Buying and selling domains, also known as domain flipping is big business.It’s another way of making money online.It is however not for everbody since you need to know what will sell and what won’t.I have met people saying it is not easy to sell domains.That is true if you don’t know what you are doing.
Buying domain names is fairly easy but selling is a whole new different ball game.Not every domain name in your portfolio will sell.Simple answer is because it is not in demand.If you have a domain name that is brandable,the buyers will come to you without you advertising.
Let’s look at what will sell and what won’t.A domain is important because it’s the first thing your online customers will hear when they want to check out your site.A domain name is made up of the name and the extension.The most popular domain extension is .com.Following closely are .org,.net.Infact there are a lot of new extensions now available.We have .io,.online,.website etc.I have only listed well known ones in this article.A visit to any domain registrar’s site will expose you to a lot more.
Out of the extensions I have listed the domain names that are likely to sell are the .com extensions.Other extensions will sell but not as many as the .coms.Huge profits have been made by individuals simply because they were in possession of domain names that big companies wanted
In searching for a great domain name,there are do’s and don’t’s.The shorter the length of the domain name,the better.Two to four letter domain names will sell better than a domain name name with 15letters.A domain name should be easy to remember.Hyphens should be avoided at all cost.Numbers are allowed but keep it memorable.
Brandable domain names are regarded as premium domain names.Let me give you an example.Let’s say you thought of whatsapp.com and registered it before whatsapp came into being.In order to avoid  conflict when searching for that website,the website company will simply end up buying this domain name for a mouthwatering fee.Fb.com was purchased by facebook.com for a huge sum.
These are the reasons why people buy and sell domains.They do it for the huge profit involved.Buying a domain name for $10 and selling it later for $1000 is enough incentive for anyone.One downside of this online money making venture is that it might not sell as early as you want it.Some intentionally keep domain names for years since this also affects the price.
Okay,so how do you go about buying and selling domains?Godaddy and Namecheap are the biggest registrars.If the domain name you are interested in is already taken, they offer services to help you get it.There are auctions which list domain names which are about to expire as well.Once you have purchased your domain names,you can choose to park them with these registrars or park them wherever you want to sell them.
Parking has a lot of advantages as it helps you to earn revenue as well.Parking provides a landing page for your domain names.When you purchase a domain name you need a hosting platform as well to turn it into a website.Since yours is a buying and selling domain business, there is no need to do that.Once you park it when someone searches for that domain name online,they are taken to where you parked it.This landing page has advertisements so when someone clicks on it you earn money.
This is especially beneficial since a domain name may take awhile to sell. You may even register 1000’s of domain names and leave them there to fetch you a tidy sum.
Right,how do you sell these domains?Which websites have the right credibility to help you sell and their fee?
It is not easy to list them in order of the most likely to help you sell faster.What works for you may not work for another.There are brokers who specialize in premium domain names.If you have a premium domain name you want to sell you can contact them.They will market it to the right buyers for you but they are highly selective.
Most popular website for selling now is Flippa.com.It is  not free. It is however very popular.
Sedo, in my opinion, is the best place to market your domain name.Depending on how you plan to sell it a fee would  be charged.You can also pay after your domain is sold depending on what you go for.Since they try to keep you safe they would request identity documents upfront .This can be a bit of a put off but if you have got nothing to hide,why not.
Afternic is my next favourite.Afternic will expose your domain name to a lot of resellers and the good news they only charge you after the domain name is sold.Their charge however is a bit on the high side,20%.Afternic is also operated by Godaddy so the biggest advantage here is the exposure you get.This will help you sell faster.
There are other’s available but since I haven’t done business with them I will not say much.Domain forums are also another way to market your domains.You shouldn’t expect to make much on these forums since most people there are looking to buy and sell as well.Namepros is quite popular in this regard and you will be exposed to a lot of of people looking to buy domains.
Facebook is another way of marketing your domains.There a lot of Facebook groups for buyers and sellers of domain names.Joining a lot of these groups can facilitate your domain flipping business.They do have rules to regulate what you post so make sure you read them well.
In cases where you have a website and you want to sell the domain name,you can easily put a for sale sign on your website.There is also a wordpress plugin that can help you run auctions on your website
Lastly,do not forget to make your WHOIS public.This is necessary if you want to sell in order to ensure transparency.
In every business venture be on the lookout for people who will try  to defraud you.There have been cases of people handing out their domain names without getting paid.You can avoid this if you use Escrow.