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View Full Version : Valuing domains and other questions :)



dave222
11-11-12, 11:09 PM
Hi all

Im slightly confused about valuating domain names, im currently aquiring domains some that i want to develop and some i want to hold and some to sell right away for profit ;)

So as an example for sites i want to develop

www.travellao.co.uk
www.lakesrentals.co.uk
www.lakedistrictbeds.co.uk (i live in the lakes)

I bought these last week as i want to try and 'buildout' a site on areas iv traveled to and offer infomation on the areas and hope to put ads on there to make money my questions are:

estibot values the domain travellao at $25 with 2,460 searches, can this ever gain in value? i.e if lao becomes a very popular desination to travel to then if searches go up does the value?

What other ways can i make money from a domain like these? can i 'build out' and sell on for 4 figures?, could i sell the domain straight and make a good amount?

If i do 'build it out' what adverts should i be putting on there to maximise returns?


Next Buy and sell now.......


Im also buying domains to sell now such as:

nycfithave.com
photographerinchester.co.uk
118plumber.com
fuelsaverapp.co.uk
anfieldliverpool.co.uk
pn1.co.uk

my questions:

am i buying the right domains to sell on? i do buy on impulse if im honest, i find most on 123 reg just by thinking of random domains and seeing if they are taken or not, should i use valuate and estibot to value domains or are these inaccurate?

Is it possible domains valued at say $25 could sell for 4 figures?


Buy and hold..............


Iv bought some id like to keep long term but want to aquire more for the future sort of a retirement plan etc...., so is it a good idea to snap up generic 2 word domains now with a view that they will rise in value in time?

I want to becarefull how many i buy as i will get killed on renwel fees so i need to choose wisely any pointers :)

How can you find domains that are drastically reduced in price? i use domainlore/sedo/go daddy but the good ones seem to go for silly money.


Sorry for the long post but feel i need some answers to move forward.

Many many thanks in advance

Dave

aZooZa
12-11-12, 12:47 AM
Dave, my simple advice to you would be to spend NO MORE MONEY on any of the above, or any other domains like it. They're all worthless in the scheme of things. Just my opinion and sorry to be blunt. And don't EVER believe what 'estibot' tells you. If you're looking for bargains and are willing to put some development time in, get yourself a budget of perhaps £500 and buy one or two domains on auction at domainlore.co.uk - there's rubbish on there too, but a good domain will or should stand out immediately. If it doesn't, then I'd look for another hobby and never expect to make too much money on the internet via domains.

dave222
12-11-12, 01:35 AM
Hi Azooza

Thanks for the reply, i dont understand why they are worthless the lakes ones why could i not build them out say lakesrentals for example put links to campervan hire companies and so on?

As for the others surely someone would buy them i did?

Are you saying high value domains are where i should be looking? without estibot ect how can i possibly know if what im buying will be worth the price im paying?

I saw www.fsf.co.uk on domainlore and thats getting alot of attention are these what you mean by ones that standout?

Thanks again

Dave

aZooZa
12-11-12, 03:07 AM
I agree - if you were able to build lakesrentals you would probably make a little money if you did it right. I didn't mean to be too dismissive, but you have to evaluate time -vs- return and I don't think anything you have currently is going to pass that evaluation process. On the other hand, only you can decide.

Don't get sidetracked by LLL.co.uk domains like 'fsf' - they have value but you shouldn't start there in terms of grabbing a good domain for development. It might be fine as an investment but at £464 I have a feeling the buyer might have another buyer to 'flip' it to. Of course, that's pure speculation on my part.

You're on the right track in terms of picking something you know about and can address the age-old problem of developing content for it. So in hindsight, I'd say go with the 'lakesrentals' one if you don't want to spend any more money, and have the time and drive to build it.

About a domain 'standing out' - for me it means something I feel personally has good potential for development or resale.

Good luck!

dave222
13-11-12, 12:12 AM
Hi again Azooza

Many thanks for the reply very interesting.

Whats your background you seem very knowledgable?

I first got introduced to domain names from a partner i do business with (we sell property in UK and overseas) and he said he trading domain names part time and making alot of money so he taught me how he does it, He simply buys GEO domains plus Keyword for example www.liverpoolplumber.co.uk and then he would contact plumbers by phone and mail/email etc and selll them for £5,000 per domain, im not sure exactly how many he sold if any but he claims to be selling them, i tried the same thing with www.lancasterselfstorage.co.uk and made £125 profit for 1 phone call ahrdly earth breaking but it made me go crazy and start buying all kinds of domains please see below

fastcompletion.com
fastcompletioninvestments.com
fastpropertyeducation.com
hmoinvestor.org.uk
ibiza24.co.uk
ibizarocks.info
jobsinibiza.eu
kendalcanal.co.uk
lancasterplumber.co.uk
merseysideplumber.com
nycadvert.com
nycfifthave.com
oo7.uk.com
photographerinchester.co.uk
selfstorageliverpool.com
sellmyhomequick.org.uk
sellmyhousequick.uk.com
sthelensplumber.com
titaniumdomains.com
traileradvert.com
ukdomainholdings.com
yorkshireplumber.com
propertymavericks.com
007homes.com
propertyguaranteed.com
fastpropertyoverseas
wealthofproperty.com
propertyhideaway.com
myoffshorehomes.com
exciteproperty.com
sunseekerhome.com
chilloutproperty.com
worldpropertyholdings.com
webuyhouses.uk.com
webuyhouses.gb.net
sellmyhousequick.uk.com
sellmyhomequick.org.uk
realpropertyinvesting.com
buyingmyfirstproperty.com
worldpropertyinvestments.com
cashfastforproperty.com
buyainvestmentproperty.com
anfieldliverpool.co.uk
nw1.me.uk
pn1.co.uk
leedsestateagent.co.uk
diesalapp.co.uk
diesalapp.com
driverapp.co.uk
exchangewithdelayedcompletion.com
fuelsaverapp.co.uk
fuelsaverapp.com
lpgapp.co.uk
lpgapp.com
whatisaleaseoption.co.uk
whatisaleaseoption.com
leedsestateagent.co.uk


And so now i need to workout a way to makemoney off some of these but i think i lost sight of my end user somewhere, is the GEO+keyword stratagy worth pursueing? my biz partner used to work in sales and says that plumbers/salons/glazing companies spend the most on advertising average £4-£5k per month so these are the ones to target, what do you think?

I have bought alot of property related domains as this is my core buisness so id like to focus on things im passionate about such as overseas property/travel/boxing

so from the domains you have seen do you think any are worth keeping? should i try and sell what i have or cut my losses?

Many thanks

Dave

aZooZa
14-11-12, 02:18 AM
I think the geo*trade ones are worthwhile - you have evidenced that yourself by selling one ;)

Personally, I'd get rid of all the others in that list and/or not bother to renew them.

BTW, if you have any friends that are interested in domains, please let them know about this forum ;)

You asked about my background. I've been in the computing field since 1977 so you can see that I'm an old man! You can find me on 'LinkedIn'.

Now get on that telling bone and start punting your geo*trade domains!

dave222
15-11-12, 12:14 AM
Thanks Azooza

Really helpfull as normal, so you live in China? i will find you on linked in whats your name on there?

Also one last question

How safe are registrars? as what i mean is if you have a really valuable domain how can you make sure its protected?, iv heard storys of some comanies (1*3reg) simply not renewing peoples domains even though they pay the fee and they loose the domains, whats the safest place to keep/registar your domain?

Thanks

Dave

aZooZa
15-11-12, 08:51 AM
Hi Dave

Yes, I'm a Brit expat living in China. I'll PM you my LI details.

Regarding 'safe' registrars; I have my own Nominet membership and TAG etc. so I am my 'own' registrar for .uk names. For other extensions I use Moniker.

Cheers

Dale

crabfoot
15-11-12, 03:09 PM
Moniker got taken over by Schlund early this year, and since that happened I'm going off them in lumps. No loss of reliability and service, but the prices are creeping up and they wanted to charge me $4 for a redirect ... give it 5 years and my guess is it will be as hard to transfer domains out as it is with other German registrars.

I'm sticking with Namecheap and Dynadot mostly. I've got a few with GoDaddy for the usual reasons.


How safe are registrars? as what i mean is if you have a really valuable domain how can you make sure its protected?

Mostly, the domains are safe. If a registrar goes bust (and it doesn't happen often) the domains get shared out to other registrars inside a couple of weeks. The big danger if a registrar goes down is losing the site, especially a site made with an online sitebuilder that hasn't been backed up in any way.

dave222
18-11-12, 10:17 PM
Well if you can be a registrar your self why use 12 reg, moniker etc...?

Im very concerned about a story i was told where the regstrar was paid a renewell fee but didnt renew the domain so he lost £6,000 worth of domains

So id like to be my own registrar, whats the pros and cons?

Many thanks

Dave

crabfoot
19-11-12, 09:19 AM
id like to be my own registrar, whats the pros and cons?

Many of the members here are Nominet TAG holders, which means they can register their own .uk domains. The most important reason for doing that is to get access to the database of names that are "dropping" - names with an expiring registration, that are falling back into the "pool" of unregistered names.

They try to catch the best domains as they drop, in the face of competition from other people doing exactly the same thing, in order to get domains which are worth selling or developing.

A lot of the best domains are already registered, but people are not using them, and they fall back into the pool when people can't work out what to do with them and don't pay to keep the registration going.


The biggest "con" is that it costs money. One big rule of business is that you don't spend money unless you can see how it will make you more money - investment is one thing, chucking cash into a big hole is another.


Look at it this way.
aZooZa registers his own UK domains, but uses an ICANN registrar for his other names.
He makes money from domains. If he could see a benefit to being his own registrar he'd be doing it.

Anybody can read this forum - you got in here, didn't you? Now you're asking people to tell you how they make a living so you can do it too? Be reasonable.

If you get a full answer to that question, so do all the people that are lurking around here and not posting anything worth reading. Then everybody, including you, gets more competition and has a harder time making money.