Brainwave Domain Flip Brings In $2,000
16. Apr, 2009 
9 Comments
Howdy guys! I’ve been out of it for a while because of some campaigns of mine that are taking off but thought I’d take the time to write this short post about some success I saw.
Hell, I don’t even do website or domain flipping regularly. I prefer affiliate marketing (whitehat and blackhat) and all that comes with it. This is just an opportunity I saw and decided to take.
Everyone’s crazy about website flipping right now – it’s the currently hyped up thing. Personally, I stay away from the hype.. I like to stick to things that are less saturated. When I’m taking a break though, I look at the Sitepoint Marketplace to see what’s going on because it’s interesting to see who’s selling what for more than five figures.
One of the things I AM interested in is good domains – not necessarily for flipping, but because good domains rank well at Google and it’s much easier to build a affiliate niche website if you have a solid domain with the right keywords.
Two of the forums I visit:
I’ve purchased a few good domains on there in the past for bargains – ranging from $10 to around $250. That’s for another post though.
I was looking at a few threads, just to see what was up for grabs when I came across a three letter dot com domain listed for $7,000. Due to the recession, domains too are going for less than they would earlier.
I had no interest in the domain myself, but was hit with a brainwave.
For the purpose of this post, we’ll say the three letter domain was ABC.com (it wasn’t, obviously). The domain didn’t have any vowels in it but could have been an acronym for something.
I went to Google and Googled “abc company”. There were a few results – companies in technical, accounting and other fields. These companies had websites but a lot of them were set up like abc-ltd.com or abc-co.com. I made a list of companies with web addresses – in total there were seven companies on the list.
The next thing I did was email the owner of the domain on Sitepoint asking a) what the lowest price he would sell the domain for was and b) if he’d mind me trying to sell the domain for him as a broker. What I hinted at was that I’d take 50% of any amount the domain sold for over his asking price (so if he wanted $5,000, and it sold for $7,000, I’d take a $1,000 cut).
He replied to me saying that he’d take $6,000 for the domain as long as it was sent through a safe channel and that he didn’t mind me brokering the domain for him, as long as I was honest and didn’t try and deceive anyone.
The next thing I did? Started emailing the companies I drew up a list of.
The email I sent was something like:
To the owner of ABC-Ltd.com,
My name is Casey Anderson and I run numerous businesses online. I see you have a website set up at ABC-Ltd.com
I’m offering you the chance to purchase ABC.com for a mere $10,000. As I’m sure you know, three letter domains can often go for much more than that and having a short domain will make it easier to brand yourself and easier for your customers to find your business.
The sale would be conducted through escrow, so you would only pay once you had the domain in hand.
If you’re interested or have any questions, please contact me and I’ll send you further details.
Sincerely,
Casey Anderson
That’s the email I sent out. I emailed the first company, waited a few days without seeing a reply. The first company ignored me. The second company replied, but said they weren’t interested in purchasing the domain.
The third company said they were interested. Jackpot!
After answering a few questions they had, I instructed the owner of the domain to set up a transaction through Escrow.com. The company sent the money within five days and he deposited $2,000 into my Paypal account a day after that.
I’m not used to blogging or instructing people on how to make money, but I hope you liked this post and that it will help you expand your mind and think of the possibilities. You could try out the exact same thing I did… or you could use the idea and tweak it for your own use.
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Great out of the box thinking. How do you set it up so that the seller does not stiff you out of your commission?
That is actually pretty interesting especially since a few people have approached me asking if I’d be their broker for websites and domains.
This just gives me another idea to run with! Thanks!
Jay
I guess you couldn’t make the buy yourself, then flip and get all the profit? That is what I would have done, and that is what the credit card is for!! Nice work though.
@Allen; the seller was one with a 100% on around 10 deals and I’ve seen him on other forums where he’s reputed so wasn’t too worried about being stiffed. When dealing with someone lesser known, you’d have to run the regular checks – WHOIS, use a contract if you wanted to.
@Jay, I’m glad you liked the idea. Let us know how your progress is.
@FashionT, As I said earlier, domain flipping isn’t exactly my forte. I didn’t want to risk $6,000 (if there was no buyer, I would have been stuck with a domain I have no use for) and this was a safer way – even if I got less money. If you try buying the domains first, let us know how it goes too!
What a great idea! I love the way you are always coming up with such unique money making methods
Casey, brokering the domain name was probably the safest method of completing this task. A more risky method would be to first ask the companies if they’re interested in the domain, if so, purchase the domain name for $6000 then re-sell to the company for $10000.
Two factors that could go wrong are: 1. The owner of the domain name will sell it after you have asked the other companies. Not a major issue, you could respond that the domain was bought out by another company.
2. The buyer won’t pay up, which is the key issue.
Essentially, flipping a domain which you mentioned isn’t as safe.
Damn, you make it look so easy! XD How come I can’t come up with any simple ideas like that, eh?
Hehe, I guess my time will come eventually! By the way, great post dude, makes me get of my lazy ass and start being creative!
-Rajaie
great one. Well, I think I have to still learn MORE about brokering domains and stuffs..
Jason your a real inspiration definitely got my mind flowing with ideas. You got a life long fan and friend.