Three Mistakes Newbie Domainers Make When Buying Domains For Investment

[impactadmin]

When becoming a domain flipper, especially when starting out, there are a few things you need to know about domain names. That way when you do flip the domain to make money you do not run into any problems. Here are three mistakes some newbie domainers make when deciding to try the domain flipping game.

1. Not knowing the 60 day transfer period

When buying domain names, the rules for most Top Level Domains (TLD's) are that you must keep it initially for 60 days with the registrar you purchase it with. Until that sixty days is done you are not allowed to transfer it to another person. So you should keep it for two months before trying to flip it. Also, many do offer a free push into a new account, but you must tell the person buying the domain that you will be doing a free push into the registrar it is currently registered with. Also, if you do the free push, when they receive the domain they will also need to wait sixty days if they decide to switch to their registrar of choice.

2. Purchasing really long domain names

One thing you must not do when flipping domains is buy really long domains like HeyThisIsMyNewBlogAboutDogTrainingComeReadIt.com. This will not make you money if your trying to flip domains. Short domains are the best domains to flip. If you check out any 3 or 4 letter domains for sale you will see they demand high prices, even the ones that are a strange combination of letters. Also, catchy short memorable domains sell well. You might be able to sell three word domains, but they will need to normally have some kind of site content on it. In terms of just flipping straight domains with out a built on top site, you should remember "short and sweet".

3. Buying Domain Names with Hyphens

Hyphenated domain names may allow you to get the keywords you are after to be contained within the domain name, but they will sell for much less when trying to sell the domain or site being built on top of it. Everyone when they tell someone a URL for their domain will say the words to the domain. If you have to say "domain hyphen second hyphen word" just so they remember the domain, you will likely get people not finding the site or they will try out "domainsecondword.com" which may lead to a competitor site. Memory and ease of use in typing in the domain name are the main reason you should not use hyphens if you are looking into investing in a domain name.

These are three mistakes many newbies make when buying domain names. There are times when point two and three above can be financially rewarding when buying as an investment, but for anyone starting out they may find out they are putting in a lot of money without a return on investment.

Original Article: Ezinearticles

[mulligan]

Hyphenated domain names may allow you to get the keywords you are after to be contained within the domain name, but they will sell for much less when trying to sell the domain or site being built on top of it.

Not much experience in the German market then?

[biggedon]

one of the biggest mistakes a newbie can make... is calling yourself a "domain flipper"

it tells everyone who is not, that you're a newb

i pity those newbs who are having notions of "flipping" their way to success, without first knowing about investment strategies and domain values.


also, don't agree much with the philosophy about long domains and hyphens, but those are general "rules-of-thumb" that gets spread around, so it's expected.


but i appreciate it, because it helps to keep the competition low


imo...

[stewie]

I think the biggest mistake a newbie makes is being too creative...its easy to see and think of a plan for a domain name, then buy another one etc... but getting it developed is another story... In the end developing isn't always easy to get to... time/money and energy.

So go slow make up your mind if you are going to develop or not.
I have many great ideas as I'm sure most do.
Getting to them isn't as easy as you think.

Find what you do best and repeat it. (Like Tiger Woods...LOL) j/k

Tip#1- please don't drink while regging names..LOL

[TheLegendaryJP]

3 of 300 mistakes lol

[David G]

I respectfully disagree about long tail names not being good for new domainers to buy. Reason is it's almost impossible to reg good short keyword names so the only viable option is long tails if you want keyword names - as opposed to brandable or madeup names. You would also be surprised about how my stats show people will typein long urls.

Regarding hyphens, generaly speaking I agree in theory. However, with that said I do have hypenated mini-sites which get regular direct nav traffic (though I am sure the non-hyphen gets more traffic). Also wondering why hyphenated names are considered valuable by Europeans, especially Germans, and recall Hotel-Reservation.com sold for about $200k (purchased by a German I believe), plus a few other hyphens sold for 5-figures as reported in DNJournal.com

[katherine]

I think the biggest mistake a newbie makes is being too creative...

I hear ya. I must have regged quite a few pseudo-brandable domains. Needless to say, few have ever been developed or sold

I respectfully disagree about long tail names not being good for new domainers to buy. Reason is it's almost impossible to reg good short keyword names so the only viable option is long tails if you want keyword names - as opposed to brandable or madeup names.
...

Actually, the very first noob mistake is believing you can make lots of money (easily and with no effort) with fresh regs. I think the money is in the aftermarket today, and very few people will make a decent living on new registrations.

Those buying up mediocre domains in the hope of turning them into lottery tickets are chasing a dream that will never come.

[Slipxaway]

The reason domainers do not see value in hyphen domains is because most domainers do not actually develop domains or know anything about SEO. Don't feel bad, most SEO experts know nothing about domains. The domaining, seo, marketing and branding industries all seem to be oblivious to the others and have no idea that they are all directly related and complimentary.

The point being, no, hyphen domains aren't likely to turn a huge profit with domain sales. However, if you're looking to develop SEO rich sites where the majority of your traffic is expected to come from backlinks and SERPs and where you will then use your marketing techniques to pitch affiliate offers, hyphenated keyword domains are gold.
But don't go registering them all up unless you plan to develop, because their added SEO benefit is nice, but it's not absolutely necessary and probably not worth large sums of cash.

As for #1 on the list, that was my very first mistake in domaining. I registered a domain through Yahoo domains for $2.99 through a .com promotion and managed to sell it within a month for many many times that. They didn't offer a push service either! I ended up having to just give the buyer my account, which luckily only had that one name, but was linked to my Yahoo email address that I used for years. Kind of sad, but it was worth it.

[thejosh]

Nice post impactadmin. It is always good to remind oneself of the basics... even for the experienced domainers here.

[Honan]

"Until that sixty days is done you are not allowed to transfer it to another person"
Yes you can

A typical newb mistake is not understanding the difference between Registrar and registrant
What the OP is saying is that registrars may not allow a transfer to another Registrar, however nearly all registrars will allow ownership to be transferred to another registrant at the same registrar within seconds of registering

[DomainsInc]

Those buying up mediocre domains in the hope of turning them into lottery tickets are chasing a dream that will never come.

definitely.

[myst woman]

agree with both. I have clients who go on domain buying sprees and talkk about making money but won't develop.

[ProDome]

i would always buy domains that may have a chance to be developed. You can try to flip it or park it for sale at sedo, but it fails, you can always get some money from affiliate marketing.

Cant do that with a brandable tho.

[MAllie]

Also wondering why hyphenated names are considered valuable by Europeans, especially Germans, and recall Hotel-Reservation.com sold for about $200k (purchased by a German I believe), plus a few other hyphens sold for 5-figures as reported in DNJournal.com

I wonder if it might be to do with the fact that nouns in German carry a capital letter, which must help to distinguish them from other words. To someone used to this, two words joined together might be confusing.

[simon johnson]

Actually, the very first noob mistake is believing you can make lots of money (easily and with no effort) with fresh regs. I think the money is in the aftermarket today, and very few people will make a decent living on new registrations.

Great post - that is VERY true. Domaining is a lot of hard work - its not as simple as buying a few names and selling them for $1Million!

On the 2nd point, there is $$$ to be made on new registrations, but you REALLY have to know what are doing. IMO its well beyond most domainers as it requires experience (which also means making mistakes) - not just talking about it.