Quickly Sell a “Faddy” Domain Name

There have been a number of times where some new faddy trend or buzzword comes out, and I’ve looked up the Whois only to see someone beat me to the punch and registered it minutes before or a while back. I usually tip my hat and congratulate the buyer on his intuition – especially if it was registered months or years prior.

A problem that some people have, most of whom are domain investors capitalizing on trends, is that they often don’t sell at optimal value, hoping or anticipating that another better offer will be received. When a fad dies off and it’s no longer the lead story in the news, the domain name will drop significantly in value and interest in the domain name will wane.

Instead of rejecting every offer hoping for a better one that might not come, it might be a good idea to sell the domain name for a strong offer that’s received in the first few days/hours of the trend, and some of the money should be used to buy a great generic domain name that will stand the test of time (keep in mind you’ll owe taxes on the profit so don’t use it all).

If you can turn an $8 investment into a $10,000 profit in just a few weeks, it’s silly not to do so. Sure, you might leave some money on the table, but nobody every went broke selling domain names at a profit.

Comments (24)

Brian

June 23rd, 2009 at 11:14 am

“nobody every went broke selling domain names at a profit.”
that is so true when i first got started i missed 1 good deal and two beer money deals by not selling wen i should have.

Michael Berkens

June 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Elliot

I’m going to disagree with you on this one as a blanket statement.

I think it depends on several factors what the topic is, & how much staying power you think the issue is going to have.

I had one of these domains just a few months back.

It was a name I owned for a while and got to be a hot one in a short time.

I turned down offers as high as $15K within hours of news hitting.

The domain has made over $23K in the past 3 months in PPC and although its slowed up quite a bit, i’m glad I kept it.

Elliot

June 23rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm

@Michael

You made a good point here – thanks. The caveat is that the domain owner needs to have the financial capacity to be able to turn down a significant offer and not regret it.

Ritz

June 23rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm

makes me think of ‘Joe the Plumber’

should have sold when it was hot.

best,

Ritz

Maria

June 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 pm

Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your site and wanted to say
that I have really enjoyed reading your posts. Any way
I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon!

Leigh Ann

June 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm

I own Valcations.com.
Any offers?

Also, I would love to know what domain you were smart to register Michael. Would you share with us?

J.R. Jackson (Internet's $8-Million Man)

June 24th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

I own ForeverFREE[.]com and turned down a $225k offer about 7-years ago from IDT long distance. I thought I could hold off and get more. Well they declined and I still own the domain, which I don’t mind as it is a great domain. Although I wish I would have sold it

I also owned FreeBusinessCards[.]com and received offers of $25-$50k every couple of months for almost 10-years. Near the end of 2007 I received an offer (6-figures) and after negotiating for about 2-months we sealed the deal. I won’t say exactly how much I sold the domain for but it was a great ROI.

J.R.

Bruce Gittleman

June 25th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

Speaking of faddies:

whokilledmichael.com
michaeljacksonmurdered.com
michaeljacksonpoisoned.com

Elliot

June 25th, 2009 at 10:42 pm

Looks like a waste of $25

Elliot

June 25th, 2009 at 11:01 pm

This is how I feel:

http://www.dnforum.com/f31/hate-about-our-business-guys-gives-us-bad-name-thread-373317.html

Bruce Gittleman

June 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am

Elliot,

That’s pretty much the same “feeling” you had about names with “candy” in them, .us and anything without .com at the end. Correct me if I’m wrong, but your “feelings” about the last two have shifted 180 degrees of late and perhaps you haven’t read Rick Schwartz’s post of yesterday, the 25th, which I highly recommend as a sweet way to adjust your remaining “feeling” about (some) names with candy in them.

Check out michaeljacksonchat.com and share with us if that is a “waste” of money, too.

Thanks.

Elliot

June 26th, 2009 at 9:58 am

@Bruce

I always think trying to make money off of a tragedy is tacky. Whatever my feelings are, I still think you ended up buying worthless domain names that will end up expiring in one year without any interest because they don’t even make sense. Didn’t he die of a heart attack?

RE: Candy names… It’s a pet peeve when people thinks something is worth much more money than it really is and quote a recent sale, which is more dissimilar to theirs than similar. I laid out my feelings in the previous post.

No, I haven’t read Rick’s post – I am on vacation and I am headed to the beach.

Bruce Gittleman

June 26th, 2009 at 11:19 am

It seems as though you have access to a PC or Blackberry and as such, you could have or could now read both Rick Schwartz’s entry of the 25th and news postings that an injection of the narcotic Demerol was allegedly responsible for the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Just who might have administered the injection, if any or anyone, has not been published, to my knowledge.

Regarding making money off of a tragedy being “tacky”, EVERYONE LISTEN UP: DEMAND THAT YOUR NEWSCASTERS, REPORTERS, LAWYERS, JUDGES, HISTORIANS, MUSEUMS, PUBLISHERS, LIBRARIANS AND THE WHOLE FREAKING SYSTEM OF CAPITALISM IMMEDIATELY STOP MAKING MONEY OFF OF TRAGEDY!! DAMMIT!! ELLIOT THINKS IT’S TACKY!!

I THINK HYPOCRACY AND THE DISINGENUOUS DRIVEL UTTERED BY SOME DOMAINEERS IS TACKY!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY ELLIOT.

Elliot

June 26th, 2009 at 11:40 am

Yes – my Blackberry is on constantly and I am almost always connected, but I am out of the country and my Verizon data plan doesn’t work here.

At my wife’s request, I haven’t spent much time doing business this week and it’s been relaxing.

Leigh Ann

June 26th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

@Bruce

Mean spirited comments take a lot of fun away from the fun spirit of blogging.

Bruce Gittleman

June 26th, 2009 at 12:21 pm