Archive for the ‘Domain Monetization’ Category

Afternic experiment of January 2020

Hello everyone,

With the last post where I discussed of doing an experiment with my entire portfolio by moving from Uniregistry sales lander to Afternic and today I would like to share some data with everyone to understand what happened last month.

As I keep sharing the number of domains in my portfolio which has now grown little over 3,500 to keep in mind.

I was contacted by many fellow domain investors for knowing how the new experiment worked out for me and I’m thankful to each of those for asking me.

My Afternic manager shared the reports from which I would like to disclose some key stats for better understanding.

  1. There were inquiries on little over 500 domains in the entire month of January 2020.
  2. Had couple of sales, one of which was DKAM.com which sold via BIN for $15,888. My first sale of 2020 and that too of 5 figures!
  3. One of the sale happened via GoDaddy cart and the other via Reseller cart which I think means via partner registrar of Afternic.
  4. None of those sales happened via sales lander which to me doesn’t mean the change hasn’t worked out. Sometimes the leads are in progress/negotiations going on with brokers and you never know when the domain gets sold.

Overall, I’m happy with the change even though there isn’t a sale made yet via the change I made last month. Also to note, the change I made was after a week was passed. However, I’ll stick to my plan of giving this change a time of at least 6 months and see how it works out.

A tip to increase commission at Uniregistry

Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

It’s been some time since I last posted but with holidays I took a break from postings as well. But that doesn’t mean I stopped domaining 😀 I was actively buying domains, though at a slow speed because the prices have gone as well as need to sell domains in order to have the cash flow for buying more domains. As with most domainers, the summer period is slow as people are on holidays. August can be a tough one because many of the corporate purchasing teams have vacations.

Coming back to the topic… I recently sold a domain using Uniregistry lander and asked buyer if he is willing to take the domain at Uniregistry. He wasn’t willing to take at first but eventually took it there by creating an account. What I did was to provide him my Uniregistry affiliate link to open his Uniregistry account. Once he did and took the domain there, I’ll be paid commission on every renewals/registrations/transfers he make into his account until he uses that account actively.

Next time when you sell a domain when the domain is registered with Uniregistry, make sure to ask if the buyer wants the domain there itself. Not only you will make a bit of commission, but also the domain transfer will be completed in no time and you’ll get your funds much quickly.

You won’t make a fortune here but it’s better to make something than nothing at all. And if you’re a frequent seller, you could bring in many buyers to keep their domains with Uniregistry and you will make additional $$ as bonus.

From $1,000 offer to a $7,500 sale and another $4,500 sale

Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

Like many of us are noticing the number of inquiries and sales are on slow side and it’s been the case for quiet some time now. As the regular readers of this blog knows I stopped outbound marketing at the very beginning of 2014 until last month of this year. However, I recently started again for low quality domains to sell them and buy some higher quality of domains.

Both the recent sales were inbound sales. First sale was of Ravan.com whose initial inquiry came in Jan 2017 with $1,000 starting offer. I countered with 20K and after exchanging several emails, buyer finally stopped at 5K. I declined and later forwarded the lead to Uniregistry broker and we ended up having $7,500. I acquired this domain in 2013.

Another sale was JonathanLee.com which I had put up BIN for $6,888 at Afternic but received an offer of $4,500 through Afternic. I countered with $5,888 but eventually accepted the initial and max offer presented by buyer of $4,500.

Although I like investing in 1-2 word person names and both above sales were person names but it’s really been difficult to sell them like we can move on with brandables, products and service related domains. I would especially suggest to newbies not to invest in person names heavily and focus on other types mentioned earlier.

Both domains were acquired in 3 figures in total so it was a great ROI. Like many of you ask how much I paid for my sold domains, so let me share this time with you. I paid $485 for JonathanLee.com in 2014.

Feel free to give your feedback and if you like to share your recent sales.

From $2,000 offer to a $12,500 sale

Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

It’s been great year so far in terms of $$$ of sales but the number of sales are very poor but I would say overall it’s fantastic.

So here is another sale which I wanted to share. Many readers asked me the purchase price or at least the price range I should share so I have decided to disclose the price range. Normally I don’t share because buyer might feel I overpaid considering the ROI made by the seller.

Anyhow, the domain in question is Enkla.com which I sold for $12,500. Bought in 3 figs range. Buyer came directly through WHOIS and offered 2K when I asked to present an offer. When I said offers only in 5 figs will be entertained, they came up with 3K and 3.6K. With no positive response from my end, they revised their offer and presented 10K. My next move was to shift from giving the price range to quoting the exact asking price which was 15K. Finally the deal was finalized at 12.5K which was the middle of both our quote and offered prices.

from-2000-offer-to-a-12500-sale

During the entire process, I was *NOT* happy with Escrow.com for the first time through which the deal was completed. For more detail about this, I will share it in one of my next posts.

As always your feedback, suggestion and/or criticism is welcome so feel free to shoot one 😉

From $23,000 offer to a $24,000 sale

Hello and Assalamo Alaikum,

It’s been some time I published my last post but that was due to guests at my place and was on little tour of hilly areas in my country. It seems I am back in action now 😉

Looking at the post title, one would definitely wonder that when I got starting offer of $23,000, why did I settle for 1K extra and sold it. Let me unfold the story for you…

From $23,000 offer to a $24,000 sale

The domain in question is 43Things.com which was nothing but a parking revenue generating from around 750,000 backlinks! It’s been making hundred of dollars every month for me and I had plan to sell this domain for at least 20K. I once listed in GoDaddy Auctions but didn’t meet the reserves and someone contacted me privately during that time and offered up to $10,000 which I happily declined.

Last month the buyer (current owner) of 43Things.com contacted and asked if this domain is up for sale and what I am looking for. As always, I asked the buyer to present his offer and it came out healthy one $23,000. I countered with $25,000 because I don’t usually quote high price when I get a decent opening offer and always price out what I actually would ask other buyers.

He countered with $24,000 which I accepted. This guy was really cool to deal with and he did wire the payment at Escrow.com within 24 hours of his first email of inquiry! Within 2 days the entire deal was completed except Escrow.com to verify transaction and release funds.

It was my 7th sale of the year and another 5 figure sale of 2016. Going great in terms of generating cash flow but number of sales are disappointing. Overall, it’s been fantastic year.

Feel free to give your feedback and share your recent sales.