There aren’t really any days off for a domain investor that buys and sells domain names for a living. Each day, regardless of whether it is a holiday or not, thousands of domain names come up for auction or completely expire and become available for registration. I was working minimally on New Years Eve and New Years Day, and I thought I would share the final domain name I purchased in 2020 and the first domain name I purchased in 2021:
When it comes to domain investing, people tend to focus on the domain name sales. Outbound sales is a hot topic, and it is an important topic for people who rely on it to sell their domain names. There are various threads covering everything related to outbound sales – from the sales pitch to the subject of the email to the number of times to contact someone about a particular domain name.
Sometimes a person wants to buy a domain name but they don’t have the budget or need at the time of contact. Touching base with a counterparty is a great way to keep the conversation going. People’s wants and needs change over time, and staying in communication is how to get deals done.
As I recently mentioned, I have been using ExpiredDomains.net quite a bit lately to search for domain names to buy. Others have touted its great search functionality, and searching it has become a part of my daily routine.
After doing many searches of the different domain name sales marketplaces with various filters set, I have noticed there are pricing discrepancies at different marketplaces. A domain name may be listed for sale on GoDaddy for $14,999 and listed on Sedo for $4,000. It may also be listed via Epik for $14,999. The domain name landing page may have a different price altogether. There are quite a few domain names that have come up that are listed on different marketplaces at different price points.
About a year and a half ago, I sold a domain name that was quite replicable. I don’t want to give away details about the domain name I sold, but it was the type of domain name where I could change keywords and similar types of names would also hold value. I wanted to buy similar domain names, but they’re all owned already.
One issue I faced is that these domain names were valuable to end user buyers in the mid 4 to possibly low 5 figure range, but they don’t exactly hold a ton of liquid value. It wouldn’t make much sense for me to reach out to the registrants to try and buy them because I would need to spend in the low to mid 3 figures for them on the buy side, and not too many domain registrants are willing to sell in that range when emailed out of the blue.
I inquire about a lot of domain names, and I bid on many domain name auctions. This may seem pretty obvious, but how the domain name looks and sounds is what catches my attention the most. Various stats and keyword information are important to note, but I try to buy domain names I can see people wanting to turn into brands, and it starts with the name itself.
Beyond this simple thought, there are a number of elements that make me want to buy some domain names more than others. In fact, I would pay a premium for a domain name – perhaps even overpaying for a domain name – when everything lines up perfectly for me. I want to share some of the appealing elements that make me more interested in certain domain names:
It is arguably more difficult than ever to privately acquire a great .com domain names. The majority of investment quality, long registered, domain names are either in the hands of end users or registrants who will not sell cheap. Quite a few are held by investors who are rightfully seeking end user pricing to sell their assets. Put simply, there is a dearth of investment quality .com domain names available to purchase for investment-level pricing.
Off the top of my head, I can think of 15 people I know to be well funded who are regularly chasing after the remaining high quality .com domain names. Many of these investors are friends, and all of them are competitors. When I come across a domain name that is available for sale and the registrant indicates other offers on the table, chances are very good an investor (or multiple investors) I know is on the other end of the offer, biting at the bit to secure a deal.
