There are many domain investors who operate domain business in a stealth mode. And, not all investors are on Twitter nor on Namepros. We will call these investors as ‘The Stealth Domain Investor.’
Only those who want to establish their reputation and authority in domain investing are the one goes public or reveal their identities. Compare to brick and mortar businesses – the digital business provides anyone the option to work in full privacy. Here is how a stealth domain investor works:
- Aliases: He uses different aliases at different marketplaces so the other bidders cannot recognize him by the name. So, basically the other bidder don’t know with whom they are up and are competing.
- When he buys the name in private he uses different anonymous email and contact number to communicate. And, uses payment services that help him in protecting his identity.
- He sells directly through marketplaces whether BIN or make offer type.
- Not shares or tweets: He totally abstains from participating in tweets or blogs. If it at all required he does it so anonymously.
- Uses anonymous ID’s in different forums – so other users can’t determine his or her identity
- WHOIS Privacy: While owning domain names – a stealth investor uses whois privacy. So, the identity remains covered. WHOIS provides a great advantage to such investors. As emails and contacts are masked – it becomes difficult for anyone to send them inquiries for their domains.
- Limited to Family: The stealth investor may limit his domain investing business to his family only. And, not shares even with friends and colleagues.
- Time Factor: Most investors don’t have time to share their thoughts and blog about their successes or business model. Blogging and sharing your thoughts and reading others – takes considerable amount of time.
- Side Hustle: If someone considers domain investing as a side hustle or part-time then he doesn’t require to show it to the world. Remaining private saves time and helps in better utilization of time.
Who knows them?
Well, the domain registrars and marketplaces will probably knowing the true identities of such persons or businesses. For example, As of June 2020, GoDaddy has more than 20 million customers and there are many more domain registrars in the world. And, not all are domain investors and not all are end-users. Definitely, this data reveals that there is a significant portion of people and businesses around the globe who buys and sell domains. But, they do so stealthly.
Well, there are many reasons why domain investors don’t want to reveal who they are. It could be personal or professional reasons. And, it’s OK and fine. So, are you an open domain investor or a stealth domain investor?