Should I quit domaining?

[katerleonid]

I need your advice.

A friend reached out and said something that really made me think:

Should I move my domains to somewhere else… or just get rid of them? They don’t actually sell.

And honestly, that question hit me harder than I expected.

Because I think every domainer - beginner or veteran - has faced this moment.

You buy domains. You believe in them. You refresh marketplaces hoping for offers. You tell yourself, “one of them will sell soon.”

But days turn into months. Renewals keep coming. And your passion slowly turns into frustration.

You start thinking...
Maybe I should’ve never gotten into domaining in the first place.

And that’s when I remembered my own story.

In 2021, I got into daily stock trading.
At first, I made money. Everyone wasm, remember the 2021 GME madness?

But when the wave broke, I started losing. Still, I kept going. Because I didn’t want to quit.

Until one day, I saw my wife’s face - tired, frustrated - watching me lose money every day while calling it a business.

That’s when I learned something most people avoid talking about.
And that brings me back to my friend’s question:

When’s the right moment to quit domaining?
Or should you keep going… hoping for that one domain that changes everything?

 

[johnn]

Good idea. Go ahead and quit.

 

[katerleonid]

One friend asked me this on LinkedIn today. It’s not my case, I quit stocks, not domaining.

 

[Jannes]

I guess in the end it depends if it's a failing/underperforming business or an expensive hobby. I'm prepared to pay a reasonable amount for my hobby (or hobbies in general), although I happen to be well in profit.

 

[alcy]

1. there is zero connection between domains selling or not and moving them elewhere.. like wtf are u even talking about

2. when did he start???? cause if not been doing it long enuf then that can be reason no sales .... plus if u domain not long enuf then it's not quitting domaining .. cause y can't quit something u barely started ... its like saying I'm out b4 u get your cards in poker .. everyone will think u is stupid

 

[AEProgram]

Pick any industry and you will find almost everyone that gets involved, loses money. Even if you stay consistent, there is no guarantees. Anyone that does not enjoy domaining, the search, the research, the learning, the discovering of new trends, the whole process, should quit. This is a business that rarely gives anyone profit, so only do it with money you really don't care to lose. If someone told me they have 10k to invest, the last idea would be domains. In fact, if you took 10k and you purchased scratch off lotto tickets, you probably have a higher chance of seeing a return than investing in domains.

So if you haven't made sales, you are just like most people, you are not the exception so don't feel bad.

The next step should be being realistic and letting go of names that are no good and deciding how long you will wait for the others to sell before you let go.

 

[E. Silvera]

One friend asked me this on LinkedIn today. It’s not my case, I quit stocks, not domaining.

It's not unusual here on NamePros that many reply based on threads' titles, and less on actual OP's content. Perhaps it has to do with nowadays multitasking.

 

[AEProgram]

It's not unusual here on NamePros that many reply based on threads' titles, and less on actual OP's content. Perhaps it has to do with nowadays multitasking.

This scene comes to mind

 

[katerleonid]

Actually, a friend contacted me on LinkedIn today with this interesting question.
I usually get a lot of questions via DM on LinkedIn because people enjoy my posts there.
I thought this topic would be valuable for the community (and I still believe that), since every day new domainers face the same dilemma - should I quit or renew?
I’ll be back with a longer answer in a few hours.

 

[katerleonid]

Alcy:

The connection between letting domains go or transferring them elsewhere is actually quite simple, even though it might not make sense at first.
(I never really thought about it myself until my friend wrote to me.)

He wanted to move to another platform to get more support in selling his domain names, and, of course, to benefit from cheaper renewals.
If he’s going to renew them anyway, he might as well save a few bucks.

 

[Altetra]

This depends on many factors, I for example got offers from the first year of domaining, this was a sign that I should continue.
One good test that you can advice them is to put the domains on Afternic with price request for a year or list at Godaddy valuation price and see if they will sell or get inquires, if not then the quality is bad or they don't know the domaining yet, it takes more than 4 years to learn the domaining curve.

 

[katerleonid]

I remember when I first got into domaining back in 2011. At the time, I was buying expired domains for my SEO business. The first domain I ever bought at auction was userdriven.org - I paid $27 for it. A few days later, the previous owner contacted me, saying he wanted it back. He was emotionally attached to it, so I ended up selling it back to him for $300.

I guess luck also plays a role in this game. I didn’t even check the Wayback Machine or anything before buying, just the backlinks and PageRank (if you remember those days).

Thanks for the idea.

 

[fades37]

Scalping is actually bad and against sprituality. With that being said and once you move away from materialistic life choices you will become happier in general.

If you go with spritualistic choices you will impact far greater then materialic choices you make such as scalping.


With that being said dm me first what you are about to drop

 

[VadimK]

This question is no different from asking whether your friend should stop working out at the gym every day or stop selling strawberries at the flea market on weekends.

No one knows. We don’t know his goals, financial situation, domaining history, experience, portfolio, willingness to spend time on this, ability to learn, level of English, whether he has side projects or a full-time job, and many other factors.

Domaining is no joke, and it's definetely not easy money.

Good luck for whatever he chooses.

 

[katerleonid]

Fades - You’re actually right. I spent most of my life chasing money - my dream was to become a millionaire. I did make some money, yes. But the moment I decided to let go of that chase and focus on doing something meaningful, actually getting hired to do useful work instead of just running after money, that was a turning point for me.

Now I spend more time with my three kids and enjoy simple things like walking around the park.

Scalping - you mean at trading? I found it interesting, but it’s not for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend it.

 

[katerleonid]

VadimK - One of the best answers here.

 

[CashproofDomains.com]

Pick any industry and you will find almost everyone that gets involved, loses money. Even if you stay consistent, there is no guarantees. Anyone that does not enjoy domaining, the search, the research, the learning, the discovering of new trends, the whole process, should quit. This is a business that rarely gives anyone profit, so only do it with money you really don't care to lose. If someone told me they have 10k to invest, the last idea would be domains. In fact, if you took 10k and you purchased scratch off lotto tickets, you probably have a higher chance of seeing a return than investing in domains.

So if you haven't made sales, you are just like most people, you are not the exception so don't feel bad.

The next step should be being realistic and letting go of names that are no good and deciding how long you will wait for the others to sell before you let go.

Thanks . I think you have described above directly from your heart.

 

[bmugford]

Domain investing is a tough business.

There is no easy template to follow.
Everything is subjective.
Liquidity is low.

It's hard to tell if you are even on the right track without some proof of concept.

At the same time, that is why the huge ROI is possible.

At some point you have to be honest with yourself though. Is this for me?

Would my resources and effort be more productive in another venture? Only you can answer that.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1606326266184900618

 

[katerleonid]

I do agree that the idea of “never give up” can be counterproductive. If someone had told me to give up in certain situations, it might have actually helped. But on the other hand, we need some failures to become who we are today, and who we’ll be tomorrow.

For example, when I traded penny stocks daily for three years, even though I failed, I learned things I never would have otherwise, like PATIENCE.

 

[alop]

What's counterproductive...datacube you liking your own posts, me talking smack but do you see us quitting