Jasonn said:
It might not be luck but maybe just a numbers game that people like sashas or giode are able to find some poor sucker who has no idea of domain prices.
In a way, I resent your statement above. Like Reece said earlier, luck is a byproduct of work. Very hard work. Some people will never understand this. I can tell you one thing, pessimism will never change your situation.
I understand you're frustration though. I got into this domaining stuff in February of this year, and quickly realized how late I was. I was frustrated often, but it made me hungrier and work harder. Truthfully, when I started out I was spending 16 hours everyday learning all I could. I didn't post a lot, but I did read a lot. I started doing my own thinking, and tried new things.
One of the things I tried was catching names as they dropped, since back ordering wasn't working so well. I timed the .info drop down to the minute, and everyday would set an alarm to wake up at that exact time with my pre-drop list I prepared the night before. I usually got exactly what I was trying for on those .info drops (except the three letter .info's! I soon found that there were a couple members of this forum who were quicker than me and were snagging them all and comparing their catch on this forum
). I then got a membership at Exody.com (I still have one) and learned a ton about the domain drop system works, plus picked up some of my best .info domains there. I would VERY highly recommend becoming a member of Dwayne Rowland's site. Amazingly it is still undiscovered by large.
Why does this matter? Because it made this business fun, and I was naturally able to progress to bigger and better things. For the first 3-4 months though, I saw obtaining premium .com's as unrealistic (That was, until I tried in May).
One thing is, I always made a note to stay away from anything negative relating to the domain biz, because I realized that negativity can hurt enthusiasm in a big way. You need to be enthusiastic if you want to succeed in anything. Things were no different for me then, than they are for you now (or anyone). It's all a matter of attitude and the level of determination you have. Joe Girard, Guinness World Record holder for the most sold used cars, said that he would avoid most of the other car salesmen he worked with because they were always so negative. It drained him and effected his performance. He noted that they always made excuses for failing, but never blamed themselves for underachieving. Because of this, their situation never changed and Joe always sold rings around them.
Regarding your comment on my, or Sashas, low-balling owners of generic domains. That's a cop out! I think you would be shocked if you knew the prices I paid for the names in my signature. They were not low-ball offers. Frankly, I am put off by low-ballers like the next guy. When I bought Cushion.com for 10k, forum appraisals put the name's value at 10k-20k max. I did the leg work that led to a 75k sale. When I bought Copies.com for 35k, one member of this forum in fact, posted that he thought I OVER paid. It was an opinion that I respected, but fortunately was able to sell it for 90k. Were those low-ball offers? I don't think they were at all. The same for Sashas. I know some of the prices he paid and can tell you that they were not low-balls either.
The best thing for you would be to stop looking at the success others are having, and go out create your own success. If you are truly determined to succeed in this business, no one should need to baby step you on how to do it. There is so much information out there, that you couldn't possibly need more.
