complicity, still take it as a business opportunity. It's not. It's really an investment, and you have to master it a lot, too. At a later stage you have a chance to convert it to business, but it's a loooong way (I am not there myself, for example).
Just a write mindset is what is necessary, imo.

Good luck!

Well said.

I spent my first several years basically focusing on acquisition only. I still focus far more on that than sales, where I am relatively lazy.

I think if you buy the right domain, at the right price, you are already in the money (long term).

Unfortunately, there is really no great way to expedite end user sales. There is simply no substitute for time and it can take a long time to turn the corner as a business.

The problem then becomes how do you know you are buying the right domain at the right price? It is difficult without a real proof of concept.

If you go into registration showcase threads on NamePros it is largely people with low quality registrations telling other people with low quality registrations that their domains are good. That doesn't really mean anything.

To me the real proof is do you get inquiries?

If you get inquiries, you will make sales.
If you don't get inquiries, you don't have that many opportunities to make sales.

Brad

 

[boker]

Well said.

I spent my first several years basically focusing on acquisition only. I still focus far more on that than sales, where I am relatively lazy.

I think if you buy the right domain, at the right price, you are already in the money (long term).

Unfortunately, there is really no great way to expedite end user sales. There is simply no substitute for time and it can take a long time to turn the corner as a business.

The problem then becomes how do you know you are buying the right domain at the right price? It is difficult without a real proof of concept.

If you go into registration showcase threads on NamePros it is largely people with low quality registrations telling other people with low quality registrations that their domains are good. That doesn't really mean anything.

To me the real proof is do you get inquiries?

If you get inquiries, you will make sales.
If you don't get inquiries, you don't have that many opportunities to make sales.

Brad

The acquisition part is the tricky one today also, buying on the aftermarket/auctions you will probably overpay 3-5 times more than 15 years ago for the same domain and the end user sales are mostly the same. Of course you will receive more inquiries for domains bought at 1k on average, than for domains hand regged for $8, but at the end of the day, it's easier to sell a good hand regged domain 100 times more than you paid for it and repeat comparing with selling a 1k domain for 100 times more and repeat it again and again. Also, at the end of the day, what's more important is the ROI, profit, if you can repeat the sale over and over. Of course, the value of an aftermarket bought portfolio will be more valuable, but the risk, the knowledge needed, the access to cash, the waiting time for a profit is also higher/longer.

 

[bmugford]

The acquisition part is the tricky one today also, buying on the aftermarket/auctions you will probably overpay 3-5 times more than 15 years ago for the same domain and the end user sales are mostly the same. Of course you will receive more inquiries for domains bought at 1k on average, than for domains hand regged for $8, but at the end of the day, it's easier to sell a good hand regged domain 100 times more than you paid for it and repeat comparing with selling a 1k domain for 100 times more and repeat it again and again. Also, at the end of the day, what's more important is the ROI, profit, if you can repeat the sale over and over. Of course, the value of an aftermarket bought portfolio will be more valuable, but the risk, the knowledge needed, the access to cash, the waiting time for a profit is also higher/longer.

Yeah, I am not sure I could enter in today's market and really do that much in all honesty.

As I said before I believe end user interest has increased, but reseller prices have increased far more.

The value proposition is often not there as an investor. Having an existing portfolio that was accumulated over years to generate capital and reinvest is very helpful.

It took a long time to get to that point though.

The main problem with hand registrations is there are already 170 million .COM taken. It is not like amazing domains are just sitting out there.

While $10 beats say $250 for a .COM on the secondary market you can easily acquire $250 in marginal hand regs and then be stuck with far more in renewals that just buying the one higher quality domain to start with.

This is not an easy business.

Brad

 

[VadimK]

Just a write mindset is what is necessary, imo.

A ''right'' mindset of course, was typing fast ))