To Give Up or Not to Give Up...

[armengrecotech]

Hi all...

Maybe it's just that I need some encouragement...

I'm new to the market. I've learned so much about the domain business.
I have all my valuable resources all in my bookmarks...
However, it feels like I just can't get things started.
I've bought 3 domains... all worthless and won't sell...
I've backordered domains that can make a hell of a profit... but I've gotten outbid constantly or the price of the domain goes sky high to the point that I can't afford it, and that it is getting outbid of it's profit potential...

I guess my question is kind of... how did you start out?
Do I need a lot of cash just to get myself going?

I feel like I'm on the verge of giving up, but I know that's not going to get me anywhere.

 

[DubDubDubDot]

I've bought 3 domains... all worthless and won't sell...

I'm sure the problem is that you have seen sales figures and are under the impression that domains of similar quality will sell for a similar price. Everyone talks about how something sold for $5,000, but the hundreds of similar domains that sold for $1 - $20 are ignored and certainly do not appear on the sales reporting sites.

It's luck.

The typical portfolio has only a very small percentage of domains that get good offers. It is those domains that make up for all of the crappy sales. Three domains doesn't leave you with much of a chance to get such offers.

Obviously there are exceptions to this. If someone pays big money for premium domains, then you'd expect them to sell for big money. And if someone is a great salesman they will move more fresh reg domains than someone who just dumps everything onto Sedo.

 

[Jaco]

Save up your money and spend $500 or $1000 on your first domain, rather than $8 X 100, or whatever.
In addition to keeping your annual outlay trivially small and easy to manage, you will own a name that's meaningful and worth more than 100 garbage names, combined (as well as owning a name so liquid, you'll have to carry it in a bucket)

Your goal to start off with should be to own 2 or 3 meaningful names. Unfortunately- given a decade of keyword mining and a sophisticated drop catching process- you aren't going to be plucking these names out of the available namespace anymore, save for a few odd circumstances, so just forget about the fact that some people got lucky and bought great names for registry fee years ago. That opportunity isn't available to you, to start off with.... The opportunity that *IS* available to you right now is buying drastically undervalued names on the aftermarket and developing them into earning platforms, or betting on end-user sales .

 

[fastadam]

Read the above post by Dongsman. It's a great post.

Take the advice presented within it to heart for he's hit the nail on the proverbial head.

The market is showing signs of real health, quality domains are available at reseller prices, and having a few good ones, developed, is a much better game at this point than having a bazillion. Unless you have a full time staff, in which case... you decide.

Not only does the high cost of large portfolio maintenance eat into the profits of the domains you do sell, (and the cost of renewal/registration could be going up) but it's an organizational nightmare as well. Get ready to love spreadsheets if you don't already...

Because you may need to flip a few cheaper ones before you can afford the kind of domains Dongsman so rightly recommends, I'll give you a heads up on one source for quality, affordable names : The $5 Buy It Now Bin at GoDaddy Auctions.

You have to spend quite a bit of time working your way through the list, and move quickly with purchase decicsions while still using discretion in what you select, but here's a solid hint -- My best ROI on these names (avg above 2000% ROI) is from names that had fairly low traffic... gems that slipped through the cracks because they didn't seem "statistically significant".

Good Luck!

 

[netfleet]

Keep away from .com would be my best advice. Good luck!

 

[coltter]

you should be creative and sensitive to register domains,
since almost all value domains have been registered already.
Someone register 500/1000 domain on their portfolios but can only sell one/two monthly,
remember you should pay the register fee every year for those "non-sell" domains, how painful!
so i would suggest you to give up the market but not get involve more deeper.

 

[snoop]

Start out with something of definate value, like a three letter name. Don't expect quick results. Most domainers are hobbyists and that is often after years in the market.

Lastly don't rely on advice from anybody else if you really want to make it beyond "doing it for fun", nobody is going to give you a roadmap...well they might, but it probably won't be a very good one, you may have to write your own.

 

[IMEZI]

guess you start from on the wrong spot. dont try playing on the expensive market. try to play at cheap market first to sharpen your business intuition.

 

[has2hands]

The opportunity that *IS* available to you right now is buying drastically undervalued names on the aftermarket and developing them into earning platforms, or betting on end-user sales .

listen to above advice.

spend some money on good product name...something people can buy online...make sure the product isn't worth a $1...something that sells at a nice price so you can get a nice profit per sale.....domains are falling from the sky at great prices, it is unbelievable....spend some money on one or two.

stay away from possible branding domains..get a product that folks want. a domain that can be passed down to your grandkids.

I think most domainers go thru the cycle you are going thru...well, i know i have.

good luck.

paul

 

[MicroGuy]

The opportunity that *IS* available to you right now is buying drastically undervalued names on the aftermarket and developing them into earning platforms, or betting on end-user sales.

Take heed in this advice.

Almost every single person posting domains in the appraisal section has completely ignored it. IMO.

 

[armengrecotech]

Thank you for all of the advice guys. It is really uplifting!

I really want to pursue what I dream to do, because I think the domain market is purely very unique and interesting.
I will definitely take the advice you all have provided.

I thank you all very much for boosting a little more confidence into my system.

 

[mikesfreedom]

Don't ever give up.

 

[twomoon]

Don't register names, buy them on aftermarket (I think the best place to start is TDNAM). You can buy cheap and sometimes really good domains there. Use special tools to find them (for example freshdrop). Than try to sell your names to endusers.

 

[dotker]

Well i think this is not really a "domainer" advice but still is a win win situation for everyone, invest in development.. buy something you can develop and develop it rather than selling those names.

 

[intheflow]

Fail.

The best teacher (Tai Chi Master) that I've been fortunate enough to have known, used to always repeat a quote from the classics:

"Invest in loss"

The greatest fighters, the ones who cannot be fooled or beat are the ones who have already failed in every possible scenario. They have already invested in loss and learned from the experience 1000's of times before.

Same is true for domaining, and for that matter just about anything in life. Failing is not such a bad thing if we learn from it, in fact, it can be seen as an investment. Don't be afraid to fail, and never judge yourself or your goals based on single separate failures.

One or two wins in this business can 'even out' quite a few fails, so you are essentially getting a free education. Take note of the domains you are buying now, then compare that with what you are buying in a few years and you will see the real value of 'investing in loss'. We learn best from experience, not from reading or theorizing. The most successful domainers are not likely to be the ones who never fail, but rather the ones who have failed the most times.

Don't be afraid to let domains drop or sell for a loss.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

 

[MeanerDomainer]

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

He said he's broke. Finding 10,000 ways to fail with domains costs $80,000.00, more or less... :P

As already said, being broke in the beginning can be VERY good. I wish that I had been broke and unble to register some of the crap I registered...

 

[mikesfreedom]

He said he's broke. Finding 10,000 ways to fail with domains costs $80,000.00, more or less... :P

As already said, being broke in the beginning can be VERY good. I wish that I had been broke and unble to register some of the crap I registered...

:lol:

 

[Kate]

First of all, despair not. It's never too late.
Good advice in this thread, quality is always better than quantity. That's one of the goldren rules. I would also say, avoid inferior extensions and do not pick domains that you are not prepared to renew or develop.

Look at the aftermarket, I know there is competition but not on all domains. You need to be selective.
And don't forget, patience
Be consistent in your efforts and do not expect overnight success.

 

[Archangel]

Case in point: This half-a-million-dollar comparable that sold on an open market for $28/1 bid:

Domain name auction for laon.me on Bido.com - Social Auction Platform.

I've read through this thread and I must agree with everything my eyes traced. But maybe saving up $500-1k for your first golden domain isn't possible for you. My suggestion: Play small-ball... at first. It takes awhile but if you learn this game a bit more, you'll turn $10 into $20, then $20 to $50, $50 to $100 etc. It's true that the more cash you have, the better domains you can get. But that in no way means you can't get a great domain with little investment. Baseball games can be won with home runs and bunt singles, alike.

I'm sure the problem is that you have seen sales figures and are under the impression that domains of similar quality will sell for a similar price. Everyone talks about how something sold for $5,000, but the hundreds of similar domains that sold for $1 - $20 are ignored and certainly do not appear on the sales reporting sites.

 

[labrocca]

I'll be the devils advocate here since you're getting so much encouraging advice.

Give up.

If you have 3 names and can't afford better then you have no choice. If these 3 names are the ones in your sig then even more so...give up. Domaining isn't for everyone. If you have been here 3 months and you still haven't caught on to some obvious advice (quality over quantity) then you're in trouble. Have you considered development? You only need one developed website to be a winner.

Also here is something most won't tell you. Getting a job will PAY YOU MORE. Yeah you can sit at home on your butt waiting for an offer. Or you can get a job and collect a check every week. Even minimum wage (15k) is probably better pay than what most domainers make a year. A part time job at McDonalds will teach you more than domaining.

Really domaining is a specialized skill one that requires salesmanship, marketing, appraisal savvy, and patience. It's worse than being a used car salesman.

Dongsman gave you great advice but are you able to follow it? Can you really acquire names at the minimum $250-$500 level? If not...then maybe it's time you moved on. Start a blog or something.