Domain investing is a challenging business. It takes a considerable amount of time and money to build a domain investment portfolio, and there is no guaranteed success. Domain investing can be a lucrative business, but there is a pretty steep learning curve for most people.
This morning, I saw a tweet from someone named Tony who reported six figures in domain name sales:
Domaining Report:
Had my first sale in Nov 20′. Since then I had a total of 71 sales totalling a revenue of $125,572. I use DAN lander and I took a lot of make offers during slow months, but most of my sales took place on Afternic Reg Path. Breakdown of sales venue: pic.twitter.com/QclcymeXDS— 💡 T◎NY (@TonyNames) December 21, 2021
I am not familiar with Tony, but in looking through his timeline, I can see that he has shared many sales along with images of the sales emails he received. Some of the domain names he reportedly recently sold include:
- ExPay.CO
- Utron.CO
- M3ta.xyz
- Maktoub.CO
- Fava.io
I only say “reportedly” because I have not independently confirmed the sales or sales figures.
Based on what Tony shared, it looks like he uses several platforms to close deals, including Afternic, Dan.com, Sedo, SquadHelp, and others. The bulk of Tony’s sales are on Afternic. From what I can see, he prices his names between $1,988 – $4,995. I am not sure the size of Tony’s portfolio.
If you look to Tony for inspiration, here’s some advice he shared on the business of domain investing:
Domaining is 95% a game of numbers. You need to do is find a profitable angle and scale as fast as you can go through your list. Otherwise You are simply throwing darts at a wall and drawing the bulls eye around it later.
— 💡 T◎NY (@TonyNames) December 15, 2021
Congratulations to Tony on his success.
Happy to see that. Co domains still have good value.
It’s nice to see new investors succeeding but these revenue numbers are misleading.
He conveniently didn’t deduct the commissions that were taken by marketplaces, around 17%-18% according to him. So already the numbers have nothing to do with what he actually made. Also you have to take into account expenses in the 5 figures range likely mid 5 figures and taxes.
100K+ in revenue is fun to say but it’s flexing.
That is true, but in looking at what he shared, it appears he is finding and buying salable inventory.
Most new investors, unfortunately, buy a ton of domain names that will never to sell. It’s part of the learning curve. I would imagine many of these people either grow frustrated with the business and leave or they can’t overcome this initial cost and end up bowing out. Being able to pick domain names that others find desirable is a solid feat.
Obviously the caveat is that we don’t know how many names this investor owns.
The report that he prices between $2k and $5k seems off to me. When I divide $125k by 71 sales I get an avg sale price of $1789. So it would seem he’s likely pricing between $1k and $3k. Either way a great result for Tony. Congrats!
No. I BIN price all majority of my names at $2-$5k, and I have several moonshot names that i bought with my profits that i have priced “not to sell until the lotto buyer comes”.
The average is low as i mentioned because i accepted several low ball make offers during slow weeks. I use makeofffer + bin lander. I have no fixed rule for minimum offer. I have taken several $200 offers if buyer ip is from a less prosperous nation and they look genuine. Or pet a rescue guy. I didn’t even counter his $200 offer.
Hi, How many domains do you currently have?
Revenue means, gross sales. There is nothing “misleading” about this reporting just because it doesn’t include expenses.
The key point from Tony is to “find a profitable angle and (THEN) scale.” Finding a profitable angle means making some sales and verifying what types of names are marketable. That requires a lot of hard work and focus. Most new domainers would rather buy than do the work and they scale first and look for a profitable angle afterwards – or as Tony says “throw darts at the wall and draw the bullseye later”
The expenses aren’t the issue. Those can be helpful in seeing the bigger picture but the real issue is that he reported the sums the domains sold for as his revenue when those include the 17%-18% commission the marketplaces took.
All it takes is money and patience.
Yes, trials and errors, it is all about the learning process.
It is not how fast or how slow, it is the journey!!