There are many ways to make money online and one of them is domain flipping. The business of flipping domains for profit is a profitable business that anyone can learn and do.
What is domain flipping
Domain flipping is the business of registering or buying domain names at a low price and reselling them at a higher price for profit. Domain names can be fresh, expired domains or bought from a third party but the ultimate aim is to resell for higher value. It is a very profitable business that anyone can do. The start-up cost can be little or large, depending on individuals or organizations.
One advantage of domain flipping is that you can do it from anywhere. You can be in Nigeria, Ghana, United States, United Kingdom, India, Kenya, South Africa or anywhere at all and make money flipping domains. You can access the market across the world.
A domain name is simply a web address. For example, makemoney.ng is a domain name. Google.com, Facebook.com are all domain names.
How profitable is domain flipping?
Domain flipping is very profitable. You can register a domain for $10 and sell it for $100, 000. You can sell for millions if you can lucky.
In 2015, a Chinese company bought 360.com for $17 million. CarInsurance.com was sold for $49.7 million in 2010. Imagine for a minute if you were the owner of this domain. How it will change your life forever.
There have been many publicly known domain names that sold for big money. But some of the most expensive sales are not publicly known.
For example. Goddady reports that the the most expensive domain name ever sold is cars.com for $872 million! That is almost a billion dollars.
Here are some of the most expensive domain names.
How to make money flipping domains
Follow these steps to make money flipping domains:
1. Register a new domain name
Your first step is to register a domain name that you intend to flip. We recommend that you use Namecheap to register your domains as it is easier to manage and they have a good customer support to help you.
When you are registering a new domain name, it has to be a domain name that is worth it. That people will be willing to pay good money for. Don’t just register random domain names. It will be a waste of time. Here are some ways to register a good domain name.
Follow trends
Trends will help you understand what people will likely want. When you keep tap on what is trending, you may be able to grab the next big ideas before they become really big. For example, imagine when Bitcoin was in its early stage and people hear of it but barely understand it.
You came across it and registered some valuable bitcoin domain names, you will be make very big money after Bitcoin became a big issue.
Keep watch on trends and see whats new and what is likely to explode. You can use tools like Google Trends, Twitter hash tags and more to see what people are interested in.
Use Keyword planner
Use key word planner to find popular ideas. The most popular and credible planner is definitely Google Keyword Planner.
The key here is to type your ideal domain name and see the search volume. If there are many people searching for it then it is worth it.
Let’s say I want to register gotosleep.com. I will go to keyword planner, type in go to sleep and see how many people are searching for that keyword.
Another way keyword planner can help you register a good domain name is to give you suggestions. Let’s assume I want to register a domain name related to Bitcoin. I know that Bitcoin.com is already taken. All I have to do is type Bitcoin in keyword planner, and it will give ideas of popular entries that people search for relating to bitcoin. This will give me an idea on a good domain name to register.
Use easy to pronounce name
The domain name should be one that is easy to pronounce and memorable. Don’t use complex names unless you have a very good reason to.
There are so many domain name extension these days but the most marketable is still .com. Your best bet is to register a .com domain. .org and .net are also good choices. If you are registering any other extension, make sure it is a top class premium name.
Search domain registrar
You can play around your domain registrar to find domain names that are available. You may just stumble on gold.
Find a domain starting at $0.88
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2. Register expired domains
There are some very good domains that have been owned by people and somehow got expired. When you buy a domain name, you renew it every year. If you fail to renew, after a certain period it become expired. Meaning other people can register it.
This happens a lot. For so many reasons, some valuable domains may become expired. Look for them, register them for about $10. And you can resell them for $100 or even very big if you find a good one.
When buying expired domains, look for how good the domain authority and page authority is. You can find expired domains at expireddomains.net and justdropped.com
Once you find a good expired domain, you can go to Namecheap to register it.
3. Buy domains from others
This is one of the best ways to make money flipping domains, buying domains from others. This method is capital intensive.
All you need to do is go to domain marketplace like Flippa and Sedo. Look for very marketable premium domain that is on sale. Bid for it and try to buy it at a good deal. You can later resell it.
Most of the big domain deals go through this circle. For example, privatejet.com was reportedly bought for $30, 000 in 2005 and resold later for $30 million
4. Find buyers
Once you have registered the domain, the next step is to find buyers. The first thing you need to do before you look for buyer is to write down the importance of your domain.
This will help you pitch to potential buyers and get their attention. Your pitch should include things like how simple and brandable domain name is. The number of search queries targeting the domain keyword. The relevance of domain to a particular industry if any.
How to find buyers
There are many ways that you can find buyers.
1. Write to potential buyers
You can write directly to potential buyers. Let’s say your domain is BuyFastFood.com, you can write to organizations that is focused on fast food and let them know how the domain name can help their business find customers online.
2. Use domain brokers
You can use domain brokers. Domain brokers are middlemen who help sellers find buyers and vice versa. You can use a reliable and reputable domain broker to help you sell. Especially if you got a premium domain.
3. Sell in domain market place
You can also try selling your domain in domain market place. There are many domain market place. The most popular are Flippa and Sedo.
5. Sell your domain
Once yo find a buyer and agree a price, you can sell your domain. For security purpose, it is advisable to use escrow service for payment. What an escrow services does is to get the money from the buyer. After the money have been gotten from the buyer you will be informed. Then you transfer domain name to buyer. And Buyer informs escrow service that he or she has the domain. Then the escrow sends the money to you.
That way you are protected. You can visit Flippa to sell your domain.
Flipping domains is profitable but know the risk
While flipping domains is a very profitable business, you need to know that there are risks. When you are buying domain names that are already owned by popular brands, remember that it might have been trademarked.
There is no problem in registering general names and industry names but registering brand names can stir legal actions. Some brands may negotiate and offer some payment while some may want to use legal actions.
Also know that some times, You may need to hold domain names for long. Patience is important.
Flipping domains is a good business but do not be over excited. Have a good and realistic approach
