One of the more popular debates in domaining is who had the easier time? Was it easier in 2007 to make money than it is today? That’s the latest thread I came across on Namepros.
I know Rick Schwartz has tweeted out in the past that it was harder back in the day, he said, “Wasn’t so easy. I invested in the net that was a FAD at the time. There was no playbook/aftermarket. It was a GREAT UNKNOWN RISK!”
Now going back 20 years is one thing because the net was so young and many did not know much about it, they knew less about selling a domain name for money.
The topic on the Namepros post was 2007 vs 2017. There was a lot of info by 2007, not as much as 2017 but still a fair amount of information on buying and selling domain names.
The consensus presently is on the side of harder today vs 2007.
Reasons given for making it harder today include:
- Parking’s downward turn
- NewGtlds
- Social Media popularity
- Cheaper acquisition costs
Longtime domain investor Jim Holleran summed it up:
Way harder today. In 2007, many of us made a living just parking domains, without having to sell any domains. Type-In traffic was much higher, and Yahoo was still a great feed in 2007. IMO Google is the #1 reason why it’s harder today, they have a monopoly on search, which is bad for everybody. 2015 was a great year when the Chinese entered if you had short names to sell, but it’s been down hill since, not sure if the chinese are coming back like 2015.
The GTLD’s have poisoned the industry as well. In about 3 years they will buried in the grave, maybe 1 or 2 will survive. Convincing end-users is tougher today than it was in 2007. Many think FB, or other social media accounts is all they need. I don’t even try to convince end-users, waste of time, either they get it or they don’t, the value of a domain name.
See some good future ahead, especially in growing spanish .com market, and india as well. Just got to follow future trends and be in the best position to capture on those trends to make yourself successful! Good luck to everybody!
Here is a look at the current voting:
So what do you think, is it harder today to make money as a domain investor?
