Be A Domain Name Flipper

Domain names are names that are used to identify web sites, the best known varieties ending in .com, .net, and .org. Some examples of well-known domain names include google.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, and slashdot.org. With a couple of caveats, people can register almost any domain name that they like (although their are certain rules about what characters in names are allowed, etc.) for just a few dollars per year. The most important caveat is that only one person can have a particular domain name registered at a particular time, and for the most part, it is first come first served.

The first come first served philosophy behind the domain name system, has resulted in the creation of a marketplace. Those people who are the first to identify a valuable domain name, can register it for just a few dollars, and potentially resell it (“flip it”) for a much higher price, making a hefty profit. In some cases, although these are exceptional cases, domain names have been resold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There are however a few things that you however need to be aware of:

* Many, perhaps most, domain names registered for resale purposes are never resold. Identifying the kind of names that can potentially be sold requires knowledge of the domain marketplace, and knowledge of how to market a domain for resale. Even for expert domain resellers, it may be hard to sell any particular name – so instead they typically rely on having a portfolio of names, and making a profit from selling just a few items in the portfolio. Obviously however there is of course a risk, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing: if you buy domain names and fail to resell them, then you are out of pocket for, at least, the price of registration fees.

* Bad faith registration of domain names containing trademarked terms (known as “cybersquatting”) can lead to loss of that name, or perhaps even getting sued. Therefore, if you want to be a domain flipper, you need to educate yourself about these issues, and also stick to registering generic domain names.

I won’t pretend that I myself am an expert in this area – I’m not – however I do find the whole subject fascinating, particularly the fact that people are making money simply by flipping domains. If you want to learn more about domain name flipping, you might consider reading one of the guides written by people with personal knowledge of this business, such as Edwin John’s “How I Sell My Domain Names”, or Brian Pubrat’s “Domain Cash Vault”.