Behind a popular expired domain site lies a business model of selling lots of domain names for under $100.
There are a handful of people and companies that make a living buying and selling domain names.
There are some, like Frank Schilling, who make money selling a small percentage of their portfolio each year for very high prices.
There are others, like NameMedia, who sell a bigger, but still small, percentage of their portfolio with a typical price of under $2,000.
Then there’s Dan Rubin, founder of JustDropped.com, who sells a big percentage of his domain portfolio, but mostly for under $100.
Rubin’s story began in 2003. He was working full time, but started the expired domain search site JustDropped.com on the side that year.
Back then the options for expiring domain data were rather limited. He had one big competitor who suddenly decided to start charging for its search service. That sent hundreds of users a day over to JustDropped, where they could search for domains at no charge.
Rubin made money from affiliate links to domain name registrars. When a visitor found a domain they liked that had “just dropped”, they’d click on a link to buy it and Rubin would pocket a commission.
It was a good business model, but Rubin saw another opportunity. He realized he had a knack for finding good dropping domains. What if he were to acquire domain names himself and offer them to customers at prices typically found with domain backordering service?
He sent out a newsletter with around 20 domains with buy-it-now prices of $70 or so. The response was phenomenal.
Revenue from domain sales quickly dwarfed how much JustDropped.com made from commissions. Although it’s a bit under-the-rader, JustDropped had perhaps one of the first domain sales newsletters. Its readership has grown to 75,000 and there’s now a companion iPhone app.
Part of the trick to making this low priced domain business model work is only paying $8 when registering expired domains rather than paying a backorder service to do it for much more. Rubin did this with the help of backordering software DNWare. As an affiliate of DNWare, he was the software creator’s top sales channel. He eventually bought the DNWare business.
The second key is knowing which domains to go after. Although many of the best domains are sold through competitive auctions at NameJet and SnapNames, Rubin realized he was particularly good at spotting brandable domains that could be quickly resold.
“A big part of my time is spent analyzing the drops,” Rubin said. “A lot of people just look at the metrics. Those types of domains [with good domain metrics] are highly competitive because everyone’s looking at the same metrics.”
Rubin’s business continued to grow. In 2008, he quit his job of 20 years to focus solely on the domain business.
In 2009, he was approached by Rob Monster about selling JustDropped to Epik. The two struck a deal, but it later fell through.
Rubin hasn’t looked back. He continues to buy domains for about $8 and sell them for 10x that.
Is there really a business selling domains for under $100?
Rubin points out that the ROI on buying a domain for $8 and selling it for $80 is better than buying one for $1,000 and selling it for $2,000.
And, to be fair, he does sell some of his inventory for more. He holds on to domains that don’t sell right away and adds them to domain marketplaces. 75% of them have buy-it-now prices.
Rubin is playing a volume game, and it’s not easy. But by making shrewd purchases and quickly flipping them, his business has been able to thrive along with some of the bigger guys who make headlines every day.
Richard says
It would be interesting to know how much revenue he generates with this model. Do you have any idea about it? Even ballpark figure be great to know.
Eman says
This guy has a udrp against him for trying to sell a legal name of a law firm to them, not that shrewd. Michelle Rubin is also a serial spammer of their domains.
Ben pedri says
Anyone can have a udrp against them ,now being the fact that it takes about 3k to open one up ,maybe cheaper If your a law firm ,but at 80 or a couple hundred bucks ,I think they would just buy it. Now as far as ingrates your here because you use this guys free service
Alan says
I think what he has been able to do over the years with JustDropped is impressive. And, that’s quite a large email list. I do have to agree that Michelle could be more selective with who she emails regarding their domains. I receive a couple of emails each week.
Adam says
“Rubin points out that the ROI on buying a domain for $8 and selling it for $80 is better than buying one for $1,000 and selling it for $2,000. ”
14 deals to make $1k vs. 1 deal to make $1k ? or how about 14 deals that make $14k .
Ani says
he he he right…
Mickie Kennedy says
I have purchased domains from Dan several times. He’s a great guy to deal with, sells at fair prices, and is very quick.
@AndrewHazen says
Dan’s done a great job and has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time…Thanks Dan for your contributions to the domaining community.
Matt MacAdams says
I buy from Dan regularly.. it’s always a pleasant experience and the prices are generally very reasonable.
sven ingaster says
dan is a great guy to do business with
Josh says
I think the newsletter is great and always enjoy opening it and seeing what’s available. I’ve bought a few over the years and Dan is always a pleasure to deal with and super quick at responding / pushing / transferring the domain.
Josh