Time Vs Profit

[Badger]

So, net profit for me in the 5 or so years ive been doing this carry on is around the £30,000 ($55,000) mark.... Not bad (i hear you say)

but if, in that time, ive spent on average 2 hrs a day developing, discussing, buying, selling etc... That would equate to 5 x 365 x 2 hours i.e. 3650 hours.

So, as a job, that'd be worth £8.22 an hour ($13).... :bah:

I have to take into account the goodwill ive earnt in that time i guess i.e. the sites and domains i still hold but even so, its no goldrush....

Wondered what you guys have as an hourly 'domainers' rate...???

 

[jamminsport16]

Ive been in the domain business 3 weeks now.
Spend average 3 hours a day reading about all of this & looking up names
Sold 1 domain: $100

3 hrs X 21 (3 weeks) = 63hrs/$100 = $.063 an hour! im so good =] lol
If you want to increase my hour rates please u can buy the following names:

b0rn.com
b4by.com
naked-girls.org
starwars.ws
y1r.com
p0o.com

=]

pm me if interested in names above

 

[peaudecastor]

You nailed a pretty good one though...

Ive been in the domain business 3 weeks now.
Spend average 3 hours a day reading about all of this & looking up names
Sold 1 domain: $100

3 hrs X 21 (3 weeks) = 63hrs/$100 = $.063 an hour! im so good =] lol
If you want to increase my hour rates please u can buy the following names:

b0rn.com
b4by.com
naked-girls.org
starwars.ws
y1r.com
p0o.com

=]

pm me if interested in names above

Seriously, I don't even know my rate.. I rarely sell domains(well unless you count my wwd website). I buy the best deal here and there and plans to do something with most of them someday.

I don't think there's much money to do anymore in this business... Like the goldrush, you need to come in at the right time. I did come just in time to buy a couple french domain with high potential Thats all I could ask for that domain game.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[earn100]

i agree with above poster TIMING is everything.
big cheesy greedy company like buydomains and ofcourse backordering company make more quick profit than us regular by getting good domain names quickly. its getting harder and harder to make good profit from domain business. and increasing extension like .info .md .jobs .travel is not helping domain business

 

[jamminsport16]

yup
well u should invest in: 3 character .com or .net
or: 4 number .com, .net or .org

=]
instead of buying actual names

 

[peaudecastor]

yup
well u should invest in: 3 character .com or .net
or: 4 number .com, .net or .org

=]
instead of buying actual names

Well, quality 3 char .com arent necessarly easy to get...

Basically, I'm hunting for quality domain name to develop in my next 40 years in the business.. That's all. I'm not looking to sell. Just trying to have a long term vision

 

[Zeeble]

Well, quality 3 char .com arent necessarly easy to get...

Basically, I'm hunting for quality domain name to develop in my next 40 years in the business.. That's all. I'm not looking to sell. Just trying to have a long term vision

Great idea. I have worked out that if I had spent the last year on one website, it could be making $1k per month by now... instead I wasted my time going from one thing to another. So thats what I doing now....

 

[jeter4982]

yup
well u should invest in: 3 character .com or .net
or: 4 number .com, .net or .org

=]
instead of buying actual names

That is certainly not the only quality domains, and I bet I could name a lot better domains that are words, then you could with just 3 character domains, or just numbers. Sure, those are generally good domains, but quality domains can basically be in any format IMHO.

As for the original post, I figured out a rough estimate, and at most I figured $1.50 per hour. However, you also have to consider that the domain market is a pretty unique market. For a lot of people domains are both a hobby and a source of income. I bet if you really thought about it, a lot of your time "researching" was spent inquring about things because of your curiousity, not to make money. The job/hobby is to interrelated, so for me at least, I can't really say how much time I actually was "working"

Tom

 

[Zeeble]

I agree with that. I have learnt more on the 'net than I have in school. I enjoy learning new things so to this point it has not just been about the money.

 

[nRnF]

Just for a quick estimate.

Overall (7 years)
Estimated hour rate 13$-16$$
(I don't spend much time on it)

If you break this down to years you would see really low rates in 1998 - 2000. The rates go up as my names from "last century NSI times" sold for decent amounts during 2003-2005.

But, the problem in DN buisiness is, that you rarely buy today and sell for big bucks tomorrow.
(The famous "domain goldrush" was and is a hype).
Basically you need to have money to invest, time to wait and a good feeling what might be required the next 3 years.
Making a good average profit on a domains is a long term buisiness.

IMO So using a hour rate is not very accurate, or at least it may lead to missunderstandings.
Better would be a set of indicators.
E.g. like
- Average profit per name in %
- Average ownership time per name
This gives you also a return indicator of your ability to find good names.

My golden rules:
- Overall Portfolio PPC ernings should cover overall reg fees. (But bear in mind, that the primary criteria is the name not the PPC, traffic, link pop, backlinks etc.)
- Avoid sales under 100$ (if you don't think that you can get a 100$ for a domain --> don't reg/buy it !)

PS:
IMO, Forget investing in 3 char (unless you have plenty of money to do so)
Intelligent investing in 4-5 char pronouncable & nice sounding .com/net for could give a average return of 100%-300% back in the next years.
--> Which stock got those margins ?!?!
As unregged good names are in general gone, nowadays you must start with expiring domain catches.
Unfortunately they turn recently into ordenary auction sites

... I have worked out that if I had spent the last year on one website, it could be making $1k per month by now... instead I wasted my time going from one thing to another. So thats what I doing now....

Zeeble --> YOU GOT IT

 

[adam_uk]

im in the wrong line of work . . .

 

[peaudecastor]

Intelligent investing in 4-5 char pronouncable & nice sounding .com/net for could give a average return of 100%-200% back in 2 years.
--> Which stock got those margins ?!?!

Google?

 

[jeter4982]

- Avoid sales under 100$ (if you don't think that you can get a 100$ for a domain --> don't reg/buy it !)

I don't know if I agree with this necessairly, although the rest of your post is very good. I think a lot of domainers who are not really in the PPC market, such as myself, rely on other things, such as smaller sales, to cover reg. cost. For example, IMO it is easier to buy an "ok" domain for $10 and sell it for $20 to cover the cost of a reg. , than try to earn through the PPC market. In my mind both methods work fine, and it is just a matter of personal preference of which route to go.

Tom

 

[DN Tycoon]

Personally I do it more because I love the vast knowledge and opportunities you have with the internet. Don't get me wrong the profits are great but the experience and fun I have takes the cake. Kinda like the thrill of the hunt, everyday I go online to develope sites, relationships, reg/buy/sell DN among other things...I will be the first to admit I am addicted to the game so time vs money isn't a factor for me although I do bring in an average persons salary from profits online in which I invest into the game, stocks and other lucrative venues. Just my thoughts

 

[.X.]

6 years,Ebay silver Powerseller.If they will stop putting idiot stuff on there,Maybe another few years with them,Sell spun glass figurines and vegatable decanters,Webmaster 3 years, Currently own,1 B2C site which cross promotes with ebay-1 form affiliate site.1 Expired DN site-4 other developed sites sold.Working on a 50 DN portfolio,Have 26 DNs so far,Leaning on the expierenced domainers here at NPs for knowledge,Learning slowly and enjoying it.Currently working on a new development site.Avg time spent per day working the above 12hrs +,It's no picnic/+Beta software tester for security software,Can't say the company though.

 

[SharonTucci]

Going after quality names and/or focusing on monetizing domains is the way to boost your revenue. There are so many REALLY good domains that drop that you don't even need to compete... just be more careful with selecting domains. It doesn't cost any more out of pocket to get a good domain rather than a bad one. I've had a dozen sales in the $XX,XXX range without EVER having what most domainers would consider a premium domain. They just happened to be names that companies/individuals really wanted.

You also have to look at what you are doing to monetize. I have some domain names that I get low to mid $XXX offers on a regular basis but I make more on those domains just by parking them than I would by selling.

I guess I have a little advantage on the time-return issue on domains themselves because of publishing Nightly Name Dump. I just scan our daily lists like our subscribers do and see what domains catch my eye. Pick up 5-10 a week, sell 1-3 a week, let 2-3 a week drop that aren't selling or able to cover registration fees. Develop a few mini-sites a week and one larger site a month... park the rest.

 

[Badger]

Pick up 5-10 a week, sell 1-3 a week, let 2-3 a week drop that aren't selling or able to cover registration fees. Develop a few mini-sites a week and one larger site a month... park the rest.

jeez, hardcore domaining....

 

[Zeeble]

true, but from that amount of work he should be earning a good living.