What is your estimated hit and miss rate for reg/selling?

[Blieve]

Hi everyone this is my first thread here. I've been "messing" with websites for several years now but just started to take interest in domain speculation. Id like to get a good idea from the pros and semi pros or even the hobbyists of their success/or not when it comes to selling domains.

Lets say you register 100 DNs.

1. How many of those do you develop?
2. How many sell within the first year? Within 5 years?

 

[Name Trader]

1. 0.1%
2. 0.1%,0.5%

It's hard out there.

 

[fm1234]

lol@stub. The Last Honest Domainer.

@OP: Don't register 100 domains. Register one. Run through whatever your plan is for domain names on one domain in your spare time. See if your plan actually has any merit to it once it's put into action. Because of the very low cost barrier, it's easy to overload on domains, and incredibly easy to make up stories in your head about how grabbing two or three variants of that "killer" name isn't really a waste/risk of money since the killer is such a killer.

I honestly think anyone who is registering more than 20-30 domains a month is simply not doing any research on the names. If you're doing it right, the time spent deciding to get or not get a given domain makes the ~$9 trivial and incidental -- meaning, it is impossible to add and add and add names based on the low cost. The difference in quality in my own portfolio moving forward, as this mentality formed in me gradually, is very evident when I filter by reg date.



Frank

 

[ddesigns]

lol@stub. The Last Honest Domainer.

@OP: Don't register 100 domains. Register one. Run through whatever your plan is for domain names on one domain in your spare time. See if your plan actually has any merit to it once it's put into action. Because of the very low cost barrier, it's easy to overload on domains, and incredibly easy to make up stories in your head about how grabbing two or three variants of that "killer" name isn't really a waste/risk of money since the killer is such a killer.

I honestly think anyone who is registering more than 20-30 domains a month is simply not doing any research on the names. If you're doing it right, the time spent deciding to get or not get a given domain makes the ~$9 trivial and incidental -- meaning, it is impossible to add and add and add names based on the low cost. The difference in quality in my own portfolio moving forward, as this mentality formed in me gradually, is very evident when I filter by reg date.



Frank

Very good explanation frank, Blieve do follow this advice and one day you will surely report a "big Sale" in NPs sales thread.

Good explanation once again..

:wave:

 

[HC82]

0%
0%, 0%

I never register domains to resell them, that is near impossible to do unless you want to research and find end users all day everyday - and hope to get lucky. 99.9% of the good names are already taken - and if you are a noob you wont be able to tell whether or not you have one of those .1% domains or not. You'll almost certainly end up registering worthless domains.

I buy domains in the aftermarket that I know to have value and either collect the parking revenue (if they are traffic domains) or develop them with mini-sites or with a company such as whypark or noomle. Then I wait for end users to contact me.

The only time I ever register a domain is if I am going to develop it.

 

[Blieve]

0%
0%, 0%

I never register domains to resell them, that is near impossible to do unless you want to research and find end users all day everyday - and hope to get lucky. 99.9% of the good names are already taken - and if you are a noob you wont be able to tell whether or not you have one of those .1% domains or not. You'll almost certainly end up registering worthless domains.

I buy domains in the aftermarket that I know to have value and either collect the parking revenue (if they are traffic domains) or develop them with mini-sites or with a company such as whypark or noomle. Then I wait for end users to contact me.

The only time I ever register a domain is if I am going to develop it.

This seems like good advice. So you actually develop 100% of them but have no intention of just sitting on them. Now let me ask you this. How much would you pay for a website that you think can make X amount of dollars a year? 2X, 5X, 10X?

---------- Post added at 09:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 AM ----------

1. 0.1%
2. 0.1%,0.5%

It's hard out there.

If this is true than the 1 domain that does sell must go for $10000+ to even break even.

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 AM ----------

lol@stub. The Last Honest Domainer.

@OP: Don't register 100 domains. Register one. Run through whatever your plan is for domain names on one domain in your spare time. See if your plan actually has any merit to it once it's put into action. Because of the very low cost barrier, it's easy to overload on domains, and incredibly easy to make up stories in your head about how grabbing two or three variants of that "killer" name isn't really a waste/risk of money since the killer is such a killer.

I honestly think anyone who is registering more than 20-30 domains a month is simply not doing any research on the names. If you're doing it right, the time spent deciding to get or not get a given domain makes the ~$9 trivial and incidental -- meaning, it is impossible to add and add and add names based on the low cost. The difference in quality in my own portfolio moving forward, as this mentality formed in me gradually, is very evident when I filter by reg date.



Frank

Definitely those $10 add up. I've been routinely searching for domains to flip over the last 4 years and I have enough restraint not to register any besides the ones I actually developed so I don't think I will overextend my budget. But if you do extensive research and take time to contact buyers and only sell 0.1% of your sites then this is not a pretty business.

 

[JamesDavid]

as with ANY Business you have to make informed decisions and make educate risks to succeed..

My story is simple I bougth a domain for $8 and sold it a few motnhs later for $500. Put the $8 back in my profit and have been operating in the profit ever since.

I have hand regged a domain in March and sold it in October in the same year for over $3400...
I have bought a domain from an expiring auction for $5 and sold it for $1200+ in the same calendar year...
I have bought a domain from the secondary market for $350, marketed it correctly and sold it for over $2500 on sedo within a month..

Domaining has been a very nice stream of income for me over the last few years and I LOVE it which makes it all the better...

Here are my 10 commandments of Domaining:

1. Stick with .com, net, org UNLESS it is a CHEAP PREMIUM domain.
All of my good money sales ($1000+) except 1 have been .com and for a reason, the end user wants them and outside the domaining world other extensions are questionable.

2. NEVER count of domain sales for steady/constant income.
I have sat months without get even an offer but because I don't count on the money coming in its ok.

3. Quality over Quantity
more domains DOES NOT mean more sales. Spend time researching domains and buy quality. That is were the money is. plus never forget that the renewal costs on maintaining 30 domains is ALOT less than maintaining 100 domains.

4. The aftermarket isn't full of trash.
Alot of domainers think that because someone else wants to sell their domain or let it expire that is is junk and cant be sold. NOT TRUE, although there is a TON of junk out there. Evaluate every domain like it is a fresh open domain, I have bought good domains that were just poorly marketed and sold them for profit.

5. Dont become attached.
Sometimes you have to admit a poor decision and take a loss on a sale or let the domain expire. DONT think you have to keep renewing a name becuase you already have money invested.

6. AVOID trends like the plague!!!
If you frequent forums you will see new trends popping up all the time, whether it is new extensions (.me .asia, etc) or 3D domains, 4D domains, LLLL.net, CCCC.com, etc. These trends RARELY pan out and ALWAYS makes the registrars rich.. I had a few LLLL.com I SOLD when the trend was hot and make GOOD money, the same domains today woudlnt sell for $20 and I sold them for $XXX..

7. Invest what you can.
DO NOT break out your credit card, ever. If you want domaining to be a side business be smart. I have heard too many stories of people putting 500 domains on their credit cards just to be in debt to their eyeballs. Like someone else said buy a few domains and work from there.. Build your cash, save your cash for the big fish when you get it hooked.

8. Stay away from copyrights
It is really easy to make a quick buck buying and parking Trademark domains but isn't worth it in the long run, just stay away from them.

9. Be realistic
You will NOT BECOME A MILLIONAIRE within a day, or a month, or a year. Those days are over, but there is no reason you can't produce a nice income stream from domains.. Buy a domain for $8 and be happy when you get $100. Too many domainers think they can reg a name and get $5,000 for it because they were the first person to think up the domain www.ReasonsToSellYourHouse.com, not going to happen...

10. Research end-users
It is free to reasearch end users, so before you buy a domain ask yourself. How many people/businesses could even use this domain? If the answer is only a handful then don't waste you time... if the answer is hundreds then you will always be able to find a buyer at some pricepoint.

11. Have Fun!
I LOVE domaining, I LOVE the thrill of negotiation, i LOVE that I can spend 1 hour a month or 1 hour a day doing it. I think people excel at things they love, so make sure you keep it a hobby and not a chore.


Well I hope that helps...

 

[DavidH]

I sell about 5% of my portfolio each year, almost exclusively to end users, mostly in low - mid $xxx with a few if I am lucky in low $xxxx.

Since I tend to get them for low $xx, it is quite a good markup on the ones I do sell. There is a ton of rubbish out there but careful sifting finds the occasional gem.

I always have potential end users in mind before registering / buying any name, and stick almost exclusively to boring commercial and business dot com names. I keep an eye on trends but do not follow the crowd.

I plough some of the profit back into buying better quality names when I can afford it, to keep for the longer term or higer quality end user.

Key for me is be very patient, be very selective, and be very persistent!

 

[Blieve]

as with ANY Business you have to make informed decisions and make educate risks to succeed..

My story is simple I bougth a domain for $8 and sold it a few motnhs later for $500. Put the $8 back in my profit and have been operating in the profit ever since.

I have hand regged a domain in March and sold it in October in the same year for over $3400...
I have bought a domain from an expiring auction for $5 and sold it for $1200+ in the same calendar year...
I have bought a domain from the secondary market for $350, marketed it correctly and sold it for over $2500 on sedo within a month..

Domaining has been a very nice stream of income for me over the last few years and I LOVE it which makes it all the better...

Here are my 10 commandments of Domaining:

1. Stick with .com, net, org UNLESS it is a CHEAP PREMIUM domain.
All of my good money sales ($1000+) except 1 have been .com and for a reason, the end user wants them and outside the domaining world other extensions are questionable.

2. NEVER count of domain sales for steady/constant income.
I have sat months without get even an offer but because I don't count on the money coming in its ok.

3. Quality over Quantity
more domains DOES NOT mean more sales. Spend time researching domains and buy quality. That is were the money is. plus never forget that the renewal costs on maintaining 30 domains is ALOT less than maintaining 100 domains.

4. The aftermarket isn't full of trash.
Alot of domainers think that because someone else wants to sell their domain or let it expire that is is junk and cant be sold. NOT TRUE, although there is a TON of junk out there. Evaluate every domain like it is a fresh open domain, I have bought good domains that were just poorly marketed and sold them for profit.

5. Dont become attached.
Sometimes you have to admit a poor decision and take a loss on a sale or let the domain expire. DONT think you have to keep renewing a name becuase you already have money invested.

6. AVOID trends like the plague!!!
If you frequent forums you will see new trends popping up all the time, whether it is new extensions (.me .asia, etc) or 3D domains, 4D domains, LLLL.net, CCCC.com, etc. These trends RARELY pan out and ALWAYS makes the registrars rich.. I had a few LLLL.com I SOLD when the trend was hot and make GOOD money, the same domains today woudlnt sell for $20 and I sold them for $XXX..

7. Invest what you can.
DO NOT break out your credit card, ever. If you want domaining to be a side business be smart. I have heard too many stories of people putting 500 domains on their credit cards just to be in debt to their eyeballs. Like someone else said buy a few domains and work from there.. Build your cash, save your cash for the big fish when you get it hooked.

8. Stay away from copyrights
It is really easy to make a quick buck buying and parking Trademark domains but isn't worth it in the long run, just stay away from them.

9. Be realistic
You will NOT BECOME A MILLIONAIRE within a day, or a month, or a year. Those days are over, but there is no reason you can't produce a nice income stream from domains.. Buy a domain for $8 and be happy when you get $100. Too many domainers think they can reg a name and get $5,000 for it because they were the first person to think up the domain www.ReasonsToSellYourHouse.com, not going to happen...

10. Research end-users
It is free to reasearch end users, so before you buy a domain ask yourself. How many people/businesses could even use this domain? If the answer is only a handful then don't waste you time... if the answer is hundreds then you will always be able to find a buyer at some pricepoint.

11. Have Fun!
I LOVE domaining, I LOVE the thrill of negotiation, i LOVE that I can spend 1 hour a month or 1 hour a day doing it. I think people excel at things they love, so make sure you keep it a hobby and not a chore.


Well I hope that helps...

Great story! I wish I had $NP to donate. The first thing I thought of when you were listing your big sales was home runs. With that said, if you are a baseball fan, what would you say your batting average is and what is a reasonable batting average?

Lets count a single as making $25 an hour including the time spent researching the domain industry and contacting end users. Lets count a double as $50 an hour, and a home run as $100+ an hour. For example if the domain you mentioned above that sold for $3400 took you less than 34 hours to research buy and sell, then that would be classified as a home run for this example.

I think this is a good way for me and for everyone else to estimate our return on investment based on time. So what would be a good batting average for you? What do you believe is the industries batting average?

I sell about 5% of my portfolio each year, almost exclusively to end users, mostly in low - mid $xxx with a few if I am lucky in low $xxxx.

Since I tend to get them for low $xx, it is quite a good markup on the ones I do sell. There is a ton of rubbish out there but careful sifting finds the occasional gem.

I always have potential end users in mind before registering / buying any name, and stick almost exclusively to boring commercial and business dot com names. I keep an eye on trends but do not follow the crowd.

I plough some of the profit back into buying better quality names when I can afford it, to keep for the longer term or higer quality end user.

Key for me is be very patient, be very selective, and be very persistent!

Lets say you register 1000 domains a year and sell 50 of them. Your low range of return would be about 50 x $250 = $12500 and a high range of return would be 50 x $750 = $37500. If you regged all 50 domains that would be an estimated $500. So your profit is anywhere from $12000-37000. *This math was edited after DavidH below pointed out my math was off by a decimal place!

Can I ask how much time do you spend on your websites including researching buying and selling. And if you take a look at the middle of this post, what would you say your batting average is?:D

Sorry guys if I sound like a total nerd, there is nothing like statistics :kickass:

 

[MicroGuy]

You mean you're supposed to sell these things? Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DavidH]

Lets say you register 1000 domains a year and sell 50 of them. Your low range of return would be about 50 x $250 = $1250 and a high range of return would be 50 x $750 = $3750. If you regged all 50 domains that would be an estimated $500. So your profit is anywhere from $750-$3250.

Can I ask how much time do you spend on your websites including researching buying and selling. And if you take a look at the middle of this post, what would you say your batting average is?:D

Sorry guys if I sound like a total nerd, there is nothing like statistics :kickass:

With respect you are a factor of 10 out - 50 x $250 is $12,500

Do the domain name research buying and selling around a fulltime job and charity fundraising so basically evenings and some time at weekends.

 

[JamesDavid]

Blieve,

In the last 60 days I have spent at MOST 5 hours domaining as my life has been BUSY...

I have sold $3810 in domains with my profit being $3595.. so the math would be $700/hour. But that isnt realistic cuz a few years ago when I was learning and acquiring domains I was spending maybe 1-2 hours a night learning without a sale... Plus take into consideration just yesterday I decided to dedicate a few hours a week since things in life are slowing down and the recent sales have left me with money to reinvest... So maybe I spend 20 hours over the next month buying more domains without any sales, then for the next month my hourly rate would be $0/hour..

 

[StonePillar]

Then I wait for end users to contact me.

HC82,

Do end-users really contact you without your contacting them first? What kind of domain name motivates end-users to contact you? Can you give some examples?

---------- Post added at 11:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 PM ----------

I have bought a domain from the secondary market for $350, marketed it correctly and sold it for over $2500 on sedo within a month..

...

Evaluate every domain like it is a fresh open domain, I have bought good domains that were just poorly marketed and sold them for profit.

Thanks JamesDavid for your very useful tips on domaining. Can you elaborate a little more on just what you mean by correct marketing of a domain name? Maybe some examples?

 

[Blieve]

With respect you are a factor of 10 out - 50 x $250 is $12,500

Do the domain name research buying and selling around a fulltime job and charity fundraising so basically evenings and some time at weekends.

Wow great catch! So the profit range is $12,000 to $37,000. Now that looks much better

Blieve,

In the last 60 days I have spent at MOST 5 hours domaining as my life has been BUSY...

I have sold $3810 in domains with my profit being $3595.. so the math would be $700/hour. But that isnt realistic cuz a few years ago when I was learning and acquiring domains I was spending maybe 1-2 hours a night learning without a sale... Plus take into consideration just yesterday I decided to dedicate a few hours a week since things in life are slowing down and the recent sales have left me with money to reinvest... So maybe I spend 20 hours over the next month buying more domains without any sales, then for the next month my hourly rate would be $0/hour..

Right it would be quite a task to gauge a read and put into numbers this little domaining game we are playing here but that gives me a good idea for how you are doing. Thanks and may the sales keep going for you!