General
How to Profit From Hand-Registered Domains
Apr
Whenever I see something interesting online (including ads or news stories on the TV), my mind always gravitates to domain names.
There is nothing better than reading about a particular trend or a popular service or product and then doing a quick search online to see what relevant domain names may be available. When I say relevant, I will NEVER purposely infringe on legitimate Intellectual Property.
Here’s one example
There was a recent article in The Australian Weekend Magazine about Zoe Marshall and the business she has built around the power of “manifesting”.
In the article, it said:
“Google data shows that searches for “manifesting” rose more than 600 per cent in the early days of the pandemic. On social media, especially TikTok, “manifesting influencers” (ie, influencers who help you to manifest) are ubiquitous.
Being curious, I did a search to see who had registered manifesting.com.au and manifesting.au. Both names were available!
So for less than $25, I hand-registered both domains.
As a matter of interest, GoDaddy’s appraisal value of manifesting.com.au is $4763 USD (about $7500 AUD). Now I don’t think I’m ever going to get that sort of money, but I’ll certainly make a decent profit with this one-word domain.
Opportunity awaits
The beauty of the Australian domain name market (ccTLD – Country Code Top Level Domain) is that there is so much opportunity compared to the dot com international market (TLD – Top Level Domain). The chances of finding a great bargain – either via a hand-registration or an aftermarket offering – are exponentially higher.
The numbers speak for themselves. According to the well-respected DomainTools, there are currently around 155 million dot coms registered worldwide. As for our little Aussie domain extension, our regulator auDA says there are around 4,260,000 currently registered.
Don’t get me wrong, dot com is the worldwide king. But my experience over 20 years has shown that if you are dealing in Australia, our .com.au is the local king.
Let’s do the numbers
If you’re lucky enough to find a good Aussie domain name that is available for hand-registration, then my advice is to grab it.
Generally you can purchase an .au domain for between $12 and $25 per year. There are currently some great deals on at one of my favourite Aussie owned registrars VentraIP. Their regular price is $22.95 per year, but currently they have a great special on at just $9.95 per year! That is so cheap – and it is good to support homegrown businesses. (This is not an affiliate link – we’re just happy to support them!).
So let’s say you come up with a great domain name and it costs you $20, and you end up selling it for $2000. Believe me when I tell you that it happens often!
What is your ROI (Return on Investment)? According to an online search, it is an amazing 9900%.
Even if you were only able to sell it for $500, your ROI would be an amazing 2400%!
A final word of caution
Most hand-registered domains will not make you any money at all.
You have to be selective, and do your homework.
We wish you great online success!
