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analysis Sell-Through Rates

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I am curious what sell-through rates folks are experiencing on GoDaddy, Afternic, Sedo, and other listing services.

I would expect the rate to fall as the price goes up. From what I have read, the average rate is 1% per year, but makes no indication on the price range. I would expect the sell-through rate on quality $200 domains to be much higher than quality $2,000 domains. Just curious if folks would be willing to share their experience.
 
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Since I responded to your direct message with a similar question, I thought I'd post it here as well. I saw this question earlier in the week, but didn't have time to try and get rough numbers together until now.

Last year I probably had about 6,700 domains. In the last few months I've bought quite a few so I'm probably closer to 7,500 again.

From my experience, sell-through rates have been something like this.

Average Sell Price $1,450 - 1.5% sell-through rate (prior years, 3,000-5,000+ domain portfolio)
Average Sell Price $2,000 - 1.0% sell-through rate (67 sales per year - prior year ending in 2019)
Average Sell Price $4,681 (this is where I'm at now) - 0.43% sell-through rate (29 sales per year)

So for me, the price increase resulted in slightly higher sales revenue ($137k vs $134k) , plus I'm selling less than half as many domains, which is also fine with me.

Some investors in the industry go by the strategy of buying domains and selling at 10x the price. So if they buy it at $500, they will price it at $5,000. If you do this, your sell-through rate will likely be closer to 2-3% I would guess. In this case if you buy 100 domains for $100 each, you are going to invest $10,000 and get back $2,000-$3,000 from your 2-3 sales in the first year.

On the other hand, I've seen people target ultra-high demand domains and buy them in auction for high $xxx to low $x,xxx and sell them for low to mid 5 figures and make $100k in sales within 2 years with less than 100 domains

So there are many methods and strategies to choose from, and several of them work in different ways (ex. higher return in first year vs higher return in subsequent years, or less domains vs more domains).

If you are starting out, i would only pick .com domains that other businesses currently use. If the name does not have any other businesses using the name currently, I would avoid it. If you pick 100 domains with low demand and low usage, you'll have a lower demand portfolio that will cost you the same to renew as a medium demand portfolio.

Keep in mind, if you are selling quality $200 domains, your sell-through rate will need to be 4.25% just to break even to cover your renewal costs alone. If you are starting out low, I would bump that up to the $450 range so just 2 sales will cover the renewal fees for 100 domains.

If you aren't sure what type of domains sell, or what type of companies buy domains you can start by taking a look at my posts below that give you a visual of websites created from companies that have bought domains from me in past years.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/where-are-your-previous-domain-sales.1193193/#post-7799834
 
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Since I responded to your direct message with a similar question, I thought I'd post it here as well. I saw this question earlier in the week, but didn't have time to try and get rough numbers together until now.

Last year I probably had about 6,700 domains. In the last few months I've bought quite a few so I'm probably closer to 7,500 again.

From my experience, sell-through rates have been something like this.

Average Sell Price $1,450 - 1.5% sell-through rate (prior years, 3,000-5,000+ domain portfolio)
Average Sell Price $2,000 - 1.0% sell-through rate (67 sales per year - prior year ending in 2019)
Average Sell Price $4,681 (this is where I'm at now) - 0.43% sell-through rate (29 sales per year)

So for me, the price increase resulted in slightly higher sales revenue ($137k vs $134k) , plus I'm selling less than half as many domains, which is also fine with me.

Some investors in the industry go by the strategy of buying domains and selling at 10x the price. So if they buy it at $500, they will price it at $5,000. If you do this, your sell-through rate will likely be closer to 2-3% I would guess. In this case if you buy 100 domains for $100 each, you are going to invest $10,000 and get back $2,000-$3,000 from your 2-3 sales in the first year.

On the other hand, I've seen people target ultra-high demand domains and buy them in auction for high $xxx to low $x,xxx and sell them for low to mid 5 figures and make $100k in sales within 2 years with less than 100 domains

So there are many methods and strategies to choose from, and several of them work in different ways (ex. higher return in first year vs higher return in subsequent years, or less domains vs more domains).

If you are starting out, i would only pick .com domains that other businesses currently use. If the name does not have any other businesses using the name currently, I would avoid it. If you pick 100 domains with low demand and low usage, you'll have a lower demand portfolio that will cost you the same to renew as a medium demand portfolio.

Keep in mind, if you are selling quality $200 domains, your sell-through rate will need to be 4.25% just to break even to cover your renewal costs alone. If you are starting out low, I would bump that up to the $450 range so just 2 sales will cover the renewal fees for 100 domains.

If you aren't sure what type of domains sell, or what type of companies buy domains you can start by taking a look at my posts below that give you a visual of websites created from companies that have bought domains from me in past years.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/where-are-your-previous-domain-sales.1193193/#post-7799834
Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Can you also tell us briefly about how you pick domain names. What criterias you use, where do you go to hunt them etc
There are lots of content on how to sell, how to negotiate, where to sell, but not much on how you pick your winners.
 
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@NameBuyer.com

That was a terrific and very detailed and insightful analysis of Sell-Through Rates!
 
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Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Can you also tell us briefly about how you pick domain names. What criterias you use, where do you go to hunt them etc
There are lots of content on how to sell, how to negotiate, where to sell, but not much on how you pick your winners.

I try to pick names that I can envision a specific use for and that use has to be valuable to the right person using a viable business model.

I would also keep the definition of a "winner" in the appropriate context. I feel like some of the winners I picked in 2007 are still "winners", but remain unsold "winners". Domain investing takes years, and sometimes over a decade of patience for a particular domain.

All domains are unique, but what gives domains value is the demand. That demand has to be useful by an industry or business model that has proven it can make money. If it cannot make money for a business/person, the value is limited.

I sold PlanToGrow(dot)com in March for $24,500. I paid $19.47 for it 4 years earlier. There wasn't any demand when I purchased it, and no notable sites, but I could envision it for a marketing campaign or an organization. This was speculation in a Lower Demand Domain, but I've gotten to be pretty good at my speculation over the years.

Compare that to MetroAutoSales.com(dot)com that I purchased via Auction in May for $740. If you do a search for Metro Auto Sales on Google, there are a ton of results from actual car dealerships. These businesses have an inventory of cars that are valued at $200k to over $500k (ex. 40 cars x $10,000 each). A business like this potentially spends a lot on marketing and when comparing it to the products they sell, buying a domain for $30k is not a big deal. This is an investment in a Proven Business Name.

So when buying a domain you are either a speculator buying lower demand names or an investment analyst buying proven business names. If you're speculating, you better have a knack for it, or work at improving it by paying attention to business names and advertising trends. If you don't have skills in that area, you can focus on investing in proven business names. It is much easier to determine a value for a proven business name. Just look at the current businesses, determine what the best version of that business would look like, and price accordingly (similar to what I did for MetroAutoSales above). Come up with some simple numbers in a spreadsheet. A good example I've used in the past is my domain ASliceAbove(dot)com. To single pizza restaurant with this name, the domain may be worth $1,750, but to a chain with 10-15 locations, it could be worth $20k or much more.

Two Generalized Types of Successful Domain Investing
  • Speculation of Lower Demand Domains - Domains where the use of the term is widespread and obvious (or looks good as a brandable), but there is little or no current use. No businesses with significant earnings are using the phrase. (example PlanToGrow(dot)com)
  • Investment in Proven Business Names - Domains where there is at least some significant use in commerce. (example MetroAutoSales(dot)com)
If you are starting out, and trying to keep costs down, a good place to begin is in the gray area between these two. Find domains that match 1 or 2 current businesses that are really small but growing.

When there is zero current use for a domain, or very low use, you need to be very realistic with yourself, and good at determining the likelihood that someone will use this domain for a commercially viable purpose in the future.

I think the key to ensuring success for anything is to ask yourself deep questions, and answer them realistically. What would the website look like? What type of business model would it be? How much would the business make off of each purchase? How many sales could the business make each month? That's what gives a domain value. It can't be an abstract business model either, it needs to be something that exists or is expected to exist in the next x number of years.

I think Rick said it best a couple months ago when he defined the types of domains that exist, and they appear to be ordered from most valuable to least valuable. The ones below the white space would be generally considered to have little or no value.



Below is some basic advice I gave in the past on Domain Buying & Selling.
https://www.namepros.com/threads/wh...r-selling-domains.1129585/page-2#post-7194467

Here is prior post of mine on Selling and Domain Valuation
https://www.namepros.com/threads/my-biggest-sale-yet-24-5k.1182153/page-4#post-7696071


If you really want to ensure you are picking a "winner". Try to "talk yourself out of each purchase" as I mentioned in the post below.

upload_2020-8-15_12-20-13.png

https://www.namepros.com/threads/i-...-org-artoflux-com.1187598/page-2#post-7761949


Abdul Basit also has some great guidelines on the details of valuing a domain below. If you value a domain when you buy it, that will give you the best indication on if you are buying a "winner" or not.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/how-do-i-valuate-domains-and-set-an-asking-price.951601/


Lastly, the main places that you are going to find domains is via the expired market. 60,000+ dropping each day. Use ExpiredDomains(dot)net and GoDaddy. But it won't be easy. You might only find 3-4 worth purchasing for every hour you search.
 
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Lastly, the main places that you are going to find domains is via the expired market. 60,000+ dropping each day. Use ExpiredDomains(dot)net and GoDaddy. But it won't be easy. You might only find 3-4 worth purchasing for every hour you search.

When I mentioned GoDaddy above, I'm referring to GoDaddy Expired Auctions.
 
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@NameBuyer.com

Thanks once again for another terrific and insightful analysis of your domain name purchasing strategies ie questions you ask yourself prior to purchase.

Outstanding in my opinion!
 
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When I mentioned GoDaddy above, I'm referring to GoDaddy Expired Auctions.
Thanks for the valuable insights Namebuyer. I m glad I asked.
I didn't know you sold plantogrow
I spent a good 2 days researching grow after reading about that until I saw it wasn't a grow op that bought it. Context 😅
 
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I try to pick names that I can envision a specific use for and that use has to be valuable to the right person using a viable business model.

I would also keep the definition of a "winner" in the appropriate context. I feel like some of the winners I picked in 2007 are still "winners", but remain unsold "winners". Domain investing takes years, and sometimes over a decade of patience for a particular domain.

All domains are unique, but what gives domains value is the demand. That demand has to be useful by an industry or business model that has proven it can make money. If it cannot make money for a business/person, the value is limited.

I sold PlanToGrow(dot)com in March for $24,500. I paid $19.47 for it 4 years earlier. There wasn't any demand when I purchased it, and no notable sites, but I could envision it for a marketing campaign or an organization. This was speculation in a Lower Demand Domain, but I've gotten to be pretty good at my speculation over the years.

Compare that to MetroAutoSales.com(dot)com that I purchased via Auction in May for $740. If you do a search for Metro Auto Sales on Google, there are a ton of results from actual car dealerships. These businesses have an inventory of cars that are valued at $200k to over $500k (ex. 40 cars x $10,000 each). A business like this potentially spends a lot on marketing and when comparing it to the products they sell, buying a domain for $30k is not a big deal. This is an investment in a Proven Business Name.

So when buying a domain you are either a speculator buying lower demand names or an investment analyst buying proven business names. If you're speculating, you better have a knack for it, or work at improving it by paying attention to business names and advertising trends. If you don't have skills in that area, you can focus on investing in proven business names. It is much easier to determine a value for a proven business name. Just look at the current businesses, determine what the best version of that business would look like, and price accordingly (similar to what I did for MetroAutoSales above). Come up with some simple numbers in a spreadsheet. A good example I've used in the past is my domain ASliceAbove(dot)com. To single pizza restaurant with this name, the domain may be worth $1,750, but to a chain with 10-15 locations, it could be worth $20k or much more.

Two Generalized Types of Successful Domain Investing
  • Speculation of Lower Demand Domains - Domains where the use of the term is widespread and obvious (or looks good as a brandable), but there is little or no current use. No businesses with significant earnings are using the phrase. (example PlanToGrow(dot)com)
  • Investment in Proven Business Names - Domains where there is at least some significant use in commerce. (example MetroAutoSales(dot)com)
If you are starting out, and trying to keep costs down, a good place to begin is in the gray area between these two. Find domains that match 1 or 2 current businesses that are really small but growing.

When there is zero current use for a domain, or very low use, you need to be very realistic with yourself, and good at determining the likelihood that someone will use this domain for a commercially viable purpose in the future.

I think the key to ensuring success for anything is to ask yourself deep questions, and answer them realistically. What would the website look like? What type of business model would it be? How much would the business make off of each purchase? How many sales could the business make each month? That's what gives a domain value. It can't be an abstract business model either, it needs to be something that exists or is expected to exist in the next x number of years.

I think Rick said it best a couple months ago when he defined the types of domains that exist, and they appear to be ordered from most valuable to least valuable. The ones below the white space would be generally considered to have little or no value.



Below is some basic advice I gave in the past on Domain Buying & Selling.
https://www.namepros.com/threads/wh...r-selling-domains.1129585/page-2#post-7194467

Here is prior post of mine on Selling and Domain Valuation
https://www.namepros.com/threads/my-biggest-sale-yet-24-5k.1182153/page-4#post-7696071


If you really want to ensure you are picking a "winner". Try to "talk yourself out of each purchase" as I mentioned in the post below.

Show attachment 163959
https://www.namepros.com/threads/i-...-org-artoflux-com.1187598/page-2#post-7761949


Abdul Basit also has some great guidelines on the details of valuing a domain below. If you value a domain when you buy it, that will give you the best indication on if you are buying a "winner" or not.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/how-do-i-valuate-domains-and-set-an-asking-price.951601/


Lastly, the main places that you are going to find domains is via the expired market. 60,000+ dropping each day. Use ExpiredDomains(dot)net and GoDaddy. But it won't be easy. You might only find 3-4 worth purchasing for every hour you search.

In one of the link above where you explained the sailbpat analogy, you attached a few screenshots from GDD Auctions.
What filtering criteria do you use for brandable domains?
Or was that auctions ending soon? Because I have never seen so many good names on one screen, and there are thousands of rows.

What are some good filtering. I have been going through the expired drops everyday for the fast few months as soon as they drop. But godaddy I usually have only bidded at active auctions as I use that as a criteria to filter if a domain has interest and then apply my common sense, see if the domain has bid because of the brand potential or backlinks etc

But cheaper ones and closeouts, I am still trying to figure out.
 
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I can tell you that you will get perhaps less in your account than you account for but they also get rid of your tire kickers so even when privately dealing i will want my negotiations at times to be through a known marketplace as not every person checks out to just take their money.
 
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Since I responded to your direct message with a similar question, I thought I'd post it here as well. I saw this question earlier in the week, but didn't have time to try and get rough numbers together until now.

Last year I probably had about 6,700 domains. In the last few months I've bought quite a few so I'm probably closer to 7,500 again.

From my experience, sell-through rates have been something like this.

Average Sell Price $1,450 - 1.5% sell-through rate (prior years, 3,000-5,000+ domain portfolio)
Average Sell Price $2,000 - 1.0% sell-through rate (67 sales per year - prior year ending in 2019)
Average Sell Price $4,681 (this is where I'm at now) - 0.43% sell-through rate (29 sales per year)

So for me, the price increase resulted in slightly higher sales revenue ($137k vs $134k) , plus I'm selling less than half as many domains, which is also fine with me.

Some investors in the industry go by the strategy of buying domains and selling at 10x the price. So if they buy it at $500, they will price it at $5,000. If you do this, your sell-through rate will likely be closer to 2-3% I would guess. In this case if you buy 100 domains for $100 each, you are going to invest $10,000 and get back $2,000-$3,000 from your 2-3 sales in the first year.

On the other hand, I've seen people target ultra-high demand domains and buy them in auction for high $xxx to low $x,xxx and sell them for low to mid 5 figures and make $100k in sales within 2 years with less than 100 domains

So there are many methods and strategies to choose from, and several of them work in different ways (ex. higher return in first year vs higher return in subsequent years, or less domains vs more domains).

If you are starting out, i would only pick .com domains that other businesses currently use. If the name does not have any other businesses using the name currently, I would avoid it. If you pick 100 domains with low demand and low usage, you'll have a lower demand portfolio that will cost you the same to renew as a medium demand portfolio.

Keep in mind, if you are selling quality $200 domains, your sell-through rate will need to be 4.25% just to break even to cover your renewal costs alone. If you are starting out low, I would bump that up to the $450 range so just 2 sales will cover the renewal fees for 100 domains.

If you aren't sure what type of domains sell, or what type of companies buy domains you can start by taking a look at my posts below that give you a visual of websites created from companies that have bought domains from me in past years.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/where-are-your-previous-domain-sales.1193193/#post-7799834
Great insights, thanks for sharing. I've noticed that you are talking about revenue. I wonder if you can share the profit( yearly or total, from 2008, when you have started), because I'm thinking that a considerable amount of that revenue goes on acquisitions, renewals, taxes, commissions and everything else, considering the amount of domains 6-7k and the average price paid for them. Also, it would me useful to know the history of the profitability over the years, it was constant , there were years when you have lost money? Please share whatever you can.
 
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In one of the link above where you explained the sailbpat analogy, you attached a few screenshots from GDD Auctions.
What filtering criteria do you use for brandable domains?
Or was that auctions ending soon? Because I have never seen so many good names on one screen, and there are thousands of rows.

What are some good filtering. I have been going through the expired drops everyday for the fast few months as soon as they drop. But godaddy I usually have only bidded at active auctions as I use that as a criteria to filter if a domain has interest and then apply my common sense, see if the domain has bid because of the brand potential or backlinks etc

But cheaper ones and closeouts, I am still trying to figure out.


It sounds like you're on a good path.

The screenshot was just the default view sorted by price/bids, then I just set the filter for the current day.

I only buy brandable domains when I come across them by chance, I rarely ever do specific searches for them.
 
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Great insights, thanks for sharing. I've noticed that you are talking about revenue. I wonder if you can share the profit( yearly or total, from 2008, when you have started), because I'm thinking that a considerable amount of that revenue goes on acquisitions, renewals, taxes, commissions and everything else, considering the amount of domains 6-7k and the average price paid for them. Also, it would me useful to know the history of the profitability over the years, it was constant , there were years when you have lost money? Please share whatever you can.


It would take me awhile to get the actual sales numbers by year, but what I can share is the below, and for me the sales have been in correlation to the number of domains I own. In about 2012 I started a new job and I remember I had domain revenue of around $65k at the time. If you look below the number of domains owned were somewhere around 3,000 in 2012.

If I were to guess my domain count by year it would be something like this.

1999 - 3
2003 - 250
2005 - 450
2007 - 1,200
2008 - 2,500
2014 - 4,200
2016 - 5,300
2018 - 6,700
2019 - 7,000
2020 - 6,600

My goal is to build it to over 10,000 domains by 2021.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/my-biggest-sale-yet-24-5k.1182153/page-4#post-7696121

If I take these numbers and multiply them out, they are pretty close to what I was estimating originally.


upload_2020-8-18_21-25-47.png



For me it's been profitable every year. I've never had any 4 month period where I've lost money. So if sales were slow for a couple months, they've made up for it in months 3 & 4.

In the last 2 years, I've been buying more of the higher-value Tier 1 & Tier 2 domains. So I'm looking to increase the number of higher-priced sales I get each year, but I think I'll always keep a percentage of my names in the $1,000-$3,000 price range.
 
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It would take me awhile to get the actual sales numbers by year, but what I can share is the below, and for me the sales have been in correlation to the number of domains I own. In about 2012 I started a new job and I remember I had domain revenue of around $65k at the time. If you look below the number of domains owned were somewhere around 3,000 in 2012.



https://www.namepros.com/threads/my-biggest-sale-yet-24-5k.1182153/page-4#post-7696121

If I take these numbers and multiply them out, they are pretty close to what I was estimating originally.


Show attachment 164321


For me it's been profitable every year. I've never had any 4 month period where I've lost money. So if sales were slow for a couple months, they've made up for it in months 3 & 4.

In the last 2 years, I've been buying more of the higher-value Tier 1 & Tier 2 domains. So I'm looking to increase the number of higher-priced sales I get each year, but I think I'll always keep a percentage of my names in the $1,000-$3,000 price range.
You've done well, nice of you for sharing. I suppose that new acquisitions+renewals are both of them accounted as 'reg cost'?
 
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You've done well, nice of you for sharing. I suppose that new acquisitions+renewals are both of them accounted as 'reg cost'?

Nope, those are just the renewal costs.

I have no running totals for acquisitions from all sources. Below is a super rough estimate on how many were purchased in each price range.

For domains purchased in the $20-$7,000 range, I've definitely spent over $300k, but it could be much higher than that.

upload_2020-8-18_21-56-34.png
 
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Nope, those are just the renewal costs.

I have no running totals for acquisitions from all sources. Below is a super rough estimate on how many were purchased in each price range.

For domains purchased in the $20-$7,000 range, I've definitely spent over $300k, but it could be much higher than that.

Show attachment 164322
So, if I understand right, the total profit for the years showed is just over 300k and you have spent all that only on acquisitions of $20+?
 
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So, if I understand right, the total profit for the years showed is just over 300k and you have spent all that only on acquisitions of $20+?

That is a condensed spreadsheet. So the neighboring years would all be very similar numbers.

Seven years are missing from the spreadsheet for the sake of summarizing the different number of domains owned in different years. But the revenue and profits in those years were consistent with the number of domains owned in that particular year.
 
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That is a condensed spreadsheet. So the neighboring years would all be very similar numbers.

Seven years are missing from the spreadsheet for the sake of summarizing the different number of domains owned in different years. But the revenue and profits in those years were consistent with the number of domains owned in that particular year.
So mostly missing the years 2008 to 2014, making an average between 2008 and 2014, that will be around 30k a year and counting the acquisitions under $20 and probably some taxes, it's still much lower than what I was expected.. Those acquisitions are eating lots of your profit.
 
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boker said:

So mostly missing the years 2008 to 2014, making an average between 2008 and 2014, that will be around 30k a year and counting the acquisitions under $20 and probably some taxes, it's still much lower than what I was expected.. Those acquisitions are eating lots of your profit.


Well it's probably closer to 2009 ($30k), 2010 ($30k), 2011 ($35k), 2012 ($40k), 2013 ($40k), 2015($52k), & 2017 ($61k).

So about $288k for the missing years.

I think it's important to look at it as investment income instead of an income of $xx,xxx per year from a job or a business. I created and ran an import business for years, and was able to get the revenue much higher, and much quicker, but we actually ran a warehouse and were dealing with orders every day.

Because now, if I do nothing, I still have the same $134k+ per year in sales and $64k+ per year in profit.

So if I get up to 30,000 names and I'm happy at that number of domains, I'll have no new acquisition costs (besides replacing sold domains) and the revenue should be $615,000+. If we allocate the same percentage to expenses, the profit should work out to just under $300k. I can live with that. :xf.wink:

I'm still tweaking things. I dropped 573 domains last year, and purchased around 1,000. Since creating NameWorth, I definitely put more analysis and research into each purchase. So my numbers are still evolving.

Also, even though my spreadsheet looks very linear and predictable, I have about 4-5 new strategies that I'm trying out just in the last 6-12 months. So maybe it just takes a strategy that matches your expectations.

I remember a post from Rick that said something to the effect that "the difference between a $30,000 sale and a $300,000 sale, is the seller". It appears there is a lot of truth to that. I have one client that is very enthusiastic about one of my names that match their app name. The domain is listed at $29k, and they have no concern about the price. Their only concern is how do they finance it and get it sooner than later in a way that is affordable. I'm realizing, that if proposed in the right way, it is very feasible to get royalties or equities as Rick has done. If you look at his sale of Teem(dot)com. It is a good domain, but has no real-world meaning other than sounding like "team". The sale portion of the agreement was for $36,000, plus stock (see below). Many startups can do something like that, and the potential payout, once they are acquired by a larger company, is enormous.

upload_2020-8-18_23-2-32.png



Another thing that Rick posted recently was a path of selling 18 domains to be a multi-millionaire. While it may take much longer than 18 months, it does get you to think differently. Many people have the idea that success just fell in his lap because he purchased a bunch of cheap ultra-premium names in the 1990s, but his biggest domain sale, candy(dot)com, was not purchased until 2005, and for $100k. Very few of us are buying names for $100k, but reflecting on the Twitter post below, I can see how thinking differently can put in you a much different position as far as acquisitions and sales.

 
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Well it's probably closer to 2009 ($30k), 2010 ($30k), 2011 ($35k), 2012 ($40k), 2013 ($40k), 2015($52k), & 2017 ($61k).

So about $288k for the missing years.

I think it's important to look at it as investment income instead of an income of $xx,xxx per year from a job or a business. I created and ran an import business for years, and was able to get the revenue much higher, and much quicker, but we actually ran a warehouse and were dealing with orders every day.

Because now, if I do nothing, I still have the same $134k+ per year in sales and $64k+ per year in profit.

So if I get up to 30,000 names and I'm happy at that number of domains, I'll have no new acquisition costs (besides replacing sold domains) and the revenue should be $615,000+. If we allocate the same percentage to expenses, the profit should work out to just under $300k. I can live with that. :xf.wink:

I'm still tweaking things. I dropped 573 domains last year, and purchased around 1,000. Since creating NameWorth, I definitely put more analysis and research into each purchase. So my numbers are still evolving.

Also, even though my spreadsheet looks very linear and predictable, I have about 4-5 new strategies that I'm trying out just in the last 6-12 months. So maybe it just takes a strategy that matches your expectations.

I remember a post from Rick that said something to the effect that "the difference between a $30,000 sale and a $300,000 sale, is the seller". It appears there is a lot of truth to that. I have one client that is very enthusiastic about one of my names that match their app name. The domain is listed at $29k, and they have no concern about the price. Their only concern is how do they finance it and get it sooner than later in a way that is affordable. I'm realizing, that if proposed in the right way, it is very feasible to get royalties or equities as Rick has done. If you look at his sale of Teem(dot)com. It is a good domain, but has no real-world meaning other than sounding like "team". The sale portion of the agreement was for $36,000, plus stock (see below). Many startups can do something like that, and the potential payout, once they are acquired by a larger company, is enormous.

Show attachment 164324


Another thing that Rick posted recently was a path of selling 18 domains to be a multi-millionaire. While it may take much longer than 18 months, it does get you to think differently. Many people have the idea that success just fell in his lap because he purchased a bunch of cheap ultra-premium names in the 1990s, but his biggest domain sale, candy(dot)com, was not purchased until 2005, and for $100k. Very few of us are buying names for $100k, but reflecting on the Twitter post below, I can see how thinking differently can put in you a much different position as far as acquisitions and sales.

Thanks for sharing, not most of us can be so open about financials. So, around 600k profit, from were we deduct the acquisitions under $20 and taxes. If we divide that for 15 years, 2005 to 2020, that will make it at around 30k profit a year, if I'm not mistaken. That's good, lot's of domainers are loosing money, the only thing is that my expectations were higher, if we think about years, times spent and profit, but probably I will just need to readjust my expectations.
 
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Thanks for sharing, not most of us can be so open about financials. So, around 600k profit, from were we deduct the acquisitions under $20 and taxes. If we divide that for 15 years, 2005 to 2020, that will make it at around 30k profit a year, if I'm not mistaken. That's good, lot's of domainers are loosing money, the only thing is that my expectations were higher, if we think about years, times spent and profit, but probably I will just need to readjust my expectations.


I still think that looking at profit per year is a little misleading when we count the profit reinvested into the business. The last 5 years I could have reinvested nothing, let it sit at the same number of domains and same quality, and it would have yielded a profit of $60k per year.

I've been in and out of domains over the 15 years, so I wouldn't count it as something I've been focused on continuously, and probably $100k of those purchases are in just the last 4 years and are for higher quality domains that have not yet resulted in sales. So something like this really changes the profit per year number. I'm just suggesting that you can adjust any strategy to better fit your expectations.

If we had grown an automobile dealership from a 30 car dealership of old Datsun cars into a 3,000 car dealership of Fords, BMWs, and a few Ferraris, by reinvesting 100% of our profits, at the end of the road we are left with the profits from the 3,000 car dealership. But the road getting there would look like we were making $0 each year if we reinvest 100% of the profits.

If we could plunk down $300k and buy a domain business making $65k per year, with a chance of hitting a bonus $50k+ extra sale on any given year, it is not a bad deal considering there is virtually no maintenance.

My friend, who is also my business partner in many domain investments relates it to the rental house he bought for $300k. He is making maybe $20k after property taxes and most expenses. If the furnace goes out, or a pipe in the foundation bursts, or the roof needs repairs, there goes a chunk of his profits.
 
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Well it's probably closer to 2009 ($30k), 2010 ($30k), 2011 ($35k), 2012 ($40k), 2013 ($40k), 2015($52k), & 2017 ($61k).

So about $288k for the missing years.

I think it's important to look at it as investment income instead of an income of $xx,xxx per year from a job or a business. I created and ran an import business for years, and was able to get the revenue much higher, and much quicker, but we actually ran a warehouse and were dealing with orders every day.

Because now, if I do nothing, I still have the same $134k+ per year in sales and $64k+ per year in profit.

So if I get up to 30,000 names and I'm happy at that number of domains, I'll have no new acquisition costs (besides replacing sold domains) and the revenue should be $615,000+. If we allocate the same percentage to expenses, the profit should work out to just under $300k. I can live with that. :xf.wink:

I'm still tweaking things. I dropped 573 domains last year, and purchased around 1,000. Since creating NameWorth, I definitely put more analysis and research into each purchase. So my numbers are still evolving.

Also, even though my spreadsheet looks very linear and predictable, I have about 4-5 new strategies that I'm trying out just in the last 6-12 months. So maybe it just takes a strategy that matches your expectations.

I remember a post from Rick that said something to the effect that "the difference between a $30,000 sale and a $300,000 sale, is the seller". It appears there is a lot of truth to that. I have one client that is very enthusiastic about one of my names that match their app name. The domain is listed at $29k, and they have no concern about the price. Their only concern is how do they finance it and get it sooner than later in a way that is affordable. I'm realizing, that if proposed in the right way, it is very feasible to get royalties or equities as Rick has done. If you look at his sale of Teem(dot)com. It is a good domain, but has no real-world meaning other than sounding like "team". The sale portion of the agreement was for $36,000, plus stock (see below). Many startups can do something like that, and the potential payout, once they are acquired by a larger company, is enormous.

Show attachment 164324


Another thing that Rick posted recently was a path of selling 18 domains to be a multi-millionaire. While it may take much longer than 18 months, it does get you to think differently. Many people have the idea that success just fell in his lap because he purchased a bunch of cheap ultra-premium names in the 1990s, but his biggest domain sale, candy(dot)com, was not purchased until 2005, and for $100k. Very few of us are buying names for $100k, but reflecting on the Twitter post below, I can see how thinking differently can put in you a much different position as far as acquisitions and sales.

I do not normally read to much into what he has to say.......but

that tweet by him is worth thinking about.........
 
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I do not normally read to much into what he has to say.......but

that tweet by him is worth thinking about.........

After 17 years, it got me to purchase my highest priced domain (for resale) that I've ever purchased. The domain was $4,250. 85% paid for by a prior sale. I previously purchased a domain

My next domain purchase will be $10,000+ with the proceeds from this sale.

We'll see how well it works. But it definitely will get you to do things that you wouldn't have done otherwise. It did for me, and it only took 1 month.

If you have a strategy beforehand, there are no path decisions to make, just analysis on the domains. Once the strategy is decided, it is just putting one foot in front of the other.
 
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After 17 years, it got me to purchase my highest priced domain (for resale) that I've ever purchased. The domain was $4,250. 85% paid for by a prior sale.

My next domain purchase will be $10,000+ with the proceeds from this sale.
That sounds good, but to have a sale like this, you need other thousands of domains, you can't count on buying only a domain and wait to sell it. In the meantime, you pay renewals and acquisitions for domains, that at least some of them will never sell. The good thing is that, if you stop buying, you can make a nice profit for years( if something doesn't change in 5-10 years and they loose a lot of they value).
 
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