Domain Names Will Always Have Value
Will they though?
I wouldnt be so sure.
As long as we continue name-based Internet addressing, certain domain names will have value. But trying to predict the future of the Internet is like predicting which number a roulette ball will land on. All you can do is guess, and youll be wrong most of the time.
For that reason, I wouldnt hold domain names as long-term investments, believing that I was going to fund my retirement on domain sales. There are too many unknowns. Too many variables. Eventually, some 13-year-old kid in Iceland or São Paulo will come up with a technology that makes domain names obsolete.
Even if the technology stays the same, what is considered a valuable domain name can certainly change. The biggest domain selling payday I ever had was a $19,000 live auction sale in 2008. But that was a long time ago, and Im pretty sure it would be tough to get a couple of thousand dollars for the same domain name now.
Timing can be important when considering when to sell a domain.
Complete Guide To Domain Flipping
If you havent heard of domain flipping yet, dont worry, many people havent. Flipping domains can be an extremely lucrative side hustle capable of making you thousands of dollars per month by acquiring the right domains and selling them for a profit.
Need a reason to give domain flipping a try?? It’s EASY! Super easy. And it requires as little as $10 to get started. That’s right. For the same cost as your next lunch, you could get started flipping domains.
The process is simple. Just like flipping furniture or anything else, youll need to purchase your inventory before selling it for a profit.
In this post, Ill explain how you can get started flipping domains, how to pick the perfect domain names, how to sell a domain name, and much more. Keep reading to learn how you can start making money with domain flipping in no time!
What You’ll Learn
How Will People Know That My Domain Name Is Up For Sale
Any domains that you list for sale will be displayed on our ‘Pre-Owned Domains’ pages, which are shown to a wide audience 24/7. Our pages are regularly visited by people who are looking for the best domain names. All you need to do is specify the domain sale settings, and let us do the rest. Take a look at our catalogue of current domains for sale to get a better idea.
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Transfer Your Domain To The New Owner
Now that youve chosen an escrow service and payment has been made, its time to transfer your domain to the new owner.
The domain transfer process changes depending on where your domain is registered. Different domain registrars may require other steps.
However, there are always three main steps in any transfer. They are:
After the domain is transferred, the new owner will need to verify their ownership. If youre using WHOIS privacy, then you need to disable it. Otherwise, you can skip this step.
You will need the account administrator to provide authorization during the domain transfer process. So, before you initiate a transfer, make sure that the admin is up to date.
Check with the domain registrar to see which email address is listed and change it if necessary.
If you need to update the admin email, your registrar might place an anti-transfer lock on your account for up to 60 days. The transfer lock prevents fraudulent activity, but it can also delay the transfer process.
Most domain registrars place a transfer lock on domains to prevent fraud or mistakes. If your domain has a lock on it, contact your registrar to unlock it before moving on with the transfer process.
Once the domain is unlocked, youll need the transfer authorization code from your registrar. Your registrar might also refer to this code as the auth code, EPP code, or secret code.
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The Harsh Truth About Selling Domain Names
Lets begin with two important things you need to understand and accept :
Most of your domain names are probably un-sellable.
Before I dive into how you can boost your domain sales, its time for a reality check. The number one impediment to what is referred to as secondary market domain name sales is the quality or lack thereof of the inventory.
In general, the kind of inventory that sells best in todays world is one-word, two-word, and sometimes three-word English language .com domain names that directly relate to popular business products or services.
If you are holding non .com inventory , or domains that consist of invented words, or are phrases, be prepared for the sad probability that this inventory will not sell in your lifetime.
Of course there are going to be exceptions to this, but they are, by their very nature, exceptions. The cold, hard reality is that secondary market domain names are not very liquid assets. This probably means that most of your inventory is not going to sell. Ever.
Its still a horrendously inefficient market.
Most end user buyers dont know where to look for secondary market domain names. They dont know how to contact the owners, nor do they have any idea of how to actually purchase and transfer a domain name. As a result, they become generally confused and frustrated by the whole process.
Also Check: How To Buy A Domain Name For Free
How To Sell Domain Names
The first step to sell a domain is to prepare a list of the domains you possess. Now shortlist the ones you need to sell. Next, . Though it’s not mandatory , having a base price in mind makes it easy with the selling process.
Now, you need to list your domain for sale. You can visit websites like GoDaddy which provide the option of putting up domains for sale. Once your domain is listed, now watch how people place absurd bids to purchase your domain. If you’re thinking so, you’re wrong. It takes time for a sale to happen unless you have an extremely visible and profitable domain name. It will take weeks or even months to receive that first purchase offer.
Find Strong Domain Names To Sell
The first step in flipping a domain is to find the right domain. This can take hours of research and some good old fashioned luck.
To find a domain name, go to any domain registrar and search based on topics you think would be a good candidate.
Some domain flippers have software that helps to analyze a domain name to lessen the time it takes to vet a domain.
Once youve found a good domain name, purchase it with a registrar. It typically costs around $10 annually to keep a domain. Not sure if your domain is a good candidate? Dont worry, Ill help you decide below.
Looking to make more money? Check out my complete post on making money online for beginners!
Related: Best Items to Flip
Recommended Reading: How Do I Purchase A Domain Name
You Just Never Know What May Or May Not Sell
Ive had the .net and .org versions of my name which is pretty common up for sale for years, and so far, no takers. But I suppose even though its a common name, it still requires a very specific buyer.
But Ive also had a four-letter dictionary word domain up for sale for years without any takers. Its problem? Its a .net. If it was a .com, I could have sold it many times over.
We talked about managing expectations earlier, and thats certainly a key factor in selling domains. Being prepared will give you every advantage. As for patience and expectations, well, those are up to you.
If you decide to sell or have a good domain selling story, let me know in the comments. Im interested in hearing from you.
*30% of the worlds population is under the age of 18, and there are 4.5 billion Internet users, so 1.35 billion of us are under 18.
How Much Money Can You Make Domain Flipping
Some people have made hundreds of thousands of dollars flipping just one, yes ONE, domain! Domains such as z.com, toys.com, and slots.com all sold for over $5 million, just for the domain name!
Now, theres a good chance you wont run into any of these domains in 2021, however, the ability to make money still exists. Even if you can purchase a domain name for $10 and sell it for $100, thats a $90 profit. Multiply that by 100 domains and you can easily make an extra $9,000 annually from this side hustle.
Domain flipping can be as profitable as you can make it. Every time you flip a domain name you can then reinvest your profits and buy another domain to flip.
Read Also: How To Buy A Domain Name That Is Taken
How Do I Manage The Domains I Have Up For Sale
Easily, by using your MyFreeola account. Every GetDotted customer receives a free MyFreeola Control Panel to manage and setup every aspect of their domain names, including putting domain names up for sale. You’ll be able to choose which domains to put up for sale, adjust prices and decide whether you’d like a holding page, or your own website at your domain.
Consider Turning Your Domain Into A Profitable Website
Sometimes you might come across a domain that is a great option to build a profitable website on and instead of flipping it, you can choose to build a business out of it.
Whether your goal is to start a blog, build an e-commerce business, or grow various other types of websites, it’s important to remember that it’s okay to NOT flip a domain just because it may be profitable. You may have the possibility of making significantly more money by keeping the domain and growing a business with it. Once your business and website have grown, then you could consider selling it to cash in on your efforts.
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Price Your Domain Attract More Buyers
Domains offered at a fixed price, sell 3 times faster. This is the most popular option among potential buyers. Therefore accordingly our partners prefer to display fixed-priced domains on their sites. Use this extra sales boost and set a price for your domains right away. This will display your domains for sale prominently!
Sell Your Domains On Flippa
Although Flippa is best known as the leading platform for buying and selling websites, the domain name marketplace has grown quickly and is now a leading product for selling domains names.
Flippa attracts a different audience than the typical domain name marketplace, and sometimes a domain name that would not get much attention in the more crowded and traditional domain name marketplaces will find a seller on Flippa.
This happened to me with one of my own domain names, a two-word, technology-oriented .com. I had it listed just about everywhere for a year or two, even had it in auction on GoDaddy a few times, but I could never get this domain name to sell.
Figuring I had nothing to lose, and always game to try new things, I listed it on Flippa. To my pleasant surprise, the domain sold for several thousand dollars and I made a tidy little profit.
From my observation, the domain names that sell best on Flippa are those that appeal to buyers who will want to develop them into full-blown websites.
If you do try to sell a domain name on Flippa, take advantage of the fact you can include a detailed description of the domain name in your listing, which is something that the traditional domain marketplaces dont offer.
Recommended Reading: Why Buy Multiple Domain Names
All Good Domain Names Are Not Taken
Hey, the possibilities are endless when it comes to domain flipping so do not think that all profitable domain names are already taken. At this time, almost 90 million .COM domains have been registered, so people tend to think that there are not many good domains left. That is not true since you still have the opportunity to incorporate two or three word target keywords.
Also, you can still explore new avenues with domain names that have never been used before or are about to expire anytime soon. Such domain names inevitably make their way into the marketplace again where you can get hold of them. You can easily get hold of such domain names by using advanced tools for filtering and research.
Opt To Purchase Com Extensions
Today you can purchase many different kinds of website extensions. If youve ever seen a website end in .co or .net, these extensions are usually purchased if the .com extension has already been taken.
The downside of these domain names is that they tend to be more expensive when purchasing through an auction. However, whenever you flip a domain with a .com extension, you’re likely to be more profitable.
Read Also: How To Renew A Website Domain
How Do I Sell My Domain
So, it’s time for you to sell your domain. Here are the simple steps to pricing, listing and selling your domain through GoDaddy.
1. Find out what your domain is worth.
Youll want to set a realistic price. Often, people list their domains for a price higher than someone is willing to pay. One place to find out the sale prices of comparable domains is free GoDaddy Domain Value and Appraisal tool.
The GoDaddy Domain Value and Appraisals tool uses machine learning to predict the value of your domain. It uses mass quantities of data and word tokenization to produce a model that can assess a domains value.
Just type in the domain you want to sell and you’ll learn the estimated value, and well as comparable domains sold. Even better, its all free.
2. Make communication easy.
Be sure to expose your contact information on WHOIS. That way, when an interested buyer looks up your domain on WHOIS, they can find your publicly available information and contact you directly.
3. Put out a “For Sale” sign.
If you havent already, set up a single-page website on your domain, called a park page or domain parking. This page lets visitors know that the domain is owned and for sale. Its the simplest way to announce your domain is for sale. But to announce it far and wide, youll want to list your domain on some online marketplaces.
4. List your domain on online marketplaces.
List your domain name on Afternic. Its the big name in after-market sales and is a platform with a vast audience.
Why Domain Value Tools Are Wrong
The worst tools out there are the domain value tools.
These estimate the domain valuation of your domain name using keywords and some equation that never gets released to the public.
These are generally offered from anyone who sells domain names like GoDaddy.
The trouble is these tools are almost always completely wrong.
For one thing, youll find that even ridiculous domain names will often be evaluated by these tools as being worth several hundred dollars.
This brings up a really interesting common-sense question…
If all these domain names youre buying are worth hundreds of dollars, why are they all available for $15 a year? Or less, depending on the sale price.
A domain name is worth what someone will pay for it. Period.
These companies have a financial interest in claiming high values, but its like the old baseball card guides that said all common cards were worth a nickel.
Except that no one ever wanted the common cards, so in reality, they werent worth anything.
Dont trust these tools at all. They dont even work for general guidance.
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