Author Topic: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?  (Read 5309 times)

playtah

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Hello fellow Mustachians!

Recently I decided to try a little fun side-gig. I bought some domain names (using promo codes, I got most of them for $1.99 on GoDaddy).  I figured I'd see if I could make any money trying to pick trendy ones, and then selling them on the aftermarket.  So far, I haven't sold one, but I have some more auctions coming up.  I've tried several auction marketplaces: GoDaddy Auctions, Sedo.com, Bido.com, Afternic.com, etc.  I'm focusing on Bido.com right now. 

Have any of you ever done anything like this? Is it worth it?  Also, I know that some people "flip" the domain name by buying it, building a website, driving traffic to it, and THEN selling it.  Have any of you tried this as well?  I have no coding experience or anything, but I can get around fairly well in Wordpress. 

Just curious if this will make money, or simply be a lesson in what doesn't work :)

MakingSenseofCents

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2014, 04:25:41 PM »
I don't know much about flipping websites, but have you looked into Flippa as well?

playtah

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2014, 04:53:52 PM »
MakingSenseofCents,

I didn't know Flippa existed!  Thank you!

MakingSenseofCents

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2014, 06:21:39 PM »
MakingSenseofCents,

I didn't know Flippa existed!  Thank you!

Welcome! :)

grantmeaname

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2014, 07:07:26 PM »
What economic value are you providing? Why would this be a profitable endeavor at which you could consistently make more than $5 an hour at, based on the economic fundamentals of what you're doing?

playtah

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2014, 09:04:14 PM »
grantmeaname,

I guess I kind of looked at it like finding an item at a thrift store and selling it on eBay. Except this isn't a physical item, more like digital real estate.  The way I'm doing it, I'm just trying to find domain names that are/might become "hot" and that someone would like to use for a website they'd make.  I'm just trying it out, and so far it isn't lucrative for the amount of money I'm willing to put into it. (For example, some people spend thousands of dollars on a domain name at an auction, and then turn around and try to find a higher buyer.) It really wouldn't be good for more than hobby income for me, but it is kind of fun to see if I can find good names and sell them.

bobsmiley

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2014, 09:41:19 PM »
now is a really bad time to buy domains as the floodgates are about to open for all kinds of new TLDs. As SOON as those open that will be the time to buy.

grantmeaname

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2014, 05:43:51 AM »
I guess I kind of looked at it like finding an item at a thrift store and selling it on eBay. Except this isn't a physical item, more like digital real estate.  The way I'm doing it, I'm just trying to find domain names that are/might become "hot" and that someone would like to use for a website they'd make.
But those people can buy domain names for $1.99 just like you can, and they can always choose a slightly different name - URLs aren't exactly a limited commodity and you're not improving them or providing a significant economic service to the buyers. If you were, you might be able to think about making a real income, but it's hard for me to think the novelty of taking one of a million similar digital claims and relisting it unchanged for sale elsewhere is a service that can be worth even tens of dollars an hour.

playtah

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2014, 09:51:15 AM »
grantmeaname,

Good point. It was an interesting experiment for me at least!

grantmeaname

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Re: Flipping/selling domain names - anyone have any success or tips?
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2014, 10:01:35 AM »
Yeah, it seems like something that would be interesting to learn about and experiment with.