Ask HN: Does anyone buy domains?

[RobDukarski]

I used to pay for several domains (80+) but now I pay for less than half of that. I know of platforms like Flippa but I was wondering what people do with the domains they buy.

Do you park them? If so, where? Do you build websites for them? If so, do you use a service like Wix or Squarespace? Do you sell them? If so, where? What are some favorite domains using the new extensions that you've seen or obtained?

I have been really interested in the new domain extensions and love to see the creative possibilities that others have obtained.

My favorite snag so far has been a domain hack of my last name so that I can have an email address and eventually a website/portfolio that is literally my name. B)

[mindcrime]

I used to own over 100 domains, but I've let a lot of the registrations expire. Most of them were just random ideas I had that were, at best, in the category of "I might use this for something one day". But the nebulous "one day" kept not coming and I got tired of spending money on them year after year.

Now I probably own about 40-50 domains and most of them are ones for which I have a specific use in mind. I might not ever get around to actually using all of them, but I've gotten rid of most of the ones that were really "out there" or crazy speculative.

I have only ever sold one domain. Somebody contacted about an idle domain once, said they wanted to use it for a consulting business and asked if I'd sell it. I sold it to them for some token price... probably less than I'd spent keeping the domain registered in the first place. Usually when I decide I'm done with a domain I just let it expire and go back into the pool.

Of the "newer" tld's, the only ones I've used are .io and .ai. I have zuse.ai which I thought of using for an AI news / forums / QA site, but I haven't really had time to mess with it.

[CyberFonic]

Like you I used to register domains for every cool idea I had. Over time I learnt that unless I used them for gain, it was just a waste of money to keep them registered. I have tried to sell some of them, but as good as I thought the names were, the money being offered was not worth putting up with the tyre kicking and chiselling.

These days I focus on making what I already have generate more income. Painful lesson is that ideas and registered domains are worthless unless you deliver a product or service for which people will pay.

[emilyfm]

I've registered hundreds of domains over the years, and still have a few hundred. Most were brought with a specific idea for a site in mind, but I ended up focusing on the few sites that made serious money, and the rest ended up just sitting there.

Parking websites was a thing around the turn of the century but hasn't made any real money for many years now, there just isn't the type-in traffic. Same for quick template sites to throw ads on, getting traffic to the domain isn't worth the effort for the tiny returns.

I've sold domains in the past, mainly on Sedo and more recently Flippa. Some have sold for five figures, many for four figures, so overall I've made a profit. But it's hard to get offers over 3 figures nowadays (unless it's a super-premium name).

Only my .coms have ever received offers, there's no real resale market in the new extensions (or even .net, .org), again with the exception of really, really good names.

Those new extensions are cutting the resale demand for even .coms, and making the offers smaller. It's got to the point where I'm letting names expire rather than mess around with the selling process for a hundred or two dollars (more buyers fail to pay now as well, wasting even more time).

In short: unless the name is a really exceptional .com, there's no longer much of a business in buying domain names to hold and resell. Only buy the names you need.

[mattbgates]

I buy a few of them for side projects I'm interested in doing. Sometimes they materialize, sometimes they don't. The ones I like I hold on to and the ones I don't.. let go.