Morning Folks!!
I get emails all day long from folks trying to sell their domains. But there is a difference of late. They are no longer trying to sell one or two, they are trying to sell their entire portfolio and get out of the domaining business all together. Problem is there are no buyers.
Domainers are selling because their one time assets are now liabilities. They are bills. And those wasted $$$$ could be paying the mortgage. And I am really sorry to say I have not seen many portfolios with value. To be honest, most don't have a single domain of any value whatsoever. And they are competing against those with really nice portfolios that can't sell either. The good ones are way too risky to tie up any more $$$ with regardless of the quality.
Demand is simply WAY down. Domainers are financially weak and they are not buying. Plus they already have a boatful of domains themselves that are moving VERY slowly.
Folks like Godaddy won't buy most portfolios unless they are filled with NNN.com and LLL.com and alike. Why? Because they are clueless on what a valuable name looks liken or how to price or sell them. So they stick with these type domains that they can buy and sell rather easily compared to domains of great value.
I have a pretty decent portfolio. Here is the list of my top 10 offers I have had for my entire collection over my career. I am retired. I would love to get a lump sum.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
That's right! Nobody has offered me so much as a penny! (Except for some wise guy commenter after I write this)
I have been the #1 proponent of domains for over 23 years. But I always deal with reality even when it is hard. As the new GTLD's die off, things may improve. But then again, that's the exact thing that drained the money out of the industry to begin with. I don't know that domainers can EVER financially rebound from those losses and continuing bills. Believe me, the desperation level is the highest I have ever seen it. Domainers are BEGGING for folks to buy their domains and get out of this business.
The next few months are going to be important for our sector. We are smack dab in the middle of "Domain Season". But that season is not for marginal or silly names. It is for serious upgrades and serious startups. BIG deals.
The best thing that happened to domains this year is the continuing implosion of social media. The veil is off. We have been lied to, suckered, silenced, used and worse. The fuzzy glow of Facebook, Twitter and Google are GONE! Their power and how they used it against us was exposed. The shift is still happening. This is the silver lining but we don't know how that will manifest itself yet. It should benefit domains.
A domain is about making a statement. It's about memory. WeBuyUglyHouses.com is the perfect example of why the average end user can and will find a $10 name in a few minutes. More meaningful than the crap domainers have for big money.
My domains have nothing to do with your domains. They are all unique assets or unique liabilities. Either they have FACE VALUE or they don't. Either another party would want to own them or not.
If you play the lifetime domain game it does not matter. If you are buying and selling, it does matter.
Year over year on DNJournal.com's sales tracker it appears that 2017 and 2018 numbers will be very close. Then again these are only reported sales and in fact, most big ticket sales are never reported.
I think there are ways to report those sales without breaking any confidentially agreements by simply giving a bottom line of all sales in any specified period by a broker, domainer or company. I could say I have $20 million in sales for 2015-2017 but I don't have to give specifics. I may even be able to list the domains sold without violating any agreement or spirit of that agreement. Things like that are helpful to an industry like ours but many won't contribute to that effort. It hurts them as well.
The GTLD frenzy is over. The Chinese frenzy is over or at least on pause. Many are on the downside of the slope when it comes to domaining. No matter how much they made in the day, the day is over and they are coming to grips with that. I'm sorry that is happening to folks. But it's the reality of the times.
Are the golden days of domaining behind us? Maybe! But there is still much gold in domains. There is still opportunity. But it is SLOW opportunity! SLOW! The fast track is in crisis. Time is not their ally. The bills are coming in faster than the sales can pay those bills. That's a problem and that's a problem many in domaining are facing.
It's also a problem that I decided to focus on from my very first purchases so I would never be in a weak negotiating position. I pay my domains 10 YEARS in advance when I can. Not all. But the ones I want to make sure I protect. When I have a windfall, I pay forward even more of them. Been doing that since 1996. Totaled up, I am thousands of years ahead on renewals, not a single day behind.
Rick Schwartz
UPDATE!: In the past 24 hours I have seen 2 high profile incidents where on TV they did not send their viewers to Twitter or Facebook but instead are promoting their own WEBSITE! We may be at a watershed moment. People got the message about controlling their own destiny!
Ibrahim Khan
Real insight of time in domain market. Domainers are struggling to get the sales.
rathead
you gonna make people mad now rick. :)
Rob
The implosion of Crypto has also helped domains. Crypto currency will not rebound anytime soon. The strong hands will hold but most will fold.
Market about to be replaced with asset backed tokens anyway. Capital shifts happening now.
Digital assets are still a great way to keep a certain percentage of your savings sheltered. Quality domains included.
Jay
I believe governments will come out with asset backed cryptos in order to remove dollar demand. They will have sound and transparent money then. They can track and control everything. The digital currency is their wetdream. Asset-backed is the only way anyone will give it any value, much less a stable value.
Michael
What assets does a government have? You mean the government that’s 20 Trillion in debt?
BullS
“Domainers are financially weak”
Opportunities for ME.
that where I make MONEY!!
RR
Rick has positioned himself very well to ride out this current domain name downturn. It looks like he sold when most were buying and now that most are selling he can him take his time to buy with no rush or pressure those domains which he considers to have the best potential. The few people that are most successful are usually on the opposite end of what the majority of people are doing. In the real estate market, those who sell when everyone else wants to buy will usually get the highest top dollar for their property because demand is greater than supply which drives up prices. Then, the same person waits for a downturn in the market in order to buy when mostly everyone wants to sell and prices get driven down because of higher supply and less demand. This keeps happening over and over if one has the money and patience to wait for this. Even though one can understand how this works, if one does not have the extra money to do this it is hard.
steve brady
Service is where it’s at today. Shoppers pay less for the product and more for the delivery. The $9 sauté pan prepares your meat as well as the $39 skillet.
Everdoll
This is a good point. One could host their site on an extension other than .com but if they offer something, people will keep coming back no matter what your extension. As we know, .com is the default but what happens when there are two big companies in different sectors wanting to use the same domain? For example spot.im vs spot.com. If both are big, there’s still only one that holds the .com spot. I’ve heard of spot.im before I ever heard of spot.com which makes me wonder if at some point there will be a “reverse domaining” where people will start typing in different domain extensions (mostly cctlds they know of) to see what resolves. Same thing with expireddomains.net which I’m sure we use before the .com
So to get back to your point Steve, someone could very well choose a cheaper extension and put a fully functional product out on it compared to the much more expensive .com version which is parked. There are great .com domains out there but if one were to allocate that money toward bettering their services, they would fare much better than the .com parked equivalent. Sure the traffic may bleed to the .com but as people get into the habit of using the product, they will no longer associate it with the .com and instead will go to the intended website. There is no doubt .com is king but if that $9 saute pan works just as well…
Yes Indeed
And to add to that the fact that Millenials and Gen Zs are going against tradition and disrupting various things that were once considered the norm.
Domains aren’t the focus of these groups- their focus is financial… either making it, or saving it, or spending it on experiences. The unintended consequences of their behavior disrupts real industries like retail, leisure, travel, real estate, tech, etc. Domains falls even further down that foodchain unfortunately and is not an “industry” as many say.
Instead of buying a car, they use Uber.
Instead of living in one location, they decide to travel.
Instead of buying property, they rent.
Instead of a hotel, it’s Airbnb.
Instead of using a credit card, they use debit cards/ cash- and actually are holding out on purchases!
So spending habits have, and continue to change.
The Millenials and Gen Z groups are the decision makers… and they are causing mayhem- and they haven’t even started yet!
This, coupled with what Rick has written about over recent months… will put things into perspective.
Jay
I personally know some people who told me
I don’t need a domain I have my Facebook username. Well they can shut you down whenever they want and all of your content is gone schmuck. Second I remember when Rick Schwartz said don’t quit your day job. I never have and my renewals are never a problem. Plus I am in it for the long haul. Rick Built an ARK and told people to get on board & the flood was coming and not to buy the gtld pigeon sh1t but they didn’t listen and now they are drowning.
seperate
You shouldn’t be using your day job salary to sustain your domain renewals.
They must be kept seperate. What would be optimsl is the reverse- your domain are selling and it compliments your salary.
Jay
I’m retired at 41 how about you.
Yes Indeeed
Along with factors such as Millenials and Gen Zs going against tradition and disrupting various things.
Domains aren’t the focus of these groups- their focus is financial… either making it, or saving it, or spending it on experiences. The unintended consequences of their behavior disrupts real industries like retail, leisure, travel, real estate, tech, etc. Domains falls even further down that foodchain, unfortunately and is not an “industry” as many say.
Instead of buying a car, they use Uber.
Instead of living in one location, they decide to travel.
Instead of buying property, they rent.
Instead of a hotel, it’s Airbnb.
Instead of using a credit card, they use debit cards/ cash- and actually are holding out on purchases!
So spending habits have, and continue to change.
The Millenials and Gen Z groups are the decision makers… and they are causing mayhem- and they haven’t even started!
This, coupled with what Rick has written about over recent months… will put things into perspective.
Timothy
Berkens sold his portfolio for about $500 a domain, everyone, and their daddy know you will never do that, so why even try.
frank meester
Ricko ,whats your email address ,like to send you some domain list ,i want out ,
Jose
Hello, I have not been able to write any comments on your blog due to suffering an anxiety crisis, I have suffered this since 1994 is already controlled pathological but come when I have low moments to see that I do not sell premium domains (.com) of a single word and others that have great potential in this market, but no buyers arise because they may have more attachment to GTDL extensions than to (.com). I will expose at the end of this comment some of them that make known on Twitter that be for sale and that have the Broker of this web http://rightofthedot.com/
I no longer send offer emails, even less to sell my portfolio since I do not want it, the emails that I receive to respond with one I’m not interested in, but of all the ones that I send, only one of them answered me, leaving me like a dirty rag It was not the first time, but everything has a limit and I answered him in such a way that he will never write to me again as he did before, since that day I would be rested and the bass played.
The need to sell exists I do not sell expired to $ 18,000 when I have paid $ 25 there are many of the year 2007 to do it with most domains, when you @Rick days ago I will buy from $ 500 to $ 1000 you are sincere, most write it same and then just try to pay $ 350 to $ 250 never get to $ 500. I also find it funny when making a big sale post in one of your post, the $ figures that have charged before have passed these premium domains by the brokerage team of http://www.uniregistry.com they like me do not get to both with premium domains of a great level.
You had a vision for the domains, I had it for research on arrival in Spain in 1996 was a difficult time, I remember that when writing to the commercial offices of Spain in the US to have more information at first hand, was surprised what I received , photocopies of yellow pages, less the one of Los Angeles that to receive pages photocopied of reports on Internet in the USA that did not serve me at the end of anything to what I have requested.
It’s a shame that it lasted only two good years 1996 to 1998 in research on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, in February 1999 my brother Carles (RIP) died at the age of 36 after a music concert with his group SAU of Pop Rock he was the Singer, lyricist and arranger of lyrics and music with the music composer of the group, he was also actor of cinema, theater, musicals, documentaries, television series and advertising for clothing brands etc. get several awards for Actor in Spain and CD Gold with SAU http://www.carlessabater.com/.
Well let’s leave the sadness aside, the memory always be present.
These are the domains http://www.dieseles.com/ “the Diesel Plural in English diesels”
Spanish “dieseles”
http://payperclicktrial.com/ with a CPC $ 24.99
http://19-k.com/
http://nakaty.com/
http://vacry.com/
http://krivac.com/
http://nayuma.com/
http://gasesinsurance.com/
http://gasunder.com/
http://chinesesignature.com/ See this https://goo.gl/images/DohNYV and this
https://goo.gl/images/WFazpa and this last one https://goo.gl/images/gLY9ta
http://chinesesignature.club/ – http://chinesesignature.xyz/ – http://chinesesignature.win/
http://e7phone.com/ This is the reason: https://goo.gl/images/cd8JYZ
http://e7face.com/ This is the reason: https://goo.gl/images/J5aHsc
http://4l3d.com/ This is the reason: https://goo.gl/images/CXuD3E
http://et4k.com/ This is the reason: E.T. The Extraterrestrial (4K UHD + BD)
http://4vrvr.com/ This is the reason: https://youtu.be/S-OBUMVMieE
http://4vr4vr.com/ This is the reason https://youtu.be/PO3MzYB3Feo
http://aof2.com/ This is the reason https://goo.gl/images/4KnHQD
http://aof3.com/ This is the reason https://goo.gl/images/sUKSEU
http://aof7.com/ This is the reason https: /goo.gl/images/VGkisW
Everyone is at http://www.parkingcrew.net/ I can not put these premium domains because they do not accept my total visits from my domain portfolio, the Broker can use it to monitor.
Thank you.
Happy Day. Jose.
Dave Tyrer
It’s not all doom and gloom, the domain market seems to be fragmented and inconsistent, some platforms and players are thriving.
In a recent Domain Name Wire podcast (September 2018) Jeff Gabriel (Uniregistry Sales VP) stated that sales are tracking to be dramatically higher this year compared to last. He attributes this partly to the current economic boom which is probably the greatest in history, as well as to the growing skills and experience of Uniregistry brokers and new technology roll-out.
Well, it is logical that during an economic boom domains should be flying out the window. So here’s what Jeff says:
“Last year was a great year for us in sales in general. It was our biggest or largest year in sales volume that we’ve ever had but then looking at it now in 2018 we’re going to far surpass that so I was quite happy with the accomplishments we made in 2017… we finished a little bit above $40M in sales and then this year we’re tracking to break $60M in sales in 2018.”
https://domainnamewire.com/2018/10/01/domain-sales-in-2018-jeff-gabriel-dnw-podcast-204/
In 2017 sales to the last day of August were about $25M while in 2018 about $35M has been booked in the same period.
I’ve contacted Uniregistry to ask them to release the Q2 Sales Report, but no news so far. It would be good to see what type of domains are actually selling these days.
pravda
And based on the sources that you have mentioned, it’s easy to see how little you know about the state things are currently at for domains.
Wouldn’t trust the words uttered by the people that you’ve mentioned.
Jon
Are these sales for a domain registrar or a domain re-seller? Registrars tend to do much better because of volume sales while re-sellers may not be doing as good.
Dave Tyrer
That’s a good question which didn’t occur to me since I have most of my domains at Uniregistry (the registrar) and almost all of those listed at Uniregistry Market (their separate optional marketplace).
I am absolutely certain and it is strongly implied that Jeff Gabriel is referring solely to Uniregistry Market sales, completely distinct from whatever registrar sales the company separately achieves. Everything he talks about seems to be about aftermarket stuff involving brokers etc. I’m sure Andrew Allemann would have assumed this too or he would have asked.
When I last added up my own sales more than 3 months ago, I found to my surprise that I had sold just over $100,000 in domains there over the preceding consecutive four quarters. When they intermittently release sales reports, I can confirm that my sales are absolutely accurately reported.
Of course, you can only sell what buyers want, that’s why I hope Uniregistry releases the latest Q2 and Q3 sales reports. The Q1 report is available at DNjournal:
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2018/20180502.htm
As an example, the domain AGILA was one of my reported sales, and the listed price is correct. The report seems to give a good indication of what buyers currently want, but the next report(s) will be interesting to see if trends are changing.
Snoopy
The best source is Dnjournal data and it sounds like it is similar to last year. Having said that it is probably more skewed to enduser purchases rather than the reseller market.
Ntds are toast, all of them, .club, .xyz, .app, pure junk! Even .web is junk but will do better than all the rest. It is a poor man’s .net, and .net is already terrible.
RR
“Rick’s Right!”
RR
I was looking at uniregistry.com and I may want to list my domain names through them since their resales results look impressive.
Byron
This is the absolute worst and dumbest post I have ever seen.
Very disappointed in you, Rick.
Appears to me that you are trying to drive down pricing so that you can do some scooping up and have a an arsonal when the gtlds are all officially declared dead. They are now on life support and this will unquestionably be within the next few months, but shame on you for trying to do a stupid stunt like this.
For the record, I buy large .com portfolios regularly.
Elad
Don’t know about you but for me it’s a great time to buy :-) last years, opportunities are endless .