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.

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

you need to buy some domains that have sold before as well, not just hand regs. Check namebio and auction results and expireddomains.net and add some domains with history. Good luck.

Yep. Read posts by @blogspotter (known as Tony names in Twitter) for using expired domains. Also listen to podcasts, especially featuring Josh Reason, Nikul Sangvi, Doron Vermaat, Mark Levine and Logan Flatt (@MediaCode).

 

[Fayaz Ahmed]

Many people will give you many different suggestions, but IMHO the real problem you have is: you don't have a domaining strategy.

Yes, every domainer must have a domaining strategy to get success from this field. For starters, you must know the answers to the following questions:

1. What names are you buying/registering and why are they valuable?
2. How long are you going to hold those names?
3. How much do you know about the potential buyers of your names?
4. How are you going to sustain the cost of you domain names (buying + renewal cost)?
5. If the domains are not sold in X years, what is your plan with them?

If you don't know the answers to the above questions, that means you most likely don't have a proper domaining strategy. Please read more about different domaining strategies before you invest on them further.

For example, my domaining strategy is to invest only on names I myself am interested in to develop if they are not sold. So basically my domaining cost will come from my own development. I know the fields well enough to develop myself, either with content or with a startup. So basically I cannot lose from domaining even if a single domain is not sold in the next 10+ years. This I can do with 100-200 domains easily, so the number of domains I have will always be within this range.

Some domainers I know have a huge amount of money they can invest for 10/20 years, and even if they lose all the money they invested on domaining, it doesn't matter to them. So their strategy is to acquire really good names with a lot of money and then hold them for a long time, only to be sold with a huge profit margin.

Some domainers have a decent job and invest a fixed amount of money in domaining. So domaining for them is like a hobby. They don't depend on this investment, so nothing will happen if they lose them all. So they are basically diversifying their investment portfolio with domaining. They are actively learning from the community, experimenting with their names and spending only their spare time and spare money on domaining. They usually don't make a lot of profit in the beginning, but have a potential to do so in the long run.

So you see, all of the above three group of people are happy with domaining. Why? Because they are well within their limits and they have a strategy. There are many other successful domaining strategies as well, these are not the only ones. Now the important question is: What is your domaining strategy?

 

[Armageddon]

I start in this business in 2010 & my first sale was in 2014
So was 4 years long but worth
Wish you good luck

 

[Clover]

I appreciate the info I've learned here, and it will help me in the future. I'm not sure about my decision on this one but I am sure about downsizing my portfolio because I am focused on other things now.

I've made some money but not enough to sustain this journey, not in this economy. Still keeping a lot, just letting go of many right now.

Bless.

 

[platey]

there are 2 ways to sell anything - direct sales eg outbound marketing to generate sales enquires and then a person has to be a good negotiator to be able to close the sale etc OR own a quality item that many people want but the owner of the item continually refuses to sell until an offer is too good to turn down eg although I know the principles and techniques and closes of direct sales and was trained to sell direct sales on 2 X 1 week direct sales courses etc and I know one of the best direct sales professionals with a 50% success rate etc i quickly realised direct sales is not for me as I have no interest in selling etc - I learnt more from direct sales when I started buying domain names because I use the domain kings strategy eg a direct sales professional that now just buys quality domains that people want and have the patience to wait for the big offers to come in and the ability to keep refusing offers eg the best way to sell is not needing to sell - but most domain name investors are desperate to sell instantly and have no patience and don't usually have the £'s to renew to be able to wait 5 or 10 years for a sale etc

 

[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...

 

[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.

 

[Traderas]

I don't have any problem with negative votes, but I would like to hear your opinions and arguments too

 

[the_poet]

Focus on quality vs quantity and pick only undervalued names. You can't of course have this ability a starter, since it takes several years to develop it.

Remember, you make the actual deal when you buy, not when you sell.

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

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

Absolutely. What becomes clear with each passing month / year is that there are layers of hurdles to overcome in domaining in order to truly master (or at least understand) it well, e.g.
- The name itself and various criteria (length, TLDs including those on sale and those owned by end users), companies using part/all of the words in names, traffic, CPC, etc.
- watching auctions, doing the research for a possible acquisition name, then setting a bid amount, and hoping not to be outbid
- filtering on various sites like expired domains, Namebio
- reading various sites for the latest trends to get an edge over other domainers.


These are tasks that are demanding, time and eventually money wise. Not everyone has the patience or temperament to do these every day/every other day for weeks and months on end.

No wonder beginners want the quick fix with handregs - it's an alluring way to circumvent the time and money demands of domaining.

The reason domaining is not an easy business is because there a no (or few) shortcuts.

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

He is more confused now with 256 different suggestions!

Yes, and this highlights my earlier post about contradictory information - there's multiple different ways to go about this very challenging field.

 

[ivey]

Don't give up yet. But take a pause from buying and analyze your names and your strategy.
Aftermarket names are probably the best investments because they almost guarantee a return.
Try different things like auctions too.. try until you find a strategy that works
Even in dry spells i never give up because i believe in myself to choose great names
and i know the names isn't the reason i don't get sales. It may be a combination of pricing, marketing, and sale strategy.

Just try different things. but stop buying new names for now,

 

[johnn]

With all the advises from 100 different directions. He sure will quit now.

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

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.

That's why the 'grass is greener' approach to changing environments doesn't always work.
As the saying goes: "wherever you go, there you are".

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

You can qiut domaining but domaining can't quit you.

 

[Goku]

You have to understand this fundamentally.

There is no premium or crappy domain name. Its value is all in the eyes of the buyer.
I'll share an incident which happened with me few months back.
I bought a domain for $xxx from someone and offered it to a potential buyer for $xxxx

Initially, they were ready to purchase as I convinced them how it would help their business get organic traffic, establish authority, etc. on the internet. Explained them the value of domain names as a digital asset and a lot more on similar lines.
This went on for weeks and when we fixed the deal price and it was time to pay, the buyer backed off saying I do not really see value in the domain name. I was disappointed and accepted the fate. Few days later, I was approached by his competitor and I straightaway asked what is the best they can offer. To my surprise it was more than that of the previous buyer. I did not negotiate and just straightaway closed the deal.

So you see, it is all in the perception of the buyer. If he/she/it values the domain you will get a sale, if not then even though you're sitting on gold bullion in an open market, none will approach you.

To draw a simple explanation, I may not pay $30m for Voice.com but the company who saw value did.
I have even sold typo domain names for $xxx to companies by convincing them how they'd be losing on to some potential visitors/traffic as many users might be typing their URL by mistake.


Take a break from domaining, 3-4 months and then return. Don't buy any more domains, just browse through the forum, read the blogs, etc. and especially control your impulsive side.

Good luck!

 

[NYJimbo]

....and Buy-Pickles-Online-Today.mobi is crappy.

Now you tell me. Its too late for me to get a refund.

 

[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.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Have you tried investing in xyz?

 

[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).

 

[cooljub]

Drop absolute majority of those. Then, start from scratch with some learning what sells.

I agree. Have a clearout and put the loss down to experience.
Start again with what you know now, and don't be buying names for the sake of it.

For what it's worth, the ones I like and/or would probably keep are;
Surreal Effect
Updated
Modders
Reg Value
Polarized
Hip Art

Good luck

 

[NYJimbo]

...and a few hundreds a year at xx (resellers).

I could never go back to doing that again. Too much work with regs, listings, promoting, payment handling, transfers, etc...

 

[rh2000]

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 know it can be frustrating not making a sale. I have had times when I was making sales and then there were times I would go a whole year without making a domain sale.

 

[Loko]

Solid advice indeed from the previous posters.

Perhaps, instead of quitting, consider becoming a more 'passive' investor. It may take longer but this could make you far more relaxed about finding good domains when you can, and not worry too much about sales. In the meantime, you may be able to run other projects/investments or take time for development for example.


Personal opinion based on my (few and far between) sales of $xxx and lower $xxxx domains: Keep your .net domain in that list, perhaps develop it, let the other domains expire, and aquire a handful of solid meaningful .coms. Best of luck!

 

[johnn]

According to the profile. OP is a man.
Unless he changed to a she?