advice Spent more than $500 on hand-regs, need some direction please.

[cixxy]

Hi, I'm a designer / web developer new to the domain buying scene. I like the fact that when I buy a cool domain name, there's potential I can develop a website on it myself.

But recently I spent a lot of money on domaining... so I would appreciate if you have some advice or direction for me; or maybe I should just quit domaining because of how bad the regs are?

Also what should I do with keyword domains as Brandbucket doesn't seem to like these.

4xAA.com (keyword)
AceGT.com (brandable)
AgenciesList.com (keyword, will develop this)
AiBoots.com (keyword - nonexistant yet)
Aihance.com (brandable, I like this a lot because of Behance (big site) )
Aitasy.com (brandable)
Brandacular.com (brandable)
BuyHealing.com (keyword)
ClubState.com (brandable)
ColorBackground.com (keyword)
ColorsMeaning.com (keyword)
DanceJumps.com (keyword)
Digery.com (brandable)
Digitalry.com (brandable)
DopamineFunction.com (keyword)
Droneri.com (brandable)
Dronier.com (brandable)
Expertoid.com (brandable)
FeetInches.com (keyword)
FreeAds.io (keyword, will develop this)
Fundega.com (brandable)
GirlOffers.com (keyword)
GuruSonic.com (brandable)
HipsterWallpaper.com (keyword)
HoloShack.com (brandable)
InvestBliss.com (brandable)
KittyStudios.com (brandable)
KpopArtists.com (keyword, developed website)
Limo.kr (keyword)
NorseGoddess.com (keyword + brandable)
MusicPuns.com (keyword)
MusicToSleep.com (keyword, developed website)
Profithance.com (brandable)
ProfitSonic.com (brandable)
RealtorSalary.com (keyword, illegal copyright?)
RoyalOpen.com (brandable, Listed on BrandBucket! http://brandbucket.com/royalopen )
SexWithBoss.com (keyword)
SkillJolt.com (brandable)
SnapXr.com (brandable)
Staresque.com (brandable)
ThePerfectArt.com (brandable)
Upezy.com (brandable)
VeganAlfredo.com (keyword)
VeganFlan.com (keyword)
VeganMeatballs.com (keyword)
VeganSwan.com (brandable)
VegetarianCurry.com (keyword)
YouCosplay.com (brandable)
YouCrystal.com (brandable)
Zenasy.com (brandable)
ZenJolt.com (brandable)

 

[cixxy]

Sadly, BB is not the best guide for good names ) They rejected noble/metal, which is a dictionary word and I subsequently sold it for $12.5K. Some other names that are sold via afternic and other marketplaces that were BB rejects watch/match, globular/ity, w/ultra, finance/fi, chef/ix, mart/smart and many more. While they might approve some names that will probably never sell. That is why you can find BB listed names here on NP for $10-$20 often because the investors realize that they might be stuck paying renewal fees for something with little chance to sell.

I have had 181 names with BB, 9 sold. But out of those 181, about 70 are organically added by me and the rest bought here on NP as already listed. Now from my sales 7 comes from my own 70 while just 2 comes from 121 purchased from others. Average holding time for all would be around 2 years. So mine sell at 5% a year, the purchased ones at 1%. And yet, BB was approving my added names at around 12%, while average for the marketplace is around 30%.

This is not to bash BB, but just to point out that every marketplace represents the taste of its management/ownership and is no different than me approving your names or you approving mine.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you mind to share your Brandbucket portfolio link and tell me what sold? I'm intrigued to see what can actually do well or maybe it's just chance.

Doing a calculation, if you have 181 names and each name holding fee is $7 / year , that's $1267 per year and if you sold 7 in 2 years time that means you had to spend $2534 renewing but you got in average 7x$2000 which is $14,000 back... that's not too shabby tbh.

I should also add, relying on the judgement of a third party (BB) is a bad idea, even when that third party is experienced. You have to learn for yourself what makes a good domain name. BB have nothing to lose, they even charge you to list a name that most likely will never sell anyway.
The marketplaces cannot deliver miracles and sell names that nobody wants.

True, I use it for quality control but I do have that feeling that maybe it wont go too well regardless if its listed there or not given these realistic posts above.

I guess I should on top of everything have worst case scenarios on top if I can't sell it. Expertoid is an example where if I can't sell it I can totally make it into a platform myself. Can't say that about my last reg CreditBench though, but idk it just sounded to good to me after they approved it.

 

[Recons.Com]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you mind to share your Brandbucket portfolio link and tell me what sold? I'm intrigued to see what can actually do well or maybe it's just chance.

Doing a calculation, if you have 181 names and each name holding fee is $7 / year , that's $1267 per year and if you sold 7 in 2 years time that means you had to spend $2534 renewing but you got in average 7x$2000 which is $14,000 back... that's not too shabby tbh.



True, I use it for quality control but I do have that feeling that maybe it wont go too well regardless if its listed there or not given these realistic posts above.

I guess I should on top of everything have worst case scenarios on top if I can't sell it. Expertoid is an example where if I can't sell it I can totally make it into a platform myself. Can't say that about my last reg CreditBench though, but idk it just sounded to good to me after they approved it.

Here is the link:

https://www.brandbucket.com/profile/recons/

Renewals are around $8.3, so yes, cost would be around $1,400/year. Net proceeds per name are typically lower and are mostly in $1,200 to 1,800 range. Let's say $1500. So proceeds would be around $13,500 over the period. In short, I'd need 1 sale a year for renewals the other ones going towards profit. To acquire and/or list that portfolio has costed me around $6000, I assume.

Now here is the thing: If your names are mediocre, you might be averaging just enough to renew or less.

Here is the simple math for you:

You pay for 500 names at $1 for BB to consider and let's say you are approved at 20% rate. So you spent $500 and have 100 approved. Now you register those at $8. So now your investment is $1300 and your annual cost commitment to renew those is $850.

If you make zero sales, your loss for that year will be $850.

If you make 1 sale, you'll profit at about $500 on your $1300 investment for about 38% return on your investment.

If you make 2, then even better.

There is a huge difference between $850 loss and $500 profit. So you really need to consider chances of your name being sold and not assume that if it is BB approved, it is good enough to sell.

Also you might be missing opportunity on names that might be good, but not to BB's taste. You are welcome to PM me the rejects and I will evaluate those for you.

 

[cixxy]

Here is the link:

https://www.brandbucket.com/profile/recons/

Renewals are around $8.3, so yes, cost would be around $1,400/year. Net proceeds per name are typically lower and are mostly in $1,200 to 1,800 range. Let's say $1500. So proceeds would be around $13,500 over the period. In short, I'd need 1 sale a year for renewals the other ones going towards profit. To acquire and/or list that portfolio has costed me around $6000, I assume.

Now here is the thing: If your names are mediocre, you might be averaging just enough to renew or less.

Here is the simple math for you:

You pay for 500 names at $1 for BB to consider and let's say you are approved at 20% rate. So you spent $500 and have 100 approved. Now you register those at $8. So now your investment is $1300 and your annual cost commitment to renew those is $850.

If you make zero sales, your loss for that year will be $850.

If you make 1 sale, you'll profit at about $500 on your $1300 investment for about 38% return on your investment.

If you make 2, then even better.

There is a huge difference between $850 loss and $500 profit. So you really need to consider chances of your name being sold and not assume that if it is BB approved, it is good enough to sell.

Also you might be missing opportunity on names that might be good, but not to BB's taste. You are welcome to PM me the rejects and I will evaluate those for you.

Yeah so basically we are looking at in your case 3.5 names per year at 181 names so that's 4% selling rate a year. The question is, do your older listed domains there sell as well? If so it might not be so bad just holding on to them and renewing.

There's a lot of good domain names in there, I have a bit more 2 word names than your 1 word made-up ones.

So which names have sold for you in the past? I'm wondering because you have a lot of 1 word made-ups like Blogzo Talkero and some like EnergyRoute which are 2 word names. I think the thing is with 2 word names more often it's easier to do outbound sales with them so a bit better exit strategy since they often are a bit more niche and keywordy.

My favs from the list (exluding the $5000 ones) which I see a good niche for: Blogzo, MusicArea, Talkero, Smartoid

 

[Recons.Com]

Yeah so basically we are looking at in your case 3.5 names per year at 181 names so that's 4% selling rate a year. The question is, do your older listed domains there sell as well? If so it might not be so bad just holding on to them and renewing.

There's a lot of good domain names in there, I have a bit more 2 word names than your 1 word made-up ones.

So which names have sold for you in the past? I'm wondering because you have a lot of 1 word made-ups like Blogzo Talkero and some like EnergyRoute which are 2 word names. I think the thing is with 2 word names more often it's easier to do outbound sales with them so a bit better exit strategy since they often are a bit more niche and keywordy.

My favs from the list (exluding the $5000 ones) which I see a good niche for: Blogzo, MusicArea, Talkero, Smartoid

I don't look at exit strategy for good brandables at those marketplaces. I add and forget (except renewing of course).

Sold ones: My own adds - lift/d, sit/ly, globe/e (or glo/bee), z/employ, explain/ly, sound/iq, pinq/s, Acquired and sold: banq/io and book/ora (sold just yesterday, before my post).

I believe I have quite unique taste for names that result in good sales regardless of platform. The reason being I am also serial entrepreneur and I look for real life application of the name and idea or sometimes start from an idea and work for perfect fit names. Apparently, real businessmen think the same way.

See for example Answer/iq that was rejected by BB, but now is the website of a startup that raised $5MM recently. The founder called me directly and purchased the name over the phone practically.

 

[cixxy]

Interesting that all your sold ones are madeup one words... but they are indeed strong.

Pretty damn awesome what they did with that name, never thought IQ would be related to AI tech. And thanks again for the help in the PMs, and sharing your thought process in making your BB names.

--

Btw I just impulse bought Woman.com.co for $7 reg fee without doing much research on it. Just a quick google for the namepros com.co thoughts. Did a quick Namebio search as well and the figures are good.

I had to snag it before anyone else since it was listed on ExpiredDomains.

It's a gamble but I think this is a good gamble to take.

Worst case I thought it's a woman's magazine or shop in Columbia, right?

Also just got Lit.mx

Think my luck is changing.

 

[Recons.Com]

Interesting that all your sold ones are madeup one words... but they are indeed strong.

Pretty damn awesome what they did with that name, never thought IQ would be related to AI tech. And thanks again for the help in the PMs, and sharing your thought process in making your BB names.

--

Btw I just impulse bought Woman.com.co for $7 reg fee without doing much research on it. Just a quick google for the namepros com.co thoughts. Did a quick Namebio search as well and the figures are good.

I had to snag it before anyone else since it was listed on ExpiredDomains.

It's a gamble but I think this is a good gamble to take.

Worst case I thought it's a woman's magazine or shop in Columbia, right?

Also just got Lit.mx

Think my luck is changing.

You are welcome.

Regarding the other names you regged, the best advice to a starter: stick to .com

Com.Co IMHO is junk grade investment, as anyone with money would look for .Co even in Colombia

I registered defenses.Co for $11 + 25$ with many potential uses. Woman.Co would be a good buy at $xxx, woman.com.Co - no even for free.

 

[cixxy]

You are welcome.

Regarding the other names you regged, the best advice to a starter: stick to .com

Com.Co IMHO is junk grade investment, as anyone with money would look for .Co even in Colombia

I registered defenses.Co for $11 + 25$ with many potential uses. Woman.Co would be a good buy at $xxx, woman.com.Co - no even for free.

Hmm that's solid argument. I checked the .com.co thread though people seem to like .com.co for the local columbian businesses as it's a bit more formal, https://www.namepros.com/threads/com-co-and-co-com-your-opinions-please.832140/

Again, .COM.CO is the CCTLD for Colombia. When I visited Cartagena and another city in the departamento of Bolivar in 2012 I saw a fair mix of .COM and .COM.CO domains being used. The only time I saw a .CO was in a magazine on the return flight back to Miami. The tourism board uses a .Travel.

I would only consider .COM.CO for Spanish domains and because the primary market would be Colombia they need to be really good keywords - not just what you can find available. Consider reviewing expiring lists of .COM.CO.

and from wikipedia:

The third level domain registrations closely mirror the "traditional" IANA .com / .net / .org / .gov / .edu / .mil hierarchy, with the addition of a national equivalent of .name. Different from registrations directly under .co which are used to signal globally relevant interests, third level domains are used to signal locally relevant business, organizations, academic institutions, and government.

I'm thinking to make Lit.mx to a nightclub directory for mexico, if I can't sell for at least 10k... thoughts?

 

[Recons.Com]

Hmm that's solid argument. I checked the .com.co thread though people seem to like .com.co for the local columbian businesses as it's a bit more formal, https://www.namepros.com/threads/com-co-and-co-com-your-opinions-please.832140/



and from wikipedia:


I'm thinking to make Lit.mx to a nightclub directory for mexico, if I can't sell for at least 10k... thoughts?

you can see com.co in Colombia. Apparently, before release of .co, .com.co was the only available one.

And now since .co became international and every decent word is snagged, the local businesses have better chance of getting .com.co.

But, then they are paying reg fee for it. The chance of $xxxx is slim to none. Also, "woman" is an English word, and they speak Spanish there. So Mujer.com.co would have been better, Mujer.co would have been ideal.

And the same with .mx Don't see their clubs paying $xxxx for an English word .mx

But, ok, you can collect nice collection of cctlds, but end up subsidizing those via your .coms given that you figure out how to make profit there.

I have about 1700 domains, out of which about 1400 are .coms. In 2018, I have had about 25 sales, all .com My sell through % for .coms in 8 months of the year: about 1.8% with average sale price of $4,000+. My sell through for about 300 .us, .al, .co, .org etc. - 0.0%.

But I am fine with that, as .coms pay for my other collection )) And it is nice quality collection too, with names like arms/us, islands/us, ranking/us about 40 LL.al and NN.al etc.

 

[cixxy]

you can see com.co in Colombia. Apparently, before release of .co, .com.co was the only available one.

And now since .co became international and every decent word is snagged, the local businesses have better chance of getting .com.co.

But, then they are paying reg fee for it. The chance of $xxxx is slim to none. Also, "woman" is an English word, and they speak Spanish there. So Mujer.com.co would have been better, Mujer.co would have been ideal.

And the same with .mx Don't see their clubs paying $xxxx for an English word .mx

But, ok, you can collect nice collection of cctlds, but end up subsidizing those via your .coms given that you figure out how to make profit there.

I have about 1700 domains, out of which about 1400 are .coms. In 2018, I have had about 25 sales, all .com My sell through % for .coms in 8 months of the year: about 1.8% with average sale price of $4,000+. My sell through for about 300 .us, .al, .co, .org etc. - 0.0%.

But I am fine with that, as .coms pay for my other collection )) And it is nice quality collection too, with names like arms/us, islands/us, ranking/us about 40 LL.al and NN.al etc.

Yeah solid points man, especially that one about the spanish, I didn't think about it when I rushed to get it.

I was thinking maybe it can be used for international business regardless because Woman.com.co sounds like a woman corporation, but maybe that's just wishful thinking. Either way nice to have some domains like that in my portfolio that I can negotiate trades with maybe.

I'll probably end up making profit via developing sites tbh instead of domaining lol.

About Lit.mx , I did google it earlier and it said the young people are getting better at english over at mexico. So it might be viable to the younger crowd which is definitely the clubbing crowd and also a 3 letter english word that's easy to say.

Around half of .mx is spanish sales in namebio but there are some comparable english .mx sales:

jet.mx 5,600 USD 2014-03-26 Sedo
max.mx 11,730 USD 2014-04-16 Sedo
bee.mx 8,500 USD 2017-09-14 Sedo
bus.mx 550 USD 2017-07-10 Flippa
pop.mx 1,673 USD 2015-05-19 Sedo

My concern is that I haven't made a website for a foreign country before, so maybe it's bad for SEO as google indexes results locally... Gotta do more research on that.

ps Nice collection, I'm sure it will pay off someday.

 

[cixxy]

A number of $1 regs I did recently:
- MartialArt / club (yes missing S but still...)
- Vaso / club ( spanish for glass, Vaso club exists as a brand)
- Dedo / club (spanish for finger , Dedo club exists as a brand)
- Pickup / live ( maybe pitch this to PUA youtubers)
- OnlineShop / club

Not sure what to do with them but they were cheap so why not.

 

[cixxy]

CreditBench and ProfitSonic are live too: https://www.brandbucket.com/profile/leonfresh/

 

[martbele]

Here is my previous post on the same subject :

https://www.namepros.com/threads/how-many-domains-in-your-portfolio.1098200/page-2#post-6878014

Cheers..!

 

[harpo]

Time is the best teacher / after 5 years if you hold it will cost you some bucks { if you dont make a sale } still pretty cheap college domain experience .

 

[cixxy]

Update: Just got offered 800 USD for Block / MX (undeveloped)

Need advice to take it or counter offer , I'll post a thread soon!

https://www.namepros.com/threads/got-a-800-offer-for-block-mx-should-i-counter-or-not.1099406/

 

[domain hacks]

If you are Rick Schwartz and if you opened thread with the domains in your OP everyone would go nuts about those names, saying how you did it again, how it is strange no one else saw these "valuable" names and how you are genius.....but you are not so everyone is telling you to quit.

On the other hand your avatar is a cute blonde girl, so you got fair share of warm approvals and admiration.

Forums can be so predictable, right?

 

[FlipperC]

VeganAlfredo.com (keyword)
VeganFlan.com (keyword)
VeganMeatballs.com (keyword)
VeganSwan.com (brandable)

VEGAN domains suck. ask @DomainShane and he'll tell you the same thing. he makes fun of them on every tv show he does!

I mean their staff could just register the domain before you get it.

if they did that, they'd be out of business yesterday. they canb be trusted. I use them.

PS. I don't think this is a good time to ask online because there's a very high chance someone would buy it if it's any good :P I'm using Namerific and Brandbucket submission now for doubtful names.

you need some trusted friends in the industry that you can text with and ask for an opinion. don't trust your gut until you can trust it, and you can't yet.

 

[cixxy]

VEGAN domains suck. ask @DomainShane and he'll tell you the same thing. he makes fun of them on every tv show he does!



if they did that, they'd be out of business yesterday. they canb be trusted. I use them.



you need some trusted friends in the industry that you can text with and ask for an opinion. don't trust your gut until you can trust it, and you can't yet.

Veganism is always on the rise, currently at 800k monthly searches and going up, showing no signs of stopping. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=vegan,/m/0vpj4_b

So your reasoning is because 1 person said they suck, therefore it does?

But yeah you're right about the friends part.

 

[vravis9]

Fair enough. Just make sure you do let a bunch drop - don't renew them all or you're throwing good money after bad.


Yeah, I think you need to understand/consider the difference between a domain for re-sale and a domain for development. There is no value in these domains for re-sale. But sure - if you're going to develop these into sites, they have value. But in that case the value is in the content not the domain. Everyone knows that content is king in SEO. So the domain name matters less than the content. Consider your domain ColorsMeaning.com. I have personally looked up the meanings of certain colours at times - the content on the site was important to me and of course Google did its job on finding me that content. It didn't matter much what the domain name was. Of course if I wanted to build a site with this content then your domain name would be decent and may slightly aid SEO. But in terms of reselling that domain name think about the tiny number of people who are your market. VeganAlfredo might be a handy little niche since Vegan is big these days. But again, the resale possibilities for the domain are tiny. The content for a niche like that is where it's at. If you are definitely going to develop a site on it keep it, otherwise drop it. But as @MetBob has mentioned there are only so many sites you can develop/maintain. Once again - distinguish the difference between names for re-sale and names for dev. Then work out which you definitely have the time to develop.

Very good suggestions from you...
A great explanation relation between...domain-content-seo

Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions...

 

[Marco Alvarez]

Interesting that all your sold ones are madeup one words... but they are indeed strong.

Pretty damn awesome what they did with that name, never thought IQ would be related to AI tech. And thanks again for the help in the PMs, and sharing your thought process in making your BB names.

--

Btw I just impulse bought Woman.com.co for $7 reg fee without doing much research on it. Just a quick google for the namepros com.co thoughts. Did a quick Namebio search as well and the figures are good.

I had to snag it before anyone else since it was listed on ExpiredDomains.

It's a gamble but I think this is a good gamble to take.

Worst case I thought it's a woman's magazine or shop in Columbia, right?

Also just got Lit.mx

Think my luck is changing.

A woman mag in Columbia would probably be mujer.com.co, Spanish is their main language. And .com.co is like heavily used by people from Columbia only. So an English name in that extension is gonna be a tough sell. I am no expert like some of the people on here I guess but I do pretty well. When I first started 3 years ago though at 1 point my portfolio got to like 1600 domains. I wasted a crap ton of money and the majority of my domains expired or I deleted on purpose. I got lucky because I invested in a lot of expired domain auctions and some premium 4l.com's. Those pulled me out and helped me make some profit despite having to let so many handregs go. Now I sell 1-3 domains a month in the 300-2500 range. Haven't had any major sales except for a 5k one a while back but steady 2-3 sales a month keeps me going. I have a couple major pointers I would like to point out from what I have learned in my mistakes.

*Get in cheap and be a realist- if you purchased domain that you know has no big end user potential but you might be able to make $5+ profit on it flipping it to another domainer then it is a winner. Do that x10 times a week and that's $200 at least a month
*learn who your audience is -when you are looking at a domain, think to yourself who would want this. If I was a business in that would I want this? Is this keyword or idea trending? would another domainer be interested in it? I is easier to sell to domainers because they are speculators like you.
*Starting out I would stick to .com only - other extensions sell but they are much harder to learn how to value them. e.g some extensions are popular with certain groups, industries, countries.
*Research what keywords are selling frequently - I cannot stress this enough, some keywords just sell. eg. crypto, bet,
*stick to two words or less - some domains with more words sell but not often enough, as other people have stated before me. The value is in the eye of the buyer. Some people buy crappy names for a lot of money. I work for a big domain company so I see it all the time.
*appraisals are DANGEROUS - These appraisal tools should come with a warning. I have had many clients spend 20k plus on domains I know will be extremely hard to sell just because an appraisal tool came back with a 1k plus appraisal.
*almost any name can sell - You just have to either be early to the idea and give it time to simmer (others to develop business ideas around it thus increasing the value.) so do your research. But don't get carried away because if you are too early to the idea (years ahead) your renewals will be unsustainable since they will take forever to sell. Otherwise you have to try to get in super super cheap so you can off load it to another domainer and still try to make a profit. Sometimes I purchase domains with the sole purpose of selling them to other domainers and I know many people on here do the same.
*different domainers have different models- many domainers have different business approaches and models. Learn them all so you can learn better how to value a domain when buying either to sell to resellers or end users. However, not all models are super successful, some domainers on here think they are better than what they actually are. I have seen some selling some really really crappy names that make no sense. I always tell myself "maybe they got them free or something". Hopefully lol.. anyway that is some of the stuff that works for me. Oh and 1 big one I don't normally share but has worked wonders for me. Use a name generator for hand reg lists then curate your list based on what sells, how they sound, if they make sense, hot keywords and narrow them down to a small list. Name generators help because they give you ideas you wouldn't think of otherwise.
*Stick to niches/areas you know- unless you do very thorough research.

By the way, for encouragement. I have sold handregs in the 500-1000 range in 2017 and 2018 within a month of registering them.
Anyway good luck
-Marco

 

[ThatDomainGuy]

The shame is that for what you have spent to register all these undesirable domains, you could have purchased 1 or 2 decent domains through an auction or even NP. It's much better to have 1 good quality domain than 50 poor ones. You should definitely spend more time reading and researching before purchasing more.

its really on for you or the next person to say ? who could possibly be interested in one if not a few of her created domain names? Just my thought.
Concept goes a long way in the world. Only way to Concept is to Conceive. Failure is a must. It will happen. Whats to say the Domain you bought for $2300 doesn't tank and sell for a 80% loss. You see it all the time on the listings. Im seeing s great amount of sales being generated by and with ORIGINAL content. Its what makes the world go round. Believe in your concepts , conceive ideas and create with them. Education is key to success ! Learn and stay positive. It's a forum. Not a crystal ball. JMT...
Cheers

 

[ThatDomainGuy]

A woman mag in Columbia would probably be mujer.com.co, Spanish is their main language. And .com.co is like heavily used by people from Columbia only. So an English name in that extension is gonna be a tough sell. I am no expert like some of the people on here I guess but I do pretty well. When I first started 3 years ago though at 1 point my portfolio got to like 1600 domains. I wasted a crap ton of money and the majority of my domains expired or I deleted on purpose. I got lucky because I invested in a lot of expired domain auctions and some premium 4l.com's. Those pulled me out and helped me make some profit despite having to let so many handregs go. Now I sell 1-3 domains a month in the 300-2500 range. Haven't had any major sales except for a 5k one a while back but steady 2-3 sales a month keeps me going. I have a couple major pointers I would like to point out from what I have learned in my mistakes.

*Get in cheap and be a realist- if you purchased domain that you know has no big end user potential but you might be able to make $5+ profit on it flipping it to another domainer then it is a winner. Do that x10 times a week and that's $200 at least a month
*learn who your audience is -when you are looking at a domain, think to yourself who would want this. If I was a business in that would I want this? Is this keyword or idea trending? would another domainer be interested in it? I is easier to sell to domainers because they are speculators like you.
*Starting out I would stick to .com only - other extensions sell but they are much harder to learn how to value them. e.g some extensions are popular with certain groups, industries, countries.
*Research what keywords are selling frequently - I cannot stress this enough, some keywords just sell. eg. crypto, bet,
*stick to two words or less - some domains with more words sell but not often enough, as other people have stated before me. The value is in the eye of the buyer. Some people buy crappy names for a lot of money. I work for a big domain company so I see it all the time.
*appraisals are DANGEROUS - These appraisal tools should come with a warning. I have had many clients spend 20k plus on domains I know will be extremely hard to sell just because an appraisal tool came back with a 1k plus appraisal.
*almost any name can sell - You just have to either be early to the idea and give it time to simmer (others to develop business ideas around it thus increasing the value.) so do your research. But don't get carried away because if you are too early to the idea (years ahead) your renewals will be unsustainable since they will take forever to sell. Otherwise you have to try to get in super super cheap so you can off load it to another domainer and still try to make a profit. Sometimes I purchase domains with the sole purpose of selling them to other domainers and I know many people on here do the same.
*different domainers have different models- many domainers have different business approaches and models. Learn them all so you can learn better how to value a domain when buying either to sell to resellers or end users. However, not all models are super successful, some domainers on here think they are better than what they actually are. I have seen some selling some really really crappy names that make no sense. I always tell myself "maybe they got them free or something". Hopefully lol.. anyway that is some of the stuff that works for me. Oh and 1 big one I don't normally share but has worked wonders for me. Use a name generator for hand reg lists then curate your list based on what sells, how they sound, if they make sense, hot keywords and narrow them down to a small list. Name generators help because they give you ideas you wouldn't think of otherwise.
*Stick to niches/areas you know- unless you do very thorough research.

By the way, for encouragement. I have sold handregs in the 500-1000 range in 2017 and 2018 within a month of registering them.
Anyway good luck
-Marco

Awesome response !
Honesty goes a long way. I feel you responded honest and up front , which was great because you have learnt threw education and by process of doing. Congrats on your sales btw ! Id be stoked.
I created a large number of domains right off the bat. Im ok with that. Im like 8 days into my new Domain Career. Completely content and aware of having to re-new and etc to maintain them. Again , ok with that for at least a year. Success does not happen over night. It can , it does but truth really goes the distance. Who's to say what Works and What doesn't ? There's Billion Dollar Corps with names the best of you would have never thought of. And most, would likely have passed on the chance to even purchase them.
You might have flipped before. But most are not creating them. Its not impossible. Its an Open Game. Not many rules to this shoot out, is there ? You can by Education , Data , Analysis either greaten or decrease the chances you have of actually selling Either a Created or Recently Traded domain.
Thanks for the advice in yo post ! I know ive created some major players. Im confident in my creations. I have to be.

 

[NYJimbo]

I created a large number of domains right off the bat. Im ok with that. Im like 8 days into my new Domain Career.

Don't get too stoked. You are counting days right now, but you might end up counting weeks or months before a sale. We all get into this with a fistful of domains and stars in our eyes. But a month or two goes by and you are staring at those domains and there is a rain cloud over your head.

As others said, stick to .com's for now. If you can, learn about domain expires and how to research them. Dabble in closeouts or snaps when you see something that looks really good. But don't get too pumped up because you will crash hard if you don't move any of your portfolio for a while and you might end up hating this game.

 

[ThatDomainGuy]

Don't get too stoked. You are counting days right now, but you might end up counting weeks or months before a sale. We all get into this with a fistful of domains and stars in our eyes. But a month or two goes by and you are staring at those domains and there is a rain cloud over your head.

As others said, stick to .com's for now. If you can, learn about domain expires and how to research them. Dabble in closeouts or snaps when you see something that looks really good. But don't get too pumped up because you will crash hard if you don't move any of your portfolio for a while and you might end up hating this game.

Got to swing the bat to play. I understand the risks involved. Not my first new venture. Risk is the obvious.

 

[FlipperC]

So your reasoning is because 1 person said they suck, therefore it does?

Hahaha! No, definitely not. Show me that they don't suck, that they're selling for $1,000+ to end users, and I'll eat my hat. They're trendy so investors are buying them, but where r the end user sales? Prove me wrong!

 

[Ollie3000]

I like RoyalOpen/com sounds like a Golf or Tennis tournament. That's worth £xxxx IMO

Dev wise, you can make money without the domain being worth money, if you have a game plan. But hand reg is a seriously addictive game. Check through expireddomains.net, I've picked some gems in there.