While moderating the opening session at DomainFest this morning Frank Schilling mentioned in passing that since July 2010 his company Name Administration sold just about $7 Million dollars in domain names “without trying too hard”.
The $7 Million dollars was generated from the sale of approximately 250 domains.
Frank further explained that these were not the “greatest of domains” certainly not category killers or what domainers would consider to be great domains.
However they were domain people wanted and/or needed.
All of these sales came from inbound inquiries to Name Administration and were all bought by end users.
What value his portfolio based on that? Nice!
James
I believe the company owns around 375,000 domains
The numbers are impressive, but not really surprising. He owns about 250,000 domains.
Brad
Huge numbers when it comes to Frank Schilling.
@MHB
BTW you need to correct the title from ‘told’ to ‘sold’
more like 300k names
congrats frank and domain values on good stuff will only be going up more… long live the internet.. seo firms and web developers now need to wake up and smell the coffee
I took it that he brought in 7 million from the 150 million monthly uniques to his traffic. I could be wrong. My seat is way in the back
This is an astonishing number by any means. Congrats!
MHB,
start selling bro. Even if you sell half, with 30k names, you will more than ride any upside
Some quick, fun math from this:
Each sold at an avg of $28,000.
Apply that value to his 375,000+ domains and Frank is worth north of $10.5 Billion.
Sorry I think those figures are wrong. He claims 250 average domains sold. $7 mil?? I’d love to see exact figures for what names. I think there might be a misunderstanding.
@ Tony
The math it interesting but that is 25o domains sold out of 300,000+. That is not exactly a very high turnover rate. It is under 1/10th of 1%. It is hard to extrapolate out based on that.
While these “not greatest of domains” sold. There will be countless others that never will.
Brad
Damn, I’m selling way too cheap.
I’ve given serious thought about just starting to not sell any domains really for under 20K. Just start holding out for it. After all, the market, IMO, is getting ready to to take off to the moon in the next two to three years, and that is when the really great sales prices will start emerge.
Quote from Jeff “.. seo firms and web developers now need to wake up and smell the coffee”
That is the most true statement I have heard in some time. These guys and gals are so involved in the internet but clueless and/or stubborn over domain prices.
I really think most of them are jealous because they are lucky if they make $100,000 doing SEO or web design. They get mad when they see us making so much damn money.
I really think they think they deserve the money for creating instead of investing.
@ Brad
Your points are true and indisputable. Mine was for entertainment purposes.
However, as Sahar wrote, the numbers truly are astronomical.
I wished he would publish the domains and amounts like WWMI so we can all gain real insight.
@Still Chillin’ After All These Domains
Frank Schilling has an excellent portfolio and no real need to have to sell domains, like many other top tier domainers. This is not 1997 anymore, if you are entering the game now buying names and sticking a $20K price tags on everything is not going to work.
In today’s domain market the better model is buying quality domains, selling them for realistic prices, and reinvesting in better domains constantly.
Brad
It’s very, very good to be Frank Schilling, but the existence of Frank Schilling shouldn’t confuse anyone entering the game today. Unless you crack time travel, you won’t be duplicating what he did any time soon. Megaportfolios of salable .com domains were the ultimate example of a time sensitive opportunity.
There’s still very good money to be made in reselling domains but by there will be no more Frank Schillings. The people who are make decent money reselling domains in the year 2011 posses an unusual intelligence type that not everyone has, nor will they ever really achieve.
I really think most of them are jealous because they are lucky if they make $100,000 doing SEO or web design. They get mad when they see us making so much damn money.
—
What domains have you sold recently?
Congrats. Great sale figure.
Two typos.
To >> Too
Told >> Sold
well, I’ve just sent him some links … 🙂
And most of them are dot com.
What does that tell you?
@Bulls
You beat me to that statement “…And most of them are dot com.”
🙂
Doing VERY rough estimates on his 375,000 name (estimated).
Imagine having auto renewals of $7200 (roughly) per day at (6.99 each, a guess) on your credit cards.
Thats something lol…
BTW, he has his own registrar so those above figures would not exactly apply…
It would be really deluxe if he also reported on where all the offers for each domain come in from on his blog (ie Sedo, Whois email lookup, parking page contact form etc…)
EEEK – Holy Cwap, thats a phenomenal amount!
Congrats, you deserve every single cent of it .
“I wished he would publish the domains and amounts like WWMI so we can all gain real insight.”
Me too, I always read all the ones he gets offers on each day but it would be far better to see the prices of all the ones he sells 🙂
LS
While I agree that no one is going to become the next Frank Schilling coming into the game today and building a portfolio like he did mostly with PPC money, that’s not to say another empire can’t be built with domain names in a different fashion.
Need an example, look no further than demand media which was formed in 2006.
and now has a market value of over $2 Billion.
Its business from the registrar enom to its eHow product are all based on domain names.
@jp – “It would be really deluxe if he also reported on where all the offers for each domain come in from on his blog (ie Sedo, Whois email lookup, parking page contact form etc…)”
There is a big yellow strip across the top of their landers with purchasing info – check out widerims.com (a name I sold them 😉 )
@James
Just because all their domains have a sales link across the top doesn’t mean that all their even the majority of the offers is coming from this sales link. We are only assuming that this is the case.
They certainly have a large enough sample population of domains and offers to be able to provide statics on the effectiveness of various means of advertising your domains across all possible venues, and which venues are the most meaningfull. However, perhaps disclosing such info could increase competition at these venues possibly negatively effecting his sales.
This news does not surprise me a bit. We have a little less than 200 domains – many of them one-word ccTLD’s, and we get 1-to-3 end user offers almost every week (plus a few lowball domainer offers every month). Since we only buy what we intend to develop, we usually just politely decline the offer without countering. I will say this, the offer amounts have gone up dramatically since August, 2010.
– TBC
Out of 300k+ domains, he only sold about 250 domains at an average price of $28k mostly to end users.
This is not that big of a deal.
But if you own only about 1000 domain names or less, you can not expect an end user to contact you out of the blue and buy your domain name for $20,000…this will NOT happen…so stop dreaming and come back to reality!
Changing the topic…
I am looking for about 5 high traffic dot com domain names that make good constant parking income. I have $500k to invest and would like to spend about $100k for each domain. If you have anything like this, please email me.
“Just because all their domains have a sales link across the top doesn’t mean that all their even the majority of the offers is coming from this sales link. We are only assuming that this is the case. ”
Personally I think it is likely that most of the offers go direct through the top parking page link or telephone number with some going through sedo.
I just checked a few of his names from his daily offers list and all were listed at sedo ($5k min) most did’nt have offers showing on the ones I checked, one higher priced one had contact my broker @sedo etc etc in the description box.
None of the ones I checked were listed on either Buydoms or Afternic
I’m not saying that its conclusive but I think its a semi decent indication from a small sampling…. almost enough to convince me 😉
“serious thought about just starting to not sell any domains really for under 20K.”
Surprising that people so rich have so little interest in being helpful. Schillings turnover of 0.1% or 0.2% of his domains per year implies that his domains are grossly overpriced. At fair prices a domainer will sell 5% or so of his domains per year.
7M is such a big number for the likes of me… not to mention owning 300k or so domains 😛 but yeah, I admire the fact that he can do that without doing much of an effort. end-users are bound to need a couple from that bunch.
Amazing amounts discussed here, his business model works for him, we need to think of something these days ……….develop develop develop
Frank Schilling has restered and otherwise acquired 375,000 names within the last decade. Is he offering all names for sale? Or just a small portion of them? Are the offers targeting is average quality names?
Some of us would really would like to whether the sales of 250 names for $7,000,000 can be achieved.
I have taken 20 top sales presented on DNJournal.com as sold last week:
Reported Domain Sales: Mon. Jan. 17, 2011 – Sun. Jan. 23, 2011
06.com $91,888
Coyote.com $65,000
Serbia.com $62,000
Tout.com $47,000
TRT.com $45,000
NordGold.com $34,250
NordGold.eu $34,250
England.net $30,000
Mumu.com $27,060
Fridges.com.au $20,000
303.com $17,300
Pimp.tv $15,250
HotMelt.com $15,125
HotBoat.com $14,433
RIN.com $14,000
Macaron.com $13,700
Macarons.com $13,700
Mellow.com $12,604
ChinaFinance.com $12,500
CloudTalk.com $12,500
The last week 20 top sales reported on DNJournal.com
The number of names: 20
This makes total: $597,500
The average per name: $29,878
If FS sold 250 names for $7,000,000, $28,000 on average per name, FS would have to achieve the comparable results 12 times within the last 6 months (26 weeks).
Consider Ron Jackson’s comment that may also apply here: “Keep in mind that these are the highest value sales that have been reported to us in the past week. This column is meant to be an educational tool, not a complete list documenting ALL high value domain sales.”
It was worth while for me to try to envision what the stated figures mean. A critical mass of names and an access to capital are necessary to achieve comparable results, and be efficient.
Based on the information provided, FS has acqured 370,000 names within 10 years, 37,000 per year, 100 names per day, and he has recently reporting his sales to be at the rate of less than 2 per day.
FS have plenty of options to make his business much, much more efficient. The Cayman Islands tax haven makes him extremely competitive.
“The secret of genius is hiding your sources” – Albert Einstein & Me
If he told everyone how he does it, we won’t all be raving about him when news like this comes out.
I don’t think all over 250,000. I have a glance at http://domainnamesales.com/blog/ .
There are quite a few domains that I wouldn’t buy at xxx or preorder if they drop. But I am sure he has lots of premium domains.
ResumeWriting.com and ResumeService.com are not category killers? Frank made a fortune off those two domains. These two domains will continue to climb the charts as job seekers look to find resume service. Furthermore, new graduates will be looking for employment soon.
ResumeService.com and ResumeWriting.com are two quality category domain names that sold at a bargain. IMO, the two resume domains probably fall in the top 5 of the most valuable resume domains on the Internet next to Resume.com, Resumes.com, and ResumeBuilder.com. The best resume domain names in order:
1. Resume.com
2. Resumes.com
3. ResumeWriting.com
4. ResumeBuilder.com
5. ResumeService.com
I believe Lottery.net was one of his biggest sales of the year. Don’t quote me on that. Frank does own many .net domain names in the resume and cover letter niche. Also, some .net in the influenza category too. Newletter related domain names too. He has every category covered.
The owner of this blog also has many categories covered in many niches. That is the main reason these two elite domain investors make many sales. They can easily buy thousands of bad domain names, but they know that spreading out their investment across travel, resume, jobs, hotels, cities, newsletter, and other categories will produce many sales. IMO, end-users have done business with them, so there is probably a great deal of trust and respect.
Slight adjustment on best resume domains: ResumeWriter.com should be inserted in the 5th spot and ResumeService.com is the 6th best, and then ResumeWriters.com in the 7th spot. ResumeFormat.com may fall in-between ResumeService.com and ResumeWriters.com. It really depends on which end-user.
Every top resume domain is developed except ResumeFormat.com and ResumeTips.com. I believe Frank owns ResumeFormat.com. Thanks.
@ MB
Yeah, I agree that there’s still plenty of lucrative opportunities in the domain space, but the game is very different compared to years ago yet a lot of domainers insist on following models that are pretty inefficient from a contemporary standpoint. Working a certain way in 2003 may have made some people rich, but working that same way in 2011 won’t have the same result…
… and thanks oodles for acing me out of StAugustineBeachCondos.com 😉
Thats great news, now have him mention in passing at what ror that amounts to lol
When you have that kind of portfolio its literally only a matter of time.
I have BeachHomeRentals.org up for sale at fixed price at Sedo. Put the ad up on CL a few weeks ago.
BeachHomeRentals.org at $500 is definitely far better than $2750 for beachhomerentals.us.
hey, Frank, do you like .com?
well, I’ve many .com on sale! 🙂
Just goes to show if you have the money to hold out for your price sooner or later you are gonna get it.
I just had an SEO company tell me today that domains only account for 5% of the se score or have that much impact on seo. So?
On another note, I’m curious, people contacted Frank upfront and proposed to buy his domains? I find that hard to believe.
I believe many companies know what they want. The main obstacle is to find the right price. IMO, the end-user will buy any of Frank’s domain at Sedo.
I’m sure many offers go through DNS. I think owning so many domains in all niches, especially many pre-2004, gives him an edge.
IMO, I don’t think the buyer contacts him directly. They probably deal with a third party. Placing an exact price on any of his domains probably takes some work.
He seems to be a busy person. That would be too many calls to field. Many domains are spread out between Sedo and DNS.
“In the domain biz you can buy an asset that makes 370 a month for 20k and sell it for 50k, and that 50k guy still has a reasonable upside. you don’t have to deal with the overhead of people to make that money. You’re not going to make those returns in a foreclosure market. Then there’s the audience dynamic. Your 20k name will probably get 50 uniques a day. That’s 1500 people a month that won’t be strolling into your foreclosure. That audience can be compounded. Still, those deals as in my example are getting more scarce. You’re not going to get them buying from me. To be totally fair, domain purchases aren’t for everyone because many folks will spend 20k on a total crap name rather than a good one and be SHOCKED that they’re not minting money in PPC.” -FS
From what I’m seeing nowadays, it looks like selling domains isn’t a consistent means to earn a living. That sales are few and far betweena and that those 5-figure sales are as rare as diamonds. It looks like the real money is in development. Am I wrong or right on this? I wish I knew.
The two resume domains are actual stand a lone sites. Those were purchased by the same company, which has three major websites.
Domains that target a specific product or service have more value than 5% for search engines. IMO, SEO company probably wants to build value into their service to downplay a donain’s value.
If 5% was the case, then domaining would be a waste of time. It accounts for far more than that.
Yeah, the domain accounts for more than 5% of the impact on seo results. That’s what I was thinking. But what I’m still wondering, is how do you make a career out of domaining. I had bought a course and quite a few good geo+profession domains and started mailing letters to businesses and none of them sold. I almost sold 1 for $225 though but their seo guys (the ones I was talking to said no).
Seriously, aside from developing a massive fleet of developed domains getting PPC income/affiliate income, how do you get to the point of selling 5-figure domains consistently?
Selling domains is easy if you buy the right domains. They don’t have to be high search domains. The domain can have low searches, and have a great name.
Development takes a lot of time and money. Companies are buying domains. You have to contact the right ones, and say the right thing.
It all depends on what names you buy and the niche. Developing domains is a long-term gig. There’s no guarantee you’ll make a roi.
Of course, you want to build an inventory and become a good seller because you decide to depend entirely on domains.
That takes confidence in knowing how to find the right buyer. You have to build a relationship with end-users in different niches. When you do come across the right domains, you’ll make a sale. They already know you.
Developing is good if you have the skills, time and money.
Mailing letters takes too long. Best say is to contact a buyer through email. There are plenty of tools online that will point you to the buyer.
Easy to find information even when they leave it off the site. Selling 5 figure domain will require finding domains at a bargain price.
One nice domain sold on Ebay this past weekend, which I believe can be flipped at a
later time.. Go Daddy has some good domains in their auctions. You have to buy the quality domains.
It’s not something that happens overnight. You have to build your inventory. Buy, sell, buy, and sell. Look in auctions and drops for quality domains. 5 figures is a long term goal.
can you say me which are the record priced domains made of two common words like CarInsurance.com (sold for $49.7 Million) than
Jason I appreciate your replies. I have a wife and 5 girls to support. The last 2 were bonus kids. :-)I’m a consultant currently and business isn’t like what it used to be. So I’ve been looking at options. I have a ton of geos for my local area. But in terms of what you’re saying, sending emails to promote domains, do you recemmend long form email sales letters or something really short and simple? Most of my sales letters were text heavy loaded with selling benefits but it still didn’t work. Do you think if I put in a good few hours daily offering quality domains that this could turn into something more full time?
What about leasing domains? I heard one guy supposedly leases domains to lawyers for $7,000 a month! Hope you don’t mind the questions.
You have to build your inventory. Know what domains sell in all categories. Read the DN Journal for which domains sell in the 5 figure range.
Watch the auctions to familiarize yourself with what is in demand. I saw one 3 character .com sell, and then it was flipped a few months for a major profit.
When you buy domains, you have to think like a business. if you were a budiness, would you pay 5 figures to acquire the domain?
If I had a resume business, I would purchse ResumeServices.com for 5 figures. Education domains are a good seller. GEO hotel domains. Watch the market. It takes time to reach the 5 figure sales point.
Practice with small sales first. Use every sale as a stepping stone. Gain confidence. Work on possible acquiring a 4 letter .com. Stock up on quality domains.
Sure. NP. Build toward your goal. If you depend on domaining to survive, you may rush sales that you can wait on.
Build inventory. Read. Watch what sales. Ask questions. Watch auctions. Sell small domains. Learn the different domain tools to use as a strategy to close sales. Be confident.
You’ll eventually accomplish your goals. Don’t rush domaining. Use it as a secondary job or as a hobby. Have fun. You’ll figure out what to buy. Use your strengths. Find a few niches you feel most confident about. Good luck.
For established online companies, I would send less text. More information to a new person that knows little about the net.
Try to keep information at a minimal. You can ruin sales because you’ll confuse a potential prospect. Send a regular email. You can use contact on the site too.
Make sure the domain is something they need. Know everything about the website. Look into advertising domains on various platforms.The more exposure, the better.
Regular email or the site contact. 2-3 short paragraphs. I used to write a lot. Found better results in short direct sales pitches.
You have to be careful not to overwrite. Show confidence in the domain. Don’t be afraid to ask what you believe its worth.
Best say is to contact a buyer through email.
—
Pretty much the worst way to contact prospective buyers.
$7000 is a hefty lease. Not sure if that is feasible. Does he lease all his domains to make $7000? Or he makes that amount with a few domains? It really depends on the domains.
Specific attorney domains are extremely valuable (DUI, trademark, accident, traffic, etc..), which command top dollars. Essentially, converting traffic into leads can be worthwhile as a lease. Some domain investors may consider leasing to own. Many sales strategies that can work.
@LS
Cold calls are the worst. 100% ineffective. Doesn’t matter how good the domain is. Every domainer has a different strategy. IMO, email is effective. It saves time dealing with rude people that treat you like every sales person. I would rather send 50 emails than call 50 companies.
The moment an operate recognizes you, they will send you to the voice mail. They know who
you are. I guess you make many sales any way. I prefer emails.
The way I understood it, he had a simple site that a lawyer would pay him $7000 a month to use for his law firm. I believe it was geared towards personal injury lawyers. He said getting 7k was easy. I’ve bought some domains for that genre for my local area. But, I wish I knew more details, on how developed were the sites or was it mostly 7k for the right to use that domain.
Another guy I’ve heard of claims he’s been paid 1k to 2k per month for someone to lease/rent his domain and a couple of guys he told about it said they were getting the same results.
Now I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to build controversy because I’m not. But as an advertising consultant, I think many domainers may not realize that many companies don’t see the point in buying a generic domain because it hurts their brand or more specifically it’s not congruent with their brand. Look at most top shelf companies, what do they have in common? They have a made up name or they use the owner’s last name. For example: Nalco — Exxon — Jareds — Kay Jewelers — Ford.
I know Rick Schwartz posts a lot on his blog wondering why major companies aren’t responding like they should to domains, well this is why. Their ad agencies or brand consultants are probably kicking and screaming if you bring the mere idea of it up. They claim it hurts brand equity/awareness.
Now with small or medium sized companies who don’t have ad agencies or brand managers, they’re more open, I would think. But from a domainer perspective, I totally see the point and 100% agree on buying category domains to corner a niche.
I would develop a sales strategy that works for you. Everyone domain investor is different. I prefer emails. When you call businesses directly, many employees lack professionalism.
Such companies never treat customers with respect.. In a email, you can rethink or rewrite content. Good way to sell domains is to network with people that operate in the vertical.
If you don’t mind me asking, on average how many emails do you have to send till you close a sale? Also, do they need to be laser-targeted to the right person or as often is the case, can it still work even if you can’t find the right contact person?
Cold calls are the worst. 100% ineffective. Doesn’t matter how good the domain is.
—
Wrong. When you’re selling quality domains, calls are 100% EFFECTIVE at generating the best possible leads. Of course, there’s the catch- selling quality domains. I googled domains+”your name” to have a look at the types of names you do own- sorry bro. You really shouldn’t be speaking authoritatively on this. It was a smattering of .mobi’s, .co’s and garbage names like “chattingroulette.net” or “animationblog.info” or “king-tut.net” that most people wouldn’t pay registry fee to own, nevertheless take your call when you’re trying to sell it.
I’m in a friendly and helpful mood today, so instead of just berating you for speaking authoritatively on a topic which you’re unqualified, I’ll be constructive and helpful. Ignore this at your peril.
Here’s a quick and dirty formula for buying domains that are salable.
Pick an industry, any industry.
What does that industry do or make?
You want (that).com.
If you own (that).com and make phone calls to relevant parties saying that you own (that).com and want to sell it, you will have no trouble getting through and heard. They may not buy it at your price (you may be pricing it too high), but in owning (that).com, you will at least be given the opportunity to pitch it to the right people. After mining the most likely end users with no success, sell it in a domainer auction and let them have a go with your sloppy seconds.
Where new or untalented domainers go off the rails is when they don’t realize the colossal difference that exists between (that).com and e(That).com, or Amazing(that).com or (that).biz or th.at or (that)blog.info.
(that).com will get you past the call weeders and into the office of a decision-maker.
That.net may not.
Fantastic(that).com won’t even get you a message hung on the door.
This doesn’t mean Fantastic(that).com isn’t a decent and potentially salable domain, but it has a significantly lower expectation than the purer form. As in equities, real estate or pretty much anything else in life, those who win are the ones who know how to consistently take the best of it in terms of higher probability plays. The rest play dream and lotto.
Obviously, this is frustrating to a guy who just started doing this in 2008, or whatever, since (that).com isn’t going to be available to hand register (and will usually owned by Frank Schilling) but if you’re sharp, you can hit the aftermarket, pre-releases and even the drops to pick off a few gems that will turn a nice profit, then bootstrap those profits into bigger and better names. Once you get some more experience and start running black, you can carefully branch out into other aspects of speculative domaining that aren’t (that).com, but don’t start there. You’ll only develop bad habits that may become impossible to break.
If there’s one constant in domaining, it’s the inherent laziness of almost all domainers. I’m two resales deep into 2011 (both four figures) and both were dropped names that were owned by ‘domainers’ prior to my picking them up. Made a few phone calls had them sold for handsome profits. Save for guys like Schilling who have megaportfolios of killer .com’s and can afford to take it easy, letting the mountain to come to them, the people today who are making money in this do so by first being able to recognize a potentially salable domain, reaching out to the world with it and knowing how to make a sale once you get a live one on the line.
If you don’t have the full three-part equation working in your favor- if you don’t know what a salable domain is, if you don’t know how actively to market it and if you’re not good at closing the deal, then you may as well take ranks with the 3d domainers and dream away, because profits aren’t going to come your way.
Read, follow, repeat. If you’re one of the people who are destined to make money at this as a come-lately, the above formula will quickly tell you if this is for you, or if you should go try your hand at something else more suited to whatever talents you do have.
You’re welcome.
I know who to contact. I have future buyers in two niches. You have to build relationships. Trust is key. Treat every reply with respect.
I thank companies that reject my domain(s). Always save their emails. You can ask them what they’re looking to acquire.
Webmasters tend to disregard domain sales pitches. There are certain people you can contact. You have to know how to address the sales pitch. Trial and error. Pricing the domain is important factor. I usually don’t include price.
I’m sure auto sales associates don’t discuss price until the end.
Keep talking. I bought those at the beginning. I have good resume and job domains. People don’t have to listen. That’s their choice.
I didn’t present those domains. Think before you talk. You have no clue what domains I’m offering. I guess resume domains and job domains are no good.
Frank has many resume and cover letter domains. I guess those are no good. You talb the same crap as you do in every blog. I cold call for others that probably better domains than
you own.
If I renewed those domains, then I wouldn’t have any credibility. However, I’m letting those domains drop because I depended on appraisal systems in the beginning.
I know what I’m buying. You don’t read much. Otherwise, you would know the backstory to the registrations. People like you hold others back from success.
@LS
I don’t need to brag. You have no clue on one recent .com sale I made. Two other people wanted this name. I know the different between a good and bad domain. I never offered those domain to any company.
I’m not frustrated. Easy to judge. You lack common respect naming domains, trying to discredit a person. If I renewed the domains, then it would be a different story.
“I cold call for others that probably better domains than you own.”
———
How about we make this simple and let Berkens decide who, between you and I, is better at this. We can make it real easy and use our respective last domain purchases as the baseline. Loser never posts here again.
Deal?
The last domain I bought (last week) was .com “Scrapper”. Intentionally sought it out, found it to be owned by an ISP in Ohio who had it since the stone age but hadn’t done anything with it. Love this domain for about a half-dozen reasons. It’s a standard colloquialism in a few different multi-billion dollar industries (Scrap Metal, Scrapbooking and Boxing/MMA), not to mention it’s one of those peachy-keen “can be anything you want” immensely coherent brandables. Paid them a grand.
Berkens, would you pay $1K for Scrapper?
Now, you tell us the last domain you bought on the aftermarket, and we’ll ask Berkens if he would pay what you paid.
If he agrees with both of us, we both stay. If he agrees with one of us but not the other, then the other leaves forever. Deal?
If you have an expertise in a certain field, you will sooner or later run into a domain name held by Name Administration.
Still, that´s a selling rate of 0.2 percent? Or about $50 per domain per year.
Anybody with a large portfolio can comment on these numbers?
I’m not a large portfolio holder, but with a wholesale cost to carry of $6’ish (?) per year, most of the names owned by these guys have a hugely positive expectation.
I didn’t check your math, but presuming it’s right, that’s an aggregate return of $44 net annual profit per $6 investment with basically no overhead- and that’s just on sales, not even factoring in PPC, leases, development or whatever other income streams they’ve developed.
You ain’t gunna find that on NASDAQ.
@LS
I won’t name the last name I sold. I wouldn’t mention it to Mike either. I would Frank because he owns many quality domains in the niche.I’ll guarantee that none of you would have been able to flip this domain for as much as I did in a short time.
The main reason I won’t mention the domain and price because the company asked me to keep it private. I have enough integrity to honor that request. I will sell to them again.
You should look at my registration timeline. I learned quick what not to register. I don’t cRw whether I come back to this blog. I know how to sell. You have no respect naming old domains. I started domaining at the beginning of last year.
I bought a bunch of domains that I wouldn’t buy now. I was able to do well in 4 niches. I don’t need to toss around names. I know you never read my articles. Otherwise, you might know more about what I know. I helped a few people sell.
I don’t have to name the domain. I’ll accept the criticism on past names I don’t plan to renew. I let 300 names drop. It didn’t affect me.
I have not an ounce of respect for people like you. If I knew what domains you registered at beginning, I wouldn’t use that as a way to discredit someone. You should read my two blogs. Maybe you’ll see that I have sale skills. Check out Elliot’s sales article that Rick commented on. Read my comment.
I have nothing to prove. I made a big sale two weeks ago. I’ll make more. Only a few people know which domain I sold. Good luck with teaching people how to sell. Peace.
The ubiquitous NDA strikes again…
@LS,
I never cold called on any of the names you mentioned. That’s where you’re mistaken.
I’ll admit that I cold called on AutoCollisionRepair.net last Summer. I called NYC to attempt to sell ProfessionalResumeService.net.
However, the domains I cold called on for another are in the 6 figure range. I had a few prospects that backed out based on their finances. These are excellent domains.
Again, I won’t mention them because I’ll still looking to sell them. What I mentioned in my last post was that I don’t need to comment on this blog. I do have a perception that is consistent with people who will succeed.
Maybe you mentioning the worst part of my portfolio may get me traffic. Those domains are the bottom 1% of my portfolio.
I’m the one that wrote the article on the Berlin domain.
To prove I have good sales skills, I’ll sell your worst domain. You sell my worst domain. I think that’s a fair challenge.
Jason, when you sell a domain via email, is everything usually done entirely by email or do you email and ask them to call you or say you’ll call them at a certain time (like the VITO system)?
@Mathew,
Everything is done entirely by email. Only one time the buyer called. After we agreed on a deal, he didn’t know me. For the post part, he didn’t feel comfortable giving out his Go Daddy customer number.
Othwerwise, you can complete a deal without ever having to speak with the end-user on the phone.
I’m using an Iphone to type. Correction, “For the most part.”
@LS
I choose your worst domain. You choose the worst domain I own. We have a week to sell the domain. Then, we have to demonstrate the sales process.
The loser is banned from commenting on this blog for 6 months.
@Jason,
You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone here. Sometimes people will disagree with you or what you’re saying – if so, just move on. I stopped caring about what other people think a long time ago, and my life is better for it.
– TBC
I choose your worst domain. You choose the worst domain I own. We have a week to sell the domain. Then, we have to demonstrate the sales process.
The loser is banned from commenting on this blog for 6 months
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This is quite possibly the stupidest ‘challenge’ I’ve ever heard, given that it’s entirely possible my ‘worst domain’ is better than your ‘best domain’.
wow – thats a nice chunk of change for 250 domains – congrats to frank
The numbers are not as impressive as they first appear. To begin with domain name sales is not sustainable as a business model. If he sells em all he is out of business (granted a good problem to have but he owns many that will never sell and many that are worth far less than the 28K average boasted here). On top of that it is questionable at best as tp whether or not the sales reported since july are replicatable? Can he generate 14 mil a year this year and again next year and the year after. Doubt that. Then you have to consider renewal fees which are closing in on 3 million per annum and costs of carryon business…staff, escrow costs or brokerage fees etc. Then consider he has been in business for more than a decade so the 3 million/year in renewals may well represent something closer to 25-30 mil spent on new registrations and then of course you have to consider the ridiculous amounts he spent at pool, name jet and snapnames over the years. Having been in many many auctions with him over time I can tell you that he paid some sweet dough for many of the names he owns and imho overpayed on many of em. Considering the amount of money invested, the time spent, the time value of money and the reported returns the news while certainly not bad isn’t this WOW that its being made out to be
Can Can,
That was a very impressive post. Makes sense. But what if he rented out or leased those domains? That would deliver re-occuring monthly revenues! Treat those domains like rental properties. What do you think?
@LS,
Why ‘entirely possibly’? You seem confident that all my domain names are bad. The domains you put on the board are old registrations. You didn’t read my recent article on domain valuations. Yu think I cold call businesses to offer .info sites.
This is the first year I had to renew my domains. I haven’t renew one site. I believe my Oct-present registrations are my best. July-Aug domains are good.
The challenge is to prove that a good seller can sell any domain name. You think it’s a stupid challenge. List your worst domain. If my best domain is worse than your worst domain, I will never visit this blog again.
Correction: I haven’t renewed one site yet.
Yo Jason,
Nice site. LOL!
@Free.Tl,
I don’t think it’s right for LS to list a few bad domains, suggesting that I don’t get callbacks based on what he thinks I offer to companies. I know what to offer companies. I know what domains are a bad investment.
However, I know that a few domains can produce good sales. You can buy 300 bad domains, but then purchase 5 good domains in the bunch. Those 5 domains will help you to find better domains and sales.
Compare my recent registrations to the beginning. The registrations at the beginning rely on domain valuations. Whereas, I now know how to buy domains in areas that define my strengths. In about 6 months, I may write about my sales in a specific niche. I’ll show that any person can find domains that end-users want. Many may look at the list, and probably understand the reason the companyies purchased the domains. Thanks.
@Sabu,
Thanks. I lack developing skills. I’m sure you meant to say my blog sucks. Check out domainingmojo.wordpress.com.
RE: “Frank Schilling Announces He Sold $7 Million Dollars In Domains Since July “Without Trying To Hard””.
I have previously posted the results of my analysis of the 7M sales within the last 6 months with 250 names sold out of 375,000 names acquired within 10 years by one person.
It is my understanding that it would be extremely easy to generate much higher sales “without trying to hard” with a tiny portion of his capital gains to generate sales. It is worth mentioning again, that by creating an unlevel playing field by operating his business in a tax haven he has unparalleled competitive advantage for his ventures.
@ CanCan – “The numbers are not as impressive as they first appear. To begin with domain name sales is not sustainable as a business model. If he sells em all he is out of business (granted a good problem to have but he owns many that will never sell and many that are worth far less than the 28K average boasted here). On top of that it is questionable at best as tp whether or not the sales reported since july are replicatable? Can he generate 14 mil a year this year and again next year and the year after. Doubt that. Then you have to consider renewal fees which are closing in on 3 million per annum and costs of carryon business…staff, escrow costs or brokerage fees etc. Then consider he has been in business for more than a decade so the 3 million/year in renewals may well represent something closer to 25-30 mil spent on new registrations and then of course you have to consider the ridiculous amounts he spent at pool, name jet and snapnames over the years. Having been in many many auctions with him over time I can tell you that he paid some sweet dough for many of the names he owns and imho overpayed on many of em. Considering the amount of money invested, the time spent, the time value of money and the reported returns the news while certainly not bad isn’t this WOW that its being made out to be”
You’re not including the PPC income generated to date, which by all accounts has produced substantial net annual profits. Nor the fact that Name Administration are still buying domains.
You didn’t read my recent article on domain valuations.
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I did go to your blog and in about ten seconds, it became immediately apparent that you aren’t someone who is remoooooooootely qualified to be ‘writing articles’ on this business. Such is the power of the internet- it gives anyone a soapbox, irrespective of their actual qualifications- but really… I felt like I needed a red pen to go over and correct pretty much everything you wrote.
It’s OK to be new- we were all new once.
It’s OK to not understand some things- for everyone, there was a time when we didn’t know what we know today and we all learn new things, every day.
It’s OK and natural to make mistakes and missteps- we’ve all been there.
What is *not* OK is when you’re new and so apparently lacking in knowledge, yet insist on speaking authoritatively on things you really don’t understand.
I won’t waste any more time on you, but you can read the post I wrote above and therein lies the secret to making it as a come-lately. It’s the closest thing to a roadmap anyone will ever give you in the business… Or, make five consecutive, marginally coherent, prattling replies and keep on doing what you’re doing.
I don’t care. It’s your money.
@LS,
Thank for the constructive criticism. Every person uses a different sale strategy. You do well with your strategy, and I do well with mine. One day when I stop Domaining, I will reveal my domain sales and prices.
You’ll see that no experienced domain investor at the time would have located the domains, and then delivered them to the company for a nice sum. I didn’t lose any money. You only assume the obvious; that I have no experience. Good luck on coaching domainers on how to sell. Thanks.
“It is my understanding that it would be extremely easy to generate much higher sales”
RL, could you elaborate on that? While I´m sure they could have more sales at a lower price point, would that necessarily lead to more revenue?
Your definitely right. You can always count on pricks to write junk that has no value in leading a domainer to success.
Frank purchased ResumeService.com for $10,500 in 08. He sold the domain toward the end of 10 for $28,000. Sedo charges 10% commission on offers made above $500, and or 15% brokerage fees. He made a good investment on paying 5 figures to purchase the site. He made 2.5x his investment in 2 years.
However, most domainer don’t have 5 figures to purchase one domain name. It’s the elite domain blogs that will never help a person reach that level unless they learn on their own. A domainer can easily learn to find quality domains so an end-user will contact them.
On a second note, most domain investors don’t have $90,000 to buy a Black Friday domain. Why wait for miracles when you find good domains now?
People would not be sending emails to asking questions if domain blogs offered good domain tips. Domain news has little impact on common domainers. Forums are the same as domain blogs. Many people never learn the domain industry because many domain blogs and forums are pouring water instead of golden tips.
Wow. Those domains sold for an average of $28,000 each. Not bad for domains that “aren’t the greatest”.