Reality Check Poll: What % of domainers do you think make money?

[jacal1]

I just did some figuring for tax purposes and I'm glad to say that I finally had a money-making year in this business. However, for my entire domaining career I am still in the red.

Many posts here relate to big, enexpected, or random sales. That's exciting, but it may fuel the expectation that this is an easy business where quick profits can be had. I'm sure it fuels reg-fever!

Please either vote in the poll, post your comments about this, or your experiences.

My hope is not to discourage newbies, but to temper expectations and/or show the realistic amount of work and investment it takes to bring in a true profit.

 

[Spade]

I think your going to find that those who are making money, are serious domainers working full time or doing part time for some time. Very few people come into this business part-time and make money, its requires so much attention and study - its very difficult.

I think that less than 10% of people who "domain" make money consistently.

Justin

 

[tpruby]

Im a newbie....I'd bet it is 10% or less....sometimes when you go the casino, it seems that everyone is winning but you....the reality is that everyone else is losing, but everyone notices the winners....

 

[worldstar]

I think this is just like in the stock market, only few people really make money from it.

 

[Ross]

I have made back the money that i have put into the domains but not much more than that. Ive noticed that people that have built a portfolio over a couple year or more are the ones making the money in domaining. By this i mean people that sit on their names and only reg the best and buy the best. Ive also noticed that domains with some age in them tend to sell alot better than those just regged. As far as that goes there is oppourtunity but you have to put your money in the right places and at the right times. I would have to say prolly 30% make money but a very small percent actually make a living off of it.

 

[domainer50]

I dont domain as my main source. All of my income figuring has my websites factored in.

 

[FPForum]

I am going with 30%. There are a number of newbies that are just getting into domaining but there are also a number of people who have been doing it for a while and are pretty good at it. Not everyone is going to make those $1,000, $10,000, and $100,000 sales off their domains..There just isn't enough to go around at that price..But many people will build a nice portfolio and average $30-$40 per name..It's not enough to live off of, but it's enough to be ahead of yourself and earn a "profit" in this game. I don't buy/sell domains for a living right now but I am slowly working to build a portfolio that, someday, will let me live off of them. I think there are a number of people out there in the same boat. Sadly, I think it's closer to 30% than 10% :lol:

 

[Gene]

My answer would be 20%, but that's not a choice in the poll.

 

[Shane]

I said less than 10% make "money" assuming you mean alot of it. if not then about 99% earn money, if only $1 lol.

 

[whitebark]

Guess I'm just optimistic as I said 50%.

 

[Gene]

I said less than 10% make "money" assuming you mean alot of it. if not then about 99% earn money, if only $1 lol.

I'd have to disagree with this, as there are a lot of wanna-be domainers who lose money by registering a bunch of domains that never sell.

 

[allis]

One must consider that your time is worth something. If you spend 10 hours a day, even at lowest wage, that would be $50. That time factor should be considered when determining profit.

So then, what drives us? Perhaps many of us are lured psychologically by the possibility that just maybe we will hit upon a jackpot name. The hope that, we too, might find that buyer willing to pay generously. After all, we see it happen in the auctions.

 

[-REECE-]

I'd say probably around 30% make a profit, whether it be $1 or more. Maybe 15% are making $10,000+ annually.

Consistent money? Dunno. I still have my good weeks and my bad weeks. I'm aware of far more domainers making say, 50k a year than consistently 1k+ per week.

No research done to support this, but I'm going to guess 5% of domainers are making 50k+ annually (based on who I know around Namepros that is versus isn't).

I wouldn't think that more than 2 or 3% are making consistently 1k+ week after week, at which point you could quit your job and domain full time in Canada, USA, Europe.

Even for part timers "making it" like I am, our definition of "work" and how long we've been doing it for kind of come into the question.

My RL jobs are so easy that I can spend my day thinking about ways to make money, think of how to answer my emails, etc.

 

[geb9696]

I said around 30% are making money. I made money this year but it had a lot to do with the LLLL.com and L-L-L.com buyouts. I was able to hand reg names and then flip them for a 300-400% profit only a month or two later. That really helped my bottom line numbers. I took a lot of time to go back and look at the names that members here bought and sold to start with a lower amount of money and now have thousands. I learned a ton by going back and looking at certain members buying and selling habits on here and the other forums. I saw what they did and then tried to repeat it. I had my first $x,xxx sale by doing this.

I only do this as a hobby but I am making money through purely domaining. I do have to confess that I make more money doing other things on the internet.

 

[dnk]

If you are exclusively selling and buying domains, it may be difficult to make money. But if you are developing most of your domains, your revenues will cover registration fees.

 

[domainer50]

I'd have to disagree with this, as there are a lot of wanna-be domainers who lose money by registering a bunch of domains that never sell.

This is true. That was once me But ive learned so much since that time that I am very happy with what im buying now

 

[Dangerman]

I guess it's obvious to say, but of the people who haven't been steadily working at it for 2 or 3 years, the percentage would probably be very low. For those who have been at it for over 3 years and stuck with it, they've probably found a way to make a steady profit. I started in late 1999 when there were lots more domains available but still didn't see a profit until late 2002, but I'm kindof dimwitted. What's inspiring though,from reading thru this forum, is it seems some people who have only been at it a year or less are making money, so maybe it's not too late for newcomers to make a nice profit or income from domains if they stick with it long enough...might take a combination of skills though, instead of just domains...for example, the ability to make effective websites. Also, once you've found a way to make money using domains, ask yourself if it was something repeatable or if it was luck. If it was repeatable then maybe try to refine your method so you get more efficient at repeating it....at that point it becomes very exciting because you know the more effort you put in, the more money you will make...just wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[Andrei P.]

For me domains are just investments and I'm not going to "earn" with domains. If in 2 years my 50k investment will become 100k (current reseller price for my domains portfolio) I'll just say - OK! Is it considered as making money? I started seriously domaining only 2 months ago. I had only about 400 domains portfolio before that. And once I started to invest more in domains I had 5 end-user sales in Decemeber (one isn't paid though) and 1 more auction already running. and those these sales are low-end I made 1000$+ over reseller price with them. So I think this is my profit (not considering my 250 LLLL.coms price difference of one month which is I think around 2000$-3000$).

 

[WolfMother]

If in 2 years my 50k investment will become 100k (current reseller price for my domains portfolio) I'll just say - OK!

Yeah, second that. Domaining is a good investment if you know what you're doing, but the internet can be utilized in so many ways. Affiliate marketing, ebay, ecommerce, seo, parking, adsense, freelancing, outsourcing, development. It would be great to succeed on domain sales alone but that is just not a reality for me as I wasn't in the game early enough and don't have a substantial amount of startup to use towards domains exclusively.

It is still a great business to be in because most domainers are really intelligent and enjoy learning by themselves and about multiple revenue sources. That's what I like about this place especially.

 

[shockie]

I think this is just like in the stock market, only few people really make money from it.

and that would be the house (registrars).

voted for 30% if we're including those who are only making a very small profit.