Weapons, Ammunition, Guns Domain Names?

[JamesCrew]

Hi all,

Hope I am posting it in the right section here.

Couple of days ago I thought of a great domain name and I was near to purchasing it using Godaddy's $2 coupon code but I never finished the checkout process as this question came right inside my head:

Are guns, ammunition, weapons related domains good to invest in terns of:

1. finding potential buyers---easily
2. buying power of the industry
3. how big the industry is?
4. do these business prefer 'domains' as an asset or don't care at all?

Would appreciate if someone here who has experience in selling such domains could share their thoughts.

Cheers,

 

[Kate]

For all those that were thinking they might like to try this niche and create a gun store to earn a few bucks, a Federal Firearms License (FFL) is required to sell any firearms here in the US. And along with this licensing comes a **** ton of regulatory requirements.

Operating a store is not the only way to make money. You could still create a classifieds site like gunbroker. It's like real estate, I don't think you need licenses to run a classifieds website because you are not selling homes, just providing publishing/advertising services.

 

[cdboard]

I sold two closely related "gun" names last year, about three months apart. I expected the first buyer to buy the second name, but it turned out to be someone else.

there are lots of gun forums on the internet, but the biggest ones have been online for over ten years. there are not many gun niches without a forum.

I've never seen a decent independent online gun store. Could somebody provide a link?

large auction site >>> gunbroker.com

http://www.gandermountain.com/guns/

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/index.php

 

[TestCase]

Operating a store is not the only way to make money. You could still create a classifieds site like gunbroker. It's like real estate, I don't think you need licenses to run a classifieds website because you are not selling homes, just providing publishing/advertising services.

I sure hope no one walks away thinking my post was meant to suggest that the only way to make money in this niche was by actually selling guns yourself. I just wanted to point out that the actual retailing of guns isn't as simple or straight forward as selling t-shirts or coffee mugs.

By the way, it's sounding like a range outing might be in order at the next NP convention... LOL

 

[JamesCrew]

@cdboard thanks for your input mate.

For how much did you sold your gun related domains? And did you contacted the buyer or they reached you?

Cheers,

 

[JamesCrew]

I was going to post a few examples of "decent" online gun stores but wasn't sure how PC (politically correct) NP is and I didn't want to risk upsetting Matt or any of the Mod's. I hope Matt or a Mod might chime in here and opine as to whether listing the sites - or even just the company names - is acceptable as there obviously seems to be some interest in this niche.

For all those that were thinking they might like to try this niche and create a gun store to earn a few bucks, a Federal Firearms License (FFL) is required to sell any firearms here in the US. And along with this licensing comes a **** ton of regulatory requirements.

My two cents, If you are thinking of "investing" in some gun/firearm related domains for resale, DON'T. Most gun store operators are small independent operators and will not understand the 4 or 5 digit price you are asking for the hot/perfect domain you are trying to sell them. (They probably wouldn't even understand a mid $XX price.)

Now if you are thinking about buying some domains for development then go for it! Gun owners are a loyal and enthusiastic bunch who are always looking for interesting on-topic sites.

Many thanks for such a detailed reply dude, really appreciate it.

But how about if I have a much 'broader' domain name covering not only guns but more also the "ammunition" category? Would that be the same case or does it have any charm in it?

 

[cdboard]

For how much did you sold your gun related domains? And did you contacted the buyer or they reached you?

sold them on godaddy auction site.

1000 for the first one. three months later I received/accepted a 1250 offer on the second one. I considered the names a good "matched set", so I was surprised when I did a lookup later, to see two different owners.

fwiw, I bought both on godaddy's expired auctions, a few months apart.

 

[TestCase]

Many thanks for such a detailed reply dude, really appreciate it.

But how about if I have a much 'broader' domain name covering not only guns but more also the "ammunition" category? Would that be the same case or does it have any charm in it?

You're welcome.

Though guns/ammo are a huge "niche" here in the states (don't know where you are located), I'd say that most top tier domains are already taken, just like in any mature niche. As to what whether or not your domain has any "charm", wellllllll I'm just going to defer to my standard response, "Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder."

I'm pretty sure you don't need an FFL to sell ammunition here in the states unless you are actually manufacturing it as well, so if you want to get in to the ammo business and develop your domain in that fashion, I say go for it if you truly have the drive, money and interest to do so! Now if you are thinking of making "the big bucks" reselling it to an end user, it will be up to you to find an end user that shares your enthusiasm for the domain.

Once again I'll suggest that selling it will be very tough unless you have a category killer domain such as SmartGuns.com or ModularGun.com, (both that have been mentioned here on NP) or a very "targeted" (pun not intended, but....) generic domain such as AR15.com, GunsandAmmo.com, etc.

I did a quick search of a handful of top tier guns/ammo domains and everyone was taken, many were registered 10-20 years ago . I also found that a good number of them are parked -- ex. 30-06.com, 22Rifle(s).com, Shotgun(s).com, and others. To me all that parking would indicate that either the dn owners were making plenty of cash having them parked, or that there is a disconnect between a seller's price expectations and those of the any potential end user(s) that might be interested in acquiring them. (I was very surprised that none of the major gun manufacturers owned most of the domains I mentioned above.)

Two side notes:

1) Since NP has allowed the discussion of gun names in the past as mentioned above, here are a couple of "decent" online gun store sites:
MidwayUSA.com (gun parts & accessories)
Brownells.com (gun parts & accessories)
LaRueTactical.com (guns, parts, & accessories)
GalleryofGuns.com (guns, parts, & accessories)

2) I'd be VERY interested in finding out what cdboard's domains were (hint, hint...).

 

[Hypersot]

For all the ammo domain lovers out there:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/29/us/us-military-self-guided-bullet/

smartbullet is already registered apparently

 

[disaac81]

MilitaryPrinting
com

For 3d weapons printing possibly, do not have anything else in this nche

 

[verbster]

For all the ammo domain lovers out there:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/29/us/us-military-self-guided-bullet/

smartbullet is already registered apparently

I owned smartammunition.com and several other what I thought were pretty good gun, ammo, bullet, gun registration and hunting (huntingretreat.com, huntzilla.com), but have let most of them drop because of no interest.

I also have a igunforum.com that gets around 1000 uniques per month, but very few posts.

 

[Hypersot]

I owned smartammunition.com and several other what I thought were pretty good gun, ammo, bullet, gun registration and hunting (huntingretreat.com, huntzilla.com), but have let most of them drop because of no interest.

I also have a igunforum.com that gets around 1000 uniques per month, but very few posts.

Someone got to them it seems

tbh, I think that kind of equipment will be exclusive to the military and it's going to take a long time (if ever) to be available to get from other sources.
...but, what do I know, in my country owning a weapon is strictly illegal. Don't really know how the weapon domains/shops work in the states.

 

[JamesCrew]

I owned smartammunition.com and several other what I thought were pretty good gun, ammo, bullet, gun registration and hunting (huntingretreat.com, huntzilla.com), but have let most of them drop because of no interest.

I also have a igunforum.com that gets around 1000 uniques per month, but very few posts.

Mate, don't tell me you were not successful in selling smartammunition??? Come on man, this name looks fantasticooo.

PS: I have to admit that I never bought the domain for which I started this thread about, just because I am still not convinced that when it comes to domain names, there isn't a fair demand (low to medium) in this industry; yet. Let's wait and watch...

 

[verbster]

Mate, don't tell me you were not successful in selling smartammunition??? Come on man, this name looks fantasticooo.

Yeah, I thought it was an okay domain, but I also wondered why it wasn't registered. Maybe someone who was a little more active at pushing domains may have done better with it.

 

[cdboard]

almost forgot......

back in 2010-2011, some companies were buying existing forums to create "forum networks". a network might have sports forums, automotive forums, animal/pet forums, or a mix.

some included firearm topics. I sold a few gun domains to a guy building up a forum network business, and he started forums on those domains.

that was rare. most of the activity involved the purchase of existing forums.

I checked last year, and all his forums had been acquired by a larger network. hope he got a good price.

 

[JamesCrew]

almost forgot......

back in 2010-2011, some companies were buying existing forums to create "forum networks". a network might have sports forums, automotive forums, animal/pet forums, or a mix.

some included firearm topics. I sold a few gun domains to a guy building up a forum network business, and he started forums on those domains.

that was rare. most of the activity involved the purchase of existing forums.

I checked last year, and all his forums had been acquired by a larger network. hope he got a good price.

Gun forums? How would these big players expect to get ROI from forums? Ads? Or from their own product offers? Any idea?

 

[cdboard]

mostly ads. they benefited by offering lots of pageviews and several different topics for the advertisers to choose from.


in the acquired automotive forums, the increase in ads on the forums (post-acquisition) was a common complaint.

 

[TheFifty9Sound]

There is good money in being able to serve targeted marketing to an appropriate cultivated audience.

 

[Vinod R]

I have 177pellets (dot) com with me I tried contacting some end users but there was no response. Its a keyword domain and its a type of pellet that is widely used in air rifles. Since I dont have an idea about the gun culture in America, I find it some what hard to market it. So I have decided to wait for offers. This is the only gun/weapon related name I have.

 

[JamesCrew]

I have 177pellets (dot) com with me I tried contacting some end users but there was no response. Its a keyword domain and its a type of pellet that is widely used in air rifles. Since I dont have an idea about the gun culture in America, I find it some what hard to market it. So I have decided to wait for offers. This is the only gun/weapon related name I have.

My thoughts exactly. Not to mention I am new to domaining so I would do my best to buy domains that I can sell (sooner or later) with a good market demand.

Another thing confusing me in this industry is the maturity level of the gun sellers online. Not sure how much they value Internet presence and domain names.

That is why I have put a hold not to buy the weapon domain I went crazy couple of weeks ago. But once I see couple of domains sales report in this niche, I will surely grab two or three instantly from my Buy Next list, hehehe.

 

[masbro]

I have WeaponShack.com