Twale Boss...!!! U be baba from day 1.

2sexycom:
Happy New Year Folks... It is 2024, let's go harder.

Congratulations to all domain sellers.

iCausetrouble how have you been bro?

Iykepromotions, Kedu?

BrandUche Nna, what's up?

AwesomeDuru, congrats on your growth. Not surprised about how far you have come. I noticed you would be a badass salesman when you started dropping those sales email on here, I also stated the copywriting skill you exhibited.

Bonsu, how is Ghana

Treasure28, thanks for those calls in 2023

Beckplanet, thank you for always sharing your milestone each year.

Learner47, I hail bros.

Ikhalyfah, where have you been?

HayKay2005, you just forget us for here. no b so ooo.

JudeAnajama, don't leave us here. Please come back.

God bless everyone involved in this journey and growth, 2024 is going to be great year, let's make it count.

ovokate:

Oh wow. I had to ask when I read that GoDaddy brokers contacted you. Congratulations once again

Yeah from the timeline you could read that probably the same buyer have contacted me to severally without response that they resorted to using a reputable broker like Godaddy to reach out instead.

ovokate:

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Did 2you list the frost domain on GoDaddy auctions or was it afternic listing you forgot to delete?

No i didn't, list anywhere like I mentioned it was already deleted name I guess the offer from the first one came via whois info at the time. But am not clear how I still was able to receive the offers even after name have expired that's why I termed it as miracle sale cos I was expecting the turn of events that led to the sale.

2023 Domain Sales Report


2023 was a stable but very slow year in sales. With the emergence of chat gpt and open ai from 2022 saw the rise in AI name trend and tech related trends. One of the many trends I missed the train on again because of my busy schedule and not paying close attention to things happening around lately.

My highlight sale of the year came from FrostConsult//com, a name I registered mid 2018 during the networksolutions promo period, I renewed the name for one year but however let it drop the next year 2020, somehow the name continued to show in my networksolutions account as expired deleted category and I didn't bother so much, so fastforward 2021 when name is already 1 year expired, networksolutions support reached out to me that the name have received a $150 offer from a willingness buyer, but because the name was no longer in my account and the expense of getting back from redemption and paying the huge redemption fee feature was a discouragement so I passed on pursuing the offer plus d not even knowing if the offer was legit in first place, I saw it as a gamble I wasn't willing to take, Fast-forward 2022 another offer of around 400usd came in for the same name through my registrant email via networksolutions support but at this point I felt name have expired 2 years ago and I have moved on already from it and therefore I might be receiving this offers in error or something, on a second thought I felt maybe this name is stuck on my deleted account names / redemption area but because of the rigorous process of redeeming a long time expired name I ignored the offer the second time.

Again in early 2023, the offer came again with same amount of 400usd was being offered but now through a Godaddy broker who reached out to me explaining that a buyer is interested in purchasing the name and Is willing to pay the offered amount asap if I accept offer, that was when I realized the offers are serious so out of curiosity I researched on the name then discovered that frost businesses is big in Australia and New Zealand and some companies, were using different variations of the name but frostconsult //com seemed like the perfect name, so without much deliberation I reluctantly quoted $15k to the Godaddy reps name broker who reached out to me, I didn't even bother explaining to them that this name used to be in my account and no longer there. I just wanted to scare them off with the high price so they stop disturbing me, but surprisingly they came back saying that the buyer needs the name so much and would be willing to pay $4k, I was suprised and wasn't even expecting such comeback, at that I decided to think of the possibility of getting the name back from redemption at networksolutions, so i decided to check the possibility of regaining the name back to my account if it's not already in someone's else's possession. So I called networksolutions domain support team and explained to them that I used to own this name 3 years ago but it expired but somehow still shows in my account as expired, and I asked them of the possibility of redemption of the name, so they said I can redeem the name but since it expired for like 3 years now but still in their registry that I'll have to pay 350usd to redeem name, so I felt that was a big gamble, however with the genuiness of the Godaddy broker's offer I felt I could take the gamble even if the sale falls through maybe I put up the name for 350usd and at least get my money back. So I paid the redemption fee and redeemed the name back in my networksolutions account. Then I went ahead to accept the Godaddy broker's offer of $4k, surprisingly the sale went through, this was just a miracle sale cos I can't explain how I was still receiving offers for a name that was long expired from my networksolutions account and how I even reluctantly quoted a big fee for the name and just like that the buyers paid, can't even explain how a name expired in my networksolutions account got a redemption chance after 3 years of expiry, and back in my account. So I give God all the glory for the sale cos I wasn't expecting it at all, at the time of the sale was in early February this year.

Here are the rest of my sales for the year, it was a pretty mediocre year of selling around just 8 names all year long with over 800 portfolio names and 500 of those I had to renew, which cost around 4.5kusd in renewals. So with the amount of name sales I endured some months with zero sales and across the year I added about 200 names to my portfolio to bring my names portfolio from around 600 to 800 names at the moment.
Here is a list of my other sales this year aside the frostconsult // com sale which I already explained in details above.


Nexadia//com $1799 Afternic (25% AN commission)
Finxia//com $2,199 Squadhelp (30% SH commission)
Givvio//com $1,988 Afternic (25% AN commission)
Nexatravel//com $1,799 Squadhelp (30% SH commission)
Fintovo//com $1,705 DAN (15% DAN commission)
Beluxo//com $1885 Squadhelp (30% SH commission)
Airviser//com $1799 Squadhelp (30% SH commission)

Moreso, I registered some ai names too this year but still waiting for the results on that one. I tried doing auctions this year but it wasn't working for me but I'll restudy it again in, I also took steps to reinvent my domaining philosophy this year to help scale up sales but couldn't find much time for an in depth study/change, so i still stick with my past domaining knowledge, but actively looking to evolve and improve to my strategy.
Hope this insight helps someone and congrats to all those who made sales this year, for those who haven't don't worry your time will come.
Wishing everyone all the best, a merry Christmas and success in the coming new year.


Peace

If anyone is struggling with card payments, simply open/create a payoneer account and get their dollar virtual card. If you can be able to make a domain sale and recieve it via payoneer then you'll have enough funds for your domain name registrations and purchases. Works for me every single time and payoneer virtual dollar card is accepted by all platforms be it for domain related services or otherwise.
Compliments of the season people.

Peace

RESHARPENED:


Very true.

It's a $140 a pop gamble. That's money that could be spent on renewals.

Yeah exactly.

RESHARPENED:


You're mistaken about .ai. It's $70/year but you must pay for 2 years upfront. So every reg is actually about $140+.

With that in mind, I'd say .AI is not a feasible investment for MOST Nigerian investors. But as a veteran, you could probably give it a go.

Also as a veteran, I'm sure you're familiar with the terrible STR in the industry. Do the math and find out if you're cool with the outcome.

For instance, it'd cost around $700 to register 5 domain names. They claim .AI is hotter than hell right now, so assume a STR that's 5X that of .com.

That's a 5-10% STR right there. Yet, it doesn't guarantee a single sale out of the 5 names within a year.

Also, consider the fact the person with the most reported.ai sales on this thread is looking to recommend unregistered/available .ai names to a random person and split the profit.

A Nigerian person made this proposal rather than regging said names and keeping ALL the juicy profits for himself.

There's a lesson in there somewhere.

That being said, domain investing is a WILD world. You could register the 5 names and flip them ALL for a nice profit within a few days, especially with your experience.

Lol bro don't exaggerate my experience. I no Sabi anything oo. That's why I'm coming here to ask questions and learn as well from others experience. I didn't know that u pay 2 years up front on the extension goes to show I've not registered one myself. Anyways as good as it sounds on the hottest of the extension itst still a massive gamble and big investment risk. One has to be hundred percent spot on with their choice in other to get it right on the investment side of things with the extension and that in itself is a massive gamble.

YoobaNesan:
@beckplanet, you're an action noob!
Auction is another home for crazy domainers. You can only win names on GoDaddy auction If you posses one of two;
- Deep pocket.
- A Crook.

That name that sells for $8k, the winner may have to get it for just +$xx.x.
This is it, they bid with two account, inflate price with one(won't pay) and get name with other(as runner-up), by making sure he's the two leading bidders.
You can only hope/pray those with deep pocket do not notice names on your watchlists.... but forget it, if it's a quality name, many can identify that.

As for .ai, you'll get your hand burnt if you invent words to reg.
I can tell you it's the riskiest tld to invest as I've seen people lament they reg up to 15 names and non have sell...(I've sold all my .ai names though and develop a strategy to go about it).
The trend will still be available for up to 2 decades.

Good insights bro. On the Godaddy auctions though, don't you think it's "Shill Bidding" to operate two accounts in an auction marketplace and inflate prices for your own gain? . Isn't that supposed to be unethical? In a big auction marketplace place like Godaddy plus their policy might strongly be against that.

On the ai topic, my only issue with the extension is the big registration fees on dot ai. At least it would have been lower, as close to 70usd Reg fee is not domainer friendly for large investments, imagine picking up 15 names on the extension as hand regs and selling none, thats like 1000usd investment risk. But on the flip side selling one of those names can easily cover the cost of investment and you sit on the rest on the names and see what happens. Either way it is a risk that not many will likely take. By the way do you mind sharing more insights on your journey as u mentioned having some success on the extension. Because currently I'm exploring the possibility of investing in the dot Ai but just discouraged on the big Reg fees which I don't see changing as dot ai was a country (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean and I heard the since the dot ai trend boom, it have generated for them massive revenue. If it was even half the price, I would have taken the risk already. But still exploring the options and looking for what works.

Peace

Ramon92=Ramon92:


Auctions are crazy nowadays and I too wonder if I bid with bots or people with excess money. I just set my max proxy bid and leave.

But one thing I've learnt is that most of those names don't get sold at their closing prices. There's a loophole that'll enable 'winners' pay a fraction of the winning bid.

I'm sure I lost Bold/motion with proxy at $105 this evening to such tactics where the winner will pay less than that amount for the name.

Insightful bro thanks.
While I do understand the setting of proxy bids side of things, didn't know about paying lesser than the amount won.
Thanks for your input.

Auction Experience

As a domainer of over a decade experience and with some tangible success, it is sometimes surprising when I tell people I've never used auctions as a means of acquiring my domain names. I traditionally use Expired domain dot net, or some times namepros buy section thread and some other times just hand registrations as my means of acquiring domain names.

Although time and time again, I've read from many veterans in the industry on how they have repeatedly mentions made big sales from names they picked up from auctions or, DropCatch and Backorders. But due to the ridiculous prices some averages names closes on at auctions I've overtime decided to stay clear.

Fast forward this year with slow down in domain sales for the average domainer like myself. I decided to finally try out my luck in the auctions backing myself to excel in it with my domaining knowledge. So I signed up to Godaddy auctions for 4.99usd. My plan was to purchase some good expired gems from the Godaddy auctions for prices between 25usd -100usd, and in turn flip them a bit more quicker because from my understanding auction acquired names naturally have more demand and a bit more about them because of their rarity as compared to expired drops and average hand registered names

So here is my Godaddy Auctions Experience

Day 1.

I saw a few names on the auctions which Iiked. And I made some bids for them which obviously started from $12 and some around $20 and some of them had 1 day and some 2 days in auctions.

Some of the names I bidded on where

UnityLab
Petplex
Paway
MedicIQ
(All dot com)


1. UnityLab//com : On UnityLab i felt the name had so much potential as all major extentions are taken and some businesses where even using Unitylab+keyword // com in their websites, including a brand called unitylabcorp// com who recieve a recent sizeable funding. This made me gravitate towards the name even more as I saw alot of potential end-user option with the name.
Then I made my first bid for name, joining the auction with other bidders when it was already at 75usd action bid at the time I joined. The action went up to 200usd bidding amount real quick and the furthest I was willing to go was 250usd but boom the auction bidding even went further and exceeded 500usd lol, I kept watching the auction with keen interest after my budget was exceeded then the name went to 1000usd, i was super suprised at what people where willing to pay for a name that might just be a gamble. Then boom a bidder came along in the last minutes of the auction and bid 8000usd on the name lol, I was amused, finally the auction closed at 8105usd. I was wondering between whether these auctions were real in the first place and if it was how will the potential auction winner recoup such huge investment. Anyways moving on.

2. Paway // com : Another name i really liked from the Godaddy auction. I liked this name for the simple fact that it was my kind of name (Brandable, Short, Have a specific niche with multiple application in the Pet/Paw industry, and it being a 5 Letter and memorable term elevates it's value further, then from my brief research on the name, there was an existing startup who uses the name but kind of a modern genZ upcoming pet related brand. So right away i thought there was a potential market for the name and even outside that I could easily list the name on any brandable market for 5 to 7k price region if I eventually acquired it were my thoughts at the time. But then the bidding war started. Again I was leading bidder on the name for 2 day with 105usd bid. Then in the last hours of the auction the bidding got heated and I missed out yet again as the name closed at 595usd, which I even stopped bidding at 195usd. Another ridiculous price for an auction name.

This happened for so many other name including CyberFort // com which closed at 2972usd, Eduvisor // com ridiculously reached 1082usd in the Godaddy auction, Growfi // com, this one is a name i really liked, I made a bid on the name but the auction was canceled on that one. Limelabs// com a more recent auction i participated in, but missed out yet again and the furthest I could bid was 55usd but name closed at 1010usd, and other names which I shared in the screenshot. By the way, so far from my auction Experience I have won Zero auctions because of the surprising ridiculous prices some of these names goes for. For example instead of wasting 200usd for an average auction name, I will back myself to use same budget to outsource and maybe even Reg 20 solid names of close quality. Although I understand some auction names are considerably and million miles better that drops and hand regs.
Now my question to the Ogas in the house that have been participating in auctions for years is, how una take the run am. I mean how does one participate in the auction without getting their hands burn and spending over the odds and again how do some domain investors manage to find good enough names at bargain / low Prices. Please anyone that has an idea please give your feedback or experience.

On another note with the dot Ai ongoing trend / craze, how are guys going about it. Cos from my own observation the price to register a dot ai is ridiculously high at 70usd range for hand registrations, the price discourages me alot from getting involved, Is anyone investing in the trend yet?, cos I'm seeing some crazy .Ai sales lately. Recently after long research i came up with a semi one word .AI name that was available for hand Registration, the name was Marketed dot ai, but I wasn't ready to reg name immediately partly because of the high reg fee of 70usd, but when I eventually made up my mind to Reg name just few days ago to Reg it, name was gone and guess what It was registered 2 days prior and already developed up and running website at the moment. That one pain me sha. Anyways please anyone has an idea on how to go around these high dot ai registration price cause I have some ideas but can't execute it be of high reg fees which is too much for a gamble on some trend. Any discounts or ideas please feel free to drop it.

Hope this my small rant especially on the auctions situation can help someone out there.


Peace

kalu61:
It has been 2 years plus I gave up on starting domaining as side hustle after several months of few rejected names and several unreviewed names. I got discouraged after some few registered names expired with no green light and I got carried away with other things.

Surprisingly, l opened my mail yesterday evening to a SH email that one of two approved names has been purchased. I rushed to my dashboard and discovered it was sold for sure.

Purchased priced $2,000
Net profit $500
Holding time: 2 years and 4 months


Grateful

Congrats bro. Unexpected sales are the best. 🙂

gentlewind:


Boss, thank so much for sharing your indepth knowledge/ experience with us. I have a question, I picked the domain beta//visor//king, based on info I gathered reading your tips on brandable a couple of year back. Do you think it's still worth holding to. Does beta//visor//king tick all the box from your experience?
Kindly give and insight on this. Thanks in advance

Beta is a made up name for Better which makes it a it tricky. Dictionary or niche words + the sufffix would work better on most scenarios but Betavisor seems to have some past industry history which is a good thing.

beckplanet:
2023 Sales Report

In my next post, I'll be reviewing the above reported sales.

Peace

In this particular post above. I made a promise to review the names I reported that sold, for one thing or the other it skipped my mind. However it's better late then never. On a side note I picked up all the names here from the drop list of expired domains, the irony is I have other names i feel are better and by now should have sold but nothing have happened since owning those, so domaining can be a very unpredictable biz and you must brace yourself for suprises. Alright down to business.

AirViser //dot//com

I have had some success in the past selling names with 'viser' in them. Like Health//viser, wealth // viser, So when I saw this one on the expired list I decided to pick it up. I'm guessing the buyer / business that bought name will be an air / jet / plane related. But it can be something entirely different.

Finxia //dot//com

Fin is a keyword i have had good success with selling names like Fintello and Finteva in the past. So finxia was completely a made up name, I came up with the name while submitting unregistered names in a squadhelp name contest, i was trying out / brainstorming unregistered finance related short names and came up with this one, to my suprise it was available, so instead of submitting it to the contest, on a second thought I felt name was good enough to register myself. So I registered it. I was a bit lucky because it was a quick sale. Name currently a developing site.

Beluxo //dot//com

This one is a bit strange. Picked the name up because it sounded like Be/Luxury but in a brandable form. Another motivation aside from name conveying a sense of luxury is that name is short. So again name sold after listing on Squadhelp and waiting for a year or so.

So in summary, one take away from these name sales is that I tend to go with names that are as short as possible (6-9 words majority of the time), although names must have a clear meaning, be it in the financial niche or luxury or health or aviation. So one take away from this review is that when picking a brandable name ensure is ticks certain metrics.

1. It should be short, catchy and memorable.

2. It must be related to a clear niche, be it tech, health, finance, beauty, ai,etc or at least it must convey a sense of applicability or use.(that is it can be used for something).

3. It must be a name u feel you can build your own business on if you were the buyer or user.


When a name meet this metrics, I feel more confident in getting it. Again domaining is a game of numbers so u must have started with Geo niche before delving into brandable or unless maybe you already have some ready made cash to splash because u need to acquire at least a dozen or more of different names before you hope of seeing results. As patience is key. Hope this helps someone.

Peace

Brandable Name Tips

I recently gave someone this advice about where to start on brandable names.
In trying to understand what a good brandable domain name is, there are no specific method to it, because brandable names are subjective which means what one name means to Mr. A might be different from what it means to Mr. B, however if your aim is just to start out and acquire basic knowledge of what good brandable names names are, Then there steps I can recommend for you from my experience.

1. You can start by reading my brandable names guide here on this thread which I made in 2019, the information there is still super helpful till this day in trying to understand basic brandable domaining 101, sometimes I go back to it and marvel at how I was able to breakdown the explanation to beginner level.
Check Page : 658 of this thread for the Brandable Namws5Guide.


2. Secondly you can head over to read or listen to the brandable insider podcast, by Keith de boer. Keith is someone I looked up to and listened to his podcasts and articles about brandable names alot while I was new in domaining and till today his vast shared knowledge of brandable names are still relevant and valuable.
Just type the Brandable Insider Podcast on Google to see Keith de boers podcasts ( it's also on Apple play as well free of charge to listen.) I revisit and listen to them all the time for reference.


3. You can also check out the "Tldinvestors dot com website. They have a brandable names section/thread there where alot of good knowledgeable investors share their experiences on brandables.
Check: tldinvestors.com dot com /category / brandable-domains or type on Google

4. You can also listen to Domain Name Wire podcast by Andrew Allemann, Andrew is an old veteran in the industry and uses his podcast platform to invite industry top dogs to discus domaining, I focus on the brandable aspect because of my personal interest in it. But they discus everything domaining and sometimes the knowledge shared there marvels me. Just type it domain name wire podcast on Google and get the result. A great listen that is. They recently had an interview with Brandbucket Founder Margot Bushnaq where she shared knowledge about the industry, brandables and recent trends.

5. And finally for check out Dngeek. Another very good brandable focused website which helped me understand brandable well with their breakdown analysis. Unfortunately Dngeek website is no longer running today but most of their old contents are still available on a website called thewebsiteflip dot com / domains. Alot of valuable details still there.

Caveat: If you are new to domaining please stick with Geo domains first and then when you have money you are not using u can test the waters on brandable niche cos investing in brandable names demands alot of patients and with the recent trend of generative Ai's like Chatgpt, it have become even more difficult to sale a brandable name this days as most business owners prefers to use generative Ai this days to generate their business names reason for the drop off in sales and demand for names in general. But their is still demand and sales anyways just tread with caution everyone and invest in what is real value.

I bet if you can patiently go through the tips, you'll learn a thing or two which might be helpful in brandable domain niche or even general domaining at large.


Peace

Have anyone received payment from wire transfers lately, please what's the current CBN rate at the moment. Cause since govt unified the exchange rates (both black market rate and CBN rate.) to become one. I don't know how much this have impacted the domain names aftermarket payment platforms, that is if it impacted it at all. Cause the reason why we opt for PayPal, payoneer, Krypto etc is because of the low CBN rates when one opts to use wire transfers but if the cbn dollar rates are same with say payoneer, PayPal, Krypto i don't think there will be much need using alternative payment options and not wire transfer option. Please anyone with experience in this regard lately, kindly share.

Peace

codemaniacs:


Is Dyna:dot your main registrar?

Name:silo is not getting me any sales and most of the popular sellers go:daddy.

A good percentage of my names are at Sav dot com. Godaddy this days have + usd20 renewal prices so I stay clear of them.

aberyomi09:


Great post, thanks for sharing, more sales!!!
Why did you focus solely on brandables? I believe a healthy mix is the right approach to portfolio, glad it’s working for you thou, keep winning

More like a niche that found me and not the other way round.
I take domaining more like hobby first then hustle, and I'm intrigued by the creative aspect of branding and the results it can produce. I've tried geo a couple of times almost similar results so I stick with the one that interests me the most. More like the one I enjoying doing most. Anyways I'm looking forward to diversify in future and spread my wings alot bit if the results are consistent.

Peace

2023 Sales Report



AirViser //dot//com

Sold Price : $1978
Reg Fee from ED: $7.99 (Dynadot)
Received : $$1483.5
Sold Venue : SquadHelp
Sale Type : Inbound
Hold Time : 7 months

Finxia //dot//com

Sold Price : $2499
Reg Fee Handregged : $6.99 (Sav)
Received : $1749.3 after commissions
Sold Venue : Squadhelp
Hold Time : 5 months


Beluxo //dot//com

Sold Price : $1678
Reg Fee : $7.99 (Dynadot) + $7.99 Renewal fees
Received : $1174.6
Sold Venue : Squadhelp
Hold Time : 1years and 6months


Key Notes:
This year have been ups and down in the domain industry, I still feel 2019/2020 gave the best domaning results on a personal note. Maybe others can share there perceptive and opinions on that topic. After the pandemic the market have been fluctuating, however alot of people have benefited from new trends meta, gpt, ai. Geo's have performed great too for many. But the general domaining market have been slow.

Afternic since paring with Godaddy and changing some of their SEO mechanics and their fast transfer network partner strategy, have been a bit hit and miss. Currently this year I've managed to cut down my portfolio to around 600 names choosing quality over quantity and selling off around 30% of unwanted names in my portfolio on bulk deals. I've also improved the quality I bring into my portfolio massively to avoid wasting money on renewals on names i don't necessarily need long term as most have been in my portfolio for over 4 years with no results. Sales hasn't been inspiring but I look forward to a better second half of the year and I plan to Re-learn domaining and improve my game massively.

So far I've Recorded: 1 sale on Afternic undisclosed from the above mentioned sales due to buyer protection. (although afternic have been my most disappointing platform 2 years running now)

Haven't listed on Dan for over a year now so started re-lising there so 0 sales on Dan as well.

With a small portfolio of just 15 name on Brandbucket 0 sales so far

My 5 surviving names on Brandpa have recorded 1 low ball offer and 0 sale.

Also decided to try Sedo and patiently scaled through their verification stress, will give a review as things progress over there.

Currently Squadhelp holds around 85 % of my entire portfolio with 550 names. Having trimmed down the portfolio, selling some unwanted names in bulk of 100's to some old domainer friends on Bulk deal at reseller rates and trying to maintain a good quality and healthy portfolio.
From my current 510 names on Squadhelp I've recorded just 3 sales and 2 offers this year excluding bulk deals and minor reseller sales here and there.
With the additional 1 sale on Afternic. Which rounds to 4 sales on a 600 names portfolio, That's around 1.6 % sales through rate for 6months conversation, anyway overall that's Average returns result.
Although I'm currently having a hard time focusing on domaining as I'm a bit into academics at the moment as a researcher and most of my attention goes there which affords me little time for domaining lately. Nonetheless, I'm looking to reinventing my domaining ideology and try to invest better and probably attempt the premium names market to see what experience comes from there. And I look forward to contributing more on this thread this year (even though the year have gone half, apologies) as I've been a bit off with other activities lately, one being my career path. Anyways I'll also wish for us to make this thread an avenue of learning different and trending domaining strategies and not just through reported sales which I feel sometimes is just the end result of a long process. Overall I feel the brandable names market is slo, patient one and can be rewarding with the right kind of names and investment. And domaining is a numbers game hence if you make a small profit, don't forget is reinvest a good percentage back to your portfolio to stand a chance of selling more names. I also wish everyone success in sales as the year goes to the 2nd half. If you are feeling down on your result don't give up, Remember a game is not won in the first half, better months ahead for everyone. Cheers..

In my next post, I'll be reviewing the above reported sales.

Peace

Cashew:
Hi there,

I noticed in one of your posts that you have over 1k portfolio, would it not make sense to post them on a web page and advertise the page with the hope of finding buyers.

In other words set up your own market place.

Just thinking, what do others think

Please note, I am specifically talking about the brandable market

Most of my names are on Squadhelp and Afternic. That's enough publicity for me.
1. Squadhelp for exposure to the real end users who understands how to use a brandable market to find names to buy. (Although the market is saturated this days.)

2. And Afternic for random buyers who type in a name on the registrar search and just click buy now because my afternic buy now price reflects on most registrars due to the Fast transfer network they operate on. (Afternic have a network of registrars they collaborate with so when a buyer types a name on those registrars instead of it to reflect "name registered" or "the reg fee" it'll reflect the price the name was listed for on Afternic.) thats why a lot of sales happens there because of these partnered networks with registrars they've created.

So I do not need an extra individual marketplace to advertise my names because brandable names hardly drives traffic on their own except on rare occasions. But if having a separate marketplace is a must or very necessary to a brandable seller maybe they can explore the squadhelp whitelabel marketplace as a third option. Hope that helps to answer your questions.

Peace

Babalakin:
Wondering why I'm unable to login to my Afternic account which I created some days back. Even created a godaddy account today yet it's not letting me login. I have just written support.

Ps: What could be the cause

Cc beckplanet ideaspro icausetrouble haykay47 and co

Maybe the afternic system detected an irregular activity with your account and restricted it, this usually happens with new accounts. Hence I'll suggest you wait to hear from support but if no reasonable response from them I'll advise you open another account afterwards but hopefully they replies with some good news to unlock your account.
Hope that helps.

Peace

JohnQueen:
The Indian own is a standard. I think someone has talked about it before. They register SH listed names in other extensions

Wow, didn't know about that. Thanks for the input. Darpan who is CEO of Squadhelp is Indian maybe might connect to the reason why that happens sparingly.

meetme01:


This looks like plagiarism. Not sure if that exist in domain. It's a pity Indians and Nigerians make things difficult to entrepreneurs.

Extensions is a leverage in domaining hence, the sta tus quo. However, you can pitch the .com at a lower price because a Google search by a buyer and having a similar extension in .ng is a turnoff except in exceptional cases.

On the logo, you can inform SH probably something can be done for them to drop the logo which may make them buy the name. Nigerians don't understand there are laws in the domain industry. A threat from SH can have positive effect.

Alright thanks for the input but I don't think a company interested in the name might see any wrong in other country code extentions. If its a TLD extension then maybe but country code extensions are a different ball game I guess.

And on your second take, I understand your point sha but nobody is threatening anybody oo I'm willing to let this one slide. And hope name sales outside of their interest regardless. Them don too drag this we country on international level, an I'm not looking to add to that o

But good feedback, thanks.

Peace

A Nigerian company used one of my Squadhelp listed names as their brand name and registered it in the dot NG version which they registered recently. I see the brand is an App on Google playstore (A Finance related Niche). Important to note also is that they used "almost similar logo" as that one on my SH Listed name. But I've owned first probably a year now before the company was formed few months ago.

Now my Questions are:
1. Can they afford to buy the dot com version of the name? I'm skeptical to know in our 9ja companies buys names in the low $xxxx region. although I've seen a bet related domain name sold to a Nigerian company but that is betting niche though which have alot of cash flow.

2. Secondly, Will this reduce or increase the chances of selling the name, outside their interest.


3. Is it an offence to imitate logo of an existing name without prior rights to ownership of the name? (Although I can neglect/overlook this aspect by simply applying for a logo redesign of the name)

And by the way , this is not the first time I'm noticing my name especially the ones being listed at Squadhelp being used in another extension by a new company but with exact same logo as my SH listed name. Experienced this probably on 3 occasions now, one was an Indian company using same name on "dot IN" extension but imitating my dot Com logo of the one I have on squadhelp. The other is one company like that using a country level extension too and then this. I'm curious to know what anyone thinks on this and if someone have had similar experience.

Peace

therealMcCain:


I am the one...

we learn everyday excerpt I read what he wrote wrong.


Are those names brandable names? if No, why cant they be reffered as brandables?

Brandable is similar to saying Fashionable. That means it can be fashion but you have to make them into becoming fashionable. (back to the term brandable, that means it can be a brand but you have to put in effort to making them become one)

Meta//verse is a stand alone niche so the exact match word in any extension (like the metaverse//xyz is already an identified brand by design without putting in too much effort/energy based on the niche and trend so you don't have to put in any effort to make them one (i.e a brandable name). That doesn't mean you can't list them in a brandable market though. But the term is an already spread term with a defined use case so no effort isnneeded into turning it to a brand as it's already one.
Take for example Purple//com which is a mattress company though its a term for a colour but the owners had to intentionally make the term purple become a mattress company. It was an intentional decision so thats what made it a brandable name. The same can be said of Lemonade//com which became an insurance brand or Apple//com which is a phone/ technology company. These names can be classed as brandable names because an intentional effort was made to change them into brands. I guess that's what brandable names are all about. That is not to say that Metaverse cannot be a brand but we already know what it'll be lol, so it's already an exact niche keyword. It'll be mad surprising for a meta//verse name to be used as a mattress company lol that's when you can say it have become what's it's not meant to be and that defines it as brandable. But at this stage of the trends development I feel any business that buys a meta//verse term will only definitely use it for a meta//related product so no suprise there at all.

The same case can be made for Sportsbet//xyz you can't use it in anything rather than a sporting related, I'll be suprised if I see the term being used for a cupboard manufacturing business or a machine technology company or say a restaurant, so you see. It an exact niche term and nothing more. So not really brandable or as fashionable (when you use the first reference I made above on fashion and turning something into fashion thereby making it fashionable)

Although, you can make a case for Wrap being brandable though, my bad, at first I didn't look at it properly but I can see it being use for say finance brand (in terms of wrapping up a deal quickly) or a food brand in term of (some certain kind of food wrap) or an "igbo" joint in term of same one wrap of smoking paper lol. . So it can be used for anything and that's what makes it a brandable term. So Wrap can go with anything provided it can mirror different meanings based on the brand you want it to represent as I explained above so that makes that one a brandable term.


So in summary a brandable name is a word with indefinite meaning or limitless possibilities or limitless application on what the name can become meaning that you can apply it to anything and bring a new definition or meaning out of it and not limited or bounded by a exact niche or specific use case.

Hope you got my point boss. Just added to what have been said by others above.

Peace

fergusen:

Here's how I classify brandables now.
1. Compound brandables: These are basically two word combinations that sync together. Example: SavvyMint, BetterPay, FundVault, etc

1a: Alliteration compound brandables: A type of compound brandables where the first letters of both words are thesame. Example: SavvySale, BetterBuy, etc

2. Real/Single words: Food, Care, Metaverse, platform, etc.

3. Blends: Two words blended together, A real word+a suffix, etc. This can take many forms. Example: Quad+Electronics= Quadronics, Fly+Confident= Flyfident. Brand+iva (iva is an example of a suffix).
Then there's the keyword+Suffix like Zio, Zi, vi, zia, which is peculiar to Squadhelp.

4. Misspellings. This can be one word like Educatyve (Educative), or two words like MetaLyfe (MetaLife).
Interchanging similar sounding letters like I and Y; C,Q, K, etc. Crypto=Krypto, Cool=Kool, etc

5. Made up brandables. This ones like the name implies are made up. No real meaning traceable to the dictionary. Just some letters combined together to create something beautiful.
Zevero, Ancora, Drooply, Plufy, etc
Keeping it 3 syllables max is the best practice.

The thing is, if you understand vowels and consonants in English language, made up brandables wouldn't be hard for you to create.

Great insight.

ikhalyfah:
I want to share some notes regarding brandable. Hopefully, it will be of benefit to some.
I'm not a brandable expert, just learning over the years and I hold only a couple of brandables (around 300 or so). So please you can take this info "with a grain of salt". I'll try as much to compile and summarize all different sources I've come across.

Generally, I personally classify brandables into 3::
* Keywords (Single, compound, play on word)
* Blends
* Invented

Please this post is open to contributions, criticism and corrections
@beckplanet
@2sexynet
@Learner47
@icausetrouble
@everybody

Thank you

Nothing to critique here it's good we all have some kind of understanding of what category to place names at in the brandable names space. Kudos to you bro for putting up this piece. I've equally picked up a few things as we learn everyday. These categories majorly helps newbies in the business to understand what they are buying/regging, where it fits in the market and what to expect from them when acquired.
In summary this days I simply classify them (Brandables) as either Real Words Or Made Up/Invented names. Real word includes everything from all dictionary words, 2 keywords etc while made up and invented terms can go from misspellings, to formed word or invented terms and hybrid names. But in all its important to buy the right Quality of names. Even up until last year I still reg or buy names that I wonder what I was thinking while buying them lol. So buying quality names that you can keep and hold is key.
Once again nice piece @ikhalyfah, keep up the good work bro.

Peace

SIBF:
Where have you been?

Been occupied with some personal life business that needed my time and attention. So took my eyes off from social activities for a while.

Learner47:
Alhamdullahi.

I dedicate dix to God, IK & Beckplanet.

Congrats bro. More sales

2sexycom:
I think Swether was the owner...

Yeah boss. I guess so.
They call her the queen of Xyz

Crazeworld:
I think experience plays a great role in pricing. Some people have really nice names but just doesn't know how much they're worth so they price low to sell. Most of those in this category actually got those names for reg fee so they figured x100, x150, etc. is a steal.

Some on the other hand have some really nice names and they know the worth so they won't sell for cheap. They set the bar high up and don't mind waiting.
Meta//Payments dot co sold for £38,888 under two weeks while Meta//Avatars dot net sold for €38,000 under 4months. It will interest you to know that both of them were handregs sold by the same person in October 2021.

Another important factor to pricing is the amount of cash you've got in the bank. People ask more when they have more than enough to spend. They are not under pressure to sell.
Metaverse//xyz sold for $9,888.
Sportsbet//xyz sold for $104k.
Wrap//xyz for $110k.

The three names were sold by the same person. The first sold early 2021 while last two sold recently. While they are all great names, the first one is undoubtedly worth more than the other two. While we can argue that metaverse hasn't blown up back then, the reason why it sold low was because she didn't ask much for it.

Going through Swetha's sales reports on Namepros, her average selling price late 2020 / early '21 was mid four figures. Fast forward to 2022, she frequently sells mid five figures. What happened you might ask? She clearly increased her prices because obviously, she has more than enough money in the bank.

A guy on Twitter sold a one word .us extension for over $420k from an initial offer of $500. His first counter offer was 10btc and despite receiving 75k, 200k, 350k, he kept turning them all down till his demand was met. How was he able to pull that off? Yes the domain might be great but he obviously has a shitload of money in his bank account.

Yeah agreed. Although I equally share similar views to @2sexycom regarding the names not being termed brandables.
Nontherless Meta/verse//xyz massively undersold considering it sold under a year and the industryhave not yet picked up yet. I saw somewhere on squadhelp reported sales that the name sold for $4,499. Maybe it sold twice I guess as Namebio reported it at $9,888 which you rightly quoted. But regardless at both prices it undersold if the trend is going to pick and reach the peak of its powers as anticipated. But it can be a gamble worth it for the sellers as they sold for profit. So everyone is a winner once profit is made.


Peace

Recent Sales Report


EvoBrite //dot//com

Sold Price : $1799
Reg Fee : $7.99(Dynadot)
Received : $1259.3
Sold Venue : SquadHelp
Hold Time : 7 months

SavvyPuppy//dot//com

Sold Price : $1995
Reg Fee : $7.99 + $8.99 Renewal fees
Received : $1425 after commissions deduction
Sold Venue : Afternic
Sale Type : Inbound
Hold Time : 1 year 7months


Bestago //dot//com

Sold Price : $599
Reg Fee : $7.99 (Dynadot) + $17.99 Renewal fees
Received : $510
Sold Venue : Dan
Sale Type : Inbound
Hold Time : 2years and 3months


Hello House, been off for a while hope everyone is doing great.
Sales have been slow in the market this year, probably because of the after effects of covid_19 or due to the rumored impending/coming global recession. So far this year, have had 3 Squadhelp sales on a portfolio of 650 names, slowed down in adding more names to my portfolio because of the returns and gradually watching the market. Afternic too have been slow as well for me with just 3 sales all year long on a portfolio of 1000 + names. But overall the returns have kept me afloat so I'm greatful to God for that but with adding more quality names to one's portfolio u would have expected more as to when you had random regs and still balance out in sales lol . Now is the time to hold unto quality names and try to wheat out weak names if you have any to have cash in case opportunities comes by to buy better quality.
I've seen Meta//verse name sales going crazy the past months for those who got in early, I remember calling it out about a year ago hope someone benefitted from that back then. Funnily I have sold None of my Meta names so far, although I own 3 or 4 not so great one's maybe would have added a couple back then but we move(As we keep learning). It (Meta niche) might stand the test of time or it can still go crazy and wind-off just like VR (because the technology is ahead of its time at this moment). But I feel if the right infrastructures are built around the trend early it'll stay for a while.
Overall the market is not moving so fast in other niches overall at the moment except for maybe a few select buzz words and trends. Invest what you can afford to leave and wait for and don't be in a hurry to jump in. Wishing everyone a successful second part to the year and more sales to Everyone!!!

All glory to God.

Peace