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First $20k as an indie hacker developer ๐Ÿฅณ

and I'm not so happy about it because it's not MRR ๐Ÿ˜…

Jokes aside, I'm really pleased that I managed to make $20k from a micro startup that I haven't even built...

Let's dive in. I'd like to share lessons learned with all of you (took me a while to write this up).

It's been one of those blue January days, and I was occupying the porcelain throne browsing the phone (just like Elon Musk does).

Suddenly, I've landed in the Junk folder of the email I used for WHOIS contact details.

And there it was.

2 emails from an SFBay-based company enquiring about one of the domains I bought for an idea of mine.

They were offering $300 in the first email, and $1000 in the second email.

Now that kind of money is not really life changing for someone like me who lives in Scotland.

So I replied to them with an asking price of "how 'bout $20k, guys?" - within an hour, they replied: yes. We've used escrow .com to process the handover.

Should I have asked for $200k instead $20k? Maybe. I don't want to think about it ๐Ÿ˜…

Transaction completed

So why did I sell it? I didn't really want to sell it, it was for an ambitious project I had in my mind, but as a sleep-deprived dad of 3, it'd take me a long time to build it and not let me focus on other, smaller, potentially profitable projects.

Also, $20k is not small bucks and it certainly gave us some breathing space as a family of 5 (certainly helps to pay for the twins' nursery and looots of nappies!).

Lessons learned:

  • Check your Junk/Spam folder of the email you put in your WHOIS details (needless to say I check it now on a daily basis!) - there might be $20k waiting for you!
  • Never accept the first offer, go in and negotiate, start high or with an amount that would make an impact on your life.

I'll be sharing more lessons learned as I attempt to build profitable micro startups so you can follow me there to learn from my experience.

Now onto that $20k but this time let's make it MRR ๐Ÿš€

Best to all!

  1. 7

    Wow! I'd say that's a huge win. And thanks for sharing your Twitter, I'd love to follow along your journey!

    1. 2

      Thank you @jryankennedy - always great to with other Indie Hackers ๐Ÿ’ช

  2. 4

    Wow my best (actually only) .com sale to date was $180! Well done!
    :)

    1. 1

      Thanks @wipeman! Next time add the letter "k" to it i.e. $180k - you might get $90k if they're keen on negotiations ๐Ÿ™Œ

  3. 3

    Well done! This is an amazing feat tbh.

    1. 1

      Thanks a lot @jelena - first $ online โœ… ๐Ÿ˜…

  4. 3

    Can you reveal what was the domain name?

    1. 6

      I would love to tell you but they've asked not to share on socials etc

      Some facts:

      • it was a .com ofc
      • it was made up of 2 words
      • it had almost 20 characters in it
      • there is only one kind of startup one can build on it - and that's what the new owner will use it for
      1. 2

        Thanks for sharing the hints!

        I think this was a really good deal for you, considering the lenght of the domain name.

    1. 1

      Thanks @petecodes ๐Ÿ’ช Unintended flip but yes it happened, sad to see a nice .com home sweet home for an idea I had is gone now too. But hey plenty other micro startups to work on ๐Ÿš€

  5. 3

    Congratulations buddy!

    1. 1

      Thanks a lot @pragyanatvade! This has never happened to me before, first $ made online ๐Ÿฅณ

  6. 2

    I let a couple of good domain names lapse in the past because I decided not to proceed with my ideas - wish I hadnโ€™t now! ๐Ÿ˜‚

  7. 2

    Great story. I have 7 domains listed for sales. Hoping to get good results like you got.

    1. 1

      Thanks @minjunkim7767!

      Wishing you all the best! Have you checked the Junk/Spam folder today? ๐Ÿ˜…

  8. 2

    @ptrm
    Very cool story. I didn't know that there was an escrow website so I learned something new today.

    1. 1

      Thanks @ovoviews360!

      I'm glad I helped you learn something new today - it's always great to share :-)

  9. 2

    hahahaha .. god on you mate for hanging on to asset for long. Clearly this was not an outcome you were counting on but what a great surprise. It is kinda of a hit or miss with domain names (pretty much any investment). Sometimes you can get offers like this and sometimes, the interested party just change the name a bit like dunethemovie.com instead of dune.com (coz thats taken by some data company) as compared to TheHobbit.com (official website)

    1. 1

      Thanks @Deepindera!

      I've only had it for less than a year. And yeah it's free world out there so individuals put their creativity into play and make up all sorts of names :-)

  10. 2

    That's a great milestone Peter. Keep going

    1. 1

      Thanks a lot @onmyway133 - I'll do my best and will share as much as possible with fellow IHers ๐Ÿ’ช

  11. 2

    It seems to have been a good deal, also considering the need on your part, I want to ask. Do you think that the domain name you sold could be replaced by another with the same value? I mean what is the reason that someone pays so much for a name.

    1. 1

      A good question @rvalenzuelaferrada!

      I think that particular .com cannot be easily replaced, the two powerful words in it, and the prestige of it being a .com, one could try but it wouldn't be as good IMO ๐Ÿ˜Š

  12. 2

    Thats wild! Proves that domain names are viable assets in this day in age.

    1. 1

      Yup - I agree @tyfiero, especially .coms ๐Ÿ”ฅ

  13. 2

    then you woke up ๐Ÿคฃ

    1. 1

      Haha it does sound surreal doesn't it, especially after they said "Yes" I was like "WTH is going on?!?!?!?"

      1. 1

        donโ€™t get me wrong I am happy for you )) but yeah such a like when hard to believe! gj for now agreeing on their initial offers!

  14. 2

    haha. A nice windfall, well handled.

    Now to invest it all on a crypto coin.

    1. 1

      Thanks @benjaminboman!

      Haha yes, to Bitcoin or not to Bitcoin, that is the question.

  15. 2

    Wow, nice! This isn't even something I had considered doing...

    1. 1

      @Laulau - I have never considered doing something like that as well, it just happened to... happen ๐Ÿ˜…

    1. 1

      @ketan_patel31 yes, very nice I'd say ๐Ÿ˜…

  16. 2

    Hell yeah!!! Congrats :) I guess that being addicted to buying domain names can have some positive endings ahah

    1. 1

      Thanks @hugohamelcom!

      I guess it can yes ๐Ÿ˜…

  17. 2

    Congratulations!!!

  18. 2

    Omg this is so realateable
    I also have started looking for mails in junk folder and expecting to get a mail to buy my services or products. Iโ€™m so happy for you man, I hope things go same for me ๐Ÿ˜

    1. 1

      Thanks so much @TanmayM!

      I've accidentally somehow landed in the Junk folder, and I know gmail deletes spam after 30 days - imagine if it's gone past that 30 days and I never spotted it ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

      Heck, maybe there were other emails like that in the many years that have passed but I've simply missed them - like who checks Junk/Spam folders??? ๐Ÿ˜…

      1. 1

        ๐Ÿ˜ฌ that would be bad, I should be more careful

  19. 2

    That's awesome! One of my domains was expiring and I wasn't going to use it anymore so I put it for sale for like 15$ and it sold last week. I also sold another one that I wasn't using a while back. So, maybe there is a potential. (Maybe I should have priced it higher haha)

    The key is probably to find words that funded startups might want to take. Basically niching down.

    1. 1

      Thanks @itsKev - yeah, if you own it then you can decide or influence the perceptual worth by setting your price, a pen might be $5 but the same pen that's your's is $50,000 ๐Ÿ˜…

      1. 2

        Yea, I am not sure if namecheap has a make offer option, but I'll have to look into it to see if they do for future ones.

        1. 1

          Good luck @ItsKev - for me I think this was a one off and probably will never happen to me again ๐Ÿ˜…

          1. 1

            Let's hope not haha.

  20. 2

    what a story Peter! checking my spam folders now, congrats :)

    1. 1

      Thank you @justinquda - yes I'd recommend putting in a daily reminder in your calendar, "โฐ Check SPAM folder" ๐Ÿ˜…

  21. 2

    That's some next level negotiation skills ๐Ÿ˜ณ

    1. 1

      Thanks a lot @dagorenouf! Just trying to do my best (as a dad of 3, there is no other way, it's all for the kids) ๐Ÿ˜…

      1. 1

        great motivator ;)

  22. 2

    Congratulations. So you have sold a domain I guess?

    1. 1

      Thanks @ducmai - the sale itself was a domain yes, but overall it was more than that, it was the home sweet home for yet another idea of mine - there is only one kind of startup you could build on that domain.

  23. 2

    I'm really happy for you fellow indie hacker. Hang in there, soon it'll be your MRR.

    1. 1

      Thanks @proup24 - I really hope so, I'll definitely keep at it ๐Ÿ’ช

  24. 1

    Wow that's great! Though I can't help but also lament how low they started vs how high they were willing to go. I guess I can't fault them for it, very glad you took the chance!

  25. 1

    Wow, lucky. So if I'm reading this right, you sold a domain for $20k?

    1. 1

      The sale itself was a domain yes, but overall it was more than that, it was the home sweet home for yet another idea of mine - there is only one kind of startup you could build on that domain.

  26. 1

    Maybe this a sign to start reselling domains ;)

    1. 1

      Lol, I actually got a lot of ideas on flipping domains. But never heard of someone doing this thing

    2. 1

      I know some people specialise in only that - but it's not my cup of tea @cosmeescobedo

      All domains I get are with the purpose of building on them - ideally meaningful and sustainable micro startups ๐Ÿš€

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