Where to find end-user "friendly" domain names?

[lobbyist88]

On the whole, I feel very confident in my ability to sell domain names to end users; I have sold several in the past, and know the in's and out's of negotiation. Unfortunately, most, if not all of the domains I have sold I did not have to go out and look for -- they were domains that I had had registered for years, or that a friend needed help selling, ect...

So here's my question: where is the best resource for finding available domain names that an end-user might actually want to buy? On one end of the spectrum I feel like I kill hours scrolling through lists of garbage domain names that have just expired (and no one in their right mind would want to buy); and on the other, I waste a ton of time looking at great names on GoDaddy Auctions or Snapnames... that I would need to sell my car to be able to afford.

I get that there is no magic answer, but is there at least a happy medium for finding end-user "friendly" names, that I might be able to resell, but not without first having to cash out my life savings?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[cache]

in an auction, if there are a lot of bids, then it is the indication of good names. (of course this is obvious).

 

[alien51]

is there at least a happy medium for finding end-user "friendly" names, that I might be able to resell, but not without first having to cash out my life savings?

Sedo is a 'happy' place to start.

 

[Archangel]

www.nameflipper.com was THE best way to find a load of 'em but they haven't been doing anything lately :p

 

[alien51]

Looking at that nameflipper site, it appears to me that what they are offering is simply an "Appraisal Service".

Supposedly, many domainers who are hanging out at the domain garbage bins sifting through thousands of drops every day, really don't know what kind of domains will supposedly sell to "end-users". This "nameflipper" site simply runs these garbage piles in their own automated "domain criteria" checklist and extract those trash that they believe can be recycled back to some end-user buyer.

So in short, the resource is identical: The drop pool list. That's it. We can scan the same thing using DomainTools. We simply don't know what criteria we are looking for that end users will buy.

 

[WebsiteDeck]

in an auction, if there are a lot of bids, then it is the indication of good names. (of course this is obvious).

...and naturally they would cost you a fortune as well.

 

[Debt.tv]

I spend about 2 or 3 hours a day scanning namejet, snapnames and godaddy. There is no easy way, it just takes time and you will find good names that have been overlooked.

 

[Rich]

So here's my question: where is the best resource for finding available domain names that an end-user might actually want to buy? On one end of the spectrum I feel like I kill hours scrolling through lists of garbage domain names that have just expired (and no one in their right mind would want to buy); and on the other, I waste a ton of time looking at great names on GoDaddy Auctions or Snapnames... that I would need to sell my car to be able to afford.

I think the best way to search would be using search platforms like freshdrop or dropday, if you can afford it. If you're like me, you have no problem browsing a list of 3,000 names because you're able to spot those few worth going after. I've noticed the drops becoming more competitive lately, with namebright or epik grabbing the nicer ones, and many others going to a backorder auction.

Study sales and trends once a week, see what kind of end user friendly domains are selling...good luck.


Godaddy auctions have a nice search platform, you're able to set minimum bids to 1 or 2+ to see what others are interested in, or save searches with your favorite keywords, extensions, etc.

 

[Kate]

I spend about 2 or 3 hours a day scanning namejet, snapnames and godaddy. There is no easy way, it just takes time and you will find good names that have been overlooked.

It's true, there are some decent names that slip through the cracks. I mean catchy, brandable names. There is a market for those too.

Domaining is not easy.
You will have to spend a lot of time looking for domain names with resale potential.
Otherwise it's a hobby, not a business...

 

[fm1234]

Almost any metric by which you would qualify a domain as being a quality one, run against the additional filter of whether or not there is an evident pool of buyers for the domain (eg. does the domain actually have an applicable commercial market that is competitive, where ad costs tend to be non-trivial, etc.)

Drop lists can get you some good domains, but so can running through keyword tools to determine search and CPC values, then using something like JK to convert your good keywords into domain names, then load them into a bulk checker/register to see if they're available. Of course, the ones you really, really like but which are unavailable, might be worth looking more closely into, since you could possibly buy and flip them. But given the fluid nature of search and advertising, there is a continually changing pool of potential domains of interest.

If you have logged some decent end user sales, it can't hurt to make some predictive bets as well based on what your buyers have said to you about their own needs and markets. I've picked up a small number of domains over the last year based on my notes from conversations with buyers who had portfolios of domains, many of which were exclusively from a given niche, run against Google Trends and other sources to see if I could speculatively grab "tomorrow's domains" for that niche. (Whether or not this actually works and is worth doing will, of course, take a few years to determine, but I've wasted more money on less in my life.)


Frank

 

[Archangel]

They used to sell lists of dropping domains with many possible endusers. I've used them to get domains for $9 and resell them for $200+ each. But I think they stopped selling these lists.

Looking at that nameflipper site, it appears to me that what they are offering is simply an "Appraisal Service".

Supposedly, many domainers who are hanging out at the domain garbage bins sifting through thousands of drops every day, really don't know what kind of domains will supposedly sell to "end-users". This "nameflipper" site simply runs these garbage piles in their own automated "domain criteria" checklist and extract those trash that they believe can be recycled back to some end-user buyer.

So in short, the resource is identical: The drop pool list. That's it. We can scan the same thing using DomainTools. We simply don't know what criteria we are looking for that end users will buy.

 

[alien51]

I might be able to resell, but not without first having to cash out my life savings?

If you will check out the inventory of most domain vacuum cleaners, like BuyDomains dot com, i think many enduser-conducive names listed there won't exactly break your life savings.

They could play out from $800 to $8,000.

But as you can see, when domainers sell domains to fellow domainers, the price of the domain gets inflated for nothing of value to the end-user.

So if you're going to be 'holistic' about this business model, you probably would be asking why an end-user would buy the same merchandise from you at inflated prices, when they could go directly where you are buying the goods and get them at their original listed price?

So the bottomline is, if such a "happy" place for domainers ever existed, there would be a sign hanging on the front door saying: "End-users - Keep Out!".

 

[cache]

most time the market is efficient, once in a while you may find the inefficiency and make some money.

 

[Archangel]

Last I used them, they wouldn't pay more than $50 for even a LLL.com. Not that I've ever known of. But they're good for cheap liquidations.

If you will check out the inventory of most domain vacuum cleaners, like BuyDomains dot com, i think many enduser-conducive names listed there won't exactly break your life savings.

They could play out from $800 to $8,000.

 

[DavidH]

The closeout section at Godaddy has proved to be very fruitful for me but you do have to be prepared to search through many thousands of names to find one that is sellable! Freshdrop has helped me a lot to speed up the process.