Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Domains names that you've dropped and turned out big?

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  • Sep 4th, 2014 10:40 pm
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Banned
May 3, 2008
302 posts
42 upvotes
toronto

Domains names that you've dropped and turned out big?

Have you ever drop a domain and someone else used it for bigger purposes?

(I owned many domains but only one was actually picked up and used http://torontoeye.ca/ )
12 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 19, 2005
3116 posts
2251 upvotes
Canadia
I picked up imagine.ca in the 1990s and was eventually approached by a charity that wanted it. I got it appraised and received a charitable donation receipt for the full appraisal value. The only minor hitch was that the transaction was reviewed by the Canada Revenue Agency (they requested documentation and were satisfied that we followed a legitimate process).
Deal Fanatic
Jul 7, 2004
6946 posts
2694 upvotes
Don't look back!
I've dropped several hundred over the years I'm sure some have turned into something. I've sold about ten of them for $1000-$5000 over the last year as well.
One of my first domains was MexicanPharmacy.org, made me think of that one. Take a look from 2000
https://web.archive.org/web/20010401112 ... rmacy.org/
That's how easy it was to make money back then. I created that website over the weekend. Paid Yahoo $299 to list it in their directory, and two days later it was making me money. It would make me $1000+ per month, and I never did anything to it again. Today I kick myself for not making a new site every few days.
Banned
May 3, 2008
302 posts
42 upvotes
toronto
Advertising illegal drugs? Kind of illegal. Seems a lot of web development borders on illegal or unethical. I think it is much harder to sell a domain than people make it out to be. I actually bought a geo-domain for $175 down from $250. lol. He held it for 12 years before. So he hardly broke even for his time. Some people have lost their shirts on domains names for sure. You can check the month dns chart for top domain sales and actually check if someone used the domain after a few months, you will see 90% of the time it is not, just a parking page.
Deal Addict
Nov 17, 2004
3236 posts
1612 upvotes
Unfortunately not. Had some many years ago and dropped and they never got big.

But from my business' perspective, last year I picked up the .com version of my company's website name for $10 after the previous owner dumped it. 4 years ago when I first opened the company, I wanted the .com domain but it was sat on by somebody who wanted a couple Thousand for it, so I settled on the .ca version (we only provide local services in Toronto, so .ca was fine). Now, I have both. Still haven't put a redirect on the .com to send to our .ca site though.
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Jul 9, 2012
1816 posts
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Pluto
I did register a bargainbin domain for $10 and it sold for $250 about two years ago.
Deal Addict
Jan 20, 2004
1396 posts
357 upvotes
GTA
I own a lot of domains, do people/ company's approach you?
Deal Fanatic
Jul 7, 2004
6946 posts
2694 upvotes
FreddyDriver wrote: Advertising illegal drugs? Kind of illegal. Seems a lot of web development borders on illegal or unethical. I think it is much harder to sell a domain than people make it out to be. I actually bought a geo-domain for $175 down from $250. lol. He held it for 12 years before. So he hardly broke even for his time. Some people have lost their shirts on domains names for sure. You can check the month dns chart for top domain sales and actually check if someone used the domain after a few months, you will see 90% of the time it is not, just a parking page.
It was/is legal, hence the very first word saying "Legally". Made me tens of thousands of dollars. I slept okay at night.
OracerO wrote: I own a lot of domains, do people/ company's approach you?
Yes, I've sold multiple domains to 3-4 individuals and they all approached me.
Newbie
Apr 7, 2013
53 posts
22 upvotes
Do we need to list the domain names on any certain website to get more exposure? So it can be sold faster?
Thanks
Sr. Member
Oct 24, 2006
648 posts
77 upvotes
Toronto
Never owned it per se, but thought of it before it was registered: ratemypoo.com
Deal Fanatic
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Aug 27, 2012
6214 posts
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Toronto
do you actually need to put stuff on the website to make it grow and be bought (if anyone needs it)? or just buy a domain (good name), dont put stuff in it, wait for potential domain buyer?

which one?
Deal Fanatic
Jul 7, 2004
6946 posts
2694 upvotes
test9251 wrote: do you actually need to put stuff on the website to make it grow and be bought (if anyone needs it)? or just buy a domain (good name), dont put stuff in it, wait for potential domain buyer?

which one?
Both work. Domains don't have the value they once did though. I mean, if you had "Shoes.com" in the past, you could put up a website and have extra 'juice' for the keyword shoes because it's your domain name. But Google cut the power of that juice down. But I bought one like that a while ago because I wanted to brand it like that "Shoes.com".

But I've sold domains because it's a great domain and I've sold sites because they ranked high. Some of these companies that own hundreds of domains they just sit on them for years and years until someone is willing to pay their ridiculous price. Plus they put up their search ads on the page, and that probably covers most of the yearly cost.

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