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As a domain investor, it’s essential to have smooth processes in place for every aspect of your operation. The goal is to get your domains logged quickly, visible in as many places as possible, so they are ready for resale in the aftermarket. At the core of an efficient domain trading operation is a slick step-by-step flow of what to do the minute a new domain enters into your portfolio.

Portfolio management is the core of all of this, so if you know that yours is disorganised at the moment, you need to consolidate everything into a single spreadsheet.

Once you have acquired a domain and it has entered into your registrar’s account, it’s time to put all of the following things in place. Whether you won an auction, paid for a backorder of an expired domain, snapped something up hand-registered it, all of the following applies.

1. Log Key Details

Using that all-important spreadsheet, log the important details about your domain.

I have columns which state the:

  • Domain name
  • Purchase price (in $USD, as that’s how all of mine are sold)
  • RRP (what price I intend to sell the domain for Buy It Now)
  • Date purchased
  • Expiry date
  • Registrar

In addition to this, you may want to categorise domains by their type (eg brandable, exact match, generic, LLLL.com etc).

2. Confirm WHOIS Accuracy

Within your domain registrar account you can add your personal registration information. Adjusting any details will update it for all of the domains within the account.

Accurate information is required by ICANN, and it’s another way for potential buyers to get in touch with you.

3. List on Marketplaces

Listings on the biggest marketplaces are free, so get yours listed as soon as you can. I recommend that you at least have your names listed on the following places:

  • Afternic (20% commission on sales) – on here as a minimum!
  • Dan.com (9% commission)
  • GoDaddy (20% commission)
  • Uniregistry (free-15%)
  • Dynadot (5%)
  • Sav (4%)
  • Sedo (10-20%)

The process is slightly different for each, but all ask that you state whether to have a Buy It Now price and/or potential buyers need to make an offer to purchase.

Importantly, Afternic requests that you set a minimum offer price (for which I put $99 for all domains, so that I see all important offers that come in). 

Note that GoDaddy and Sedo both require you to add txt files to your DNS to verify ownership.

4. Change Nameservers

The nameservers indicate what displays when you navigate to a domain. Once you buy a domain, the DNS will either point to where the previous owner set it, or to a default page by the registrar. Ideally, you want the nameservers to point to a page which states that it is for sale, or on a page which is accruing revenue by parking with advertisements.

Depending on how you like to sell your domains, it’s probably most suitable to have your nameservers set at one of the following places:

  • Dan: ns1.dan.com, ns2.dan.com (my personal favourite)
  • Uniregistry: ns1.uniregistrymarket.link, ns2.uniregistry.link
  • Dynadot: ns1.dynadot.com, ns2.dynadot.com
  • Sedo: ns1sedoparking.com, ns2.sedoparking.com
  • Efty: ns1.eftydns.com, ns2.eftydns.com

Alternatively, you could have you domains redirected to a private marketplace of your own, where you have full control over the landing page, negotiations and final transaction.

5. Check Landing Pages Work

This is absolutely vital, as you may not be aware that there’s an issue for many months or even years, if you have a sizable inventory. Make sure that when you navigate to your domain – by typing it into your browser bar – that it goes to the place you want it to.

I usually check this the day after I alter the nameservers, as it sometimes doesn’t work immediately. This final check affirms that you’re ready for your domain to be resold.

6. Update Spreadsheet

Now you’re all set. Remember to take these same steps the next time you acquire a domain. After a couple of times, this process will come naturally to you. Just remember that if anything changes (like you have to exclusively list your domain on a brandable marketplace like BrandBucket, SquadHelp or Brandpa) that it’s logged within the spreadsheet.

From time to time – often once a year – it’s good practice to check over and potentially reprice your inventory. If that’s the case, make sure your spreadsheet is updated and that you may the necessary changes on each of the marketplaces too.

Chiino
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