Yesterday morning, I posted a poll question asking if someone could start off in the domain investment business today and make money. More than 75% of the people who voted said, “yes,” which bodes well for those who are looking to give domain investing a shot.
Several of the comments were people who thought it was possible but that it would take a solid bankroll to be successful. I tend to agree with this thought, although someone could easily spend a boatload of money on bad domain names.
Today’s poll asks how much money you think is needed to successfully start investing in domain names. I think it should be assumed that the person not only has money but also has some knowledge about domain investing and is willing to spend time to learn before spending the money.
All you need to do is buy a domain for 500-1k and resell for 5000-10000, rise and repeat. easier said than done however.
$5,000 – $10,000 not to be invested until you’ve spent at least a 1-3 months reading the domain speculation blogs, even if, you have a significant history in business, finance or marketing. A newbie could blow $5-$10k in today’s aftermarket plagued by shill building, high wholesale prices, and conflicts of interest.
It will be difficult for one starting under $1000. That’s where I am currently and I know how stressful it is for me couple with the inflated price of domains on auctions. With above $1000 one can be above to acquire good domains with not much stress to those with under $1000 especially if one has good knowledge on what a good domain is.
The underlying question is – What is ‘being successful’?
Yes, one could invest (lets say) $ 10,000.
Are they successful if they make $ 100 or $ 1,000 within a 12 month period?
If one invest $ 25,000. and makes a couple thousand in profit, is it worth the effort?
Taking into consideration –
return on investment,
risk/reward (buy a bunch of mediocre domains and sit on them for years plus pay yearly renewals),
time (as we know, domaining is very time consuming),
lost opportunity (taking the money and investing into something else like, real estate, stocks, etc)
If a person is a ‘real go getter’ they might be successful in anything they do. (flipping houses, stock day trader,
domaining, etc)
I am sorry to sound pessimistic but the odds are against a newbie entering the domain market today compared to 7 – 10 – 15 – 20 years ago.
The other side of this discussion – I am sure there were thousands of people telling Bezos, Zuckerman, Musk & Gates there is zero chance they could be successful.