Buying / Selling Domains

[Kiada]

Hey I'm new here, discovered the forum today and theres so much information! I'm not going to start another 'where do I start?' topic, but rather I'd like to ask a couple of questions on buying and selling domains (apologies if these are newbie questions.)

1) Is it possible to make "pocket money" sitting around searching for unregistered domains, registering them and then selling them on places like sedo? Say registering a snappy .com for £8 and selling it for a little more?

2) What do buyers look for when looking for domains to purchase? Is it just a snappy name, or do they look for domains that already generate lots of traffic? (if the latter, then I guess the first question is defunct!)

Any info appreciated

[Clinton]

Hi Kiada, welcome to experienced-people.net

There was a news article + video I saw not too long ago about a woman who was living in a trailer and she started buying and selling domain names. She makes several thousand dollars a month now. I can't seem to find the link but the story seemed very credible.

It's not easy finding unregistered dot coms, but not impossible. There are, of course, other TLDs.

People do also look for parked domains that generate revenue.

[Kiada]

Interesting Sorry I put this in the wrong section originally.

I mean the time factor involved in searching for domains isnt a problem - too much time on my hands at the minute. So its possible to make a turnaround on domains purely based on the domain name itself?

Is there a few key tips on domain names you could offer? One I read on here was about having the full search term in the name itself (e.g. custombuiltblogs I saw in the other forum). Theres also the topic about the four letter domain hooperman had up, so four letter domains are quite valuable too? (incidentally if you read this hooperman, I'd be interested in knowing how much it ended up going for to say it started with no reserve! )

I'm basically just feeling my way around and seeing where I fit in within all this!

[ClaytonL]

Here is a good article to get you started http://www.namepros.com/featured-art...ner-guide.html

[hooperman]

(incidentally if you read this hooperman, I'd be interested in knowing how much it ended up going for to say it started with no reserve! )

Hi Kiada! That domain went for $111. I think I may have got more, but I did a very poor job of "selling" it and I only considered Flippa.

I mean the time factor involved in searching for domains isnt a problem - too much time on my hands at the minute.

If you have a lot of time, would you consider developing some sites as well as buying/selling domains?

[Kiada]

Hey hooperman - yeah I definitley would. It just seems like theres a pretty steep learning curve to get going really. I can code in html, css, js and php etc so it isn't really the web design aspect - if you could point me in the right direction to getting started with developing sites that make money I'd really appreciate it though

[hooperman]

Hey hooperman - yeah I definitley would. It just seems like theres a pretty steep learning curve to get going really. I can code in html, css, js and php etc so it isn't really the web design aspect - if you could point me in the right direction to getting started with developing sites that make money I'd really appreciate it though

Well I can give you a domain for free for you to experiment on if you like. If you want, you can take one of the following (not all!):

• diet related domain with 75 inbound links from assorted websites including article submission sites. No content.
• Myspace related domain with 962 IBL (PR3). No content.
• Tattoo domain with 63 IBL (all from the same site, unfortunately). No content.
• SEO related domain with no links, but you can keep the content on it if you want, it's up to you.

I've had them lying around gathering dust for ages and I know I won't even get around to selling them. If one of those takes your fancy, tell me which one and I'll transfer it to you. I've got a developer license for some swish professional Wordpress themes that allows me to transfer one to you if you don't want to code.

This is just about the best forum to ask for advice on how to develop it, so you're in the right place

[Kiada]

Thanks, thats a generous offer

I'm in two minds now. Basically I have a unique idea of my own, and I learned php / mysql / js / ajax whilst developing it from scratch.. got the whole backend CRUD coded and also a partial frontpage, before realising how sloppy / unorganised my coding actually was. Decided I'd need to re-write the whole site from scratch, most likely with a php mvc framework and gargh.. just finding it hard to motivate myself to start from the beginning again! I've been working out the Kohana framework, but it feels poorly documented for a newbie and some of the libraries aren't easy to pick up. What I'd really like is to find someone willing to co-create it, someone to bounce ideas off etc. but I'm having a hard job finding someone. Anyways.. if it isnt too much trouble, do you think I could maybe pm you with the basic idea of the site and get your quick two cents on how I might monetize it? If not thats fine, you've been a good help regardless

I already have VPS hosting and whatnot, so now I just need some sites to fill it up with! I'm from Carlisle btw, not a million miles away I can't seem to edit my profile at the minute though, tells me I dont have the correct privileges! odd.

[hooperman]

Sure, PM me, I'll do my best

[QualityNonsense]

In answer to question number one, a lot of people will tell you 'no'. The reality is a bit more complex: that you have to develop a knack, take some chances and see where it gets you.

I registered one domain (.com, two word phrase) fresh c. 2 years ago for $8, and sold it almost exactly a year ago for c. $2000 (50% cash + 50% in product).

Obviously this is not typical - I registered dozens more around the same time that I didn't sell, and let drop.

<plug>I have a Firefox addon, Domain Lookup, which i used to find that particular domain and a few others I've sold for smaller sums since</plug>.