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This is how I price my hand-registered domain names

Some people ask how I manage to sell so many hand-registered domain names. Before I answer that question, it would be convenient to answer this one: How many hand-registered names do I sell per every ten names I register? Generally, I sell between three and four names out of ten within the first two weeks of registration, but result vary depending on the month and hours dedicated to end-user search. So, if I buy ten names, about three of those will sell within two weeks. Some may sell later. Some others will never sell.

Everything considered, the business is consistently profitable, because hand-registration is not that expensive. The two key factors are registering the right names and pricing them correctly. As my sales report indicate, I focus on low value geo names or names that refer to a specific product or service within a given city, state or region. After doing this for some time, I have now a clear idea of which keywords sell quickly and which don’t, as well as which cities might mean hot sales.

My focus on this post is not keywords, but pricing. This is a pattern I have seen often enough in domain investors who attempt to sell hand-registered names. A domain investor registers a few decent names (ex. MiamiGoldBuyer.com, PhoenixDoors.com, etc.) and then contacts potential buyers attempting to sell each name for $1,500. He receives either a negative response or no response at all and then the domain investor arrives at the conclusion that this doesn’t work.

Have in mind that in my perspective the two names listed above are decent in the sense that you can easily flip them for a few hundred dollars. Forget keyword search, forget age, and forget CPC. Those rules do not apply to this particular game. The fact is that both MiamiGoldBuyer.com and PhoenixDoors.com have a list of small business owners who would like to own them. That is all that matters.

But, going back to prices. The key to flipping hand-registered geo names quickly is to price them in a way that it would be hard for end-users to reject. In other words, to speak the language of small business owners when it comes to pricing. Let me illustrate it this way. Now that I am also into numeric names, if you try to sell 76888.com to me for $5000, there is no way I could buy that name from you. However, if you ask for $100, that is an offer I can’t reject. So, I will buy it immediately.

The point is that when it comes to pricing, there is a melting point. You have to present the hand-registered names at a price that becomes hard to reject in the eye of end-users. You must find the balance between profit and expedited sales. In my opinion, for the two examples I gave (MiamiGoldBuyer.com and PhoenixDoors.com), the balanced and appropriate price tag is $250-$500.

Again, this is if you really want sales to happen. If you plan to sit on the names and ask for $1500, that is fine. But I doubt you will sell them before renewing them for a few years. And, most certainly, they will never sell. So the question is $400 now or $1500 never.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Great advice InfoSec. Thanks.
 
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Question and opinion?!? Does state code + keyword work as well as city/town/state + keyword? example - CaliforniaPlumbers.com over CAPlumbers.com (both names registered/taken)
 
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This is how I price my hand-registered domain names

Some people ask how I manage to sell so many hand-registered domain names. Before I answer that question, it would be convenient to answer this one: How many hand-registered names do I sell per every ten names I register? Generally, I sell between three and four names out of ten within the first two weeks of registration, but result vary depending on the month and hours dedicated to end-user search. So, if I buy ten names, about three of those will sell within two weeks. Some may sell later. Some others will never sell.

Everything considered, the business is consistently profitable, because hand-registration is not that expensive. The two key factors are registering the right names and pricing them correctly. As my sales report indicate, I focus on low value geo names or names that refer to a specific product or service within a given city, state or region. After doing this for some time, I have now a clear idea of which keywords sell quickly and which don’t, as well as which cities might mean hot sales.

My focus on this post is not keywords, but pricing. This is a pattern I have seen often enough in domain investors who attempt to sell hand-registered names. A domain investor registers a few decent names (ex. MiamiGoldBuyer.com, PhoenixDoors.com, etc.) and then contacts potential buyers attempting to sell each name for $1,500. He receives either a negative response or no response at all and then the domain investor arrives at the conclusion that this doesn’t work.

Have in mind that in my perspective the two names listed above are decent in the sense that you can easily flip them for a few hundred dollars. Forget keyword search, forget age, and forget CPC. Those rules do not apply to this particular game. The fact is that both MiamiGoldBuyer.com and PhoenixDoors.com have a list of small business owners who would like to own them. That is all that matters.

But, going back to prices. The key to flipping hand-registered geo names quickly is to price them in a way that it would be hard for end-users to reject. In other words, to speak the language of small business owners when it comes to pricing. Let me illustrate it this way. Now that I am also into numeric names, if you try to sell 76888.com to me for $5000, there is no way I could buy that name from you. However, if you ask for $100, that is an offer I can’t reject. So, I will buy it immediately.

The point is that when it comes to pricing, there is a melting point. You have to present the hand-registered names at a price that becomes hard to reject in the eye of end-users. You must find the balance between profit and expedited sales. In my opinion, for the two examples I gave (MiamiGoldBuyer.com and PhoenixDoors.com), the balanced and appropriate price tag is $250-$500.

Again, this is if you really want sales to happen. If you plan to sit on the names and ask for $1500, that is fine. But I doubt you will sell them before renewing them for a few years. And, most certainly, they will never sell. So the question is $400 now or $1500 never.


Hi all,
I am new in this business. First of all I would like to thank infosec3 for this informative post. I like domains that are creative and can be used as names for big time companies. I feel that I can sell them for $1000+ easily. These are the domains I currently own:
naxev.com
onaxt.com
naxevo.com
naxeva.com

I need to get an idea of how much would you be willing to pay for domains like that? And I also need to know whether resellers ever buy domains for a huge price?
 
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you're into the realms of brandable names with those - they can sell for big money especially if you can get them on Brandbucket or Namerific. it can be a bit of pot luck though as it does just depend on someone finding and taking a shine to that exact name. but you could say that about all domaining............
 
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Thanks for your input paul79, Can you tell me how can I get someone to find my domains other than auctions because I have noticed on many auctions that even the most awesome domains are not 'bid' on.
 
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for brandable names i would go to a specialist site like brandbucket or namerific as they are your best bet. for all other names you would be looking at doing outbound marketing to end users (i.e businesses who might want to buy it but not other domainers) to make a sale in addition to listing it. you can also list for sale on here too but bear in mind you will get reseller prices. you might also want to look into parking the names up with a company like bodis & have an enquiry form set up there when someone lands on it
 
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What registrar should we use to sell geo domains to end users right after registration? GoDaddy?
 
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Overall an interesting and valuable insight into your name pricing process, well done!

An excellent guideline for getting a reasonable ROI and moving on to the next sale!
 
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I've been doing this for quite a while and my ratio is about 1 out of 10 geo's sell. I'm asking for around $250 - $500 too. I also end up creating a nice looking landing page for each geo domain I try to sell and email them from myname@namei'mtryingtosell.com. I end up emailing about 50+ potential buyers per domain.

I'm at the point where I'm thinking of stopping because it takes me from 3 - 6 hours per domain to prep, find buyers and email them all.

$9 x 10 domains = $90 invested
Sell at $300
Emailed: ~50 buyers each domain
Sold: 1 domain
Profit: $210
Time took: 40 - 60 hours
Hourly Wage = $3 - $5. lol

At least it's economic. People from emerging economies would love to make $3-5 hour.

The most time you spend goes to prepping the website as I understand. What if you just search for potential buyers and reg more domains instead of making landing pages?

I guess I'll dedicate some time and money to this geodomaining and see how it goes...
 
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I've been doing this for quite a while and my ratio is about 1 out of 10 geo's sell. I'm asking for around $250 - $500 too. I also end up creating a nice looking landing page for each geo domain I try to sell and email them from myname@namei'mtryingtosell.com. I end up emailing about 50+ potential buyers per domain.

I'm at the point where I'm thinking of stopping because it takes me from 3 - 6 hours per domain to prep, find buyers and email them all.

$9 x 10 domains = $90 invested
Sell at $300
Emailed: ~50 buyers each domain
Sold: 1 domain
Profit: $210
Time took: 40 - 60 hours
Hourly Wage = $3 - $5. lol

How can it possibly take you 3-6 hours to research/market each domain? 60 hours for 10 domains?!

You are either wasting alot of valuable time doing something you shouldn't or you are very slow.

It should take you maximum 30mins to market each domain (2 leads/emails/minute, max. 60 individual, targeted leads via Google).
It takes me 3.5 hours to market 10 domains (around 20mins/domain) - although I have been doing this for a while. Your time is your most valuable resource - you need to streamline your process better.
 
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I think it really depends on the names. A good brandable will have demand and is worth $1,500 at least, since a startup will want a name for their journey.

Perhaps the more specific you are with these names the easier to sell at $400? I do not really have experience with keyword \ emd domains.

My new method is simply, if I think I cannot sell it for at least $1,000 then I won't bother regging it.

For example, a few of my recent regs are Q/u/a/d/r/o/n/a and IOT/Deck. For me these have a powerful presence for the right startup. I think it is more being confident in what you have, and if you have any doubts then probably best to not reg it.

Believe me, I have regged real rubbish when I started out, but I read everyday, things like branding books, word crafting, phonetics etc. It is a huge field that I think for me is more important than learning just 'domaining' due to my product offering.
 
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@Federer
I saw you used LakeCharlesAttorneys.com as an example of domains you sell. Do you often target cities of that size? Thanks.
 
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in end user sales I really can't find a relation between price and salesfrequency

you will sell
as soon as a buyer comes along
who wants the domain

and then its a question of how well you negotiate

setting a price tag of
1500 or 500
doen't change buyers either wanting it cheaper
or not at all
 
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in end user sales I really can't find a relation between price and salesfrequency

you will sell
as soon as a buyer comes along
who wants the domain

and then its a question of how well you negotiate

setting a price tag of
1500 or 500
doen't change buyers either wanting it cheaper
or not at all

My experience indicates otherwise. The point is that there is a huge market for domains priced under $500, because there is a huge number of end users who would feel comfortable paying that and most domain investors don't want to sell their names under $500.

So if you manage your pricing well, you take advantage of that need, which is what I have been doing very successfully so far.
 
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LakeCharlesAttorneys.com was just an example - I don't target specific cities/regions.

Speaking from experience, generally (although not in all cases), you can set higher prices for keyword domains (GEO and non-GEO) that have higher CPC - or that are related to services or products that cost more.

A recent example (last week): I sent out 50 targeted, individual emails (with a $750 asking price) to some insurance companies that offer equine mortality insurance. The domain: EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain was sold/paid for within 48 hours.

If you are targeting the right type of domains (GEOs / products / services), you should be selling at least 1 in every 5 domains you are marketing.

Here is the template I have crafted and perfected over the years - it is simple and to-the-point:

----

Hello,

As you deal with equine mortality insurance, you may be interested in the following domain name that recently became available and is now for sale:

EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain is available for $750. If your company would be interested in this acquisition, please let us know as we are reaching out to a number of businesses within the industry.

Best regards,
Luc Biggs

Acquisition & Sales of Key Domains
Rua Address Door Number | Post-Code City | Country
Direct: (00351) 212 121 212 | Cell: (00351) 919 125 075

- Domain history (if any) can be viewed here:
web.archive.org/web/*/EquineMortalityInsurance.com
- Registration information:
whois.domaintools.com/EquineMortalityInsurance.com

This is a one-time advertisement that is being sent to your company just once; please reply
« stop » if you no longer wish to receive domain branding offers in the future.

----
 
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LakeCharlesAttorneys.com was just an example - I don't target specific cities/regions.

Speaking from experience, generally (although not in all cases), you can set higher prices for keyword domains (GEO and non-GEO) that have higher CPC - or that are related to services or products that cost more.

A recent example (last week): I sent out 50 targeted, individual emails (with a $750 asking price) to some insurance companies that offer equine mortality insurance. The domain: EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain was sold/paid for within 48 hours.

If you are targeting the right type of domains (GEOs / products / services), you should be selling at least 1 in every 5 domains you are marketing.

Here is the template I have crafted and perfected over the years - it is simple and to-the-point:

----

Hello,

As you deal with equine mortality insurance, you may be interested in the following domain name that recently became available and is now for sale:

EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain is available for $750. If your company would be interested in this acquisition, please let us know as we are reaching out to a number of businesses within the industry.

Best regards,
Luc Biggs

Acquisition & Sales of Key Domains
Rua Address Door Number | Post-Code City | Country
Direct: (00351) 212 121 212 | Cell: (00351) 919 125 075

- Domain history (if any) can be viewed here:
web.archive.org/web/*/EquineMortalityInsurance.com
- Registration information:
whois.domaintools.com/EquineMortalityInsurance.com

This is a one-time advertisement that is being sent to your company just once; please reply
« stop » if you no longer wish to receive domain branding offers in the future.

----
How did you find the endusers to email?
 
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Google.com/Bing.com - under the domain's exact keywords (usually in speech marks).
 
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LakeCharlesAttorneys.com was just an example - I don't target specific cities/regions.

Speaking from experience, generally (although not in all cases), you can set higher prices for keyword domains (GEO and non-GEO) that have higher CPC - or that are related to services or products that cost more.

A recent example (last week): I sent out 50 targeted, individual emails (with a $750 asking price) to some insurance companies that offer equine mortality insurance. The domain: EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain was sold/paid for within 48 hours.

If you are targeting the right type of domains (GEOs / products / services), you should be selling at least 1 in every 5 domains you are marketing.

Here is the template I have crafted and perfected over the years - it is simple and to-the-point:

----

Hello,

As you deal with equine mortality insurance, you may be interested in the following domain name that recently became available and is now for sale:

EquineMortalityInsurance.com

The domain is available for $750. If your company would be interested in this acquisition, please let us know as we are reaching out to a number of businesses within the industry.

Best regards,
Luc Biggs

Acquisition & Sales of Key Domains
Rua Address Door Number | Post-Code City | Country
Direct: (00351) 212 121 212 | Cell: (00351) 919 125 075

- Domain history (if any) can be viewed here:
web.archive.org/web/*/EquineMortalityInsurance.com
- Registration information:
whois.domaintools.com/EquineMortalityInsurance.com

This is a one-time advertisement that is being sent to your company just once; please reply
« stop » if you no longer wish to receive domain branding offers in the future.

----

How did you find this domain? EquineMortalityInsurance
 
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The domain recently dropped. There are many websites that monitor expired/dropped domains (dropping.com/expireddomains.net/freshdrop etc).
 
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Can you share with us your expiredomains filters? :)
 
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I cannot share my exact business model/filters, however I primarily focus on product/service/GEO based keywords.

There are plenty of opportunities to make money with keyword/brandcentric domains.

Hey I own that domain, Brandcentric.com ;)
 
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realtor is trademark
with high conflict potential

Yeah, I reg'd AugustaRealtor.com a while back. Sent two or three emails out to potential leads, and within a week received a cease and desist letter. So I deleted the domain. :)
 
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How can it possibly take you 3-6 hours to research/market each domain? 60 hours for 10 domains?!

You are either wasting alot of valuable time doing something you shouldn't or you are very slow.

It should take you maximum 30mins to market each domain (2 leads/emails/minute, max. 60 individual, targeted leads via Google).
It takes me 3.5 hours to market 10 domains (around 20mins/domain) - although I have been doing this for a while. Your time is your most valuable resource - you need to streamline your process better.
Federer in generating each end-users email,do you use the email on their website; if their email is info@enduserdomain, will you consider it or you dig more for the decision maker email.
 
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How can it possibly take you 3-6 hours to research/market each domain? 60 hours for 10 domains?!

You are either wasting alot of valuable time doing something you shouldn't or you are very slow.

It should take you maximum 30mins to market each domain (2 leads/emails/minute, max. 60 individual, targeted leads via Google).
It takes me 3.5 hours to market 10 domains (around 20mins/domain) - although I have been doing this for a while. Your time is your most valuable resource - you need to streamline your process better.
I don't know how could you do so fast..
i do a really exhaustive research of only quality enduser or domain investor but i'm more close the cdnbigd timing then yours.
I fill a spreadsheet with the potential customers and also take note of everything in my CRM software.
I also follow a template for writing mails but I craft customized ones for each prospect.

would be happy to know how could you need just 3 hours to find 500 prospects and send 500 emails to them. (from starting point that you find 50 prospects for each domain as you said you need 3.5h for market 10 domain names)
 
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