How many members do this for a living?

[domsaleuk]

As an add on to the original question

For those of you that do make a living from selling the domains (not developing them) - what would you say is the best method of selling and who do you aim to sell to generally ?

 

[accelerator]

For those of you that do make a living from selling the domains (not developing them) - what would you say is the best method of selling and who do you aim to sell to generally ?

Best way to make a top sale on a top domain is to go straight to the end user. I would only contact end users if you have top flight category killer generics that you can build a case for. Send a good sales letter and build the case for ownership. Be patient. Also, see domainsherpa.com and dnjournal.com for more advice.

Rgds

 

[Edwin]

For those of you that do make a living from selling the domains (not developing them) - what would you say is the best method of selling and who do you aim to sell to generally ?

Point them all at a sales page and let the buyers come to you.

 

[OwnThisDomain.co.uk]

Point them all at a sales page and let the buyers come to you.

Agreed. I do exactly the same. I very rarely make an approach to an end user. Interested parties will almost always find you at some point.

Great thread!

Best wishes, Richard

 

[Jamie101]

Brilliant thread, nice to see that a lot of people are making good money from domains, websites etc.

Hopefully I'll be making as much money as people on here in the near future. I'm just making enough money to pay for college and a few other things, but I'm 18 so I've some time to try increase what I'm earning online

 

[SCJohnson]

SCJohnson and boxfish, I'd be interested to know whether you stock products or use dropshipping with your eCommerce sites? I keep considering starting an eCommerce site myself, but then I hear stories of needing huge amounts of stock, or dealing with unreliable dropshippers, as well as dealing with customers and it just seems easier to go the affiliate route. Although I always suspect that you may have less problems with G with a proper eCommerce site, than you would an affiliate site?

I both stock and 'dropship' products on my main ecommerce website. I sell car and motorcycle parts.

I think dropshipping has got something of a bad name and I don't dropship in the usual sense. I expect what most peoples idea of dropshipping, is to search Google for dropshipping and see all these cheap electronic wholesalers with mostly bad reviews and forum threads of them letting customers down.

My advice would be to find a product you're interested in, then find a supplier who doesn't publically offer dropshipping and call them up to see what they can offer you.

I find that a conversation along the lines of "I'm interested in stocking a selection of your products, but if I have a customer who wants this particular widget, would you be able to send direct to them?". You'll find some companies haven't even heard of dropshipping, but yet have been sending direct to customers for years.

Hope this helps...

Steve

 

[donreeco]

Cheers guys! Interesting that you both have suppliers that will send directly to the customer, but maybe not using the kind of dropshipping that caries a bad reputation. Some good tips there. Thanks for your openness - rep added

 

[BREWSTERS]

For those of you that do make a living from selling the domains (not developing them) - what would you say is the best method of selling and who do you aim to sell to generally ?

Edwin for sure and maybe OwnThisDomain (I'm sorry - I don't know the size of your portfolio OTD) have thousands of domains which makes their approach to sales viable.

I have approx 300 names - ideally I would only have 10-20 better quality ones. My approach is to directly contact end users which are currently using an inferior domain than the one I want to sell them. If you can point to genuine reasons why yours is better, you've got a fair chance of making a sale.

Example: I've just emailed a couple of private doctors in the US who use a .net (and own the .org) for their website. I bought the .com at auction a couple of weeks ago - this is a generic name, 11 years old. Their website is only 6 months old; they reg'd the .net back then and also secured the .org - they've got to be hot for the .com, but if not, there are loads of their competitors who maybe would be.

Another example - couple of weeks ago I sold a name to a big name 'guru' in his field. This guy already owns as many domains as I do, but this was a good name. He bought it most likely to take it off the market - it was worth $xxxx to him to stop someone else using it.

There are lots of reasons for someone to buy a domain - it doesn't always have to a category killer name, just an improvement on what they've got, or a tactical purchase - one that can help them widen their offering.

 

[TallBloke]

Thanks to all contributors for making this an interesting thread.

From what I've read in blog post by premium .com owners such as Frank Schilling and Rick Schwartz they recommend buying the best name that you can afford ...as good names are theoretically easier to sell.

I've sold just a few .uk's myself and have been wondering if it's worthwhile spending more time researching domains to sell on.

I wonder what the market/competition is like for .za or maybe .nz?

John

 

[accelerator]

I wonder what the market/competition is like for .za or maybe .nz?

Best to start with .co.uk and .com before you try less developed markets IMO. The key is identifying a good buy on the secondary market that few others have noticed. Make sure you buy a quality domain, don't be tempted by anything that's not quite right.

Rgds

 

[Edwin]

I wonder what the market/competition is like for .za or maybe .nz?

.co.nz is still quite an immature market at the moment (we've got just over 250 in our wider portfolio) but although it's a much smaller market than Australia, there's no reason why New Zealand can't start to appreciate just like the rapid ramp-up happening in .com.au names at the moment (though of course the relative sizes of the 2 markets will dictate comparatively lower prices in .co.nz)

After all, NZ businesses need to be online just as much as their counterparts in other countries, and a strong generic name never goes amiss, especially in the hotly contested tourism market where it takes something pretty special to stand out...

 

[TallBloke]

Thanks Edwin.

Yes, I presume there might be some half decent names within the smaller NZ market. And unlike the AU market, there aren't the same restrictions to ownership.

 

[Edwin]

Yes, I presume there might be some half decent names within the smaller NZ market. And unlike the AU market, there aren't the same restrictions to ownership.

BTW, strong .co.nz generics get typeins. Not nearly as much as I expect the equivalent .co.uk names would (we don't have any matching pairs to test) but they definitely do get some. So there is a heartbeat of "background" traffic even before you develop a site.

 

[DannyB]

There are lots of reasons for someone to buy a domain - it doesn't always have to a category killer name, just an improvement on what they've got, or a tactical purchase - one that can help them widen their offering.

I have to agree with the tactical purchase thing...sold a couple recently (only for £xxx) but their exact words were "that it was to stop their competitors from having them"....that is a tactical purchase right?