.
- In November 2010, Clover Holdings Limited acquired the domain “com” for $13,000,000
- In September 2001, Hotels.com GP LLC acquired the domain name “com” for $11,000,000
- In March 2008, Gentile Philip acquired “com” for $9,999,950
- In May 2007, Moniker privacy services acquired “com” for $9,500,000
- In September 2010, Facebook acquired the domain name “com” for $8,500,000
- In May 2008, ATTN Diamond acquired “com” for $7,500,000
Those are the top six biggest public domain sales ever (as of the time of this writing). Those mouth-watering figures are enough to drive home the point that you can become stinking rich by selling just one domain name!
Though the days people used to make five to six figures from the sales of a single domain name are fast passing by, you can still make a few hundreds to a few thousands of dollars from the each sale. And if you ask me, I’d say that’s still pretty lucrative, considering that you’d buy most domains for around $10 or less.
Though buying and selling domain names might seem alluring, it’s a tricky and risky business. And it’s not an easy undertaking. However, with the right information at your fingertips, you can go on to become a successful player in this business. Would you like to take a plunge? Then I advice you read on to learn the basic of starting and running a successful domain name reselling business.
How to Make Money Buying and Selling Domain Names
Step 1. What does the domain name business entail?
As stated earlier, you will be on the lookout for domain names that have not been previously registered, but will most likely be needed by desperate buyers in the future. In addition, you will be on the lookout for domain names that have just recently expired, and you will quickly register anyone you find—with the hope that the owner will be willing to pay any amount just to get it back.
Now, let’s face it. The domain name business involves a lot of gamble. There are times when you will hold a “promising” domain name for many years and still will not find anyone interested in buying it. And there are times when domain names have been deliberately left to expire by their original owners, so snagging up those domains won’t fetch you anything because the owner has nothing to lose.
In order to boost your chances of success in the domain name reselling business, you must understand the various factors that make a domain name potentially valuable. This way, you can know how to choose the best ones to purchase, which can give you a better chance of making money.
So, when buying domain names, you must choose those that are currently popular and that buyers will most likely be interested in. But it’s not enough to consider the present; think of the future, too. What domain names will most likely be profitable in the future? Is there a new product or service that may become the next big thing? Is there a new word that is likely to become a buzzword in the near future? Thinking in these lines can help you come up with promising domain names.
Step 2 How do you brainstorm for domain names?
A domain name can be anything from a product to a culture. But here are some good places to begin:
- Geographic areas
- Business names
- Names that are popular now
- Generic names
Think about the name of your city or popular cities in your country. Think about names like mangoes.com or doctor.com. The more generic your domain name is, the better your chances of selling that name for top dollars. Why? Research has shown that Google likes generic names, so any company selling mangoes, may, for example, want the “mangoes.com” domain name. If you own that name, you can set the asking price for it. Does that sound great to you? Good. But wait! There are is one thing you need to know before taking a plunge…
Step 3: Legalities and trademarks
Though it might be tempting to snag the name of a big company and buy that domain name, this is not legal. For example, you cannot buy cocacola.com because you want to sell it to Coca Cola for millions of dollars. Company names are trademarked, and if you dare steal their domain names, get ready to face legal action.
Similarly, you cannot buy someone’s name. So, if you know of an emerging artiste or author, don’t ever try purchasing a domain with their name, as this could also send you to court.
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