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[F861]Free Websites Domain Names

by J Schipper, J S

For example, in March of 2006, the domain name Blue.com sold for $500,000. The site now includes links to adult sites and airfares. The seller, Amy Schrier, bought the site in 2002 for $65,000. In the United States, approximately one to two thousand people make their living buying and selling domain names.

Most of the vendors buy or register domain names, then develop the sites' commercial value by adding content and links to increase marketability. It is an investment in virtual real estate.

Sales of 5,851 domain names generated 29 million dollars in 2005, almost twice as much as the year before. Investors seeing the potential for further increases are buying or investing in domain name companies. For example, in 2005 Highland Capital invested $20 million in YesDirect, a domain name company holding 600,000 names. YesDirect is developing content for the sites it holds.

There are even trade shows being hosted in Las Vegas to bring together domain name buyers and sellers. A recent Las Vegas trade fair attracted approximately 400 to 500 vendors and investors, twice the attendance compared to 2005. A large live auction at the fair generated $2.1 million in sales within three hours.

Online entrepreneur Gary Kreman earned $12 million in cash and stock in 2005 by selling Sex.com to Escom, an adult entertainment firm. The site Men.com was sold in 2003 for $1.3 million, a huge profit for its owner who paid $15,000 for the domain name in 1997.

Dozens of internet sites such as Afternic specialize in selling domain names for a commission, usually approximately 10% of the selling price. Some of the sites will list any domain name for whatever price the owner asks; others are more discriminating in the sites they will list, preferring single-word domain names rather than concatenated phrases.

The most valuable domain names are the .coms, followed by .net, .org and .biz. Single word websites are the most valuable, though not all single words will have the same high value. Concatenated phrases are slightly less valuable than single words, those with hyphens less than those without. Short words and phrases are also preferred. Not all words have the same commercial potential. For sellers unsure of the value of their site, most of the domain name resale sites have appraisal services available for between $15 to $30 per site examined.

The key to domain taste testing is to take advantage of a five-day grace period offered by select domain name registry services. After doing careful research on the Internet to identify and determine the commercial resale value of a domain name, the investor purchases the domain through the registrar and begins to immediately test its worth.

Different domain name (virtual real estate) investors may use a variety of different strategies to put a new domain through its paces including setting up Google AdSense ads to generate click-through commissions through text ads to setting up more extensive web sites with hundreds of pages of related content and products related to the domain name.

Using links to existing affiliate products and programs, reseller products, or links to online stores such as Amazon online store or Target website, even a one-man shop can create a domain that is rich with products and custom offerings without ever having to stock a single physical product on the shelf.

Within a five-day grace period, the domain name investor can usually determine the ability of the domain to turn a hefty profit. That is definitely more than enough time to check whether it is worth clinging on to the domain. If the name fails to attract traffic or generate satisfactory click-through commissions or product sales, the domain name can be returned to the domain registrar and the registration fee refunded towards the purchase of a new domain name. It's that simple.

In this way, a savvy domain name investor can continuously test a variety of domain names to determine the best ones to hold onto for future expansion or resale. The rest can be returned back to the domain registrar. So, essentially the investor does not lose anything at all.

Just as fine wine increases as it ages, domain names can also improve with age and resell for substantially more dollars the longer they are held. And just as entire wine collections are frequently passed from one owner to the next, entire collections of related domain names are also frequently resold through multiple owners for ever-increasing profits.

In what other industry can a speculator have this level of flexibility in his investment? Imagine if you could purchase stocks and bonds through your stock broker this way how much money you could generate?

It's no small wonder why the domain name industry is quickly growing into one of the largest and most aggressive investment markets in existence. By 2010 it is estimated it will grow into a $4 billion market.

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Both J Schipper & Ranju Kumar are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

J Schipper has sinced written about articles on various topics from Air Purifier Cleaners, Destinations and Breastfeeding. . J Schipper's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.

Ranju Kumar has sinced written about articles on various topics from Affiliate Programs, Supplements and Accounting Bookkeeping General Svc. Ranju says, "It's time for you to invest in the Virtual Real Estate Boom... Because 'Property Values' are Skyrocketing"... Learn how to turn Domains Into Dollars at: