A hefty case of domain sales regret — and what you can learn from it.
Most of us who have been around the domain name world for any length of time have regretted a sale we’ve made. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then we see the buyer flip the domain name for much more.
One domainer got an early lesson of sales regret. He sold CamRoulette.com to Adam Strong for $1,400, only to see Strong turn around and sell the domain for $150,000 shortly thereafter.
What did he feel after seeing it sell? Read this NamePros thread to understand his exact thoughts.
It’s natural to feel this sort of regret. But put it in perspective. You buy a domain for $10 and flip it for 140x that within a couple months. If you have that sort of foresight, you can be in the business all day long making lots of money. Take the money and reinvest it.
If you dwell on it too long, you’ll miss out on other opportunities where selling a domain for $1,400 is the best you’ll ever get. Wait all your life for that “whale” and you’ll miss out.
In this sellers’s case, he received several offers for his domain in a contracted period of time. People offered as little as $400. If anyone should be kicking themselves right now, it’s the guys who offered less than Strong’s $1,400 for the domain and passed when the owner said no. Had they ponied up just a bit more they could have cashed in as well.
I’ve had plenty of domain name sales regret over the past decade, albeit none as significant as this case. I typically have regret for passing up a buying opportunity. Sadly, the only thing that gets you over it is time.
It hurts to see that happen but I agree, think long run and reinvesting. I have sold several generic that resale for more but the money I made at the time was reinvested and turned another profit and so on.
As for someone else getting $150k…hhhmmm I am of the belief that timing, venue and who is selling has a huge impact on price. jmo
PS, when does that thing close btw?
Yes, this has happened to many of us.
Most of the time we don’t know how much it was flipped for.
What annoys me are the lowballers. I encounter them every day. They know a particular domain is valuable but offer a ridiculous price of $ 100.
I guess if Strong comes knocking I’m going to quote 3 times more than I normally would. 🙂
WhoIs still shows supposed high seller. Did it truly sell?
It’s in closing, but apparently everything is still a ‘go’
I’ve been on both ends of this scenario. Nothing to get worked up about.
The owner at the time might have had to pay the mortgage,cable,etc.And he wasn’t sweating anymore about getting the power cut off.I know I have been there.3dCamRoulette.Com which I own just got pushed to sedo auction for only 70 dollars.We will see who bites and yes a shameless plug to get the word out.Have a sunny day,Kevin
The recent news coverage of chatroulette.com and the whole roulette craze, has everything to do with the high price. I wonder if this never sticks.., the buyer will wish he had paid only $1400 for a name..
One cannot predict how much a domain would sell for, two, three or more owners down the road. Everyone has learned similar lessons, experienced is gained by making mistakes. I had no idea Adam Strong sold it, congratulations are due 😀
Being I’m new to this business, it is easy to figure out one would have to make peace with the domain flip of a domain you sold for hundreds, in the thousands. I’m not a broker; don’t have those skills; those connections, so my station would dictate if I get a price in the hundreds on OOTB, it’s fine for the expert to get his sale down the road. It is no surprise there is a video on BestDomainWebsites.com that a $1000.00 sale of ships.com made the original registrant a millionaire; he couldn’t dwell how valuable a name that would be today.
So get over it.
It can be very difficult to immitate an original craze. There were many variations of milliondollarhomepage domains and websites but none gained traction. If anything I would say the only regret with this domain is the eventual buyer who paid $150,000. The two sellers, original registrant and Strong are the winners.
i agree with Mike’s sentiments above
imho an insane purchase i have to say by most recent purchaser, ‘if’ goes through
being at public auction and a big ticket domain i’m thinking it probably will go through though
no one has 20/20 hindsight. besides, thats a great return in my books.
if u waited for this post to buy cam and roulette name you should prob quit buying domains
Its sad when this sort of thing happens but this is business nearly all the time, everyone has different circumstances so he shouldn’t blame himself.
Who was to know that chatroulette.com would be this internet phenomenon and it would seem camroulette.com and webcamroulette.com are the brands everyone is talking about as this is far more than chatting.
He should be proud of himself of having the foresight to see camroulette.com
This has to be money laundering there is no way in a million years this is worth even 10% of the sales price……
Domains=money laundering
It’s funny how most of the sales are through the bunch of same people.
@stu The same people? Do you know anyone involved in this sale? Your words are complete buffoonery and teetering on the edge of slander.
Maybe sometime you can explain exactly how this domain money laundering scheme works so I can get involved in it.
well, whois updated 7/4/10
now privacy and parked
weirdest ‘sale’ i ever saw
actually have seen weirder lol, however if legit is nuts. really nuts
if the original buyer had any honour he’d kick back more $ to the original owner.
That’s hard luck but I don’t think its something to regret. First owner has to ask him self if he could ever sell it to more than he got ($1400). Probably not. The domain was bought by a seasoned domain expert and what else you cane expect from him. I mean he wouldn’t buy a domain for $1400 unless he has a plan to sell it with profit.