Just an observation - But, if 'Vim' is actually paying £5 a listing on domainlore. he/she must be down about £500 to £1,000 on year todate
Vim = pretty much 30% of the rubbish listings at DL
Hey Adam,
Nice to meet you..Vim here (he)...
I wasn't quite sure how to (if at all) - reply to your observation.
I think firstly, it's untrue - given that until 2 weeks ago my account on DL was changed so that I can list more domains and quicker (and yes, definitely got over excited of a late). But until those 2 weeks - I rarely listed much stuff on there. So 30% of rubbish listings - hmmm - that maths doesn't add up. That's like saying 30% of all rubbish forum comments = Adam... Simply not true!
Now look - you're the expert. I'm not even on this forum much. Ironically 3 different people texted, emailed, and whatsapped me very kindly your thoughts. So please, given your the pros - and I'm clearly 'down' - bear with me.
I'm not entirely sure I treat DL like everyone else does. There's a school of thought that because the margins are so good in domains, one needs to sell 1 in every 3.5 domains listed on DL just to make a profit. From a mathematical point of view, and a trading POV (where I most definitely am the expert) - those odds are pretty damn amazing. That of course takes into account listing fee, buying domain, etc..
But I'm not sure I think like a domainer. And when I get stuck and I ask some go the great people on this blog for guidance. People who to me come across as really knowing what they are talking about and literally survive on their domaining talents and wits. But, I do think like a trader. A commodity trader. And to me domains are like anything else, just another commodity.....
And like I said earlier I don't treat DL like others may. I have my own techniques, which so far have actually turned out to bear fruit....
How I approach DL - and I'm very sure this isn't that original an idea - is that
1) It's a great platform. Many things that I list, I'm privately contacted - and people have said things like - 'hey vim if it doesn't sell on DL, I don't mind taking it for 20 or 30' or whatever....
I never expected that to happen and more often that not within days of something expiring on DL - I will have closed the sale out and transferred the domain - This of course covers my buying fee / listing fee - and tad bit of profit...
2) Whenever I make a sale on DL - I build a new relationship - and more often that not, I will own multiple domains in each category that I buy in. So as soon as they've bought one through me on DL - I will end up over the course of 6 weeks, selling them at least another 20 domains but for a much better price point like (25 or 30).
3) After a sale even if its for over 100GBP - I go back to buyer and say if you take these other 10, I'll even drop the price for the one you got on DL
Now the reason the latter strategies excited me is because the way I make money on domains is volume. Plain and simple. I know there's a host of other strategies but I'm all about the volume game. And more importantly - PROFIT!
And given that like I said until recently I was only ever allowed to sell 3 domains maximum at a time - the strategy of up selling changed the way I view DL. ....
However, your observation over the last 2 weeks on DL are perhaps true. If we were to just look at those. Perhaps 20 listings - of which maybe 1 or 2 have sold. So my cost basis on that is 280GBP - (for listing and purchase) - the 2 domains I sold I think were for maybe 50 each - can't remember but let's just say that. So I'm 180quid out of pocket. And yes with my new account change I think I got too carried away, trying to test if more people contacted me if I listed more.
Well - I already have a buyer lined up for one of them at 35 - and someone else has offered to take them all at 22GBP each.
So Adam - yes of late , me on DL - it's been too much I know
And if you were to assume that I treat DL as a selling platform versus a marketing platform - then your observations could be true.
However mate, it's all been profit. Using just the 3 bits I mentioned above, I actually have been doing quite well. And that accounts for at least 70% of all my domains sales.