Don't Handreg Your First Domain Investments

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Why Not?

There are so many layers to domaining, in spite of how simple the industry must seem from the outside. After all, all you actually need to do is get your hands on a desirable name and sell it to someone that sees even more potential in it. Yes – but that’s exactly why every single one-word generic .com, and every 1, 2, 3 and 4-letter .com domain is registered.

People have been there already. There are complex tools out there to make sure that these investors get the goods before anyone else. The chances are that you won’t be able to come up with a name someone’s willing to spend more than a couple of grand on. Trying to replicate that is even harder, until you’re experienced in this game.

I get it – it’s usually about £10 to handregister a new domain. You’re probably thinking that the only alternative is to jump in the auctions and try to snag a deal at Sedo or GoDaddy or somewhere like that, but you really don’t have to. A ‘good deal’ might be a two-word generic .com name you get for £30 and you can sell for £200. You can get pre-owned domains for about £10, if you know the right places to look.

What’s Wrong with a Handregistered Domain?

Speaking strictly about the resale value, there are a number of reasons why handregistered domains are less desirable to potential buyers:

If a new domainer has come up with it, there’s a 90% chance the name is not worth anything to begin with
Advanced domain investors consider domain age before they purchase
No traffic, so no way of proving that there’s interest from others
No existing backlink profile
Only one person has ever shown in that interest in that domain before; you
There are so many better domains out there

It’s the unfortunate truth. It took me a good while to come to terms with this, but it wasn’t until I invested in things like a NameBio subscription and spent time actually watching day-to-day auction sales that I realised that most of my own inventive handregistered domains weren’t going to cut it as sellable assets.

What Should You Invest In?

Domaining is a gamble, and the way to turn the odds more in your favour is by following the advice of those that have experience and are able to identify holes in someone’s game. I spoke to one of the owners of DNWE, who told me that it’s less risky to spend $10k on a pre-owned domain than $10 on something completely untested.

To find domains with history, your best bet is DropCatch. The pre-release auctions start at $10 and you can find gems in there. Buying and selling domains from there is a good way to build up your confidence at flipping domains that others have previously had a use for, and you’re likely to find someone else that thinks the same. I would say that the next-best place to go is GoDaddy’s expired domains auctions, followed by ExpiredDomains.net. It’s just up to you to spend real time studying what sells before you start buying anything.

Why I Still Handregister So Many Domains

I have a few different strategies for domains. As far as handregistered names, I usually only register them if I can see a clear business path, which I would be able to bring to life myself. In a worst-case scenario (that it doesn’t sell within a couple of years), I can develop a site for it and sell it on for a small profit. It’s a flawed strategy, but as long as it doesn’t make up the bulk of my portfolio, these just add to the diversify of my income streams (which is never a bad thing).

Experience, skills and knowledge all come into play here. I’m thankful that I waited a few years before I went deep into domaining, and I’d advise others to do the same. Ultimately, the lesson is that you should avoid handregistering domains at the beginning unless you have an insider’s help.