The perils of credit card domain investing
Quick Summary of Contents
- 1 Credit’s been around since the beginning of time
- 2 From rags to riches, and credit to profits
- 3 Bootstrap domaining with credit cards is risky business
- 4 With the 90’s gold rush gone, is it possible to profit from domain investing today?
- 5 Where to begin your domain investing journey
- 6 Domain guessing investing resources worth a read
There are investing lessons to be had with no shortage in the number to go around.
This statement can be broadly and precisely applied when speaking in terms of domain investing with credit cards.
For those of us with our eyes on the domaining prize of fame, fortune, and success in short order, one can’t help but ask the question:
Can I profit windfalls of cash via credit card domain investing?
A simple question to ask at surface level, yet quite often multifaceted in how one chooses to answer and respond based on life experience.
Credit’s been around since the beginning of time
From the moment IOU’s were invented to tabs being opened, credit cards or something acting very much like a credit card in general nature have been around since the late 1800’s (and likely earlier than that).
Just like with anything in life, credit cards must be used wisely and are not financial instruments one should gravely abuse or misuse.
Today, credit cards are used for a multitude of things by a growing audience often times not having been schooled in Personal Finance 101 by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, dating myself a bit here, I can remember setting foot on a college campus and being offered *free* t-shirts and other gear in exchange for signing up for a 0% interest credit card. Of course, that never happens today (wink, wink). Nevertheless, the catch in the cards that were being lauded was that the introductory interest rate would expire after a 6-month or 12-month period, skyrocketing to somewhere between 20-35% interest. Imagine being in college with low to no income, and all of a sudden being hit with a $100-$150 per month minimum bill for a laptop that you would end up paying twice for by time you got it paid off. So instead of a $2K laptop, it’s now a $5K laptop.
Of course, that’s roundabout math. However, many people likely relate to such a story, either personally or you personally know someone this happened too — or God forbid, it’s happening to you as you read this very sentence.
From rags to riches, and credit to profits
But for every nightmare story of bad credit and debt management practices, there are a few beyond your wildest imagination type of stories.
Most stories are likely about amateurs using credit to start businesses that pump out thousands and million dollar profits. Look across various industries, markets, verticals and niches, and you sure to find thousands of stories of people using credit the size of house notes to launch their businesses.
What inspired today’s article was reading a similar article about whether or not it was a good practice for domain investors to use credit cards until the big sale happens.
Personally, I use credit but use it wisely in terms of paying off the monthly balance. When not possible, then I pay more than the minimum and never take more than 3-6 months to pay off the balance.
Obviously, talking about finances can be a tricky conversation, especially when it involves credit cards and domain names.
Bootstrap domaining with credit cards is risky business
As it pertains to using credit cards to domain investing, I STRONGLY encourage newbies to domain investing to NOT use credit cards.
In fact, I encourage new domain investors, whether full or part time, or hobbyist, to take 12 months in study BEFORE ever making a purchase. Personally, I bought my domain investing lesson by at least $10K of cash, starting back in mid 2012.
In fact, I never intended to get into domain investing. Prior to 2012, I was involved in a number of businesses and startups where I managed their domain names and developed websites.
I was left holding the bag on the old domains with some of the businesses upgrading their domain name along the way or simply going out of business. I didn’t allow many to expire due to having auto-renew setup and associated with my debit card.
In 2012, I sold my first domain for $500 and somewhat hooked on the fact that I had only invested $48 in the domain across 3-4 years. Little by little, I purchased more domains after the first taste of profitable earnings.
In hindsight, I should have waited, and read, studied and practiced way more. I stumbled across Rick Schwartz’s blog, Domaining, and then eventually came across Mike Cyger’s DomainSherpa. I binged watch DomainSherpa, and read for months about Rick Schwartz, Frank Schilling, Shane Cultra, Adam Dicker (Where is he these days?) and others.
Things have worked out for me bootstrapping my way into domain investing. Although I sell enough domains in a year to pay for a few vacations, I DO NOT use credit cards to sustain domain investing.
With the 90’s gold rush gone, is it possible to profit from domain investing today?
The simple answer is Yes. And can you do so with credit cards? Yes. Do I recommend it? NO.
Simply put, credit card domain investing buys some time in the short term to grab a piece of the domain name action, even if it’s wrong.
But in most cases, we’re only talking on weeks and months, and not decades. After all, as you’ll quickly learn about domaining, it can take a bit of time to find a profitable model in short order.
For instance, Rick Schwartz didn’t start out selling million dollar domain names. It’s taken decades for him to reach the high-roller status of Domain King. Read his blog and you’ll learn about his 20-year plan that is just now coming to pass in the last few years. Rick didn’t, nor should I or you for that matter, charge up tens of thousands of dollars blindly hoping to make money. His plan was a calculated risk of supply and demand based on previous life experiences.
So yes, IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TODAY TO PULL OFF WHAT HE DID SOME 20 YEARS AGO. AND NO, ALL THE GOOD DOMAINS ARE NOT TAKEN!
Where to begin your domain investing journey
Everyone wants to know where and how they should begin their domain investing journey?
In my opinion, you have to be willing to put in the work, be patient and wise, and likely flip your way into 5, 6, and 7 figure domains. You’ll also have to know when to say no, and when to hold or fold.
Lord willing, based on all my domain investing studies for my own portfolio, I’m expecting reasonable ROI starting in 2025, if not before.
I’ve learned quite a few secrets along the way. One secret is never bidding on or purchasing a domain without an immediate execution plan. You’re wasting money without a plan. Another is renewing domains more than a year at a time. Another is making good use of tools such as DomainIQ, NameBio, DomainTools, and many more. But one of the first secrets to learn is NOT to use credit cards for domain guessing and any other pipe dreams. 😉 Invest and live within your means by way of domain investing using cash. Do this until you can profit and plow more profits into more valuable domain names.
Don’t rack up unneeded debt only to be forced to sell your domains for pennies on the dollar to cover mortgage, to buy ramen, or, when things get real bad, a grass sandwich.
After all, the the economic climate can and WILL change without notice, and likely to not change favorably when it does. Anyone remember the Great Recession? Not saying it’ll happen, but were likely do for another correction right about now?
The worst thing in such a climate is to credit card spend on domains that are worthless, carrying little to no value of their original investment value.
In most cases, when you credit card spend on domain names without a sound business strategy that turns profit, you’ve discovered compound interest working against yourself and the very domains you’ve invested in. Remember, you want compound interest to work for you and not against you when investing, period. And this reason alone is why you should tread lightly, if at all, when it comes to domain investing with credit cards.
Domain guessing investing resources worth a read
Notice, I didn’t say guessing or spending, I said INVESTING. To start your domain investing journey here, I recommend you invest in STUDYING the following resources:
Listed below are a few quick reads worth mentioning:
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Not only will the items above save you time and money, they’ll actually boost your likelihood and probability of turning quicker and more profitable domain investing returns.
And and it goes without saying, DO NOT use credit cards that you can’t or won’t payoff to purchase the items above. 🙂
And although Rick no longer blogs, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you visit his blog and start reading from the very beginning to latest posts. You’ll be enlightened along way, and his knowledge is FREE, yet EXECUTED well will bring lasting profits.
One last thing… READ Rick’s blog in its entirety. DO NOT simply read one blog post and start domain investing on an aura of feel good and excitement to think the odds will just work in your favor in a matter of days and weeks (hint, hint).
Naively domain investing using credit cards will cost ya for sure, and likely put ya under. Stick to cash purchases and build your way into profitable harvest, sewing seeds of study and hard work along the way.
Read up, study up, and I wish you the best in your domain investing business and journey. 🙂
