DomainSherpa Review – Dec 14: SRE.com, ZBZB.cc, Travel.agency, Soft.com…

43 Responses to “DomainSherpa Review – Dec 14: SRE.com, ZBZB.cc, Travel.agency, Soft.com…”

1. albert says:

   December 18, 2015 at 1:23 PM

   Great one guys.

   Have to ask:

   How much did cute.com sell for?

   Reply
   1. Zac Zarev says:

      December 18, 2015 at 2:43 PM

      230K USD according to Namebio.com

      Reply
      1. albert says:

         December 23, 2015 at 10:47 AM

         Thanks.

         Looks like they did get it cheap.

         Reply
2. Zac Zarev says:

   December 18, 2015 at 6:16 AM

   Thanks Mike and the Sherpas for another great show.

   Some comments/suggestions for John Magavern: please don’t take the comments personally, at the end of the day, of all the industries out there the domain name industry is probably one of the few with the best up-side, so you’re already at least in the right game. Having said this, the strategy of adding a prefix to a word in a domain name was discussed in the past with I think Page suggesting it as a strategy. Say adding the prefixes ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘the’. Anything more though, needs to be considered on a case by case basis, for example ‘top’ which may be considered a generic keyword in china as either prefix or suffix. Another I can think of is the word ‘prop’. Outside these, it may be better (cheaper) applying for a trademark for a brand for the prefix you’re intending (rather than registering every combination).

   In terms of the domains that you’ve registered, you will look back on them as a learning experience, so the limited amount you’ve spent now should be considered a necessary learning cost.

   Just read, read and read more; and be sure to study the sales data and follow auction results.

   As an aside, the ‘.io’ tld grew rapidly after Google used it at one of their developer conferences (I believe aptly named ‘IO’). Hence you’ll tend to find a lot of tech or startup interest in those domains, though ultimately when they get enough funding they do typically try to switch to .com when they get enough funding.

   Reply
   1. Zac Zarev says:

      December 18, 2015 at 6:24 AM

      Correction: ‘prop’ is meant to be ‘pro’

      Reply
   2. John says:

      December 18, 2015 at 10:36 AM

      Zac,

      Thanks for the advise. I intend to keep learning and look forward to the process.

      John Magavern

      Reply
3. DC says:

   December 15, 2015 at 1:38 PM

   Another great show thanks. I think you missed at least one more ‘F’ :)

   Reply
4. Omar Negron says:

   December 15, 2015 at 7:48 AM

   Another great show!

   Thanks to all the panel for giving their insights into the various domains mentioned on the show. Andrew brought up a good point that I will take into account when purchasing domains from here on which is “what makes this domain name more unique compared to others”. Something to think about right there.

   Thanks again all!

   -Omar

   Reply
5. John Harrison says:

   December 15, 2015 at 4:46 AM

   Another great show-

   John- you have done the hardest thing which is to put yourself out there. Its a tough thing to do and I too would have been slaughtered with my first lot of registrations. I have this quote nailed to my computer

   “how successful I become depends on how many uncomfortable situations I’m willing to put myself in”

   Important thing is to not give up after the Sherpa’s advice. On one of the earliest shows I remember Page saying that you don’t have to buy immediately. If you’re hand registering then leave them in the cart, come back in a few days with a rational head and re-evaluate.

   Now if only I could take my own advice- time to drop some shi**y domains…

   Reply
   1. John says:

      December 15, 2015 at 8:43 AM

      Thanks John,

      That is a great quote and I have no intentions of throwing in the towel. I will continue my pursuit of knowledge and continue going forward.

      Have a great day,

      John Magavern

      Reply
6. Dayne says:

   December 15, 2015 at 12:58 AM

   Cute.com does not appear to have been picked up by an end user.

   Reply
7. Will says:

   December 14, 2015 at 5:47 PM

   Awesome review. Always a good mix of education and entertainment. I see Ali is definitely focusing on the development side of domaining which is awesome. Really made me think is not just about buying and selling but also thinking like a developer.

   In a way I feel doing this will help increase your judgement when choosing which domains to purchase as you know will have a developer’s perspective on it instead of just a buyer and seller. Thanks again guys!

   – Will

   Reply
8. Matias Padilla says:

   December 14, 2015 at 5:27 PM

   Great show Michael!. I think we all have registered shitty domain names when we started so I think John won’t be making the same mistakes again after watching today’s show..

   Regarding the Namejet list, Soft.com is a great domain name and I believe it will go for no less than 6 figures, it could be low 6 figures. I also like the 2 LL .net, I like those, but just because of its exclusivity, I mean, there are not that many 2 LL domains and obviously non available so just because if that I find it attractive, I think it will go for 5 figures, somewhere around 15K-25K.

   Reply
9. Andrew Rice says:

   December 14, 2015 at 5:11 PM

   Thanks guys,
   That was educational and entertaining as always.
   What was the name of that book?
   I’m thinking of making a late Christmas request.

   Reply
   1. Michael Cyger says:

      December 14, 2015 at 5:14 PM

      Thanks, Andrew.

      “The Domain Game” by David Kesmodel.

      Reply
      1. Andrew Rice says:

         December 14, 2015 at 5:48 PM

         Sweet!

         It’s much appreciated brother man.

         I just wish you had an Amazon affiliate link for me.

         Reply
         1. Eric Jenkins says:

            December 14, 2015 at 7:14 PM

            It’s a great book, I am sure you will like it.

            …..Eric

            Reply
10. John says:

    December 14, 2015 at 3:09 PM

    Wow… not what I was expecting. I felt bad for the guy last week and now know how he must have felt. I have been watching these reviews for weeks now since I first submitted this list, as well as learning to use estibot prior to purchasing a domain. I feel both have helped greatly in the learning curve. These are some of the first domains I purchased and now feel I’m more on track. I would think the Sherpa’s surely had some losers in their early days and should remember that during their review process. While we all want honesty as that is how we learn. If we were already at their level we wouldn’t be seeking their knowledge and advise.

    I can’t say I enjoyed it… but I thank Mike, Ali, Andrew and Shane for their time and recommendations (other than the scratch offs). I will continue to watch your reviews and read as much material on the domaining process as I can going forward.

    Thanks,
    John Magavern

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       December 14, 2015 at 6:02 PM

       John,

       We’ve all registered bad domains. Even worse, we’ve paid good money for some. The key is to buy less of them each year. Keep up the progress and thank you for the donation and putting yourself out there.

       Reply
       1. John says:

          December 15, 2015 at 7:44 PM

          Shane,

          Thanks for your time and recommendations. I plan to continue educating myself and look forward to becoming a seasoned domainer in my due time. I have all hand registers at this point, but since learning about estibot I’ve been much more selective in my pursuit. I now have several valued at $1k to $25k by estibot and am in the process of deciding which venue will work best for selling some of my better ones. As it is late in the .com game I’ve been actively pursuing some of the newer extensions in the 2 and 3 letters as well as key word exact matches.

          Have a great Holiday season,

          John Magavern

          Reply
    2. Anon says:

       December 14, 2015 at 8:08 PM

       John,

       The Sherpas did say that they made similar mistakes a long time ago. I think Andrew even said that he wasted $300,000 doing what you’ve done.

       I am nowhere near as experienced of a domain investor as these three guys and I came to the same conclusion as they did about your list of names before I listened to the show.

       A key thing I’ve learned is to not have your ego wrapped up in your domain names. This should be a clear, cold, calculated exercise in value vs. price. Buy a high value domain name for a low price and sell a high value domain name for a higher price. The factor in common is a high value domain name. 99.1% of the domain names out there are not high value domain names. Ignore them.

       Reply
       1. John says:

          December 15, 2015 at 7:46 PM

          Anon,

          Thanks for the input.

          John

          Reply
    3. Ali Zandi says:

       December 15, 2015 at 8:55 AM

       John,

       It is a brutal process being told that all the time you spent finding these domain names was not worth it. Trust me, i’ve been there and I was beaten to a pulp when I first tried to get feedback on my first registrations. They were complete and utter garbage.

       That being said, if I hadn’t been pummeled like that, I would have never hit the “gym” and “trained” my ass off to come back, “better, faster, stronger” (is this sounding like a Kanye song yet?).

       Don’t take anything personally – you are not your domains. The best thing you can do, is take a break from buying and spend all the time you have studying the market. As in depth as you can possibly go. Read everything ever written – and more importantly, study ALL of the sales that have EVER happened. Read a ton of books on branding psychology, sales negotiation, and then, when you have a grasp on it – come back, buy ONE domain name and work your ass off trying to sell it. Buy it for $200, flip it for $400. Then buy two. Do it again. Then again. And again. And again.

       Best,
       Ali

       Reply
       1. John says:

          December 15, 2015 at 7:56 PM

          Ali,

          Thanks for your follow up. The funny thing is I don’t think I could name one Kanye song if I had to. And the most embarrassing part of the whole thing was… I could have looked at that domain 1000 more times and not noticed it was misspelled until someone pointed it out. I have ordered two new books and will dive into the price realized archives on domain sales and start selling what I can before purchasing anymore.

          Thanks again and have a great Holiday season,

          John

          Reply
          1. Ali Zandi says:

             December 15, 2015 at 9:16 PM

             John,

             Haha! I’ve done the same thing in the past. I insta-buy-it-now’d a domain name thinking it was spelled properly.. I was so anxious to own it, that I flushed money down the drain. Oh well, it happens to everyone at least once. :)

             Enjoy your holidays too!

             Best,
             Ali

             Reply
11. Eric says:

    December 14, 2015 at 10:43 AM

    Many good points in this show. The absurd renewal fees of some of these new extensions is further proof that they have a very limited audience and while I realize Ali is building his out and considers it a “cost of doing business”, there is virtually no upside in these. I will even say that I would rather build out a creative .com or perhaps a .net .org or even an older extension and save on the renewal fee not to mention the initial cost. Confusion is another issue with these.

    With respect to trademarks and names associated with them, there are permissible uses for such names but you have to know what is permissible and what’s not. Before you even attempt to do anything with such names you best know exactly how fair use applies if you build one out.

    Reply
12. Eric Jenkins says:

    December 14, 2015 at 9:51 AM

    Michael…..

    Another outstanding show. A great mix of humor, knowledge and experience. Thank you Sherpas for taking the time to share.

    Ali…. Raindrop.Com looks awesome and good luck with the development side of your business. I will be following all of your auctions on Flippa.

    Thanks again Sherpas for sharing with us!!

    Eric Jenkins
    [email protected]
    http://www.SpringCreekMedia.Com

    Reply
13. Rafael says:

    December 14, 2015 at 9:24 AM

    Great interview as always.

    Reply
14. Prycr says:

    December 14, 2015 at 9:20 AM

    These shows have taught me more than I can say. Thanks again.

    Reply
15. Noor says:

    December 14, 2015 at 7:39 AM

    Super show, thank you all for taking the time out and doing this.

    76 minutes on the treadmill went like a breeze this morning.

    Cheers.

    Noor

    Reply
    1. Michael Cyger says:

       December 14, 2015 at 8:19 AM

       Thanks for watching and commenting, Noor.

       Video or audio during the treadmill? Just wondering. I run on the treadmill twice a week before the sun comes up, and listen to podcasts. Was thinking of buying an Internet TV so I could watch the videos too.

       Thanks,
       Michael

       Reply
       1. Noor says:

          December 14, 2015 at 8:44 AM

          Video…iphone 6S and connect via wifi, works like a charm….4-5 times a week in the morning. The treadmills at the gym have a holder for iphones, ipads etc.

          Noor

          Reply
16. DT says:

    December 14, 2015 at 6:37 AM

    Thanks for your time Sherpas! Thanks Michael.

    I really like the segment on recent sales/acquisitions – it would be great to learn how these deals were initiated. Maybe the Sherpas could shed some light when discussing (where appropriate).

    Dunstan.

    Reply
    1. Michael Cyger says:

       December 14, 2015 at 8:18 AM

       Hi DT,

       Great suggestion on how the deals were initiated. I’ll ask that question going forward.

       Thanks for watching and commenting.

       Best,
       Michael

       Reply
17. Mike says:

    December 14, 2015 at 6:32 AM

    Hey Ali I went to your website AliZandi.io and only saw a form.

    Reply
    1. Michael Cyger says:

       December 14, 2015 at 8:17 AM

       Hi Mike,

       It’s Zandi.io, not AliZandi.io.

       Best,
       Michael

       Reply
    2. Ali Zandi says:

       December 14, 2015 at 9:57 AM

       Thanks Mike, seems someone is squatting on my lovely name via AliZandi.io! Newsflash, I ain’t buying it!

       But yea, http://www.Zandi.io will take you to the Flippa auctions :)

       Reply
18. DomainiNames says:

    December 14, 2015 at 5:09 AM

    Great show, guys!

    Thanks Mike & the Sherpas !

    Reply
19. ikehook says:

    December 14, 2015 at 3:01 AM

    Shane,

    Do I have wear a Nike visor when I run?

    I think the guy that submitted the list could squeak a few hundred bucks out of ComfortFitJeans.com. I think it might be the best on the list other than MilfPie.com, of course….

    Reply
    1. Shane Cultra says:

       December 14, 2015 at 8:08 AM

       Ike,

       As long as you are running you can wear whatever you want. Rule 1. Never make fun of the guy working out. He’s taken the hardest step.

       Reply
       1. Ikehook says:

          December 14, 2015 at 10:14 AM

          I’m not making fun, I just need to know what the uniform is. I thought the visor might help with speed, maybe a topless hat helps somehow.

          Reply
          1. Shane Cultra says:

             December 14, 2015 at 10:23 AM

             More of a “cover up the bald spot” visor than a saving time visor :)

             Reply
20. Jay says:

    December 14, 2015 at 1:19 AM

    Good Show Thanks Mike / Sherpas

    Reply