Buying Domain Names Archives - Page 61 of 97

3 Tips to Find and Flip Niche Domain Names

Elliot Silver

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February 6, 2013

I want to share something I’ve done in the last several months that has helped me close a couple of very profitable deals. These deals weren’t high value (around $1,000/each), but the profit margin was great.

First, a bit of background information. I searched NameJet pre-release names with bids in the closing minutes. I found one that I hadn’t seen before and backordered it. When it came to the auction, I was the winner at under $200. Within 2 months, I sold the name for mid-$x,xxx to a company that is a leader in this small industry.

This is pretty much an under the radar industry that has low search volume for its key terms, but when it sells its services, they are for thousands of dollars each. There are several companies actively marketing its services in this space.

Shortly after completing this sale, I spent a fair amount of time seeking out relevant domain names in this small industry. Some were hand registered and others auction wins. I then re-approached the company and worked out a smaller deal ($1k/name). I paid less than the first acquisition for these names, so it was profitable and a quick turnaround.

There are three pieces of advice here:

Seek out smaller industries and find the best cheap domain names that make sense. Approach the market leaders and offer the names for “fair prices.”
Once you complete a sale, find other names that are priced well. Set a NameJet and/or SnapNames email alert for specific keywords so you know when a good one is coming up.
Re-approach buyers and offer them good or better deals on subsequent domain names. Don’t price them too cheaply or you’ll lower your profit margin on subsequent sales.

Do you have any similar tips you can offer?

What Do You Think of This Domain Sales Tactic?

Elliot Silver

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January 23, 2013

34

In the midst of a private negotiation about a domain name I wanted to buy, I received an email from the domain owner. Instead of picking up where we left off, it was a brand new email addressed to more than one person. The email explained that all recipients had inquired about the domain name and we could all reply with our best offer.

It’s an interesting tactic, sort of similar to an auction, but instead of dealing in private, the seller chose to make it more public. With email addresses exposed, all recipients could see who the other potential buyers were, possibly sizing up their spending capabilities and possibly revealing future plans.

I’ve inquired about thousands of domain names in private over the years, and this has only happened to me a couple of times. One time the recipients were BCC’d and the other time the recipients were simply CC’d.

When I received the emails it annoyed me enough to not even reply. I figured that if I beat some of the end users on the email, I would be overpaying. I also didn’t want to make my purchase public, as I thought I was dealing with a private negotiation.

What do you think of this domain name sales tactic?

How Much Are You Willing to Pay for Domain Data Service?

Buying Domain Names

Elliot Silver

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January 22, 2013

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Earlier today, I posted an article announcing the launch of Dropping.com. A couple of the comments that were made echoed comments I’ve heard in the past regarding the cost of services that offer data on domain name drops.

My personal opinion is that the pricing is fair if you use the services daily and they save you time while helping you identify worthwhile purchases. On the other hand, many people find these services too expensive, especially those who don’t regularly use sites like NameJet and SnapNames.

I am wondering what you think is a fair monthly cost for domain name data providers that you use daily?

Get In Touch With the Decision Maker

Elliot Silver

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January 10, 2013

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When you are looking to acquire a domain name, it’s important that you get in touch with a decision maker, who may not be the Whois contact. Oftentimes, someone in tech support or the IT department will be listed as the domain registrant, and that person may or may not forward your email to the appropriate party.

When I send an inquiry email for a domain name (usually that is unused), and I don’t hear back from the person I emailed, I think about why I didn’t hear back. I will search the company’s website to find out who I emailed and what their role is within the company. If it’s someone on the IT staff, I usually try to find the CEO’s or President’s contact information to get an answer.

As you probably know from your own email inbox, owners of good domain names are usually pounded with inquiries. It’s likely that a tech person deletes these emails since he or she doesn’t often have a say about whether they’re for sale, and there isn’t an incentive for them to pass the email along to the right person. 99% of the time, domain investors will simply not follow up, and oftentimes, end users won’t either or they won’t make an offer that’s worthwhile for someone to reply.

If you are able to get in touch with the decision maker, you’ll likely get an answer to your inquiry far more expeditiously, obviously depending on the size of the company and who that decision maker is. The thing I’ve learned is that the people who are persistent and make reasonable offers will get the courtesy of a reply and has a greater chance of closing a deal.

Use Screenshots.com to Find Contact Information

Elliot Silver

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January 7, 2013

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It’s probably silly for me to give away insight related to how I find contact information when Whois lookups fail, but I guess that’s one reason why my blog is helpful. Here’s another tip to get in touch with a domain owner.

One giveaway that a domain owner might be willing to sell his domain name is when a website is taken down. There are many reasons why someone would take down their website, but if they are no longer using the domain name, it might be for sale, whether it’s listed anywhere or not.

If the Whois information isn’t public or is outdated, you can use a tool like Screenshots.com to find more accurate contact information. Many websites list their email and/or phone number in the footer or home page, and if you search for the previous iteration of a website, you may be able to locate contact information for the owner. The domain name might resolve to a parked page or a registrar landing page, but Screenshots.com can be helpful to you to find valuable information.

Another tool you can use for this is Archive.org. I prefer to use Screenshots.com though because they support my blog and are a part of the domain industry.

Tip To Find a Domain Owner

Elliot Silver

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January 4, 2013

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I have been trying to track down the owner of a domain name that was registered to DNStination Inc. I’ve seen that company in a number of Whois lookups, and I am pretty sure a number of large companies use them for domain registration and likely other services. I am quite certain they don’t actually own the domain name, but they are the registrant.

I’ve shared a number of ways to find domain owners in the past, and I want to share another method I used to find the owner of this domain name.

The domain name was sort of developed, although it wasn’t extensive enough to consider a business. I used Screenshots.com to see that this particular website hadn’t changed much in the last couple of years, so it’s possible that the project is no longer a priority for the owner.

As I previously recommended, I had a look at the privacy policy and terms and conditions pages, and the email addresses were @domainname, which didn’t help me because it hadn’t worked in the past. In the privacy page, it listed the name of the company that operated the website. I was then able to search Google for the LLC name, and I found a site that had quite a bit of legal information about the LLC, including the company’s registered agent.

I recognized the registered agent’s name and have his contact information on file already (he’s an attorney and owns the domain name). This person isn’t involved in the domain industry, but I know of a few names he has sold in the past, and this will be helpful when contacting him directly.

I have no idea if I’ll be able to strike a deal, but it is always nice to be able to contact a domain owner directly instead of stopping when the trail goes cold. From my experience, going the extra mile is the difference between acquiring an awesome domain name and skipping over it like others have in the past.