Similar to what I’ve done previously in three or six month updates, I’m sharing some of my domain sales from the first half of 2017. There is always room for improvement, but I’m very happy with the sale amounts and the balance of liquid vs descriptive domains.
- CCC.com – Ranging from the low end around $700 (IX4.com, TL4.com) to the higher end in the $3,000-$4,000+ range (P82.com, 65b.com, 87x.com) and others in between (AQ7.com, 8LM.com). With a maximum acquisition price in the $400-$500 range a couple years ago, these sure have treated me well, but my inventory is sadly running low.
- Other liquid stuff – including ZNCK.com, 7F.org and Y1.org. I picked up the .org’s privately at the end of last year, knowing they were under-priced at the time, and I was able to unload them a few months later for nearly a double before commission. They didn’t make me a ton of money in gross dollars, but these types of gains add up over the years when profits are reinvested. ZNCK.com was from a portfolio purchase a couple years back, where the average price was $xx per domain.
- HolyCow.com – I discussed this one previously, and it wasn’t a new sale, but I received the second of three equal payments, via an Escrow.com domain holding transaction, so it’s a sale in my mind. Now that I’ve received 2/3 of the payment, I wouldn’t be heartbroken if the buyer defaults on the third payment and I get the domain back. I don’t expect they will default, and I hope their business continues to succeed, because this Switzerland-based fast casual restaurant is led by several high-quality individuals.
- Welcoming.com – I picked this up at the end of last year, and was fortunate to have an end user approach me through my Uniregistry for-sale page within a couple months, and pay an excellent multiple for my short hold. The buyer rebranded and upgraded from Welcome-Media.fr, and they’ve recently rolled out their site (linked screenshot below). I’ve talked about not loving “-ing” domains, but now that I’ve had good experiences with this domain and Transporting.com, perhaps I should re-assess my attitude.
For all the newcomers to the domain industry, keep in mind that for every domain that is successfully sold to an end user, there are hundreds of domains sitting in my portfolio that remain unsold. Don’t let anyone lead you to believe investing in domains is easy, or a quick path to riches. It’s neither.
As always, you’re welcome to share your recent sales, or any constructive comments on those listed above. I’m off on a little run today/tonight, so bear with any slow responses.
I hope to get another post out tomorrow with how the proceeds from the sales above were reinvested.
thanks for sharing your sales
The ‘ing’ ending sale was interesting. Do you think end users would accept using ‘welcoming’ because ‘welcome’ is a magnitude higher. So they know it’s not the best but budget dictates? That’s without knowing your sales prices of course.
John, I think that’s a big part of it. Welcome.com is owned by CNET, so I’m sure they wouldn’t let that go for anything less than a healthy 6-figure price. After Welcome.com is ruled out, I personally would take Welcoming.com over alternatives like TheWelcome.com, MyWelcome.com, Welcome.net, or their prior Welcome-Media.fr.
Also I think what needs to be noted is that it’s a French company. So whether it’s Welcome or Welcoming .. both actually are more of a “brandable” because “welcome” actually isn’t a real word in French, so in a strange way the difference between _ing and non-_ing is actually less than it would be for an English business for this situation.
It also should be noted that more French people know English words than the other way around .. so I can see this working.