For the last couple years I have been contemplating retiring from my family business and going full time into domaining. I’m trying to gauge whether this is just a phase or I’m just physically tired from a lot of work. Tired of doing the same thing for 20 straight years. Tired of the rest of my family taking for granted what I do for the company. Or just want to prove to myself that I can do something special and make a lot of money in domain investing. I would be giving up my security for my sanity. Its just scary not having a regular income to provide for my family. I have talked privately to my friends in the industry about possible job opportunities but have not really let my intentions be known publicly until this moment. I think I have more business skills than I do sales skills but most likely my sales skills would be more in demand. Who knows what will happen, but I absolutely love domains and the domain business and would love to make it a life. I love the nursery, I love my family, but opportunity and quality of life are very important things. I’m going to explore to find out if something offers more of each. Sorry to get so deep on you but this is why I write a blog. To tell you what I’m thinking about and talking about real life stuff. This is one of things going on right now. Here is today’s list.
RentGear.com 19 years old . I’m thinking skiing or any winter things that people only do periodically
PathSmart.com 16 years old. No bidders. Not a bad brand for $12
CafeMarijuana.com I think they are opening these in the Colorado McDonalds. Getting a few bids
Unkept.com How in the world does this have no bidders? It may have one by the time you read this but it didn’t when I wrote this
AUUM.com Pretty domain IMO. Cheaper than it used to be with the new Chinese favorite change up
SlickDomains.com I figured one of you may want to change the name of your company to this. Only one bidder
KNDK.com Ahh the oh so hot K flanking the ends. Should do well
RocketCloud.com Ohhh. Love this one. I like rocket and cloud names though. 11 years old
ELBW.com The sad part is a company called Elbow will buy this
Benzhang.com Ben Zhang must REALLY want this name judging by the current price
227888.com 888 never disappoints . Fantastic price
HealthPricer.com A health insurance comparison site in the making
HV.TV I honestly thought the bid would be much higher than where it is. Maybe I overvalued LL.tvs
VirtualTube.com VR videos are already here. Just not sure if tube names are still a thing
TDXB.com I think they are on the weak end of Chinese letters but the price says they are OK
3r.net Coming up later. Will be interesting to see what a CC.net goes for
New GODADDY COUPON CODE: None Work, None. Click the link to See that None of them Work Godaddy Click This For No Savings
Ornithology.com The study of birds and yet nobody wants it. Never going to meet reserve. 0% chance but still an awesome name. But bird dudes got no money
Kiev.io The capital city with no bidders at $1
ForSolar.com Comes with 76 other names but I only want this one
ForMarijuana.com Same here. Love the lead domains, don’t want the rest. At $2
CreditCards.info Dot info has fallen in value a little bit but this is as good of a dot info as you can buy.
CommunicationStudies.com Getting a great price to profit number. Potential. It’s all about potential
SEDO’s Live Auctions Going on Now
Sura.net 1988 birthday. Yes 1988
GoBright.com 9 bidders at press time. 16 years old. A good name on its own or a company or thing named Bright
FireStack.com 19 years old. Great tech sounding brand
TheMovieStars.com A little long but you know what the site would be about
XDomainNames.com The seller is probably disappointed. No bidders but there’s a reserve. I actually like it a lot
SimpleContracts.com Surprised this was top bid getter of the “regular” (non public auction) with 25 bids
Negari.com Last chance to buy Daniel’s name. Again, I have no idea why he sold it. You can show you are the future without throwing away the past
Have a name at auction and need more exposure? Send me an email. (if you have trouble with the contact form its shane@ this domain name) I Charge $10 per name per day. We may be able to help. If you have an auction you want to promote, email us for details.*All names chosen by me, Shane . (ie you click through and purchase a name you like) or an occasional paid listing. Everything I say is based on my own research or is opinion. Do your own due diligence. That means look it up yourself if you don’t think the stats or my opinion is corrects
Good on you Shane.
I’m sure I speak for many others when I say thank you for your daily email and for the personality you show with all your efforts on your own site and with Domain Sherpa. We love it when you go deep like this. No idea how you find the time for two full-time jobs and the long runs. Good luck with your decision and full respect from the land down under!
Well done Shane, sometimes it might be possible to take a half step for a year (a sabbatical maybe) and then make or defer the full commitment from there. Good luck.
Insightful and interesting post. I think you are one “shrewd dude” and your honesty and business savvy is enviable. There is not doubt in my mind that you will make it and do very well in the business. My selling skills are what holds me back, I am a terrible sales person, but I too love the domain business, it fascinates me, so I hang on and keep on plugging. One always does better doing the things they love… so, here are some good wishes to you in making a life altering decision… not an easy task! Good Luck!
Have you ever considered being a domain broker? Either on your own, or for another company? You seem to have your finger on the pulse of the domain market, and have a lot of contacts and credibility in the industry, so all that would be a big help to you.
Eric,
That would probably be the route I would take. I have confidence that I could do it but my financial manager (my wife) is a tough cookie. 🙂
Negari.com – Selling it is a great publicity stunt, and he has gotten a lot of publicity from it already, so no matter what it sells for it was well worth it for him.
The sad part is that it is EiBW.com
You said it yourself in the article: “I love the nursery, I love my family, BUT opportunity and quality of life are very important things”. If you feel that full time domain investing will better the quality of your life, then what are you waiting for?
You have your blog which gives you a passive revenue stream + your websites + a future job in a domain company that will be lucky to have you aboard. So that already lowers your risk… throw in personal domain sales in there, and you got a great recipe for success that you should go for.
This is my opinion, and I don’t know anything about the nursery or how much money you make from it. But it sounds like you’re burnt out from working so hard, and domaining is definitely less physically demanding. End of the day, life is too short, just do what your gut tells you.
You could try taking a piece of paper, writing down the cons and pros, and perhaps that will help you come up with a realization –> full time nursery VS. domain investing. You said you’ve been working in the nursery for 20 years, could you see yourself doing the same in the domain industry? Ask yourself tough, realistic questions. Imagine like you’ve already made the decision and now have to deal with the consequences, both positive and negative. That helps me quite a bit when making difficult, life altering decisions like this. Just writing and letting the truth flow.
Thank you Daniel. You really spelled it out well.