Ask Other Owners About Offers

Elliot Silver
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13

I bought a domain name recently, and I did a bit of research to see the prices of similar domain names. This should help me determine my asking price if someone inquires in the future. If you see names that are for sale but aren’t priced, don’t be afraid to ask the owner for their prices and whether or not they have received offers.

There are a couple of reasons for finding out the prices of similar domain names.

The first reason is that prospective buyers will likely find those other names and inquire about them. If a similar domain name is for sale for $2,000 and you are asking $25,000, you may have a difficult time selling.

The second reason is

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Blog Comment Tip: Don’t Try to Sell Names

Elliot Silver
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4

Domain blogs would seem like a good place to sell domain names. There is a captive audience of people within the domain business, and many people who read blogs buy domain names on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the comment section is not a good place to sell domain names.

I have to deal with comment spam on a regular basis. Usually, the spam is caught by the Akismet spam filter, but occasionally it gets through. Akismet is not as good at catching people trying to sell domain names as it is at catching spammy links to porn, pharmacies, and other blog comment spam. This means that I (and other blog publishers) have to manually mark these comments as spam.

The vast majority of comments that have domain names for sale contain

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Domain Investing is Not a Way to “Get Rich Quickly”

Elliot Silver
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23

I hate to burst anyone’s bubble who thinks otherwise, but I don’t think there is any “get rich quick” strategy for domain investing, and also don’t think there are any fail proof ways to make money from domain names. There is significant risk in domain investing, and it is not unlike other types of investing (real estate, commodities, stocks…etc).

There are quite a few people who make a living with their domain investments. Many of these people make a very good living. I wouldn’t even venture a guess about how many people make their full time living investing in domain names.

One of the things that most of the people who make a living from domain investments have in common is that they have been in this business for many years. This longevity gives them considerable knowledge about operating a successful domain investment business. In my opinion, the most important aspects of managing a domain investment business are:

  • Knowing the resale market
  • Knowing how to stay informed of market changes and domain name ownership changes
  • Knowing how to get in touch with domain owners and prospective buyers
  • Knowing how to negotiate
  • Knowing when the time is right to sell a domain name
  • Knowing when the time is right to buy a domain name
  • Knowing where to buy domain names
  • Knowing who to ask questions of and knowing the right questions to ask
  • Knowing how to monetize domain names
  • Knowing how to mitigate legal risk

I don’t think there is any way to become an expert at all of these aspects of the business without actually being immersed in the business for a long time. It is easy to spend a lot of money buying domain names, but it is not nearly as easy to sell those domain names profitably.

Plenty of people made money by selling one domain name or a handful of domain names.  However, one great domain name sale does not make a business.  There have also been plenty of people with grandiose dreams of making silly amounts of money, and they have left with those dreams unrealized.

Like any other types of investing, there are people who have done well and there are people who have lost their investments.

Close Out Old Sales

Elliot Silver
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4

A few days ago, I listed SSSN.com and PRRR.com for sale via Embrace.com. Unfortunately, the domain names were not sold, and I am happy to continue holding them until a buyer is willing to pay my asking prices. One important thing I did this morning was delete the sale post on Embrace.com. I think people should remember this step when conducting a sale.

I set up the sale page with buy it now links from Escrow.com. I think they make buy it now listings easier for buyers to execute quickly. The one downside is that I don’t think you can set up an expiry period for these links. For instance, if I list a domain name for sale for $5,000 today, someone could theoretically use the link to set up a transaction in 10 years from now. With the crazy market values of some domain names, it would be problematic if I give someone the ability to buy a name in the future at today’s prices.

When you use buy it now pricing on domain names,

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Get a Referral From the CEO

Elliot Silver
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0

A couple of years ago, I reached out to a business colleague when I was looking to sell a domain name. He gave me the contact information of  a friend of his who is CEO of a medium-sized company (LinkedIn says 51-200 employees) that we both  thought might be interested in the domain name.

When I reached out to the CEO, I assumed he wouldn’t be the best person to ask about the domain name. Instead, I asked him if I could contact the person who manages  the company marketing to discuss the domain name opportunity. He said that would be a good idea, and he provided the employee’s email address and phone number. I then emailed the Director of Marketing at the company, making sure to mention that the CEO referred  me to him to discuss the domain name. The company ended up buying the domain name from my company.

I am not sure how much

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Tip: Email the Old Whois Email Address

Elliot Silver
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0

I have been looking into buying a domain name, and I opened a discussion with the owner via the current Whois email address. One thing I noticed is that a year or two ago, the email address changed while the other Whois information remained the same. On very rare occasions, this can be indicative of a domain theft where a thief controls the new email address unbeknownst to the real owner.

One way that I like to do due diligence is to send an email to the old email address found via DomainTools Historical Whois search. Typically, I will send a short email to the old email address confirming that the current email address is accurate and that the rightful domain owner is aware of the email discussion.

If I don’t receive a reply confirming this, I would

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