Selling Domain Names is Easy – Buying is Difficult

I get a considerable amount of email from people asking me questions about domain names. The most commonly asked topic revolves around selling domain names. From my perspective, selling domain names is easy. Buying domain names is the more difficult aspect of this business and what I spend the most time doing (blog aside).

Let me illustrate what I mean. If I were to list Β Stallion.com for sale for $15,000, it would be sold within minutes. If you price a domain name well, it does not take long to sell it. Β 

On the other hand, buying excellent domain names at good prices is difficult. People and companies who have owned domain names for years have likely turned down many offers over the years. It takes perseverance and determination to find domain names and domain name owners who are willing to sell their exceptional domain names for fair / reasonable prices.

When you are able to buy exceptional domain names at fair prices, you can afford to sell them at reasonable prices if you wish, and that part is easy.

The next time you think about how difficult it is to sell domain names, perhaps you should think about the types of domain names you own and the prices you are paying. Yes, the prices I expect to get for my domain names makes it more challenging to sell them quickly. This makes buying exceptional inventory at good prices even more critical for my business. Sometimes, though, I am willing to sell domain names at prices that are very good depending on the circumstances.

People often complain about how difficult it is to sell domain names. Yes, I would agree that selling good domain names for a lot of money is difficult. I would also agree that selling poor to mediocre domain names for any amount of money is also difficult, if not impossible.

I prefer to spend my time trying to buy very good domain names for very fair prices. Yes, there is considerable risk with this approach because fair prices are often expensive, but I would rather own a small portfolio with a larger percentage of very good domain names than a very large portfolio with just a handful of good names.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. Very true. All too often if they are willing to sell at all I get the ridiculous response of $50,000 or some out of this world amount for a domain nowhere near worth that. Emailing people trying to buy domains seems largely a waste of time from my experience. 1 out of 1000 *might* work out.

  2. Nice article. I do find myself on the fence of finding it difficult to sell names. Primarily b/c either the lack of quality or resllers want a lot for a little (Good Quality/Low Prices)

  3. I didn’t know you had stallion.com. That’s a great domain, not just for the literal application but also incredibly brandable.

  4. One thing Rich Dad Poor Dad taught me is to make money on the buy side not the sell side. If you buy smart you make your money there and it is something I have always advised others who invest in names or other investments. Good point for people to remember.

  5. Buying a great name at a reasonable price is the first lesson I learned in domaining. All these names I wanted had already been bought and if they were on the market the price tag was no joke. I have since learned patience is key and waiting for the right time to buy can mean the difference between a profit or a huge return.

  6. Tell that to the poor guys who can’t sell their .ws domains now, selling is easy, you mean giving them away is easy, finding that right end user, not some scummy domain broker offering you 10 cents on the dollar.

  7. If someone is going to sell Stallion.com for 15K than first of all he should not be in this domain business (I am not targeting you). And if we are talking from domainer’s perspective, than who would sell Stallion.com for 15K unless he is having some urgency of money. In my personal experience, I have noted that buying is not difficult compare to selling because I am *not* a flipper.

    There is another example which will clarify whether selling is difficult or buying. Any domainer can think how many domains he bought 2 years back and how many he sold until now? Every person buy more number of domains than selling.

    Don’t take it personally Elliot as I just used that domain as an example as it was used by you πŸ™‚

  8. Love that Stallion name! I roll buying names at $69-$300 and flipping those at an average of $2500 to $3500 K. I’ve got about 650 domains and sell about 2-3 names per month. Part time biz for me but a I’ve carved out a nice annual return for three years in a row thanks to you and all the others I’ve learned from! Thanks for that Elliot! Someday I’ll beat you at Namejet for one of those “Stallion type names”. Like you said, it isn’t easy to acquire good names at a good price!

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