Some Q1 2015 Domain Sales

Last week I talked about a few recent acquisitions, and this post discusses some Q1 2015 domain sales.

It was my best quarter ever, by a long shot, and I’d be really happy if I had the same level of sales for the next three quarters combined.

The domains were sold through some of the popular domain auction platforms and in private. For the private sales, they resulted both from unsolicited inquiries, and from active end user outreach.

Hold periods on the domains ranged from 6 days to 6 years.

Some of the Q1 sales:

CleansingConditioner(s).com – The first via an Afternic Buy It Now, and the second in private. Both to the same end user. Both were hand regs – one in 2009 and one in 2011. I had “developed” (I use that term loosely) them into thin minisites that paid their renewals in Google Adsense earnings, and I might not have continued to renew them if it weren’t for their Adsense earnings. I never had a single inquiry on the domains, and then woke up one day to the notification that one of them sold for the high four figures. I wish I could wake up like that more often…..

Couple dozen CCC.com – Sold mostly in private from unsolicited inquiries. Prices ranged from $2,900 for iz8.com (via NameJet) and about the same price for vv5.com (private), to mid/upper $xxx per domain for a couple portfolios of NLL.com at around ten domains a time. Acquisition dates ranged from 2012 to 2014.

FXUM.com – Acquired in Q1 2015 in a LLLL.com portfolio with a couple dozen domains in it for $x,xxx total. This unsolicited inquiry came in via DomainNameSales a couple weeks after the portfolio acquisition, and closed via Escrow.com. This sale paid for the entire LLLL.com portfolio. Let’s be honest, it was mostly luck, not skill…..but you can’t get lucky if you’re sitting on the sidelines.

Couple dozen LLLL.com – Sold via NameJet, with the best prices received for TAFZ.com, iVUV.com, OAXE.com, and ZATR.com (with ZATR being the topic of this Frank Schilling “Golden Touch” post). Acquired this year in the portfolio with FXUM.com, discussed above.

Major Geo .org – As mentioned last week, a city with over a million residents and many times that number for annual tourist visits. I hadn’t tried outbound emails in quite awhile, in part due to not making the time, and in part due to my previous lack of success. This time, I sent out about ten, short, targeted emails, and I was able to work out a deal with one of the prospects in a day. Acquired earlier this year.

Two LLL.com – Private transactions. The letters aren’t sexy (VJZ, VYH), but it doesn’t matter anymore for LLL.com. Have they gone up in value since I sold them? You bet. Do I have regrets? Nope. (See Shane’s “It’s Dead To Me” post.) VYH.com was picked up via a Sedo Great Domains auction for about $3,900 in 2013, while VJZ.com was picked up for closer to $3k that same year at Flippa. Let’s be honest again, there was alot of luck involved here too — I put them up for auction previously when they would have been a 2x return…..thankfully they didn’t sell then.

Feel free to share any thoughts, constructive criticism, or your recent sales in the comments below.