Here are two schools of thought.
I bet you get a pretty large number when you add up all of the time you spend on domain name investing.
There’s sifting through drop lists. Updating nameservers. Responding to inquiries.
When you calculate your ROI, are you considering this time?
One of the reasons I didn’t bother with some of the new top level domain name launches was because I felt like I was wasting time finding the best domains for each TLD, only to find that they came with a stiff premium. Even if I found one domain the TLD operator overlooked, was it worth the ten hours I put into it?
Finding the best domain deals, whether it’s by sifting through “for sale” lists, keeping up-to-date on the latest trends and prices, or reaching out to domain name owners, can take a lot of time.
There are two ways to look at this.
The first is to consider what else you could be doing with your time and then place a monetary value on it.
The second is to consider domaining a hobby.
Do you enjoy sifting through domains to find the diamonds in the rough? Do you like sorting your collection like you sorted baseball cards as a kid? Do you get the same enjoyment from the daily business of domaining that you do from hobbies like playing sports or reading?
If the latter is the case, then don’t bother calculating the cost of your time; it’s time well spent.
John Andrews says
Depends on your business setup, no?
Early days of my domaining: I didn’t even think about time spent. Too thrilled and engaged.
Mid-life of domaining development: I pondered the idea, especially when end users tried negotiating prices down. They didn’t do any of the work of finding/securing/holding the domain… shouldn’t that matter in valuation?
Mature domain perspective : It comes down to lifestyle/personal goals, and business aspects.
Your own lifestyle : when it doesn’t make sense to domain (due to hassles, legal risks, including time required) then make that decision on the meta data (the big picture sense).
Business aspects: Above the lower levels, domain price has nothing to do with market nor instrinsic domain value.. it’s all about the end user’s perception of opportunity, risk tolerance, capital access, desires, etc. So your time is for making the opportunity happen, closing the deal, etc and that, according to “lifetsyle” above, should be well worth it to you.
Obviously it was ALWAYS about lifestyle/business aspects, but as a human domainer I had to go through the evolution, and get free of the sorts of obligations that stifle creativity and risk-taking 🙂
Andrew Allemann says
some good thought
Josh says
Short answer, no.
I have broken down what would be an hourly wage in my head some years for fun but when that totals $XXX’s and hour there no reason to think anymore 😉
Don’t get me wrong, I word hard at what I do but I also work smart. A few hours a day most times, some days nothing.
I enjoy it and honestly it frees me up for other things 🙂
Jane Doe says
If you are factoring in your time to determine the value of a domain you are more than likely over valuing the domain which will impede you selling it, increasing your holding costs.
It will also impact your satisfaction of an otherwise good sale.
Each domain should be evaluated on its own merits, not on your time to find, hold and negotiate.
If you don’t feel you are covering your time then find better value domains.
Konstantinos Zournas says
Of course I count my time just like I do with whatever that is work related.
This is hard work and not stamp collecting.
Henry says
If you are in domaining as a business, time is money because there is an opportunity cost associated with it. If it’s a hobby to you, it’s a different matter.
Samit says
Time is money, it has to be accounted for in costs.