I'm not pro but I figured out many of members are wasting their money and time.
Selling .com domain for 5 or 10 USD is not a reliable business. That's why I wont engage much in domaining.
Perhaps, I'm wrong. Idk.
The important keyword you used there is the word "
reliable".
A business that is "reliable", has some kind of "
consistent" or "
sustainable" income.
Also remember that domains are inherently a "liability". Because sitting on its own, a domain will bleed you 9 bucks a pop every year doing nothing (that's $35 for a
.BEER domain you were speculating on).
So if you do the math, say you purchased a domain for $1 one dollar, flip it for 10 bucks for a 900% return, remember that you will pay 9 bucks renewal cost if you can't sell it in a year's time. So in practical terms, your 900% return goes back to zero in 1 year. Can't sell it for 2 years? Your ROI swings to negative. In order for you to recover your losses, you have no choice but to increase your asking price. It's an arithmetic progression.
That equation i mentioned also did not include the cost of your TIME and EFFORT in doing mass emails or solicitations, or how difficult it is to rummage through the thousands of dropping names, not to mention your frustration every time a machine beats you to the dropping name you were eyeing on.
TIME, EFFORT, and FRUSTRATION to some humans, are expensive and could cost you more than 9 bucks. Something you don't realize.
And if you want to maximize your anguish, you sold your domain at eBay for a cheap price, only to be scammed by a chargeback. You would wonder whether all this is even practical business.
In my view, the best balance to survive is to keep a day job, or maintain a project that is earning consistent profits. You then use money from these "
more reliable" income sources, to pay for the costs of your Domaining adventures. That way, you can treat your domaining losses as just an expense, and you will not be under pressure to sell your domains before the next renewal time comes along.
And the biggest thing going for Domainers, is the fact that domain pricing is very arbitrary, and not regulated by any government agency or industry-regulating body. That simply means you can recover your entire costs, blood, sweat, and tears over the years,...... via your asking price, which is whatever you want it to be, as long as you can negotiate it.