idealmike
Level X3
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I've been flipping domains and sites and living the life of a flipper for about 10+ years now. Not as much these days as I'm doing freelancing stuff instead. I used to launch simple niche sites and flip them on eBay and other places. Sometimes I had some fairly big sites that were taking off really well. I'd get a bit more for them though.
And sometimes I've sold a site that was doing really well that I've sold to someone for a fair price, who then never worked on the site and kept it going. In fact, that's happened quite a few times in my career I've seen that happen. In a way, it's kind of heart breaking to see that happen to what used to be your website. Especially if the site had a lot of potential and you believed in it.
And sometimes provided the new owner followed all your instructions and carried on doing what it was doing to get what it was getting. They could have made them into very successful and lucrative sites. And I never can really understand it when I see that happen. Why a buyer would invest all that money in buying the site and then let it die a slow and painful death without working on it or even keeping it up!
I've sold several sites like that in the past where that has happened. And it really makes me wonder why. However, when this happens, all might not be lost. In some instances, you may even be able to buy that domain back again. Not from the buyer you sold it to as they are probably unresponsive. But when it becomes available to buy again. This would be at the end of that domains registration date but sometimes it has to enter a period of time before it will be available to buy again.
Oh and in some instances, even if the domain is available to buy/register again. It might not be the same price as would be to buy it if it was a new domain. Some domain registrars put extra prices on dropped domains if the site was getting quite a bit of traffic to it when it was up.
But generally, this can be done and you can get it back for the same price as you would paying for a new domain. This can be worth doing because there is a chance that you could restore that site back to its former glory and carry on from where you left off before you sold it. That way you can make the site earn more again and then sell it for even more later on or just keep it and make it get bigger and bigger.
Obviously you might not want to do this though as you are just glad to have washed your hands with that domain. But trust sometimes it's good to roll up your sleeves and get dirty hands again for a while as it can be worth while doing. Depending on the site.
So if you've ever sold a website/domain in the past. And that site was a good site and was making money. But the new owner has died or been kidnapped by aliens and it's been abandoned and the domain drops. You can buy that domain again (maybe) and if you still have the site files/database etc you can restore it and get it back up!
I've done this myself several times for a couple of old games domains I had. One that was for a niche game site that was ranking for a broad term that I sold to some Chinese guy who was well gung ho about it all at first but then he never done anything I told him to do, the strategy and secrets and running tips etc. Anyway the site went down and he become unresponsive. And I had to wait about 3 years for the domain to really drop and be available again. But I eventually bought it back for around $0.99 and restored it back to its former glory and was surprised to see that after restoring all the pages (no mean feat) Google was still sending it traffic. Anyway I eventually built it right up and got it ranking well for this broad term "games online" and eventually sold it again later on for a nice price. True story!
And sometimes, looking back, I still regret selling it again. And looking back, I see some of my old sites I've sold still up, still ranking well and still earning the webmasters money and looking back, sometimes I regret selling them and look at them in envy LOL.
What about you? Have you ever sold a domain/site and regretted it?
Have you ever bought it back again on the sly and restored it?
And then sold it again?
Are you the sort of person who never sells anything?
A true website aficionado.
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Never happened to me to buy one of my websites back again, but one time, one of very important domain names expired and i paid a lot of money to Godaddy to claim it back even month after expirations. I felt so sorry to lose that domain as it contains my personal name. Glad i have it back :)
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Now that is an awesome way to take a long break off work.
I have heard a lot about domain flipping and buying back (no personal experience). I once heard Google paid millions to a guy who bought their domain a second after it expired :) Now that is an awesome way to take a long break off work.
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Lynne
I do think though that I would think like you. All 3 of my websites are my babies and I really wouldn't let go of them easily. If I did let go of them and someone let them just die I would be devastated. Mike this has been a really interesting read for me. No I have never sold one of my websites before but I have been really interested in maybe getting involved in creating websites and then selling then. I believe now with all the knowledge I have I might just be able to make a good living doing something like this. I do think though that I would think like you. All 3 of my websites are my babies and I really wouldn't let go of them easily. If I did let go of them and someone let them just die I would be devastated.
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