The best Rick Schwartz post I have read

[domainseller200]

http://www.ricksblog.com/my_weblog/2011/10/i-sell-16th-domain-in-16-years235com-goes-for-100k.html

Makes alot of sense and I love the 'told you so' element of his blog post

 

[FagEnd]

I've never liked that man, or his cheesy grin, or his patronising "told you so" posts/articles. I've said the same thing for many years. He thinks he is some kind of internet messiah because he regged a load of cracking .coms in the early days, and made a killing with domain parking in its heyday. He is nothing but a mouthpiece, a cheesy grinning mouthpiece at that.

 

[seemly]

He is nothing but a mouthpiece, a cheesy grinning mouthpiece at that....

With money. Lots of it.

I would say lucky git, but I don't believe in luck.
It's about the right investment at the right time and in the right place.

Well played in my opinion.

 

[Sound]

I've never liked that man, or his cheesy grin, or his patronising "told you so" posts/articles. I've said the same thing for many years. He thinks he is some kind of internet messiah because he regged a load of cracking .coms in the early days, and made a killing with domain parking in its heyday. He is nothing but a mouthpiece, a cheesy grinning mouthpiece at that.

He may be all of the above but when it comes to selling average domains for XXX,XXX he is in a different league to most.

 

[FagEnd]

With money. Lots of it.

I would say lucky git, but I don't believe in luck.
It's about the right investment at the right time and in the right place.

Well played in my opinion.

Yes, he has made a lot of money, mostly from domain parking, but money does not = values.
People follow his every word because he got rich with domains, that does not deflect from the fact that the man talks bullsh@t constantly. Have you read the nonsense he was writing a few years ago? He was continually moaning about domain parking revenue dropping, and accusing people of ripping him off about the returns on his traffic. The way he went on, he thought he owned 50 percent of all internet traffic and it was his god given right to monetise it with useless parking pages. What has he ever developed? I've not read his blog for years so I don't know what he is up to now, perhaps he has caught the altruistic bug that seems to sweep silicon valley but I doubt it

 

[FagEnd]

He may be all of the above but when it comes to selling average domains for XXX,XXX he is in a different league to most.

Exactly, a confidence trickster. People believe the sh@te he talks about, solely because he made a fortune before for himself.
He is no visionary, he saw an opportunity before others. Doesn't make him a guru, he got lucky.

He was always predicting what would happen in the future, from the early 2000's and he blogs about what he got right, never mentions the 99% nonsense he got wrong.

Nostradamus of the internet era.

 

[seemly]

Yes, he has made a lot of money, mostly from domain parking, but money does not = values.

Maybe not, but money is food on the table and goes towards the pension fund which is ultimately what we are all in this "game" for - isn't it?

 

[seemly]

He is no visionary, he saw an opportunity before others. Doesn't make him a guru, he got lucky.

I think it's unfair to put it all soley down to luck, as he still had to stump up the cash to invest in these domains in the first place, which assuming he purchased a fair amount of domains showed a little vision, surely?

He was always predicting what would happen in the future, from the early 2000's and he blogs about what he got right, never mentions the 99% nonsense he got wrong.

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone who has publicly spouted all the bad decisions and mistakes they have made in their life either?

If people are willing to buy into this guy (and they do), why not try to monetise this and make a fortune from it? You would if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn't you?

 

[Edwin]

Rick's strongest skill must be his ability to keep saying "no" again and again and again and again where almost undoubtedly any of us would have said "yes" - that's what's won him the ultra-high sales over the years.

Basically, he's used 7,000 hooks (his domains) to bait just 16 fish. Even if you do the math on his renewal bills, he's come off pretty well - but it's an extraordinarily gutsy move to keep having to come up with US$60,000 a year in renewal fees, every year - then at the same time looking 99% of offerers in the eye and saying "no".

Put another way, he's sunk (in renewal fees alone, without even looking at acquisitions) over US$1,000,000 keeping his portfolio registered over the last 12-14 years. And in all that time he's sold less than 2 dozen names.

 

[FagEnd]

I think it's unfair to put it all soley down to luck, as he still had to stump up the cash to invest in these domains in the first place, which assuming he purchased a fair amount of domains showed a little vision, surely?



I don't think I have ever heard of anyone who has publicly spouted all the bad decisions and mistakes they have made in their life either?

If people are willing to buy into this guy (and they do), why not try to monetise this and make a fortune from it? You would if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn't you?

Probably. I wouldn't mind just having 1 page of his bankbook, but it doesn't change the fact that he is an @rse with a highly inflated ego, (and a disgusting cheesy grin that you would never tire punching)

 

[Frog]

Rick's strongest skill must be his ability to keep saying "no" again and again and again and again where almost undoubtedly any of us would have said "yes" - that's what's won him the ultra-high sales over the years.

Basically, he's used 7,000 hooks (his domains) to bait just 16 fish. Even if you do the math on his renewal bills, he's come off pretty well - but it's an extraordinarily gutsy move to keep having to come up with US$60,000 a year in renewal fees, every year - then at the same time looking 99% of offerers in the eye and saying "no".

Put another way, he's sunk (in renewal fees alone, without even looking at acquisitions) over US$1,000,000 keeping his portfolio registered over the last 12-14 years. And in all that time he's sold less than 2 dozen names.

But how many millions did he make in parking payments in that same time period...

Easy to turn down domain offers when you've already got enough in the bank to never have to lift a finger again.

 

[Edwin]

But how many millions did he make in parking payments in that same time period...

Easy to turn down domain offers when you've already got enough in the bank to never have to lift a finger again.

Even so, there are plenty of folks with similar resources who have "blinked" for a lot less. Rick's ubiquitous "no" is what's made a large part of his domain fortune.

 

[seemly]

Probably. I wouldn't mind just having 1 page of his bankbook, but it doesn't change the fact that he is an @rse with a highly inflated ego, (and a disgusting cheesy grin that you would never tire punching)

Lol. That one i'll agree with. :-D

 

[Pred]

this is a great recent interview with Rick
http://www.domainsherpa.com/rick-schwartz-domainking-interview/

he hasn't always had it easy, people would do well to remember that, and he had to take a lot of gambles and go with his gut

I think Rick is great personally. He is also great to do business with and very straight forward and honest. Sold him a domain couple of weeks ago

nb: when I bump into Rick and share a few pints with him at some point in the future (when Traffic comes to London, hopefully!) I will point out the whole 'webfather' thing is a little creepy lol

 

[invincible]

I've never liked that man, or his cheesy grin, or his patronising "told you so" posts/articles. I've said the same thing for many years. He thinks he is some kind of internet messiah because he regged a load of cracking .coms in the early days, and made a killing with domain parking in its heyday. He is nothing but a mouthpiece, a cheesy grinning mouthpiece at that.

I don't think Rick Schwartz cares one way or the other whether most people like him or dislike him. It's sometimes nice to be liked but I, for instance, am not in the domain name business because I want, or need, be liked or disliked. Within reason, I say what I think and for that I consider that I am probably "popularly unpopular(TM)". The thing with Rick's forum, or blog, or whatever, is that people he doesn't and will never know about are talking about it. Like right here, right now. He might well find the idea of that "amusing".

 

[anthony]

...he's sunk (in renewal fees alone, without even looking at acquisitions) over US$1,000,000 keeping his portfolio registered over the last 12-14 years. And in all that time he's sold less than 2 dozen names.

The US$1,000,000 will have been offset quite a bit by his PPC revenue though, so his holdings will have been earning their keep to an extent.

 

[anthony]

...Within reason, I say what I think and for that I consider that I am probably "popularly unpopular(TM)".

I agree!

Although the fact you keep feeling the need to remind us all that you shoot from the hip is that you might be considered an egotist.

 

[jasman]

He was there in the right place at the right time and took the initiative. That is to be applauded but the blog just seems to be a long drawn out ego fest.

I suspect he may have been too eager to refuse offers. If he has say 7000 domains, at the rate he has been selling them, he will have sold less than 100 by the time he dies, missing out on selling 6900 domains. Perhaps by accepting say $50k for NNN domains he would have sold 4 or 5, instead of 1 at $100k, making more out of his portfolio and reducing nenewal fees to boot. At some point there is a maximising quantity*price level, and I suspect he may be quite off the mark. Of course if you are constantly bragging about how clever you have been, you'll be much less open to improving your performance because you think you know it all.

 

[FagEnd]

Of course if you are constantly bragging about how clever you have been, you'll be much less open to improving your performance because you think you know it all.

That is a great quote, and defines this man to a T.

I know a handful of folks on this forum alone that have made a killing on the internet. Domains and websites. Not 1 of them have tried to set themselves up as the second coming.

 

[StoneRoses]

Have to agree with that Rick is an ass, constantly telling anyone who will listen how good he is and how shite others are, i have seen some of his replies to people and the man may have millions but he has no class.
No doubt the guy was very shrewd in the beginning seeing things others didn't, i don't think anyone can deny that he took the risk and has got the rewards, i respect that hugely, but he is a egomanic and i don't need to be reading what shite the self proclaimed "DominKing" is churning out.