Some helpful tips for making the keep/delete decision.
I like to spend the final week of the year preparing for the next. This includes reviewing the domains in my portfolio that expire over the next 6-7 months and renewing the ones I want to keep. I ran this exercise last week and documented my process in the hope that it’s helpful to readers.
I currently have about 1,700 domains, which means about 150 are up for renewal in a given month. It takes time to review 6 months’ worth of expiring domains to make decisions, but it’s time well spent.
Here are some resources I use to determine which domains to keep/delete and my thought process.
Afternic leads: If you have a lot of domains at Afternic, they probably get quite a few leads that you never hear about. The buyers don’t end up being qualified, or their offer is nowhere near your floor price. But knowing that a domain receives offers is important when making keep/drop decisions. You probably don’t want to drop a domain that receives real offers, even if they are only $500. Ask your Afternic account manager for a leads report for your portfolio.
Parking revenue: Parking isn’t what it used to be, but the data is still relevant. Some domains (even new top level domains) can still earn their keep from parking alone.
dotDB: dotDB lets you quickly see how many extensions a domain is registered in, as well as how many other domains the keyword appears in. Search for your second level domain to find out how popular it is in domain names. A paid version will show you if the domains resolve to websites.
Estibot: Knock it all you want, but Estibot is a great tool for figuring out if you’re overlooking a valuable aspect of your domains.
After reviewing all of this data, I ask these questions:
1. Will this domain ever sell for a lot of money? Or is the pool of buyers (or their financial wherewithal) too small to make a difference?
2. Was the domain previously registered in a lot of extensions but the owner(s) let them expire? Perhaps I thought there was a lot of demand for the second level domain, but it was really one person who let all of the alternatives expired.
3. Is the singular/plural version of this domain available for hand registration? If so, the domain might not be worth much.
4. Did I reduce the price substantially last year and it still didn’t sell? If it was priced below $500 and didn’t sell, it’s probably time to cut it.
5. Does this domain have a big/important/valuable subject matter, but it wouldn’t ever make sense for a company to use this domain for a website? The two aren’t always correlated.
6. Have I sold domains that are similar to this one? Some domainers invest in ‘themes.’ If none of my domains within that theme have sold, the market is telling you something. Likewise, have I received inquiries/leads on any of the similar domains?
7. How long ago was this domain registered? If it was a long time ago, resist the urge to think about sunk costs. Why hasn’t it sold?
I ended up turning off auto-renew on about 80 domain names, so roughly 10% of the domains due to renew in the next 6 months. This is more than usual. But I figure the cost of renewing domains is only going up, and perhaps I should have cut some of these domains years ago.
Mike says
Thought I would try Estibot. Sorry but it is rubbish. I put in a dot com I sold last week for $20k and told me “less than $100” LOL. Yeh sure. Either I am good salesman, or Estibot is junk .
Mike says
I cannot bring myself to say how much I paid for the domain 3 months ago, but Estibot was not far off !!.
Andrew Allemann says
I use Estibot to see if there’s something that might make a domain worth more than I think it is. It shows lots of great metrics. If you’re only looking at the $ figure then I think you’re missing the value of the service.
Spike says
“Ask your Afternic account manager for a leads report for your portfolio.”
Is this my GoDaddy account rep or someone different? I can’t even get Afternic to delete a name from an old owner’s account. Eesh!
Andrew Allemann says
Your GoDaddy account rep should be able to help you.
Rob says
I’ve got a fine story to add to this article.
I watched (wanted) a domain for over a decade – it was listed with a fairly large domain investor (large portfolio that is, perhaps not so well known). It was being marketed as a premium domain, and was initially priced at USD$1149. After a few years it went up to $1249. Then after about 13-14 years it was dropped. A big drop catcher got it and then had it for sale at about $3500. In the second year it was lowered to about $2500. Then they dropped it. That’s close to 20 years of reg fees. I think someone hand regged it soon after and it now sits idle.
It was quite an obscure (keyword) domain that perhaps only a few people in the world would ever want it, probably only hobbyists and not businesses, and they would not pay much for it. I offered $100 for a similar name many years ago, and it still sits there after 14 years with only my one offer. I will enjoy watching this greedy fool waste money too, only to let it drop one day!
Even big or experienced domain investors can get it very wrong sometimes! I think it’s just greed that overwhelms their proper thinking. Many of those 7 question should have been asked.