strategy Strategy to sell domains at least 50-100$

[ImperiousDon]

Can you give me some advice ?

 

[Paul Nicks]

The trouble with targeting $50-$100 is that the math simply doesn't work. The best portfolios out there have an annual sell-through of around 2%. I would surmise that a hand-reg portfolio is closer to 0.5% or so if done well.

So, if you register 1000 domains @ $10 ($10k investment) and sell 5 (0.5%) of them the first year for $100 each then you are out $9500 on your initial investment after 1 year. The only winning strategy after that would be to drop the other 995 domains.

Even at a best case scenario you'd sell 2% (20) of these domains and still only recoup $2,000 of your $10,000 investment.

The only way to make a sustainable profit is to identify domains that you can sell for $1k or more

 

[NYJimbo]

Can you give me some advice ?

Do yourself a favor and don't waste time buying junk and selling cheap. I played with it for a few months and its too much work for too little return. You think it would be easy to flip at really cheap prices, but you will put in the same effort as you would on a mid $xxx domain. Buy decent closeouts/snaps/whatever at $20 each and put them up for mid to high $xxx. If you find something really nice, go for low-mid $xxxx.

 

[imadoer]

Ohh, boy... short version: don't bother!

Reevaluate and up your game! Think $500 - $1,000. At the very least!

Nothing wrong with starting small at first and doing volume. A lot of people miss this and have no cash flow because they are so focused on making enduser sales.

 

[Kate]

In my humble opinion, the OP should not bother with low-value sales. Make your time worthwhile. Unless you want to get your feet wet because you are a beginner and you want to build some trader rating on NP. I understand that.
But you will have to raise the bar for yourself quickly. At the same time, people need to be realistic. If you have low value names, liquidate them for what they are worth ie $50 or $100. If you have good names, hold out for more.
But do yourself a favor, be selective when buying names. At least buy names that are worth renewing. Don't buy crap just because it's cheap. Crap is not rewarding.

Also, domainers do not value their time like they should. Research takes a lot of time, handling sales takes times too.
But most likely you will struggle to find buyers, you will waste money on names that nobody wants and in the end you will not sell enough names to be profitable. You'll waste time too, so think again.

 

[Paul Nicks]

OK, let's get this back to the OP @ImperiousDon

Many professional investors are giving advice that $50-$100 sales aren't viable in the long run, so I would suggest staying away from that niche as a new investor. @imadoer apparently has the model figured out but he is secretive (as he should be) about his methods, so there still isn't any great advice to gleam from his successes.

 

[Windoms]

I guess there's very different types of domainers and we can all learn from each other.
Theres one dude I follow on Dynadot (you can see all recent marketplace adds). He is consistently adding dozens of brand new registered domains EVERY SINGLE DAY and pricing them at xx$ (under 50). Consistently, since Ive found him in June (I bought a domain from him).
And thats just one strategy among others.

 

[boker]

The trouble with targeting $50-$100 is that the math simply doesn't work. The best portfolios out there have an annual sell-through of around 2%. I would surmise that a hand-reg portfolio is closer to 0.5% or so if done well.

So, if you register 1000 domains @ $10 ($10k investment) and sell 5 (0.5%) of them the first year for $100 each then you are out $9500 on your initial investment after 1 year. The only winning strategy after that would be to drop the other 995 domains.

Even at a best case scenario you'd sell 2% (20) of these domains and still only recoup $2,000 of your $10,000 investment.

The only way to make a sustainable profit is to identify domains that you can sell for $1k or more

I respect your experience, but for me your math doesn't work. This is a real life experience: mine. Last year I've sold 357 domains to resellers and 23 to end users, out of around 800 , making xxxxx profit for each category, all of them were hand regs. Also, who is saying that you need to pay around 10$ a piece( ex godaddy)? My average acquisition cost was just under 3$ each, with buys as low as 0,31euros...so the math is changing, doesn't? Also, from my experience the sale ratio is much higher when you sell under 100$ than when you sell over 1000$, so it's much higher than the average 2% of the industry. Of course, if you don't know what to buy, you will loose money either way.

 

[rohitgoyal]

Can you give me some advice ?

Well there is no single strategy . Further Every one has their own strategy and no one is wrong in that..
I personally deal in hand register domains and purchase around 300 domains per months (geo and keyword)... normally I sell around 10% of the same via outbound and I have a dedicated team for the same. I sale 50% to resellers in low to mid xx range within first few months itself... I hold 5-10% for long term as u do get such decent domains even in daily expiry list... lastly I drop 20% of the remaining lot or sell at namepros for 1-2$ each.
My average acquisition cost is $4 and average end user sale price is $300 and reseller price is $20 so in nutshell I am in healthy profit on monthly basis...
However it didn't happen overnight and it took over a year to reach this stage...

 

[Paul Nicks]

Why does it have to be one year?? Why cant he move a few hundred in a few months to resellers and use it as a stepping stone to buy better names in the aftermarket or privately??? I use this strategy from time to time so please enlighten me how this doesnt work

Well you just said it right there, "a stepping stone to buy better names". Why would you want to buy better names if you are good enough to turn a substantial profit on hand regges? I said 1 year because you are required to pay 1 year registration on all domains before making a call on whether the domain should be renewed or not, so it is good hygiene to look at your portfolio based on annual statistics (sell-through and average sales price are critical KPIs).

In order to move a few hundred in a few months consistently you would need to register several thousand which puts you back into a break-even at best situation.

 

[imadoer]

Paul Nick's makes sense when it comes to selling to endusers sure if you enjoy having a 2% sale percentage and your passive

But imadoer is wrong right lol I laugh at you guys.


Let's say you buy 10 dot coms for $1.00 each witch is possible when promos are around like right now.

And sell 8 of them for the minimum of $35
That's a profit of 270 correct how hard is this to do if you know what your doing??? Real hard if your Paul Nick's or nyjumbo lmao.

I can do this in my sleep and for those who cant see it are just blind.

You can take that 270 and buy one domain from auction or private or where ever. But now you have a $270 domain from $10 and you can probably sell that if you bought right from 1-5k and that is one way to do things but again I am wrong and I am clueless why should I advice new new members to do this. Dont listen to me I dont know a thing

 

[boker]

I would say Paul Nicks summed it up quite nicely.

Sure you might have a higher sell through rate if you are selling domains for $50-100 than end user prices, but the math still doesn't make sense.

1.) You need to find a constant supply of domains that are available and in demand enough to sell.
This needs to be consistent and repeatable.

2.) Let's say you pay an average of $10 for .COM. You would need a sell through rate of 20% @ $50 just to break even. You would need 10% @ $100. Then when the next year comes you either have to drop them all or pay for renewals again.

There might be a few exceptions, but in general this type of business model is just not viable today.

Brad

That why I have gived an example of real life...I've done this all last year, I'm buying constantly up to tens of domains a week and I could sell right now up to 50% of my names to resellers or to low end users offers(xxx). I'm testing some other strategies right now, but I could start selling at any time at the same rate. So there is a constant supply and constant demand( you need to diversify for this reason: geos, brandables, some low cost emd's, acronyms, ngtlds, cctlds)
80% of the domains sold last year were .com, and my average acquisition cost was under 3$...this year it will be around 4$ probably( because of some acuisitions through namesilo and dynadot), so nowhere near 10$ and I've had a sell through rate of close to 50%, 380 out of just over 800 and I was not selling my top 20% names and I've rejected a good amount of reseller offers, so it could easily go up to 80%. I could give you numerous examples of hand regs from the last months for which I've received offers of xxx from resellers( and not only) in a matter of days after registration.
In conclusion, it can be done, but you need a strategy, but the same is true for high value domains, if you overpay, you can still loose big even if it's a high value domain.

 

[imadoer]

I agree with thinking bigger. But if you think you want to fly to the moon. It's really hard to do when you only have a few rocketship parts and you dont know how the peices go together.

People need to get some knowledge and experience before they think big.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The OP said AT LEAST (my emphasis) not necessarily at that level, so I am not sure that all advice here is necessarily relevant. That being said, lots of good advice of which I would argue the most important is to decide who would potentially want the domain name (a list of not just one organization!), why it is advantageous to them and how you will get them to notice the domain name availability, BEFORE you acquire any domain name. Of course, many of us, myself certainly included, have not always done this !

There is a lot more activity at the value end then I think sometimes is sometimes recognized on NPs. For example most recent NameBio report (Sept 12) has average sales price of $2023. Impressive, huh? Take out JUST ONE (the largest sale) and the average price of the other 196 sales is $906. On this day on NameBio 133 of the 197 sold for $500 or less, and 102 for $300 or less. I do know that NameBio is potentially not recording more high value end user sales, but nonetheless true that many, many sales are for $$$ and less.

To answer the OPs question, at this price range offer the domains at a venue that is easy for the end user to acquire the domain name and put it into use for a Wordpress or hosting/template plan. Venues like GoDaddy and Namecheap Marketplace have huge advantages for the end user, in that the process of buying and signing up for hosting etc. for the end user is easy.

Also, be really alert to costs and minimum commissions in particular. The $60 minimum at Afternic for example is a big chunk of a $250 sale. Places like Undeveloped, Namecheap Marketplace, Namesilo Market etc. are better choices at this level.

I do realize many will feel it is too much work for the return at below perhaps $$$$, and if I was in it as a full time job would probably think that, but if in it as a part time interest, prices in even low $$$ range can be worthwhile. I think there potentially is a huge market here, as many businesses and organizations that will never (rightly or wrongly) consider paying 5 figures for a domain name are much more numerous than those who will.

Bob

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Nothing wrong with starting small at first and doing volume. A lot of people miss this and have no cash flow because they are so focused on making enduser sales.

Agreed, nothing wrong with starting small. But my experience has been that if you don't think a little bigger, you not only start, but also finish small

Domaining, targeting $500 - $1,000 sales, or higher, requires an entirely different approach and skill set than the $50 - $100 peanuts. But no, nothing wrong with making peanuts, as long as that level is satisfactory to the OP. And yes, he can up his game later. But my suggestion stands: think and start bigger!

 

[imadoer]

This is getting out of hand and destroying this guys thread Paul I think you should keep your assumption stats to your self and I'll keep my strategy to my self. And jumbo get a life

To the OP this is the last thing I will say learn rn how to buy domains and sell at profit I would reccomend making small fast sales until you get a nice chunk of money together so you can buy better names to hold on to.

 

[bmugford]

I would say Paul Nicks summed it up quite nicely.

Sure you might have a higher sell through rate if you are selling domains for $50-100 than end user prices, but the math still doesn't make sense.

1.) You need to find a constant supply of domains that are available and in demand enough to sell.
This needs to be consistent and repeatable.

2.) Let's say you pay an average of $10 for .COM. You would need a sell through rate of 20% @ $50 just to break even. You would need 10% @ $100. Then when the next year comes you either have to drop them all or pay for renewals again.

There might be a few exceptions, but in general this type of business model is just not viable today.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

In conclusion, it can be done, but you need a strategy, but the same is true for high value domains, if you overpay, you can still loose big even if it's a high value domain.

I agree. Spending more for domains is no guarantee of success. Unless you know what you are doing it is just a quicker way to flush money down the toilet.

The math works even worse with marginal domains that frequently sell for mid $XXX+ at auction venues.

Basically if you are good at picking names for the right price anything is possible.
Without the ability to spot good domains at the right price no business model is going to work.

Brad

 

[golan]

Very simple: just buy domains that are worth $50-100. That somebody in the world would ever want to buy. And once you have such domains, read this forum more.

 

[imadoer]

The trouble with targeting $50-$100 is that the math simply doesn't work. The best portfolios out there have an annual sell-through of around 2%. I would surmise that a hand-reg portfolio is closer to 0.5% or so if done well.

So, if you register 1000 domains @ $10 ($10k investment) and sell 5 (0.5%) of them the first year for $100 each then you are out $9500 on your initial investment after 1 year. The only winning strategy after that would be to drop the other 995 domains.

Even at a best case scenario you'd sell 2% (20) of these domains and still only recoup $2,000 of your $10,000 investment.

The only way to make a sustainable profit is to identify domains that you can sell for $1k or more

Why does it have to be one year?? Why cant he move a few hundred in a few months to resellers and use it as a stepping stone to buy better names in the aftermarket or privately??? I use this strategy from time to time so please enlighten me how this doesnt work.

I'll register 1000 for $1 and sell 80% for 35 peice in a few months if I wanted to how much money is that??

2% sell thru rate when selling to resellers??? Lol

More like 80%

 

[Brands.International]

In my humble opinion, the OP should not bother with low-value sales. Make your time worthwhile. Unless you want to get your feet wet because you are a beginner and you want to build some trader rating on NP. I understand that.
But you will have to raise the bar for yourself quickly. At the same time, people need to be realistic. If you have low value names, liquidate them for what they are worth ie $50 or $100. If you have good names, hold out for more.
But do yourself a favor, be selective when buying names. At least buy names that are worth renewing. Don't buy crap just because it's cheap. Crap is not rewarding.

Also, domainers do not value their time like they should. Research takes a lot of time, handling sales takes times too.
But most likely you will struggle to find buyers, you will waste money on names that nobody wants and in the end you will not sell enough names to be profitable. You'll waste time too, so think again.

Nothing more to add to that, that is a perfect summary

As a new domain investor you will be simply buying bad domain names anyway, there is no way around it. First year or two of renewal cycles will teach you few important lessons, and then you will be improving quality of your portfolio, dropping bad names, and renewing your good ones.

But at least remember this: it is better to buy 2-3 good names, then to buy 500 bad names which you will drop in year or two without any profit, only with huge loss. And try to aim higher then on $50-$100 sales - you will get only tired and frustrated when operating on this level. The best is NOT to be selling to your fellow domain investors, the best is to buy high quality names and sell them directly to end users. So quality, quality and quality - it rules.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think that in order to answer which is "best" you must be clear in your own mind answers to the following:

1. Am I probably selling this to other domain investors or an end user?
2. What is the minimum price I might accept, and what is the commission for that price at various venue options?
3. Do I have my own website landers, or do I plan to use parking pages or landers associated with the marketplace?
4. How are payouts handled, and are there additional fees related to that or escrow?
5. How likely are people to find my domain name without any outbound or other promotion, and what do i have in mind with respect to plans for promotion?
6. Am I willing to interact directly with buyer and do transfer of the domain after sale, and accepting payment, myself, or do I prefer that be totally done by a third party?
7. Where have names like this one most often sold in the past? (this is challenging of course since Undeveloped and Afternic do not normally disclose sales, but you can at least for example compare Sedo, Flippa and GoDaddy for domains similar to your own)
8. Geographically where are my buyers likely to come from, and what payment options are most likely suited to that? (e.g. some venues allow BTC some do not)
9. How urgently do I want/need to sell the domain name?
10. How niche is this? Are there only a handful of organizations that probably want it?

In general listing as many places as possible make sense, but only one with BIN. Select carefully which is the BIN place considering the above points.

 

[imadoer]

No, seriously. Where are you getting 1,000 domains for $1 each AND selling 80% of them for $35 a piece in a few months ?

Well you just said it right there, "a stepping stone to buy better names". Why would you want to buy better names if you are good enough to turn a substantial profit on hand regges? I said 1 year because you are required to pay 1 year registration on all domains before making a call on whether the domain should be renewed or not, so it is good hygiene to look at your portfolio based on annual statistics (sell-through and average sales price are critical KPIs).

In order to move a few hundred in a few months consistently you would need to register several thousand which puts you back into a break-even at best situation.

For me I sell names at all levels from xx to xxxxx

I move a lot of volume. You cant see my vision you only see your assumption stats lol my method works well so Paul your wrong I'm not going to try and break down my strategy if you lack the knowledge to do what I do that's on you

And @nyjumbo if you open u your eyes some you will find a link for $1 .coms on namepros good luck

You also asked where you can sell handregs yo resellers well one of the best places on earth is NAMEPROS

 

[Paul Nicks]

@Paul Nicks do you tell everyone where you get your domains?? And how ?? Do u tell everyone all your methods and secrets?? Please share them all so we can all know everything you do and make your life 10x harder

yup

Apologize for the audio quality, we'll have a better setup this year

 

[Windoms]

But yeah @ImperiousDon you cant just register anything so you need to get the feel of what makes a good domain

 

[Bob Hawkes]

You make a strong mathematical argument @bmugford (and before that Paul Nicks). I think achieving even a 10% throughput is challenging and as you say finding names for $10 that are saleable is pretty hard on any continuous basis.

I would add the following:

1. The math might work but only if occasionally you can get well more than that for the odd name. In many ways, if you exclude the big sales, it is clear that overall domain investing is losing I would argue.
2. The math is less clear for ngTLDs, at least when they could be purchased first year for less (decreasingly so with FFM now under new management and not discounted). If you only try first year to sell, and say have a $2 average acquisition cost, and a $60 average sales price, then you need to sell 1 out of 30 to break even. Even that not easy as the sales rate of new extensions is probably at least something of order of 5 to 10 factor less than com.
3. The math may be different if you can get a good deal on multiple year renewals up front. This seems more possible in past than currently.
4. Of course if any cost at all for labour is inserted, or for other costs like Efty or hosting, then the math is even more problematic.

Please no one interpret this as my debating what @bmugford said. I agree with his argument. I think there are multiple possible ways to make slight profit, but none of them are easy, and hats off to those who consistently do it!