Over the course of the last few months, a couple of people have emailed me and commented about my selling more domain names lately. Perhaps it was spurred by my NameJet auctions, sale listings, or possibly people monitoring my domain name purchases and sales. Whatever the case may be, it is true that I have been selling more domain names lately.
When I got involved in the domain investment space, it was as a quick flipper. I would buy a domain name and hope to sell it ASAP. The margins varied, but I did pretty well buying and selling domain names quickly. I did this for quite some time.
A couple of years ago, I shifted my business model a bit and decided I would begin buying names to hold until the best offer came around. One of the main reasons for this is the difficulty in acquiring good inventory. It was getting more challenging to get great domain names at reasonable prices, and when I profitably sold a domain name, it was tough to replace it in my portfolio to replicate. I figured it would be better to buy a name for $15k and hold out for $50k+ rather than try to quickly sell it. I rejected many offers made via DNS that weren’t close enough to retail, even though many were profitable.
As my wife can attest, I am not the most patient person. I abhor sitting in traffic, will pay more so I don’t have to wait in line somewhere, and I can’t stand sitting around wasting time. The same can probably be said about my domain investments. I don’t have the patience to sit around and wait for the best buyer to emerge. As a result, I have been finding myself looking to flip domain names as I did in the past.
I still own quite a few assets that I am content holding onto until the right buyer comes around. I’ve turned down multiple good offers on domain names like RER.com, Lilac.com, EventPlanner.com, BrandManagement.com, and several others. I have no incentive to move those for less than retail price. Other investments of mine have more price flexibility, and I have been selling them more regularly.
My plan is to continue to buy domain names and hold the best of the best for retail offers. In the meantime, I have been selling more of the decent to good inventory when profitable. I enjoy speculating on domain names and quickly reselling them profitably. There’s something to be said about the thrill of taking a 5 figure chance on something and making a quick profit. Some of these deals may be for less than I could get at some point in the future, but I find it more exciting and interesting to do this.
I realize many domain investors target that perfect buyer hoping for the once in a lifetime sale. The reality is that perfect buyer often never shows up but renewals have to be paid on a large portfolio of names. Yes, high-end inventory is difficult to replace but many buyers have limited budgets and will opt for a lesser or even reg fee alternative if the asking price is outside their budget.
Given that you are selling more domains, are you buying more? Or does the reduced sales price make it more difficult to acquire decent inventory?
I am buying more or about the same. I have never done a spend analysis, so I can’t say for sure.
Can totally relate. Even in our small Aussie market, there are domains I have flipped that I now wish I had held on to.
But I think it is a road we all have to travel initially. Understanding of better routes comes afterwards.
The best thing I have disciplined myself to do in the last 12 months is say “No” more often! 🙂
I think what you do exceptionally well in your investing strategy El is keeping an excellent handle on the current realistic market values of your domains and thus you’re able to sort them properly for either short or long term speculation which then gives you above average ROI’s compared to most domainers who tend to just make up prices without really doing much thought or market analysis.
Each time, renewals are up i tend to analyze how many inquiries the domain in question has got so far.. if multiple, i tend to hold it for a longer while for a ROI maximizing offer to come in one day.. if none to max. 1 or 2 over the course of a whole past year then i mark that domain accordingly in my portfolio management tool and decide to sell it once the next realistic offer comes in…
of course there are also domains that focus on certain trends so i have to take that into the equation and be more patient with them..
The greatest challenge of a domainer is the replacement of a portfolio. Juicy domain names are hard to come by.