discuss The Sad Growing Trend of Sharing Among Domainers.

[jideofor]

I have noticed a trend with so much disbelief in what some domainers have turned this once data-driven industry into.

Every domainer owes their credit to one fundamental fact: They got into domaining when they SAW what others were sharing with sales reports through a community like NamePros.

I personally started here because of the sales report shared here. LungioMike Helped me when I started with all his shared sales. I was motivated to give it a try because of his reports and those from others here. I also believe that this is the same for ALL domainers...

On Twitter, I am seeing a growing trend among domainers, spearheaded by two or three BIG sellers. To give you an idea of this effect, a new guy who has less than a year in the domain industry has also joined the train of blurring out what he sold.

Don't get me wrong. I can't tell you what to do with your domain sales but I feel it is wrong to share what will not benefit anyone or the domain community in general. It would be prudent to keep the sales TOTALLY private and not bring it to the public, instead of uploading screenshots and blurring out the name sold.

I also noticed that a very top domainer ( for the first time in many years) has not shared his sales for months since 2023. I have a feeling that this new trend might be the reason he is keeping his sales off. I reached out to him once because I love visiting his blog just to read about his sales. He said there had been no sales and somehow, I found that hard to believe. It has been over 7 months and I have not read anything from him on his blog with respect to his sales. I just feel he might have chosen to keep his sale completely private because of this trend. It has never happened since I started following up on him.

Whenever I see this current trend, one thing I ask myself is: If the guys that started before you never shared their sales reports, would have had the motivation to start domaining?

You upload a sale with only the price and the domain name that is sold is erased. Now imagine this is what was done at the beginning, completely cutting you off any possible learning opportunity, how would that benefit you? Sometimes we need to think back to fix up.

 

[energiaklasa]

Seo always on top for me

 

[Thasreefa P M]

It's good to see so many long-time, respected NP members commenting here.

I've shared sales data (domain name, sales price, cost of domain, venue where it sold, net proceeds after any commissions, hold time) on Twitter in the past two years but I'm done for the most part. I've been doing this a long time and my generosity for sharing comes in waves. Low tide ahead.

For the past three years, I've shared much more detailed sales data on the audio app Clubhouse with many other seasoned domain investors from around the world. Many of these other domain investors also share valuable data and insight. We still meetup every Thursday, 3pm PST/6pm EST on Talking Domains on Clubhouse. When you speak with people, it doesn't take long to know who is full of shit and who isn't.

I'm less interested in a domain investor's individual sales as I'm interested in their overall position.

What is the lifetime total you have spent on domain names?
What are your total net proceeds from domain parking and sales after any sales fees, processing fees for commissions?
In other words, are you cash-flow positive overall?

Most domain investors are still looking to the future for their profits. And most won't find any.

It's a fact. Keeping an eye on your life time spending, net proceeds and aiming for positive cash flow is crucial for long term success. I also believe in sharing the facts which make sense and growing together.

 

[Jim Holleran]

I had a 6 figure NDA sale in a .tv extension, one of the highest ever in that extension, I could not even mention anything.
I started domaining in 1998 and NDA never seem to be much of a thing until the last 10 years

 

[Jim Holleran]

I have noticed a trend with so much disbelief in what some domainers have turned this once data-driven industry into.

Every domainer owes their credit to one fundamental fact: They got into domaining when they SAW what others were sharing with sales reports through a community like NamePros.

I personally started here because of the sales report shared here. LungioMike Helped me when I started with all his shared sales. I was motivated to give it a try because of his reports and those from others here. I also believe that this is the same for ALL domainers...

On Twitter, I am seeing a growing trend among domainers, spearheaded by two or three BIG sellers. To give you an idea of this effect, a new guy who has less than a year in the domain industry has also joined the train of blurring out what he sold.

Don't get me wrong. I can't tell you what to do with your domain sales but I feel it is wrong to share what will not benefit anyone or the domain community in general. It would be prudent to keep the sales TOTALLY private and not bring it to the public, instead of uploading screenshots and blurring out the name sold.

I also noticed that a very top domainer ( for the first time in many years) has not shared his sales for months since 2023. I have a feeling that this new trend might be the reason he is keeping his sales off. I reached out to him once because I love visiting his blog just to read about his sales. He said there had been no sales and somehow, I found that hard to believe. It has been over 7 months and I have not read anything from him on his blog with respect to his sales. I just feel he might have chosen to keep his sale completely private because of this trend. It has never happened since I started following up on him.

Whenever I see this current trend, one thing I ask myself is: If the guys that started before you never shared their sales reports, would have had the motivation to start domaining?

You upload a sale with only the price and the domain name that is sold is erased. Now imagine this is what was done at the beginning, completely cutting you off any possible learning opportunity, how would that benefit you? Sometimes we need to think back to fix up.

Maybe he doesn't want his future ex wife to know his business

 

[cpnames]

I have noticed a trend with so much disbelief in what some domainers have turned this once data-driven industry into.

Every domainer owes their credit to one fundamental fact: They got into domaining when they SAW what others were sharing with sales reports through a community like NamePros.

I personally started here because of the sales report shared here. LungioMike Helped me when I started with all his shared sales. I was motivated to give it a try because of his reports and those from others here. I also believe that this is the same for ALL domainers...

On Twitter, I am seeing a growing trend among domainers, spearheaded by two or three BIG sellers. To give you an idea of this effect, a new guy who has less than a year in the domain industry has also joined the train of blurring out what he sold.

Don't get me wrong. I can't tell you what to do with your domain sales but I feel it is wrong to share what will not benefit anyone or the domain community in general. It would be prudent to keep the sales TOTALLY private and not bring it to the public, instead of uploading screenshots and blurring out the name sold.

I also noticed that a very top domainer ( for the first time in many years) has not shared his sales for months since 2023. I have a feeling that this new trend might be the reason he is keeping his sales off. I reached out to him once because I love visiting his blog just to read about his sales. He said there had been no sales and somehow, I found that hard to believe. It has been over 7 months and I have not read anything from him on his blog with respect to his sales. I just feel he might have chosen to keep his sale completely private because of this trend. It has never happened since I started following up on him.

Whenever I see this current trend, one thing I ask myself is: If the guys that started before you never shared their sales reports, would have had the motivation to start domaining?

You upload a sale with only the price and the domain name that is sold is erased. Now imagine this is what was done at the beginning, completely cutting you off any possible learning opportunity, how would that benefit you? Sometimes we need to think back to fix up.

It’s helpful to have the sales data like on Namebio, but not necessarily to hear from the seller themselves.

 

[jideofor]

Maybe he doesn't want his future ex wife to know his business

hahahaha... obviously

 

[J.R.]

Maybe he doesn't want his future ex wife to know his business

This is actually truer than fiction

Many don't want people in their private lives to know their income.

Lottery winners have run into many issues upon having their names released publicly. In some states, they no longer are required to disclose this information.

In some ways, the right domain could be just like a lottery ticket.

It could have a big impact on your private life to go from a $60K annual salary to $500K domain sold.

 

[infosec3]

While I still enjoy occasional sharing, I completely understand those who have chosen to refrain, as there might be valid reasons behind their decision. I recall several long-standing NP members who generously shared their sales, only to be met with negativity. This begs the question: Is sharing truly worth it? Several members have since ceased sharing their successes. Though I could name a few, I'd rather not. When I joined the forum in 2009, it was primarily a hub for sharing and positivity. Sadly, I believe that spirit has diminished.

 

[MKA]

It's up to the seller to figure out how things work. If you saw the recent schematic.com sale for $150,000 and came to the conclusion that you could register and sell bestschematic.com for a notable fraction of the price, then you've demonstrated that you don't understand how things work. You've hastily tried to capitalize on an industry you don't understand.

It's as with any investment. You sit back and watch how things play out for a while (listening to the advocates and critics) to figure out whether it's an investment worth making.

 

[blogspotter]

While the majority of auctions might be "wholesale", this does happen.

I was in an auction with (what turned out to be) an end user for an extremely high quality single word .US, at an obscure venue of all places.

The end user ended up winning the auction in the low (5) figure range.

I think end users are becoming far more savvy in recent years.

Brad

Finance term?

 

[E-Promote]

On a name by name basis it is simply a zero sum game. Never forget that, unless of course we are competing for the same name(s)

 

[wot]

I have been in this field for a long time. In general, the NDA thing is a load of crap.

They are not common, especially on the typical sales most domain investors are making.

If you are selling domains for six or seven figures, maybe.

No one is demanding a NDA for a $X,XXX sale.

Yet, I still see domain investors mention "NDA" far too often as if they are some common thing for low dollar sales.

It seems the "NDA" angle often comes up when people are pushed on their domain sale claims. It can be a convenient excuse.

Brad

Sold over 1,000 domains in my time only 1 NDA!

 

[paulbain]

Bob Hawkes wrote:

Of course, there are some who are both domain investors and developers, so not all developed sites are necessarily retail in the traditional sense,

This number of buyers, [ who are ] both investors and developers, shouldn't be underestimated. They're in direct competition with (basic) domainers. Usually with more knowledge about what's hot and happening within their niche.

Yet, if you follow closely, a window of opportunity is there.

Yes, I agree. I am both an D.name investor and a D.name developer. I develop some of the D.names that I hand-registered, but have encountered many difficulties in this endeavor, largely due to the difficulty of SEO (search engine optimization), NOT the difficulty of developing the website (to wit, developing the website using a web CMS). I have spent most of the last several months learning SEO, which is complex and changes often. Why? Because my website was not drawing much traffic, nowhere near enough to earn significant advertising revenue.

In general, you cannot generate revenue from a D.name or website until you are drawing traffic to the website, and you cannot draw traffic until you have optimized the site for the search engines (SEO). Based on what I have read here on NamePros, I suspect that most D.name investors know little about web software development, web CMSs, web security, or SEO. These subjects are significantly more complex than D.name investing.