For Sale Why is it slim pickings?

[nathanjacobs]

Hopefully this won't sound like a rant, i'm just beginning to get frustrated with expiring domains, and expired domains. Let me elaborate.

I was buying names which I found on drop lists that had ovt w/ext, or good link popularity and reselling them for a small profit as early as 3 weeks ago and doing it consistently. But all of the sudden the lists pretty much went dry over night, no ovt w/ext names were coming through to the expired domains lists and very few link popularity names as well.

Ever since what I call d-day, it has been bone dry. So I decide to add scanning pending delete lists into my bag of tricks, and begin to try to snap the lowest of the low level names at drop time. Ovt w/ext 25-30 names, low linkpop names that may sell for a bit more, etc. Alas, ALL are snapped at droptime by those with more registrar connections than I. Believe me, the worst names are taken quickly just like the big ones.

Ok, so i'm beat there too. Now I decide to conform to society and try to use the top domain snappers to my advantage and try to go for some half crappy half good names by backordering them. Ovt w/ext of 70 here, Ovt w/ext 120 there.

So, they pick a couple of them up, auction time! Woo. So I wait a few days, and just as an example of how pretty much all of them ended we have a name that is child related ovt w/ext 120 - auction ends at over $700. This is a name if sold at DNF would sell for around $150 or so traffic unknown. Why would someone pay $700 for it? 10 Years possible revenue? Like I said this was an example, most crappy names went for 200-700 or so.. Disney channel typos that would sell for $60-$70 on DNF going for those prices, you get the idea.

So my question is, how do you carve out a niche when the competition and money backing is so intense with some people/companies in the industry. Do you just have to stick around and hope to get lucky, why am I still hungry to be in this business?

I am hungry to be in this business, but for the life of me I can't figure out why. Maybe it's because I hope that maybe one day I might get the enlightening idea that will make me a few hundred more bucks until someone else figures it out and hands the idea/script to all the non-coders for free hence killing the niche found.

Ugh I'll stop now. Anyone have any thoughts?

Nathan

 

[JMJ]

Try doing what everyone else isn't doing.

 

[nathanjacobs]

Very good point, and I do have one thing that I know of that everyone isn't doing, and that's my next step on the road to being a success. Heck knows if it'll work out though, at least I won't be competing with registrars on this next step.

Nathan

 

[JMJ]

Being a neighbor I may let you in on a few ideas I have in the works. Also if you want that name we discussed earlier we might be able to work something out now.

 

[think]

This game changes faster than any other business I've been in.

I am always looking for new niches as my old ones get competition.

If CLS comes drops will be very different from todays ..........

 

[nathanjacobs]

That's very true, its a very remote of a chance it will happen because it pretty much puts verisign back in a monopoly position, although not that the big snap companies aren't in that position right now anyways with their registrar partners.

The common man has no chance in the "known" world of domain speculation.

i.e.

Handregging Primo Names - Gone
Self Drop Catching - Gone
Snap Service Drop Catching - Gone
Picking Up Crappy Ovt wext / Linkpop Names - Gone (Virtually)

Maybe thats not an all inclusive example but most facets of the business could be said the same of.

Nathan