discuss What's your story?

[Arpit131]

Hi..

I was looking back into my domaining journey. And I realized that how small things affect us in a big way.

I wanted to make some extra bucks to go for a small holiday and I ended up Googling "How to make Money online"

Landed on some Internet marketing blogs and in the process of buying a domain name to build a website, landed on to NamePros. Never really got into developing websites after that

How did you start your domaining journey?

 

[Rob Monster]

I started buying domains as digital brands on eBay of all places. The early names were terrible names by 2005 standards but clever brandable names that fit my contrarian approach to value investing.

I soon had 5,000 domains at Godaddy. Then, one day, GoDaddy really annoyed me with a Draconian policy for WHOIS privacy that both made it expensive and near impossible to remove. I blogged about it here:

https://epik.com/blog/bob-parsons-tear-down-your-privacy-wall.html

A year later we acquired a registrar and the rest is history -- Epik.com was a registrar. We own about 9,000 O&O domains but mostly serve the industry as a no BS registrar, escrow agent and domain marketplace.

 

[Domains - Wanted]

I guess I could say that I'm a few years behind Rob here...
Have 2,000+ names spread across 20+ registrars, including Epik, of course (one of my favorites). Been at this for longer than I care to remember, well, since 1999... with a few years off around the turn of the last decade. I used my vacation from domaining pretty well, I think... went into business support services, company registration, mergers, acquisitions, opening bank accounts. Mainly in Hong Kong and China, which are some of the most interesting and promising places to start and do business on this planet

Anyways, that's my day job. Back to domaining around 2013, then inventing, a couple of years ago, how to merge domaining with... company registration services

All of this gives a unique perspective on what's missing and what's wrong with domain registrars... I freely admit it has eluded me for far too long: the best business in domaining is... domain registration (as in ICANN accredited registrar). A little late to the party, yes, but have lots of ideas... ideas, as in new twists! This is my short story and my #1 project this year

Andrew (at) Glodek (dot) com (est'd 1999)

 

[sbweb]

Nice/interesting question.

2000 - Learned HTML and SEO by reading tutorials online. Built my 1st website using a free web hosting plan.

2004 - Registered my first domain name.

2005 - Built my first income-earning website. Also, joined NamePros!

2006 to 2012 - Was heavily involved in developing my own websites and doing SEO. Joined DP forum in 2006.

2012 - Funny, but I hadn't gotten into domaining until around this time. Started domaining as a hobby.

2013 to 2016 - Made some money during the Chinese Chips hype. Early on LLLL's were selling for $20 here at NamePros. I sold all mine off during the peak. The last one I sold was like $2,200.

2018 - Still domaining as a hobby: Monetizing and selling.

 

[Kpett]

In the late 1990s I was helping my brother with his business - he had been connecting people to the internet from the early 1990s and then developing websites, and I did computer graphics on the side. I then registered my first domain in 1999 to develop my own website, did this and a few others through the 2000s but it was always a very part-time side business. A few years ago somebody contacted me because they wanted the domain name my first website was set up on (and still partially active). I was looking online as to how to price a domain name and found NamePros, started reading and reading some more, and eventually started investing in domain names - some to develop and some just for the name. I've expanded into domain name brokering and website design services as well ... probably could have made a lot more money if I had started with the names sooner, but I'm a designer at heart first and never really got into this for just money!

 

[Mister Funsky]

Then, one day, GoDaddy really annoyed me

That is exactly what caused me to look for a new registrar which took me Epik a few years ago!

My journey started in the late 90's...having moved to and lived on the west coast for a while (primarily in LA/Palos Verdes) I learned there was a great love for Dukes mayonnaise and east coast BBQ. My first purchase was for someone there who wanted to 'import' both and I came up with a few great names for them...really great. Should have kept them. When they told me a year later that they sold the names and for how much, my domainer story began.

 

[Rob Monster]

That is exactly what caused me to look for a new registrar which took me Epik a few years ago!

Thanks @Mister Funsky

WHOIS Privacy is free and will remain free at Epik. Keep in mind that not all WHOIS privacy solutions are equal. There are registrars now that completely mask your identity making it impossible to contact the registrant. This is ostensibly due to GDPR compliance but to completely mask identity means that the only way to get inquiries is through a parking lander that includes a contact method. In other words, passive selling while using becomes impossible. That is of course silly for anyone trying to make money through selling or leasing domains in their portfolio.

Anyway, fun thread, but wanted to mention this for the newbies who are experimenting with WHOIS privacy proxy services.

 

[Arpit131]

I started buying domains as digital brands on eBay of all places. The early names were terrible names by 2005 standards but clever brandable names that fit my contrarian approach to value investing.

I soon had 5,000 domains at Godaddy. Then, one day, GoDaddy really annoyed me with a Draconian policy for WHOIS privacy that both made it expensive and near impossible to remove. I blogged about it here:

https://epik.com/blog/bob-parsons-tear-down-your-privacy-wall.html

A year later we acquired a registrar and the rest is history -- Epik.com was a registrar. We own about 9,000 O&O domains but mostly serve the industry as a no BS registrar, escrow agent and domain marketplace.

Glad to know that @robepik . That was very entrepreneurial.

Nice/interesting question.

2000 - Learned HTML and SEO by reading tutorials online. Built my 1st website using a free web hosting plan.

2004 - Registered my first domain name.

2005 - Built my first income-earning website. Also, joined NamePros!

2006 to 2012 - Was heavily involved in developing my own websites and doing SEO. Joined DP forum in 2006.

2012 - Funny, but I hadn't gotten into domaining until around this time. Started domaining as a hobby.

2013 to 2016 - Made some money during the Chinese Chips hype. Early on LLLL's were selling for $20 here at NamePros. I sold all mine off during the peak. The last one I sold was like $2,200.

2018 - Still domaining as a hobby: Monetizing and selling.

Must have been an amazing time. 10 years of business done in 1 year.

 

[Arpit131]

Any more stories guys?
We are waiting to hear some more interesting ones