I had my first solo trip - two weeks in Crete. It was amazing, and I would definitely do solo traveling again (maybe even go back to Crete. I still have to unlock the other half of the island)

Here is an image as an icebreaker.

And no, I haven’t forgotten my last project. So keep reading to find out how it’s going (and for more Crete photos at the end).

Subscribe now

Performance Update

I’m approaching three months, but there’s still no breakthrough.

However, that doesn’t bother me much, keeping in mind I publish reports on random sites and haven’t spent that much time on it.

There are now 233 reports.

Here is how it looks from the GSC (Google Search Console) side:

Traffic does not correlate with adding new reports, which shows that it’s a hit or miss - some reports get searched for, and some get ignored.

See the performance and indexing charts below.

More reports ≠ more traffic.

During my last iteration I scraped https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/ for websites that were suspicious or obvious scams. I ended up providing around 100 comprehensive reviews, all manually reviewed.

Some of these reports started receiving traffic immediately.

But as that batch is now done, I made a list of new targets that were already covered on other review websites. Let’s see how it goes.

Critical Vulnerability (Thanks to Vibe Coding)

Security is the thing I know best - it’s literally my daily job - so I’m very aware of how a single design flaw can introduce vulnerabilities.

My goal when building the site was to make it fast, and the architectural choice (static pages hosted on Vercel) means I’m not too concerned about my React app being vulnerable.

But at some point, I decided to ask AI to review my code and see if it could find any issues.

And here we go.

The first one is the most interesting.

My reports URL looks like this:

https://www.scamraven.com/reports/example

What this vulnerability means in theory is that an attacker can move up the directory from where the application is being served.

And this URL with a payload:

https://www.scamraven.com/reports/../../../../etc/passwd

…would give the attacker sensitive system files, which could eventually lead to remote code execution and full compromise.

Scary, and a good explanation of how Vibe Coders end up in this situation:

But as I mentioned, I run static pages on Vercel with no server-side logic, inside a sandboxed environment, so this vulnerability is unlikely to have any real impact. Still, I patched it anyway.

My Grand Idea of Getting Backlinks

My project relies solely on organic traffic. Success depends on how many keywords I can rank for since I target long-tail keywords with low search volume.

But even then, with a fresh domain, I’m not getting great rankings. According to GSC, my average position is 9.

Best way to improve this?

Backlinks. High-quality backlinks increase domain authority.

So I had this genius idea:

This would help me get backlinks from high-authority sources.

However, I gave up on the idea.

Why?

I started working on it and scraped over 2,000 real stories from people who either faced romance scammers themselves, or had friends/family who did.

Which is surprisingly high, to be honest.

It took effort to scrape and summarise it. But the end result looked like this:

“scam_type”: {
        “primary”: “Advance-fee scam”
      },
      “timeline”: {
        “initial_contact”: “Victim was approached by someone on Facebook claiming to send money.”,
        “trust_building”: “No specific trust-building actions were detailed in the comments.”,
        “early_red_flags”: “Commenters noted that believing someone on Facebook is giving away money is a red flag.”,
        “scam_hook”: “The hook was the promise of receiving money, introduced as a generous act.”,
        “money_request”: “Scammer requested a $90 enrollment fee to release the funds.”,
        “collapse”: “Victim suspected it was a scam when they had to ask if it was a scam, leading to blocking/reporting the scammer.”
      },
      “linguistic_patterns”: {
        “love_bombing”: [],
        “future_faking”: [],
        “trust_anchors”: [],
        “mirroring”: [],
        “guilt_trips”: [],
        “urgency”: [],
        “investment_pitches”: [],
        “grammar_style_notes”: []
      },
      “behavioral_red_flags”: [
        “🚩 Fast Intimacy”,
        “🚩 Investment Pitch”
      ],
      “scam_indicators”: [
        “Claims they can’t video call because of job.”,
        “Falls in love very quickly.”,
        “Insists on moving to WhatsApp immediately.”,
        “Uses profession that explains constant travel.”,
        “Introduces investment opportunity after emotional bond.”
      ],
...



I tried formatting it as a prompt for AI. And this is where things got hard.

I wanted the scenarios to be very specific, which ended up in a huge prompt. The chatbot (GPT-5) could follow it, but the struggle started when I (as a user) tried to respond.

Real users can say anything - from “ok” to “I spent the whole weekend making drugs.”

And in such cases AI either goes:

• “wow, that’s amazing, could you help me by sending me 50 dollars honey?”
  or

• gets stuck in small talk for too long.

Expanding the prompt with more instructions didn’t work.

The more you give to AI, the more likely it is to drift, ignore instructions, or hallucinate.

Then I switched my approach. I tried introducing a finite-state machine and a double AI-agent architecture (one model keeps the scenario, the other analyzes).

Didn’t fix anything. It just increased complexity. There’s no quick way to implement this using chatbots, and it’s time-intensive to get a reasonable outcome.

My Grand “Giving Up Moment” for the Backlink Strategy

I’m pretty sure that if executed correctly, this could still become a killer case study that gets links if published properly.

But right now, I don’t have the motivation to do it properly.

It’s also hard to justify. I’m getting no income from this, and it’s unlikely to become a service or paid tool. Best-case scenario, I could monetise traffic - but to increase traffic, I just have to keep pushing new reports.

Overall: I took a big bite, and I got sick working on this.

I’m putting this on hold. Maybe one day I’ll get back to it, but it’s hard to push when you don’t enjoy the work.

As a last straw, I talked with ChatGPT about this:

Thank you ChatGPT for the support <3.

How did I come up with this idea?

I wanted to rank for “romance scam,” so I created a static romance scam scenario quiz:

https://www.scamraven.com/quiz/romance

It took me a couple of days to build the basic scenarios.

But then I wanted to make it better. That’s how I ended up with this “grand idea.”

If I ever return to this (and knowing myself, I probably will), I’d create very strict scenarios with answer options (no open responses).

Basically, something similar to what I already built, just better, with more educational value.

Next Steps

My plan is simple: more reports.

Which should result in more traffic.

But shooting in the dark and creating long reports on sites that nobody checks (for “is X website a scam”) is a bad approach.

So I’m planning to start mass scanning and producing smaller reports (TLS checks, WHOIS info, blacklist checks, etc.)

And only if a page starts ranking or gets at least one organic user, I’ll expand it into a full manual report like before.

Hopefully Google won’t penalise my domain for this.

Thanks for reading to the end!

Here are the promised pictures from Crete.

The truth is, the companies that profit most from it aren’t small freelancers - they’re big players with deep pockets and expensive lawyers. They operate in the shadows, pushing the limits of legality, and they get away with it because they know how to balance it.

I really don’t want to give any examples or mention companies, so let’s talk about a fictional one: The Oxygene Group.

The Oxygene Group knows the ins and outs of the niche. They have the expertise to bypass protections, a strong legal team, and the ability to get away with scraping data that would otherwise violate the Terms and Conditions of the platforms they target. That’s why they’re profitable.

Even OpenAI’s CTO, when asked about the data used to train SORA, replied “I don’t know”. A non-answer that says a lot (who can know it if not chief technology officer?):

The reality? Much of it likely came from scraping in that same grey zone. And being upfront about it could invite lawsuits from the very platforms whose data was used.

So where does that leave the rest of us? If it’s unauthenticated (no login required) and you’re not collecting personal data, you’re generally good. If it’s authenticated (requires an account and logging in), you’re most likely violating Terms & Conditions.

But we’re not the big guys, and we didn’t start 10+ years ago when the market was less saturated. So a real question - if you want to start scraping in 2025, what are your actual options?

Let’s talk about it.

What Scraping Really Means

But first, let’s get on the same page on what is scraping.

Scraping is essentially the automated collection of data from websites. It can be as simple as pulling prices from an online store or as complex as extracting structured datasets from heavily protected platforms like LinkedIn or Airbnb.

Goal is to get as new as possible data set that can be used for many purposes (usually further data analysis and processing).

Different Ways to Go as a Solo Scraper

Getting back to the topic, from what I see, there are a few routes you can take:

• Build scrapers on platforms like Apify or RapidAPI

• Build your own scraping tool (SaaS) and sell subscriptions

• Freelance on Fiverr/Upwork

• Start a small scraping agency with heavy focus on ads for client acquisition

But of course, there’s one big prerequisite: you must know how to write good scrapers.

There are plenty of ready-made scraping tools, but they’re too basic. They work for small, unprotected sites, but try running them on Airbnb, LinkedIn, or other platforms and you’ll quickly hit a wall of defenses.

This is the cat and mouse game of scraping. You need to know how to mimic normal user flows, understand API endpoints, develop tactics that work, and accept that scrapers might stop working overnight.

But let’s say you have the technical side covered. How do you start as a solo developer?

Using Platforms Such as Apify, or RapidAPI

Platforms like Apify or RapidAPI handle the infrastructure for you: proxies, containers, scaling.

One big advantage is traffic. Your scrapers (actors) are published under their ecosystem, indexed by Google, and searchable inside Apify. That means some users will just find you.

But there are downsides:

• Competition is intense on popular scrapers

• Users scraping only a few items can spike infra costs and eat profits

• You depend on the platform (your actor could be removed anytime

Mr. Scraper – solo builder’s project

Mr. Scraper was one of those “build in public” experiments that got attention in the niche. It was built by Kai.

The idea was simple: document the process of building scrapers, testing monetization routes, and sharing both wins and failures along the way. Instead of being another faceless API vendor, it leaned into transparency—showing code, revenue, and technical challenges in real time.

It was a self-service tool where users could run scrapers themselves.

Revenue? A few hundred bucks per month. Eventually it sold for around $15k (if I remember correctly - I can’t find the tweet).

On the surface, that looks like a success. But from the author’s blog posts, it was clear it required tons of effort and development hours.

Still, it showed that “building in public” can create visibility and opportunities, even if the business isn’t huge.

Freelancing

Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork show big demand for scraping.

But just like any other niche, there are plenty of people offering cheap work. The quality is usually low.

Starting from zero, you’ll compete with them. And building reputation takes time. But there’s money in it.

Fiverr alone has 10k+ scraping-related gigs.

Upwork has a steady stream of scraping jobs.

If I were starting from scratch, I wouldn’t go the freelance marketplace route. I’d rather do cold outreach. Something like:

“Hey, I see you run a webshop. I can send you a weekly report on what competitors are listing and how fast items go out of stock.”

That’s scraping packaged as data insights.

Scraping Agency: Scaling Scrapers with Ads

This is based on a real Flippa listing I found, which showed how one scraping agency operates.

The name of the agency is Scrapelabs.io.

This is how the business operates:

• A non-technical founder handles clients and manages outsourced developers

• Main client acquisition is via Google Ads

• 25% of revenue = recurring projects (ongoing data updates)

• 20% of clients are returning (most are new from ads)

• Business requires ~2 hours/day

• Profit margin = 56% (ads + freelancer costs included)

It makes money in two main ways:

Selling datasets and custom scraping E-commerce sites, the latter bringing in the most revenue.

At the time of selling it, the cash flow looked like this:

Revenue fluctuates a bit due to the reason that some clients make big orders.

The numbers (5 years):

• $222k spent on ads

• $115k spent on freelancers

• $741k revenue

• $366k profit

Ads took a huge share of expenses but were worth it.

The business started in 2020 with ~$3k monthly revenue from day one. Growth was slow, but by 2024 (best year):

• $174,544 revenue

• $83,098 expenses

• $91,446 profit

$91k profit before taxes for ~2 hours of daily work (if you believe the owner) is solid.

but …

• Some months were in negative (-6k), so cash flow management is crucial to in order to cover the operational expenses

• It is hard to compete in this business without ad spend

• If you’re not technical, learn the basics of scraping before hiring help. That way you’ll know why scraping LinkedIn is tough but scraping a small business site is easy - and you won’t overpay for simple work.

• From there, focus on one niche, like Amazon. Niching down makes pricing clearer, ads more targeted, and competition easier to analyze. In 2025, success in scraping usually comes from going deep, not wide.

Resources for Learning

You won’t become an expert overnight. Solid technical background is what separates pros from amateurs.

If you’ve worked in a scraping company or on the anti-scraping side of a business, you’ll have a head start. If not, and you still want to get into scraping, here are some good entry points:

• Any beginner tutorial (e.g. Codeacademy on YouTube for Python scraping basics)

• The Web Scraping Club – deep, detailed newsletters (worth the paid version if serious)

• r/webscraping – community discussions and problem-solving

• Any AI chatbot – basically a personal tutor these days

Basic stack to start with:

• requests + BeautifulSoup → lightweight basics

• Scrapy → large-scale crawling

• Playwright / Puppeteer → headless browser automation (Selenium still around, but fading)

• httpx → modern async HTTP client (faster than requests)

Scraping Isn’t the Gold Rush Anymore

Yes, scraping is lucrative. But does it make sense to start in 2025?

The best time was 10 years ago. Back then, the barrier to entry was low: anyone who knew how to automate requests and parse HTML could charge agencies or startups for data feeds. Now the field is saturated. There are dozens of SaaS APIs, cheap scrapers, and open-source libraries that cover most common use cases. Competing head-on with them is a race to the bottom.

The real question: where’s the market need today?

In 2025, the opportunity isn’t scraping itself.

It’s what you do with the data.

AI workflows are where the real leverage lies.

Companies don’t just want raw HTML or CSV dumps anymore. They want cleaned, enriched, contextualized information that can plug directly into decision-making. For example:

• Lead generation → Not just scraped emails, but AI-filtered data with company size, funding stage, and intent signals.

• Market research → Not just news feeds, but AI-summarized competitor moves across multiple languages and sources.

• Fraud detection → Not just domain lists, but AI models that score the likelihood of a site being malicious. Just like the reports we provide with ScamRaven.

This is where small builders can thrive. Instead of trying to be the next Bright Data or ScraperAPI, pick a niche and convert messy raw data into something a human or business can act on immediately.

Scraping is still a component, but the real value is enriching the data.

It’s been less than a month since I bought the domain for Scam Raven. In my last post, I shared the idea and the first steps I had already taken.

Since then, I’ve made some progress, so here’s an overview of the current situation.

Subscribe now

Scam Reports

I’ve been fine-tuning the code that collects data for AI and refining the prompt itself. I’ve found a formula that produces results that are “good enough” for now.

The outcome of each report isn’t perfect. There’s still room for improvement, but using this setup I’ve managed to generate 78 reports.

On average, reviewing one report takes me about 6–8 minutes.

Here’s how they look :

• Legit - 75.6%

• Suspicious - 16.7%

• Scam - 7.7%

Ideally, I’d like to see more reports fall into the Suspicious category. The problem with Scam sites is that many are short-lived and once they die, nobody looks them up. Legit sites, on the other hand, are hit or miss: some raise credibility questions, others are solid.

Suspicious sites feel like the sweet spot. They’re existing businesses with certain flaws or red flags that raise questions for new users. But that’s just my hypothesis. Organic traffic to specific reports over the next few months will show what really works.

First Results

This is a brand-new website, so I don't expect much, but I’m already seeing some organic search clicks each day.

Definitely seen better results, but even a few clicks provide a small boost of motivation.

“The Engine”

I briefly mentioned this in my initial post, but here’s how the reporting system works right now:

• I run technical checks written in Python.

• I summarize the generated data.

• I generate a prompt for AI with that data.

• I use GPT-5 to generate reports in a consistent format.

Building this didn’t take too much effort since I knew exactly what I wanted. Vibe coding helped save time too.

The results from AI are good enough that I don’t see a reason to build custom logic. I collect data through 9 technical checks, feed it to the AI, and get results that are decent, but not polished enough to publish without editing.

Sometimes the reports contain AI artifacts, such as:

“- No clear Terms, Privacy Policy, or company registration details were included in the provided content samples.”

This shouldn’t appear in the public report.

Challenges

Outdated Links

One big challenge is links. Even with GPT-5, the reports often include non-working or outdated links, especially to sources like G2, Capterra, Vogue Business, Reuters, or app stores.

My guess is that the AI references old data and it doesn’t actually fetch live URLs in real time. The facts are usually correct for well-established sites, but the links often break due to minor changes in permalink structures. Reviewing links manually is by far the most boring part of the process.

Gray Areas

Rating websites isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes AI and I disagree, and in those cases, I override it.

For example: I scanned a cashback platform (Aliexpress, Ozon, Sberbank, Gazprombank, etc.). Technically it looked “legit enough,” and AI labeled it that way. But it’s a russian business. There’s no way I’ll mark it as legit given the current situation.

AI fails to provide good judgment when a website falls into the Suspicious category. It thrives with legitimate sites and obvious scams, but when it’s somewhere in between, things get tricky.

For example, AI marked a well-established service website as Suspicious because the TLS certificate was issued for another domain (.be instead of .com). It was also a Greek website, so the AI flagged “odd characters/encoding.” As a result, the site was labeled Suspicious. But the collected indicators only showed that the website wasn’t polished or carefully maintained - not that it was a scam.

Cases like this have to be carefully reviewed. Otherwise, I risk accusing real businesses of being Suspicious, which could result in a cease and desist.

I’ve even seen Reddit posts where business owners raged and talked about taking legal action against automatic scanners that rated their site poorly due to something as simple as a new domain.

And Now I Wait

The first steps are done, and now it’s time to wait before making big changes. A few reasons why:

• New domain: Scam Raven is less than a month old. It takes time to build trust with Google. Established domains with backlinks can rank immediately, but new ones usually can’t.

• Search Console data: I need to see what people are actually searching for, which reports attract clicks, and which don’t. Right now it’s shooting in the dark.

• Sustainability: This is a fun project without deadlines. Last Sunday, I had an intense session generating and reviewing new reports. On Monday evening, I felt a bit burnt out. To keep this sustainable, it’s better not to overdo it - unless I start seeing a decent return on my time.

What I’ll Do in the Meantime

While I wait for Google search console data, here are some things I’ll keep working on:

• Reach a symbolic number of 100 reports (22 to go).

• Improve tools - automate taking screenshots instead of doing them manually.

• Get backlinks - no buying, just low-hanging fruit.

• Add informational posts - to balance AI-generated reports with original content. This ratio is crucial for credibility in the eyes of search engines.

Also a bit more love for my Substack. I’ve got a few ideas for upcoming posts. One of them is a deep dive into the scraping business. I’ve got insights from my own projects and tools that I think would be valuable to share.

Too many websites look suspicious but aren’t clearly scams. Some are shady shops, some just feel “off,” and others are straight fraud.

Existing solutions like Trustpilot and ScamAdvisor don’t really solve this. They either rely too much on crowdsourced reviews or surface shallow trust scores without much real analysis.

They do this by mass-scanning the internet. Yes, they have proprietary scoring technology, but from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t do wonders.

My idea is to do it differently. To do it better. And to use AI to make it scalable. I won’t be competing on quantity - realistically, this will be a business of collecting breadcrumbs left behind by the big names.

But this fits into another goal of mine: testing how content sites perform with AI. I’ve built Amazon affiliate sites before the AI boom, but publishing has shifted. I want to see if using AI still gives any chance of success.

This intro post will be a bit longer (even though I summarized it already), so please bear with me.

I'm launching ScamRaven, a project to use AI and curated data to check if websites are scams.

• The Idea: Generate in-depth scam reports on suspicious websites, combining automated scanning with AI-powered analysis.

• The Goal: Build a collection of high-quality scam reports to help users and test if AI-generated content can still rank in 2025.

• The Future: Validate the concept, and potentially monetize through ads or scam-checking tools.

The Core

With my background in cybersecurity - having seen countless phishing campaigns and shady sites - I know how to identify them. That gives me a perspective many review sites lack.

Here’s how I imagine the project working:

1. Develop a scanner to check basic info (WHOIS, TLS, blacklists, etc.), scrape the site, identify its niche, and run niche-specific checks (to be figured out).

2. Feed everything into AI, ask it to do its own research, but use my input as the source of truth.

3. Generate a scam report based on a structured template.

After that, I’ll review the results manually - because hallucinations are real.

The end product: content for my website targeting long-tail keywords like “Is X website legitimate or a scam?”

The plan is to start with a batch of manually reviewed reports, publish them regularly, and then let SEO work in the background. I expect it will take at least six months before I know if the experiment is working.

My long-term goal: offer free scam-checking tools, which would both help users and boost the site.

Subscribe now

Monetisation

Potential revenue streams include:

• Ads (if traffic grows large enough)

• Affiliate deals with digital products related to scams/cybersecurity

• My consulting services

• Longer-term: offering the scanning “core” as a service via API

For now though, monetisation is far off. The first step is proving the concept.

Why the Scam Sites Niche?

In my review of website investments after 3 years, I came across findlegit.com, which publishes scam/legitimacy checks on websites.

Initially, I thought it was a terrible niche: manually written posts about random sites, competing against giants like Trustpilot and ScamAdviser, who attracts millions of monthly visitors.

But the idea stuck with me. What if I built something actually effective?

Coming Up with ScamRaven

I’ve spent far too much time naming past projects. This time I just went with my first idea: ScamFrog.

Frogs catch flies.

ScamFrog would catch scams. Smart, right?

But then I remembered the SEO tool Screaming Frog. It’s trademarked, and since I’d also be doing website analysis, this felt risky legally. While it might not matter at my size, if the project grew or I wanted to sell it, it could become an issue.

So, after sleeping on it, doing some research, and asking ChatGPT’s opinion, I landed on ScamRaven.

In the same chat, I also asked for a logo - here’s what it came up with:

Looks raven-ish enough to me.

So I just removed the background and decided to use it.

Stage I Roadmap

For the first iteration (I am going to call it Stage I), the goal is to validate the niche before investing in heavy tech.

That means:

• Building a simple but clean website

• Defining a structure for scam reports

• Implementing basic checks in code

• Summarizing 50 reviews with AI (symbolic number to start with)

• Publishing them and waiting for SEO to kick in

This translates into the following action plan:

• Analyze competitors – I’ve done an initial review (content volume, free/paid tools, monetisation methods), but I’ll need a deeper dive to reverse-engineer their success.

• Define scope – I’ll look at what people are asking online: which industries and websites get questioned the most. Reddit is a great source for this, especially the grey-zone sites people debate.

• Define needed context – From TLS certificates to WHOIS data to site content analysis, I have a longlist of ~20 data points that could strengthen the scanner. The challenge is figuring out how AI interprets them.

• Start manually – I’d love to automate everything, but first I need to see if manual reports rank before investing time into building the “core.”

Risks of Doing This in Public

I’m exposing a project that barely breathes to the world.

Of course there are risks:

• Negative SEO – Competitors or trolls could attack rankings. However, this is manageable if caught early.

• Copycats – Someone could clone the idea and put more resources into it. But since my Substack is small, the risk is limited.

• Getting hacked – Always a risk, but I know the main attack vectors, and this isn’t a banking app. Recovery would be manageable.

• Embarrassment – The biggest one. Building something awkward, or worse, dropping it after announcing publicly. I have to admit that I’ve done it before. It’s hard to shake this feeling of.

But to manage the risks, I will keep some details private:

• Keyword research strategy – I’ll focus on long-tail SEO traffic, but won’t share my exact method.

• Core scanning logic – I’m experimenting with how to balance data collection and analysis. Revealing too much would make copying easier.

In the future, I may share more in-depth details with paid subscribers.

Progress So Far

Before releasing this post, I wanted to show progress.

Domain – Bought from Porkbun.com. Registered for 3 years to feel commited. I’m planning to write a separate review on Porkbun, but lately I’ve started liking it for hobby projects.

Frontend – Initial version is live. It was “vibe coded with love.”

Frontend isn’t my strength. So I asked Cursor to help.

The result: www.scamraven.com - a clean, responsive site built with React, Next.js, and Tailwind.

It wasn’t one-prompt magic. It took ~4 hours of iterating, tweaking, and refining sections and the whole layout.

I’ve explained what I want to the AI:

• Static pages from markdown files - easier formatting.

• Responsive design - an important thing for UX and Google (SEO).

• Simple styling - I’ve asked to use shadcn (a frontend framework that has many components), but it seems that AI agent ignored this at some point. But I am still happy with the current outcome

I’m happy with the result - it’s simple, scalable, responsive, and ready for ads later.

Hosting – Deployed on Vercel. Static pages mean fast loading speed, which benefits SEO, and Vercel’s free tier is perfect for a hobby project. Setup was easy: GitHub repo → import to Vercel → DNS records → done.

Core Scanner – Early Python scripts are working. They can generate reports that can be later fed into AI.

I promised myself not to over-engineer before there’s real need… but it’s hard to resist coding.

The results look promising, but fact-checking is essential. My PoC shows this is doable, but it’ll take many iterations to get reliable reports.

I expect I’ll still need manual editing, but the long-term goal is to reduce it to light fact-checking.

This Was the Official Kick-Off

It’s live. You can check it on www.scamraven.com. It contains some lorem ipsum, not every page exists yet, but the foundation is there.

This was the easy part. Now comes the real challenge: building the scanner and generating content.

I’ll keep updating this journey. Since I’ve got other topics I want to cover on Substack too, expect updates maybe once a month. Hopefully with interesting progress to share.

I’ve explained the basics of domain flipping. The business was hot more than 20 years ago, but even today there is room to make money (with big competition of course).

Although I advice focusing on something more perspective, if you’re still interested in domain flipping after reading about the risks and challenges, at least do it right.

Here’s a practical step-by-step playbook to get started and be profitable.

Rules to Follow from Day One

• Stick to .com: It’s still the gold standard. Other TLDs might look trendy (.ai, .xyz), but .com holds the strongest resale potential. This has an exception: if you are familiar with the local market. If you keep reading, you'll see that when I reviewed expired domains, I mentioned one specific .FR domain was a decent deal. But this is if you have an idea of what the local domain market in France is like, and you know French (as this really helps with cold sales). Even so, it carries more risks than a .com, so you have to be sure the price you're paying compensates for that.

• Avoid anything that might be trademarked: Stay away from names that resemble existing brands. It’s not worth the risk.

• Start small: Don’t buy 100 domains on day one. Start with 3–5 names and focus on learning the game first. A good place to learn from others is the Namepros forum.

Quality > Quantity

In the early days, owning a few high-quality domains is far better than having hundreds of mediocre ones. A smaller portfolio allows you to:

• Research each domain deeply before buying

• Do outbound outreach to potential buyers

• Test sales strategies without overwhelming yourself

Aim for 5–10 solid domains at a time. If those work out, reinvest profits to scale.

Proven Strategies for Choosing a Domain

There’s no universal strategy in domain flipping. Some play the numbers game, owning thousands of domains. Others wait for the perfect opportunity. If you’re just starting out, the smart path is somewhere in the middle — learn slowly, test a few ideas, and double down on what works.

• Identifying trends - you can try guessing what would be trendy in a year or so. But it’s always hard with the trends - if you knew exactly, you would make a lot of money by executing different ideas in the niche.

• Drop catching domains - this is about finding domains holding SEO value. What is preferable is to find the ones that do also make sense. Imagine two expired domains available for sale - passiveincome.com and 4785dmkd.com. They might have near identical SEO value, but guess which one is likely to be wanted by the market?

Here are the main two proven strategies:

1. Catching Trends Early

This means spotting emerging industries or narratives before they become mainstream — and securing domain names that align with them.

How to do it:

• Be deeply immersed in a niche (e.g., crypto, AI, finance, gaming).

• Pay attention to Twitter/X, Reddit, niche Discords, Product Hunt, and early-stage VC activity.

• Notice repeated phrases, buzzwords, or product types — especially those that seem new.

• Buy domains that fit those concepts before others catch on.

Real example:

Last year in the crypto world, “AI agents” became a hot narrative.

Following the trend, you might have registered web3agents.ai or cryptoagents.ai, or .com variations of them. If you spotted that early and grabbed relevant names, you were ahead of the curve.

Pro tip: Focus on domains that could realistically become tools, products, or directories — not just random buzzword.

2. Drop-Catching Domains with SEO Value

Expired domains often carry backlink profiles and search engine trust, which gives them value beyond the name itself.

How to do it:

• Use tools like ExpiredDomains.net, SpamZilla.io, or auctions on GoDaddy/Sedo.

• Filter for domains with:

  • High domain rating (DR)

  • Backlink count

  • Indexed pages

  • Clean past use (check Wayback Machine and Ahrefs)

Real example:

A domain registered in 2007 with 4,000+ backlinks, DR 54, and a history as a legit software project may be worth grabbing — even if the brand name isn’t perfect. SEO buyers may want to redirect it or repurpose it.

Pro tip: A short, clean domain with real SEO juice is always easier to sell than a fresh, made-up one.

Finding and Evaluating Domains

Setting Up the Expectations

Before you start hunting for domains, set real expectations. This will save you both time and money.

For Unregistered Trend Domains

Let’s be clear:

• Finding valuable 4–6 character domains is nearly impossible. All numeric domains from 0.com to 999999.com are already registered. The best ones (especially repetitive numbers) are long gone — many snapped up by companies like Baidu.

• Same goes for random short letter-based domains. There are simply too many combinations already taken. Unless a domain has SEO value, randomly trying to guess short names is not worth it.

• Aiming to find domains worth tens of thousands? Unlikely.

• But aiming for domains in the $100–$1,000 resale range? That’s realistic.

• Don’t waste time with junk worth pennies — you’ll lose more on renewals than you’ll gain.
  
  

For Expired Domains

When analyzing expired domains, look for two things:

1. SEO value — if a domain has strong existing backlinks and ranks well, it can still be valuable even if the name itself isn’t premium.

2. Name quality — generic words (e.g. cake.com, play.com) are gold. But don’t expect to find them expiring. Most good ones are renewed forever.

If both conditions match - good name + SEO authority - that’s a rare jackpot. But competition will be high.

Use backorder platforms like:

• DropCatch.com

• Dynadot

• NameJet

• SnapNames

If only one person places a backorder, you get it.

If multiple people do, an auction begins.

If different people backorder the same domain through different backordering services, it's a race to see which service's technology is faster at the exact moment the domain drops.

Also note: the original owner can still renew during the grace period. If they do, no one gets it.

Tools for Finding Domains

There are several tools that can help you track expiring or expired domains. Some are free, others paid — but even the free ones can give you a good head start.

Best Free Starting Point: ExpiredDomains.net

• https://www.expireddomains.net/
  This is one of the best free tools for beginners. It gives you access to:

  • Expired domains (already deleted)

  • Domains in “Pending Delete” status

  • SEO indicators: backlinks, age, indexed pages

  • Availability across other TLDs

It’s filterable, sortable, and gives you enough data to make solid decisions without paying anything.

Other Useful Tools

• GoDaddy Auctions – GoDaddy’s own marketplace for domains. Auctions can get competitive, but this is one of the biggest platforms with serious traffic.

• Name.com Aftermarket – Another source of expiring domains, but has no built-in SEO metrics. Better for name-based scouting than SEO hunting.

• SpamZilla – A more advanced tool that enriches domains with SEO data. Has a free tier but mostly paid. I haven’t personally tested it in-depth, but it seems well-rated.

Keep in mind:

Tracking all expiring domains is technically difficult and resource-intensive. Each tool pulls from different data sources — so no single tool gives a full picture.

Recommendation for beginners: start with ExpiredDomains.net. It’s free, feature-rich, and has decent coverage.

Registering Unregistered Domains

If you’re hunting for new, unregistered domains (not expired ones), you can use any major domain registrar:

• GoDaddy

• Namecheap

• Cloudflare

• Porkbun

Some personal notes:

• GoDaddy and Namecheap often offer good initial prices, but renewal costs are usually higher.

• Cloudflare has transparent, low pricing — good for long-term holdings.

• Porkbun is what I used for my last project — great pricing, no issues so far.

If you’re privacy-focused:
Njalla (founded by The Pirate Bay team) offers anonymous registration. A bit more expensive, but still cheaper than GoDaddy or Namecheap.

Finding a Good Domain

Here are a few tricks that will help you decide how to identify a valuable domain.

1. Check if the same domain is free with other TLDs.

If a domain is registered across multiple top-level domains, that’s a strong signal of value. Here is a one candidate that I found on expireddomains.com:

On ExpiredDomains, four red dots next to a domain indicate that .com, .net, .org, and .de versions are taken. That usually means demand exists for the name.

2. Check SEO Metrics: DA, DR, Backlinks.

Use available tools to check:

• Number of external backlinks

• Age of the domain

• Domain authority or domain rating

In this case, the domain has over 4,500 external backlinks and was registered in 2007. That’s a strong signal.

Free tool to check: Ahrefs Website Authority Checker

Ahrefs shows a DR of 54, with mostly dofollow links — very promising.

3. Use the Wayback Machine to Check the Site’s History.

This shows what was previously hosted on the domain. It helps you:

• Avoid adult/spammy history

• Understand prior content or projects

This is a screenshot from a Wayback Machine of a 2017 version of the website.

In this case, the domain was used by a Ruby project and even had its own wiki.

The GitHub repository shows the project is now archived. That’s a solid opportunity to build something new — but you should still check for trademarks.

Currently, the domain is on auction:

When 2 days were left, the bid was already $472 USD up from initial $17 USD.

Other Examples

Some other good examples of candidates that I found on ExpiredDomains:

• FlashCode.fr - domain with 38 domain rating score, .com, .org, .net, and .de registered. I wouldn’t personally touch it as it is not a .com domain, but if you know the local french market of domains, might be a good catch.

• infaholic.com - registered in 2015, has a DR of 34, in a weight loss niche. Could be a good option for a website in a similar niche.

Domains I’d avoid:

• RaiderCash.com - registered in 2007, has a domain rating of 35, BUT, web archive shows it is about adult content. It’s tough to use a domain with such a reputation with purposes other than it is initial. The backlink profile will probably also indicate backlinks from similar websites.

• My-Essay-Writing.com - registered in 2010, has a domain rating of 52, but the fact that it has “-” inside, makes it less desirable by potential buyers.

4. Check the domain worth using different tools

Part of the domain valuation was already done in the first two steps. But you should also use:

• NameBio.com - to check historical sales of similiar domains

• GoDaddy Domain Value appraisal - take this tool with a grain of salt, as it often matches one or another keyword in your domain, and decides its value by it.

Selling the Domain

Listing for Sale

For listing domains, you generally have two main approaches:

• Listing on a dedicated platform

• Creating your own "For Sale" landing page

Each has its advantages and challenges.

Platform listings (e.g., Sedo, GoDaddy Auctions, Flippa): This is often the recommended starting point for many domain flippers. Platforms like Sedo, GoDaddy Auctions, or Flippa act as established marketplaces with existing buyer traffic.

You can choose to simply list your domain for a fixed price, allowing buyers to purchase it instantly, or set up an auction where interested parties bid against each other, potentially driving the price higher, especially for highly desirable domains.

The biggest disadvantage - costs associated with that.

For example, Flippa charges 49$ just for listing the domain. It does not matter if you will sell it or not, you pay it upfront.

I personally have had a bad experience with Flippa, I paid the price, but my domain didn’t attract any potential buyers.

If we talk about Sedo, it is free, but Sedo takes commission.

Real example - I sold my domain for 500 euros, and Sedo’s part from that was 100 euros, plus I had to pay VAT.

Alternatively, you can create a simple, static web page directly on the domain you wish to sell (e.g., yourdomain.com displays "This Domain is For Sale. Contact sales@yourdomain.com"). This gives you full control and avoids platform fees, but it is significantly harder to attract buyers this way.

Cold Outreach Strategy

Cold sales outreach involves directly contacting potential buyers who you've identified as having a strong, specific need for your domain. This is a proactive strategy that, while demanding, can result in a faster sale.

What you should keep in mind:

• Most people aren’t looking to buy a domain. Businesses you contact likely didn’t wake up thinking about acquiring a domain today. Expect low response rates and be prepared for rejections or no replies at all.

• Avoid domain squatting. Do not buy trademarked or misleading lookalike domains to pressure companies into purchasing them. This is unethical, often illegal, and can get you sued.

An example - construction.com is a premium domain that might be suggested to plenty of businesses in construction.

How to do cold outreach the right way:

1. Find Potential Buyers

Look for companies or individuals who:

• Are using a longer or less professional domain (e.g. smith-construction-az.net while you own smithconstruction.com)

• Recently launched (check Product Hunt, Crunchbase, LinkedIn)

• Recently raised funding or rebranded

• Are actively advertising online (check Facebook Ads Library or Google Ads)

2. Search for Contact Details

Once you’ve identified a prospect:

• Use Hunter.io, Apollo.io, or Clearbit to find email addresses

• Check the company’s website — the About, Team, or Contact pages often have direct emails
  Use LinkedIn to find decision-makers (e.g. founders, CMOs) and then verify their email using tools above

3. Write a Personalized Message

Avoid generic spammy pitches. Personalize your message to show you've done your research. Mention:

• Why you think the domain fits their brand

• Any value signals (e.g. SEO potential, memorability, premium nature)

• That it’s a one-time opportunity (but avoid hype language)

Example:

Subject: Quick idea for [Their Brand]

Hi [First Name],

I came across [their website] and noticed you're building [mention product/service]. I own the domain [yourdomain.com], which could be a strong upgrade for your brand. It’s a one-word, brandable domain that could help boost credibility, improve SEO, and make your marketing more effective.

Let me know if you're open to discussing it.

Best,
[Your Name]

4. Don’t send from your main domain

Email filters are intact, and you are risking to flagging your own email addresses as a spammer.

Using a random GMAIl address will also look unprofessional. Therefore, james7854@gmail.com does not give credibility either.

Instead, get a separate outreach domain. It’s a small investment (~$10–20/year + email hosting), but huge leverage in credibility, trust, and inbox placement.

Keep in mind, this approach of cold sales outreach for domain flipping, has very low success rates. But it takes only one buyer to make it worth it.

Finding the right customer is key. If you have a domain that you think is worth 20,000$, your target customer is definitely not someone who launched on Producthunt.

Can AI help with domains flipping?

Not really.

It can give you some suggestions and ideas about what domains to target. But the issue with them is that they feel artificial - as they are. And most of the time the domains are already registered.

Also, thousands of others use the same tools.

Here’s what I got from ChatGPT:

By the way, neurocrate.com was registered.

Bottom line: don’t rely on AI to find gems.

Summary

Domain flipping is risky, slow, and often feels like a gamble. It requires capital, patience, and a willingness to accept losses. There’s no foolproof strategy — just a mix of educated guessing, market awareness, and constant experimentation.

Most people who try fail to turn a profit.

But if you approach it as a hobby with upside potential, rather than a guaranteed income stream, this playbook gives you a solid foundation to start.

These are open-weight models released under the Apache 2.0 license, which means you can download, inspect, modify, run them locally, and even use them commercially without any restrictions.

They support chain-of-thought reasoning, can call functions, browse the web, and even execute code.

At the time of writing, the larger gpt-oss-120b has been downloaded over 30,000 times, and the smaller gpt-oss-20b over 90,000—just one day after launch.

According to OpenAI, these models were trained in a similar way to o4-mini, and in some cases, even outperform it.

So… can we all now run ChatGPT locally?

Technically, yes.

But there’s a barrier to entry.

You need a decent GPU. If you’re not a gamer, don’t have a solid homelab, and aren’t using a recent high-end laptop, this might be a problem.

There are two models:

gpt-oss-120B has almost 120 billion parameters and “can fit into a single H100 GPU” (according to OpenAI).

The H100 GPU is a high-end card with 80 GB of HBM3 (High Bandwidth Memory). It’s one of the most widely used GPUs in AI data centers.

Looks cool, right?

Well, one important thing about this “cool” GPU: it costs over €40,000.

Not something most of us have at home.

However, you can rent one from services like Vast.ai, with an hourly rate of around $2.

That’s affordable for playing around, but gets expensive if you're using it heavily every day.

So, with gpt-oss-120B being out of reach for most personal setups, that leaves us with gpt-oss-20B.

And that’s better news.

gpt-oss-20B requires only a GPU with 16 GB of memory. This still requires a high-end laptop or desktop, but much more realistic for personal use.

Or if you're Sam Altman, apparently you can run it on your phone:

Why use gpt-oss at all?

Privacy.

The recent chaos around “our ChatGPT chats are being indexed by Google” proves user privacy is often at risk.

Sometimes users mess up, and sometimes companies do - whether through own mistakes or vulnerabilities that were exploited.

Running these models on your own infrastructure gives you more control.

Sure, you can still mess things up yourself. But at least you’re the one in charge.

Since it doesn't run on cloud servers, there are technically fewer attack vectors.

No “government is reading my chats” paranoia (well, maybe still, depending on how deep that goes).

If you’ve got the GPU, you don’t need to pay for API access. Just load the model and use it. The only cost left is electricity, which can add up if you’re using it heavily.

Should we all switch from ChatGPT to gpt-oss?

By “we,” I mean the general public. Not developers or tech-savvy people, but regular users.

And the answer is: not yet.

ChatGPT is still easier. You don’t have to maintain anything. No setup headaches. It just works.

Also, these new models haven’t been battle-tested by millions yet. There might be weird bugs, edge cases, or performance issues that still need to be worked out.

But for freelancers and organizations, my answer would be a yes.

If you are a freelancer heavily using AI for your client work, it does make sense to have a model hosted locally. You’re not sending sensitive stuff over APIs to a third party. And depending on your setup, it might save you money.

For companies, it’s almost a no-brainer. You can run models internally, control access, improve privacy, and likely cut costs long-term.

Can it be used for malicious intent?

That’s always this concern with AI.

OpenAI claims they filtered out harmful content (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear data, etc.) during pre-training, and tested how bad actors might try to fine-tune it for malicious purposes.

So, in theory, it shouldn’t be easy to remove the “filters” and use it for unethical stuff.

Therefore, I believe as the model was pre-trained to exclude such things, there shouldn’t be a way to remove a “filter” and use it for bad intentions. But I guess we will figure this out soon once the broader community starts poking at it.

So far, the general feedback is that the models are heavily censored. Some even say more censored than the ChatGPT models

How to try it?

There’s a playground at:

https://gpt-oss.com

If you want to try it yourself:

• gpt-oss-120b model on HuggingFace

• gpt-oss-20b model on HuggingFace.

“This was definitely written by AI.”

“This is AI slop.”

If you’ve written anything online lately, you’ve probably heard comments like these.

It’s a strange paradox. Tools like ChatGPT or Gemini can help non-native speakers or solo builders polish their ideas. It does make the process faster, especially helps with structuring what you want to say, and many legit writers use it in one way or another.

However, as the entry barrier for sharing your thoughts is low nowadays, tons of crap content is published everywhere: Medium, Reddit, even Substack.

And that hurts people who genuinely care about what they write.

If you admit using AI, you're almost labeled a fraud. No matter that the AI is just a small part of it.

If you don’t admit it? People start accusing you anyway. They will “notice” signs that it was written by AI. Using em dashes? You are done. Use cliche phrases? You are not a boring person anymore, you are an AI.

Welcome to the modern-day AI witch hunt.

Why People Hate AI Content

I get it.

I hate soulless AI-generated stuff too.

Especially when someone copies ChatGPT’s response into a blog post, adds a title, and hits publish. No editing. No thinking. Just a bunch of generalizations and SEO keywords.

What’s charming about the human written texts, is that all of them have unique style and ideas.

AI creates something that is just so boring to read.

Sure, it might seem more “perfect” than what an individual would write, but it’s also soulless.

Thanks to social media and fast dopamine, attention spans are shrinking. Fewer people read text at all. And AI is often used to create long posts, usually for SEO. That makes people even less likely to read, even when it’s good, human-written content.

Tough times for content creators.

I’ve Been Burned by This Too

When I say people “hate” this content, I mean some really do.

A year ago, I started a YouTube channel where I used AI voiceovers and some AI-generated images. I still put tremendous effort into editing. I enjoyed the process, but then came the comments:

It seems that people don’t care about the effort. If AI was used at all, then it’s automatically bad.

We’re All Sounding More Like AI

It’s funny that people are always trying to spot signs that something was written by AI: the repetitive phrases, generic intros, the weird punctuation.

But to be fair: AI writes this way because we do.

It just mimics the average stuff humans have written. So when people say, “that sounds AI-generated,” what they often mean is “that sounds like generic content.”

And the more we read AI content, the more we accidentally absorb its tone and structure. So we learn AI writing style, and start sounding like it too. Even though we’re not using it. That’s why figuring out if content is AI-generated, is becoming hard.

Nowadays, it’s very easy to get accused of using AI.

We’ve entered this weird phase where it feels like a modern-day witch hunt.

The Flawed Logic Behind AI Accusations

I already mentioned it in the intro, but here's the thing: AI often just improves grammar and structure. It lets non-native English speakers publish solid writing.

Back in the day, you’d find SEO content sites written purely to make money, and they were full of grammar mistakes. I remember one site listed on Flippa, supposedly helping people fight alcohol addiction, and it was so poorly written it was barely readable.

Now such writings are polished. So, overall, the same content that would exist either way, nowadays is more polished.

And when it comes to identifying this content, there are many articles on “how to spot AI writing”, and many of them are just wrong.

Take this paywalled post on Medium: This is How I Will Spot You Used ChatGPT.

The first red flag it gives is:

“In the modern digital age, content creation is more important than ever…

They marked this as definitely AI-generated.

But come on. That’s how a lot of people write, especially if they’re not experienced writers.

14-year-old me writing school essays would’ve started like that.

This just proves the point: AI is trained on us. It reflects our bad habits and clichés.

The Forbidden Hyphen and How to Spot AI Writing

Detecting AI-written content is hard. All these fancy AI checkers for ChatGPT, AI plagiarism detectors, AI detectors, whatever you call them, are not very effective.

A recent study confirmed that they can’t be trusted. Tons of false positives (human text detected as AI) and false negatives (AI passing as human).

Still, people look for signs like:

1. Em dash

A long dash (—) is a longer hyphen often used by AI to separate information in a sentence, expand on a clause, or indicate a break.

This is proper grammar, but many people do not even know how to find this symbol in their keyboards (on Mac’s its Option + Shift + hyphen (-). On Windows: Alt + 0151 ). It’s also a bit rare for a person to use this or hyphen overall, at least in casual blogging style.

2. Perfect grammar

No one’s perfect. Especially someone writing about the “best refrigerators” for an Amazon affiliate site. But AI? It smooths things out. It might rephrase for clarity, but sometimes sucks the life out of the writing. If it’s boring but grammatically flawless… it might be AI, or just a boring human.

3. Steady tone

People usually write in bursts. Some ideas are exaggerated. Some parts are more passionate. Real human writing shifts tone. And that’s what makes it interesting.

AI writing is often steady. But again, not always. A good human editor can make it steady too.

4. Factual mistakes

Let’s not forget AI still hallucinates. There’s nothing worse than a post positioned as written by an expert with factual mistakes.

There are many more, I will not go into details as some of them might be just wrong and too biased. It’s a tough task to evaluate if it’s an AI or human, when the AI was trained on humans work. There are plenty of AI detectors out there with people spending significant time improving them, yet they still fail.

Is everything written by AI nowadays?

Let’s not pretend.

Most content-heavy websites, especially those built for Amazon affiliate marketing, used to hire cheap writers from countries with lower rates.

This has not changed a bit. They still do outsource this, but now the AI is heavily used by an editor, which is then able to follow the guidelines and produce the content that is needed.

So even the big names and internet gurus often making millions from their content, do use AI. They might not personally, but their teams definitely.

It Does not Matter

If you provide value.

If you use AI to explain your ideas, polish your language and make a better syntax.

Personally, I don’t lack ideas. If anything, I have too much to say. I often write more than I need, then edit heavily or break it into two posts. And yes, I use AI for this part in order to make it more friendly for the reader.

How long does AI editing take? More than you would guess. It might take 10 prompts or more to make it solid.

I use Gemini or ChatGPT. I ignore most of what they suggest. Sometimes I ask for specific edits, then reject them too. Sometimes I keep the original.

But the key is: I’m still in control.

It doesn’t matter how it was made if your content delivers value, and if people get something out of it.

Passive income.
Digital real estate.
Set-and-forget websites that earn while you sleep.

Sounds great, right?

But here’s the question: how many of those sites are still alive today?

I’m not talking about the $2-a-month AI-spammed junk. I mean the good ones - content sites with real traffic, history, and revenue. The kind you’d find on places like Motion Invest, Empire Flippers, or Flippa.

Flippa alone had over 1,600 new listings last month.

But what happens after the sale?

Why I Did This

I’ve always liked the idea of owning a portfolio of websites - like rental property, just digital.

In fact, I even tried that once. (Spoiler: it didn’t go well →I Bought a $2,400 Website and Made $546).

But I’ve always wondered:
Are these content sites actually viable long-term assets? Or are most of them just short-term flips?

And in a post-AI world, do niche content sites even stand a chance anymore?

Let’s find out.

The Method

I didn’t overthink it. I pulled a random batch of listings from Motion Invest, mostly from their newsletters around 2020–2023.

Why Motion Invest? No preference - I just happen to know their ecosystem better. Also, most of their listings are content-based, which is what I decided to focus on.

⚠️ Not all sites were sold. Some sat for months or were unlisted. That said, even unsold listings tell us something about market perception and long-term viability.

I broke listings into 3 price tiers:

• $2K–$10K → Budget tier. Lower risk, lower expectations. Easy to abandon.

• $10K–$20K → Mid-tier. Should have some traction. Viable side projects.

• $50K+ → Premium tier. These should have staying power and stable revenue.

We can’t access exact traffic or revenue post-sale. But we can see:

• Is the site still live?

• Is it updated?

• Does it look maintained?

Let’s dive in.

$50K+ Listings

Even some of the most expensive listings didn’t survive the long game. Here's what I found:

Insights

RefrigeratorsReviewed.com

Used to attract 100K+ visitors with over 800 posts. Still exists, but hasn’t been updated in years.

The About page still shows the site is jointly owned by two companies, and content is published by a team of writers based in Nigeria. So it feels like either the website was never sold at all, or the new owners didn’t put any effort into keeping it afloat.

Clash.world

Niche gaming site for Clash Royale. Still active and thriving. Likely supported by steady demand and evergreen (until it’s not) gaming traffic.

VaporVanity.com

It was interesting (and kind of sad) to see that VaporVanity.com doesn’t exist anymore.

I genuinely expected this one to keep going for many years.

The last snapshot on Web Archive is from December 31, 2024.

The reasons why it went out of business?

Why did it go out of business? If I had to guess:

• Unnecessary theme changes. Three different theme changes over the years. Google does not like this at all.

• Niching down to cannabis vaping. Before the sale, the site covered vaping in general. When listed, it was rebranded as “cannabis vaping.” Maybe that niche worked short-term and they doubled down. But possibly, the broader niche is what originally made it successful - and narrowing focus hurt it over time.

• The cannabis niche is brutally competitive. There’s money in it, which means competitors can hire teams and do real SEO. Also, who knows - maybe some shady tactics were used to harm the website.

• Or… maybe it was a content acquisition. Web Archive shows a footer saying: “This website is managed by 747MediaHouse.” That’s an SEO agency active in the cannabis space. There’s at least one case study from that period showing them working on another cannabis site. Maybe they acquired Vapor Vanity just to transfer links or content to a bigger domain.

I’d joke that $125K is a hell of an expensive backlink.

Pontoonopedia.com
Grew from 100 to 430+ posts post-acquisition. Same theme, regular updates, quality content. Everything looks good so far.

GuidingBeauty.com

The site was only 9 months old at the time - likely too fresh for most buyers.

Despite earning over $2.5K/month, it hadn’t proved long-term stability.

Personally, I’d stay away from such young sites.

Today, the site seems abandoned - with 2020 in footers and article titles. Not a good sign for SEO or revenue.

$10-20K Listings

A few sites in this bracket looked promising at first glance. But a closer look reveals how fragile content sites can be - especially when they rely on ads, broad topics, or thin content. Here's what happened to some of them.

Insights

TheShoeBuddy.com

Had 290 articles and over 12k monthly visitors when listed.

Today, it has more content - most of it updated in 2023, but no signs of life since then.

Theme was changed, but no new posts added.

Still online, but unclear if it’s still profitable or just coasting.

FindLegit.com

Simple concept: tell people whether a site is legit or a scam.

Monetized with ads and targeted high-search "is X legit?" queries.

But after the sale, no new content was added.

Sites like G2, Trustpilot, and Scamadviser dominate this space.

With shallow reviews and no updates, traffic probably dropped hard.

ArchitectBoy.com

Likely built on an expired domain with some leftover SEO value, ArchitectBoy.com had a random name and scattered content like “best slippers for hospital delivery” or “best mini fridge for bedroom.”

With no clear niche or topical authority, it’s no surprise the site eventually died - broad, unfocused content doesn’t stand a chance against niche competitors today.

Elpasony.com

It had some solid traffic at the time.

But the website is on vegetables.

You know what are the most dreaded niches in affiliate marketing?

Definitely not vegetables.

People do not buy vegetables from review sites.

And ads is not something too sustainable in the long run. Especially for the website in food/recipes niche. Recipe websites are pretty saturated, and most of them do not earn much.

As of today, the domain now is parked without website being accessible.

GarageStorageLab.com

Website had been for 1 year 9 months at the time it was listed. With 72 articles and 5.7k monthly visitors it’s not something I would buy personally, but again, this was based on the income, which was x39 multiple.

Unsure what happened, but about 6 months later, the website was already unavailable, with some error on homepage.

I would guess after unsuccessful sale attempt the website started declining, and it was closed.

And now I can see the domain was released and can be bought by anyone.

$2k – $10k Websites

I’ve decided not to deep-dive into these listings. After seeing how many $10k–$50k websites didn’t survive, it’s safe to assume the odds are even worse in this lower range.

This category shows an even worse survival rate. And even the “survivors” (besides UnderWearView.com) appear outdated and likely underperforming.

Summary

So - is buying content websites still worth it?

It depends.

If you want a passive investment that takes zero effort?

Forget it.

My goal with this case study was to understand whether you can just buy a content site, let it run, and collect "passive" income. Turns out, that scenario is much rarer than I expected.

Given all the recent Google updates, content aging out, and the natural decline that comes from inaction - buying and ignoring a site is not a feasible strategy.

Unless…

You're willing to actually work on it.

The fact that many of these sites were making money proves the niche potential is there. Especially in the higher price ranges, the earnings were real. So with time, motivation, or even a team, it's possible to maintain and grow a site.

But if you don’t improve it?

The outcome is obvious: a slow death, and no guarantee you'll make your money back.

If you found this breakdown useful (or not), I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m experimenting with different types of case studies, and your feedback helps me decide what to dig into next.

I was a student at the time, almost broke, but decided to risk some of my money on registering a few domains. It felt like one of those “maybe this will pay off someday” moments.

No plan. No research. I just sat there checking different keywords, trying to find something that sounded half-decent before someone else did.

I ended up buying these:

• Backlink.dev

• Terabyte.dev

• Grapefruit.dev

• Godfather.dev

It wasn’t a lot of money per domain, but at that point, it wasn’t nothing either. I kept renewing them year after year, even when it started to feel pointless.

Then in 2024 - five years later - something actually happened.

I sold one.

Here’s how something that started as a random gamble ended up working out.

A Bit of Background: What Even Are .dev Domains?

Before .dev domains were publicly available, developers often used them locally - for testing projects on localhost. They weren’t supposed to be real domains, just something you’d add to your /etc/hosts file or local DNS.

That changed when Google bought the rights to .dev from ICANN in 2015 and launched it publicly in February 2019. All .dev domains are now real, public-facing domains - and they require HTTPS by default.

This caused issues for devs who used .dev locally without HTTPS. Suddenly, browsers started throwing errors unless you set up a valid SSL cert — even on localhost.

If your site doesn’t use HTTPS, browsers will block access to it.

Since then, .dev has become a niche TLD. Mostly used by tech projects, developer portfolios, and companies securing brand domains (like indeed.dev, which just redirects to indeed.com). But there are also non-tech projects using it - there’s no strict rule.

My Domains + Yearly Costs

I got the domains in Feb 2019, soon after official launch.

I didn’t overthink it. I just searched around to see what was available. Most of the good stuff was already taken, but these four felt like they had potential.

Here’s how much I paid over the years:

The One I Dropped: Grapefruit.dev

You might be wondering why grapefruit.dev has a short life on the chart.

In 2021, I decided to drop it. The renewal costs were starting to sting a bit, and I wasn’t seeing any real interest in the domains. So I figured I’d cut my losses and let go of the one that felt the least promising.

Of course, someone picked it up. And now it’s listed for sale at almost $2,000.

Ouch.

The One That Sold: Godfather.dev

You’ll also notice godfather.dev doesn’t show up in 2025. That’s because in 2024, I finally sold it.

I woke up one morning, opened my inbox, and saw this email from Sedo:

“Your domain godfather.dev has been sold.

I had completely forgotten that I listed all four domains there years earlier, each for $500.

Earlier, I’d tried Flippa and paid $50 to list a domain - with no sale. After that, I switched to Sedo, since they only take a commission if something sells. No upfront costs.

Turns out, that was the better call.

The Numbers

So, did I make a profit?

Technically, yes.

But after Sedo’s commission, and VAT, I ended up getting 379 Eur, which converted to $408.11 USD on that day.

Now, if we also include the $50 listing fee I paid to Flippa years earlier (when trying to sell backlink.dev unsuccessfully), the math changes:

$408.11 (revenue) - $363.99 (renewals) - $50 (Flippa fee) = -$5.88

A whopping $-5.88 in profit.

Hooray.

But to be fair - if you calculate profit as of the day I sold the domain, before I renewed anything for 2025, then I was in the green.

Was it worth it?

The famous question.

It wasn’t the best decision financially. But I did get lucky - that one sale covered all my expenses.

More importantly, it gave me experience.

A Guide for Anyone Thinking About Domain Flipping

I took what I learned and wrote a two-part guide based on real experience:

• Part 1: The Ultimate No-Fluff Guide to Domain Flipping (2025 Edition)

• Part 2: Coming soon

If you’re planning to try this, read it — it’ll save you a lot of frustration (and money).

As for me — I still own backlink.dev and terabyte.dev, both listed on Sedo. Maybe they’ll sell. Maybe I’ll use them for something else.

Either way, that one sale was enough to make the whole thing feel (almost) worth it.

If this resonated with you, subscribe to my newsletter and discover my other journeys.

Subscribe now

Not exactly the kind of post I’ve been writing lately, but I just got a brand new router -the freshly released Flint 3 by GL.iNet - and I figured it’s worth sharing a few thoughts.

I work on side projects from home, and I’ve got some basic home automation running already - mostly smart devices scattered around the flat. At some point, I’m planning to set up a proper home workstation for my projects. So a reliable, secure router isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s part of building that environment. VPN support, decent speeds, and good network control actually matter when you’re doing more than just casual browsing.

Why I Got It

When I moved into my new place, I needed a decent router. One of the suggestions I got was the Flint 2 - a router running open-source OpenWRT, with good performance and decent security features. And security is pretty important to me.

But when I started considering buying it back in February 2025, I realized Flint 3 was just around the corner. It was supposed to launch in Q2, so I decided to wait. Buying Flint 2 at that point felt like getting an old model just before a new cool thing.

So I borrowed a router temporarily… and after four months of waiting, Flint 3 finally showed up.

I managed to grab it as a super early bird - which sold out in maybe 10 minutes - so I paid €129, which is a really good price.

First Impressions

I liked it from the beginning.

The web interface is simple, clean, and actually pleasant to use - but it’s not dumbed down. Everything is still there, including advanced settings. If you want to dig deeper, you can always jump into LuCI (the OpenWRT interface) or SSH into it.

But if you don’t want to mess with anything and just want to plug it in and get the internet, that’s easy too.

It strikes a good balance - not just another "click here to enable internet" router, but also not overwhelming for someone who doesn’t want to spend a Saturday learning networking.

Why Flint Routers Are Popular

If you’ve ever come across GL.iNet routers (especially the Slate models for travel), you know they have a bit of a cult following. And for good reasons:

• Security features built-in - AdGuard Home, encrypted DNS, WPA3, etc.

• OpenWRT base, but with a very usable GUI

• VPN support - WireGuard and OpenVPN, easy to set up

• Performance - fast CPUs, new Wi-Fi standards, 2.5G Ethernet

• Affordable pricing for what they offer

They’re not trying to compete with gaming routers flashy mesh systems - they just quietly do their job, securely.

Flint 3 vs Flint 2 - Is It a Downgrade?

Before Flint 3 even shipped to regular buyers, people started raising red flags on Reddit - especially in this thread. And the concerns are not without merit.

CPU downgrade?

This one was surprising.

Flint 2 has a MediaTek quad-core @ 2.0 GHz.

Flint 3 comes with a Qualcomm chip @ 1.5 GHz.

So yes, it’s technically a downgrade on paper - and users care about this, especially when it comes to VPN performance. Reddit users mentioned that Flint 2 can hit around 700 Mbps with WireGuard, while Flint 3 might cap out lower due to CPU limitations.

I haven’t benchmarked it, but it’s worth knowing if VPN speed matters to you.

Wi-Fi performance

Some people also pointed out that the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands on Flint 3 feel slightly worse than on Flint 2.

However, Flint 3 brings in Wi-Fi 7, which adds the 6GHz band and MLO (multi-link operation) - that’s a clear upgrade.

But here’s the catch: 6GHz is more sensitive to interference and doesn’t have the range of 2.4GHz. Unless your device supports Wi-Fi 7 and you’re fairly close to the router, you probably won’t notice a huge difference yet.

Active Cooling - The Fan

Another thing that got people talking is the fan inside Flint 3. Yep, it has one. And that’s… rare for a home router.

It might be annoying - especially if you keep your router in the bedroom.

In my case? The fan didn’t even turn on. I had:

• 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands active

• MLO enabled

• 4 devices connected

• Hardware acceleration on

• A USB drive plugged in

• VPN setup running

The CPU temp hovered between 67–70°C. I didn’t manage to raise it naturally. Maybe I’m not a heavy enough user, but for typical home use, the fan just stays off.

That said, if you run heavy downloads or intensive activity overnight and your router’s in your bedroom, yeah - it might bother you.

VPN Setup

One of the biggest reasons I went with a GL.iNet router was the built-in VPN support.

I use WireGuard, and setting it up took me maybe 30 seconds. Just upload the config file from your provider, click OK, and it’s running.

Same with OpenVPN - just upload the .ovpn file.

For NordVPN users, there’s even a more direct integration: just log in with your credentials.

USB 3.0 Port - for NAS or Tethering

Flint 3 has a USB 3.0 port that can be used to:

• Tether internet from your phone

• Connect a USB storage drive

I tested the storage part. Once plugged in, I could enable Samba and access files across my local network. Works exactly as expected.

Other Features

Some of the extras Flint 3 comes with:

• Google Cloud integration for managing routers remotely

• Astro Warp - a GL.iNet VPN service with remote exit node support
  AdGuard Home for ad and tracker blocking

• TOR support

• Tailscale and ZeroTier - great for remote access and secure networking

Honestly, for a sub-$150 router, that’s a decent feature list.

But… No VLAN Support?

This one sucks.

If you’re into home lab setups or want to segment your network properly (e.g. putting your IoT devices on a separate VLAN), Flint 3 doesn't support VLANs in the GUI. And there’s no clean workaround - only options are:

• Flash it with raw OpenWRT (you lose the GL GUI)

• Use LuCI and hope for the best (but it’s tricky and might not work)

Yes, there’s a guest network, which helps a bit. You can connect smart devices there to separate them from your main network. But it’s not true VLAN support.

This alone might be a dealbreaker for some people - especially if you're used to that level of control.

Final Thoughts - Is Flint 3 Worth It?

It depends.

If you already have a decent router that just works, probably not. Unless it’s old and missing modern features like WPA3 or support for newer Wi-Fi bands, you’re not gaining much.

If you’re buying a router now, Flint 3 is solid - especially if:

• You want VPN support without headaches

• You want built-in privacy and security tools

• You’re not a power user who needs VLANs or insane VPN throughput

But if you do care about performance under load or advanced features like VLANs, Flint 2 is still a great option - and now it’s cheaper too.

If you are interested in Flint 3 or any other Gl.Inet router, here is a 10% OFF discount code.

Subscribe now

The golden age of domain buying is long gone. The best time to grab a valuable domain was 30 years ago. Today, nearly every good domain is taken - and the entire game revolves around expired domains, auctions, and taking risk.

For most, it’s more of a hobby, than a stable business. But it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to earn from it.

Most domain flipping guides will tell you to “find an expired domain, list it on a marketplace, and wait.” Or worse - they'll suggest using ChatGPT to brainstorm names and hope something sticks.

But that’s not how it works.

In reality, domain flipping in 2025 is more like a slow-moving gamble than a stable business. It requires capital, research, patience, and a lot of trial and error. Most people who try it lose money.

Still, the global domain name market surpassed $2.4 billion in 2024, and it's expected to grow to $3 billion by 2029.

So yes - there’s money in reselling domains.

And with the right approach, it’s possible to make some profit - or at least avoid major losses. That’s what this guide is about.

I wrote this as a complete, honest breakdown of the domain flipping world. No fluff, no generic advice. Just what actually works, what doesn’t, and what I’ve learned by trying it myself.

This is the part 1 of a guide that covers:

• The history and mechanics of domain flipping

• The risks no one talks about

• Tools and platforms you’ll need

• A step-by-step process to find and evaluate domains

• Selling strategies (including cold outreach and pricing)

• Why most people fail at it

If you’re serious about learning domain flipping - or just curious how this works - this guide is for you.

History of Domain Flipping

Early Days

The story of domain flipping begins with the birth of the internet itself. The first domain name ever registered was symbolics.com, on March 15, 1985, by a computer manufacturer in Massachusetts.

This was followed by other early registrations, mostly by tech companies and universities. (Here are the first 100 domains registered if you’re curious.)

Back then, domain names weren’t considered valuable assets. There was no scarcity, no structured marketplace, and many untaken domain names available.

Anyone could register a domain for free or for a small fee, and thousands of domains in today’s market considered being valuable, remained unregistered for years.

In 1995, domain names officially stopped being free. Network Solutions, under a government contract, began charging $100 for a two-year registration. This moment marked the transition from domains treated as labels to potential commercial assets.

The Dot-Com Boom

The domain aftermarket exploded during the late 1990s.

The first major sale happened in 1999, when business.com was sold for $7.5 million. That was an unheard of amount for that time. What’s interesting, in 2007 it was resold for $350 million. (To be fair, by then it was a business generating $15M/year in revenue.)

Other notable domain sales from that era:

• Altavista.com – $3.3 million (1998)

• Loans.com – $3 million (2000)

• Wine.com – $2.9 million (1999)

After the Dot-Com Crash (2000s–2010s)

This is when the domain flipping business gained more traction and many hobbyists started doing this as a hustle, with some companies treating that as a serious business.

Platforms like:

• Afternic (founded in 1999)

• Sedo (founded in 2001)

• GoDaddy Auctions

... helped structure and scale the domain resale business.

The flipping model became clear:

1. Acquire undervalued domains

2. Hold or "park" them (some generated ad revenue)

3. Resell at profit

4. Rinse and repeat

Over time, short, brandable, and one-word .com domains became increasingly rare and valuable. Hundreds of alternative extensions (.net, .org, .io, .xyz, .club, .ai) launched - but .com remained king.

How Domain Flipping Works

Domain flipping is simple in theory: buy a domain, hold it, sell it for more. But the mechanics behind it are a bit more complex - and risky.

Two Primary Ways to Acquire Domains

1. Registering fresh, unclaimed domains
   You brainstorm names that haven’t been registered yet and buy them at the base price (typically $10–$20). This is high-risk and high-effort - because chances are, anything good is already taken.

2. Drop-catching expired domains
   Domains that someone else once owned but failed to renew go through an expiration process. If they aren't recovered, they’re released to the public - and that’s when flippers try to grab them.

What Happens When a Domain Expires

The expiration process has several stages:

• Auto-Renew Grace Period (0–30 days): The original owner can still renew at the normal price.

• Redemption Grace Period (30–60 days): The owner can still get it back, but must pay a hefty fee.

• Pending Delete Phase (final 5 days): The domain is locked, awaiting deletion.

• Dropped and Released: Anyone can now attempt to register it - this is when drop-catchers take action.

Drop-catching can be competitive. Specialized services (like SnapNames or DropCatch) race to grab the domain the second it becomes available.

Why It's Like Gambling

Here’s the brutal truth: only a small percentage of domains ever sell.

You might register 100, and none move for years. Meanwhile, each domain costs $10–$20/year to keep.

To break even, you’d need at least one solid sale to cover:

• Acquisition and renewal costs

• Platform fees (Sedo, GoDaddy, etc.)

• Taxes (platform + local)

• Your time and effort

Domain flipping isn’t “buy and forget.” It’s a game of holding costs, liquidity risk, and timing.

Diversify or Die

The most common rookie mistake? Going all-in on one niche, one trend, or one type of domain.

If that trend slows down, you’ll be stuck with domains that no one want.

The key is not to put all eggs into one basket.

Just like investing in stocks or startups, you need to place your bets across multiple areas:

• Different niches: Tech, health, crypto, gaming, SaaS, finance, lifestyle, etc.

• Different types: Brandables, SEO-aged domains, expired domains.

• Different lengths and styles: Short vs. descriptive, keyword-rich vs. abstract.

Patience is a Mandatory

Domain flipping is not a fast hustle.

If you're looking for quick returns, you're going to hate this business.

On NamePros (the biggest domain flipping forum), patience was voted the #1 most important trait in a poll among flippers.

You might buy a domain today... and not get a single offer for 2–3 years.

That doesn’t mean it was a bad purchase. It just means the right buyer hasn’t come along yet.

It’s not like selling shoes or electronics — demand is highly specific and extremely time-sensitive. A domain can be worthless one month and suddenly in-demand the next.

This is why most successful flippers treat it like:

• A long game

• A side hustle

• Or even a digital investment portfolio

They’re not sitting at their desk refreshing GoDaddy listings, hoping for an instant sale. They buy, hold, and occasionally make a sale.

This is slow, strategic, and sometimes frustrating work - and you’ll need to be okay with that.

Common Challenges and Risks

Domain flipping has a shiny appeal - low overhead, big potential wins. But the reality? There are plenty of room for errors learning opportunities. Here are the most common pitfalls that cost a lot in the long run.

Renewal Fees Add Up

Holding a domain isn’t free. You’ll pay $10–$20 per year (or more) just to keep each name.

Now multiply that by 50 or 100 domains.

💡 100 domains × $12 = $1,200/year just to keep them alive.

If you're not making consistent sales, those costs pile up fast. And when renewals hit, you're forced to choose which domains to keep - and which to let go.

Low Liquidity

Even premium domains often sit unsold for years. This isn’t eBay. Most of the time, a domain sells when:

• A business rebrands

• Someone starts a new project

• A startup raises funding

• A buyer suddenly wants your exact name

That’s it. If none of those conditions hit — it just sits.

You’re not just betting on value. You’re betting on timing.

False Sense of Value

Just because a domain "sounds good" or GoDaddy appraises it at $5,000 doesn’t mean anyone will buy it.

Appraisals are based on keyword matching and past sales - not actual market demand. And some sellers let their imagination run wild.

Real example - odentrepreneur.com domain listed for sale:

The domain name contains 'entrepreneur,' which is a premium keyword, but to my knowledge, these first two 'od' letters in this domain name do not have any associations with the following 'entrepreneur.' And the fact that a similar domain, ogentrepreneur.com, is free and can be registered for the standard price of $10-$20, makes the price the seller expects ($3895 USD) absurd.

The second example is lifebehindthewall.com. It does sound cool and could be a strong brand for someone creating content about living abroad.

But there are a few reasons why the seller's valuation feels off:

• Variations like .org, .net, and other TLDs are still available

• A shorter version - lifebehindwall.com - is completely unregistered

While it’s a great fit for a personal blog or even a book title, it’s not the type of domain businesses are actively looking to buy. It doesn’t fall into the “business” category of domains that companies usually pay a premium for.

A solo blogger - the most likely audience for this domain - probably wouldn’t spend top dollar when they could easily come up with a dozen other brandable alternatives for much less.

Trademark and Legal Risks

You can’t just register anything that sounds “brandable.” If it overlaps with a trademark, you’re in trouble.

Even if unintentional, you could face:

• UDRP complaints (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy)

• Domain forfeiture

• Legal threats or lawsuits

Example: Registering something like faceb00k-apps.com is a guaranteed way to get hit with a UDRP case.

A recent example involved a domain that mimicked the Annual Credit Report brand — the registrant was sued for cybersquatting.

Platform Fees and Taxes

Selling on Sedo, Flippa, or GoDaddy means paying commissions. For example:

• Sedo takes ~15%–20% depending on domain and sale method

• Flippa charges an upfront listing fee (starting at $49) plus a success fee

Add payment processing fees and VAT or local income tax, and your profit can shrink fast.

Crowded Market

Everyone is chasing the same handful of trends. You’re not the only one thinking “AI is hot right now.” That means more competition for drop-catching, higher auction prices, and more junk flooding the marketplaces.

Wrapping Up

By now, you should have a clear idea of how domain flipping really works - including the risks most people won’t tell you about.

The market’s crowded, it’s easy to lose money, and buying random domains rarely works. But with the right mindset (and some patience), it can be a surprisingly rewarding side hustle.

In Part 2, I’ll break down the step-by-step playbook:

• How to spot valuable domains before others do

• Tools I personally use (free and paid)

• My real-world process for evaluating names

• Selling strategies - including cold outreach and how to price domains

Part 2 - coming soon

Or maybe you already have one and are considering connecting a custom domain?

Well, here’s the good and bad news.

The Good News

Setting up a custom domain is really easy with Substack. They have clear instructions, and it’s not a very technical task — basically anyone can do it.

The Bad News

Substack charges $50 to use a custom domain.

When I first saw that, I was honestly a bit shocked. It felt like such a small, trivial feature — I didn’t expect there to be a cost at all.

There are no real infrastructure costs for Substack here, so it feels more like a paywall to access ownership. And they’re already taking a cut from your paid subscriptions already.

This price is big enough to consider if it is even worth it.

Let me walk you through the questions I asked myself before deciding to set up blog.saulenas.com.

Should You Use a Custom Domain on Substack?

In my case, the decision was pretty straightforward. I didn’t overthink it.

But if you’re unsure, here are a few quick questions that might help you:

• Do you already own a personal domain?

  • If you own a domain like johndoe.com, or thejohndoe.com, why not use it for your Substack? Even if you’re using the root domain for something else (like a portfolio site), you can simply connect Substack via a subdomain (e.g., blog.johndoe.com, newsletter.johndoe.com) without breaking anything.

• Are you planning to commit long-term?

  • If yes, then having a custom domain helps with branding and gives more control over your content. Your Substack content builds authority for your domain, not Substack’s. However, many successful Substack writers don’t use a custom domain. A domain won’t make your content better — your writing still does all the heavy lifting.

• Are you planning to launch products later?

  • If you take your writing seriously, you’ll probably accumulate a lot of quality content and unique insights. At some point, you may want to launch an info product, course, tool, or community. Having everything under one brand (your own domain) makes that transition easier.

Why Use a Custom Domain on Substack?

Here are a few solid reasons to choose a custom domain:

• Branding - Publishing under newsletter.jamescameron.com looks way more credible than james158.substack.com. If you already have a site or personal domain, it just makes sense to keep things under one umbrella.

• Content Ownership and Control - If Substack ever shuts down, or you want to migrate to Ghost, WordPress, or anything else — your articles are already indexed under your domain. You can export your content, switch platforms, and keep your SEO value.

SEO Benefits for Future Projects - Great content gets mentioned. Exceptional content gets linked by big websites. When that happens, you want those backlinks going to your domain, not Substack’s. If you ever build tools, launch a product, or create a new blog — the domain authority you’ve built from writing carries over.

What’s the Downside?

The biggest downside is that you don’t get Substack’s domain authority and Substack currently doesn’t show your posts in their “Discover” tab.

Your content will still be promoted inside Substack’s network — in recommendations, home feeds, and so on — but Google will index your posts under your own domain.

That means early SEO growth may be slower, especially if your domain is new and doesn’t have many backlinks yet.

You're getting less initial leverage than someone hosting directly under Substack’s domain.

Let’s take this post, for example. The title contains “custom domain for Substack” and it’s published under blog.saulenas.com.

Now imagine someone else writes the same piece on mycoolnewsletter.substack.com. In Google’s eyes, that might rank better early on, simply because Substack’s root domain has high authority.

But I’m fine with that. I’m expecting to win from my decision long-term.

How to Set Up a Custom Domain for Substack

Here are a few things to know:

• You can’t use a root domain (e.g. domain.com) directly — you need a subdomain.

• Substack supports formats like:

  • www.domain.com

  • blog.domain.com

  • newsletter.domain.com

  • …

• You’ll need to add a CNAME record via your DNS provider (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.), so access to yours is needed.

Some people have reported issues with Namecheap. If that happens, you might need to transfer your domain to another registrar — but personally, it worked fine for me.

Setup Flow

1. Pay the one-time $50 fee

2. Enter your subdomain (e.g., blog.saulenas.com)

   

3. Choose whether to enable root domain redirect. Checking this will redirect visitors from saulenas.com to blog.saulenas.com in my case.

4. Update your DNS with a CNAME record pointing to Substack. You can find provider-specific instructions here.

5. Click “Check Status” on Substack’s dashboard

6. Wait for confirmation (can take up to 36 hours)

7. Once verified, your Substack is live on your custom domain

I received confirmation that everything was set up correctly after 22 hours.

If it works, you should be able to access your newsletter using your new custom domain — in my case, blog.saulenas.com.

Final thoughts

So — is a custom domain worth $50?

It might slow things down a bit in the beginning, especially in terms of SEO. You're no longer benefiting from Substack’s domain authority — you're building your own.

But in return, you gain more control and long-term flexibility.

And most importantly — it signals (to both you and your readers) that you're taking this seriously.

So, the decision is yours.

Hope this post helped you to decide.

If you're setting yours up, feel free to reach out or subscribe to follow my own experiments.

Subscribe now

These websites mostly consisted of review-style articles targeting low-competition keywords—“Best Laptops for Nursing Students”, “Top Kitchen Blenders Under $100” — designed to attract readers with buying intent.

Not the most passionate thing to do, but if you choose a niche you like, and start seeing progress, this could become a solid business.

I was so hyped about the idea at the time, that I started building websites myself , targeting random low-competition keywords.

One was on Vue.js—even though I didn’t know the framework at all. It still managed to get a few thousand monthly users, and some pocket money from Google Adsense.

Other experiments, like blogs about discharged batteries or cat food, flopped. I lost interest quickly, especially after realizing I couldn’t write 50+ articles on cat food without repeating myself.

After a few failed experiments, I felt ready to try something riskier: buying an existing site instead of starting from scratch.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the real numbers, what went wrong, and the key lessons I’d apply next time—so you can avoid burning your own $2,400.

Finding “The One”

I use quotes intentionally—because, spoiler alert: it wasn’t the best choice.

My goal was to find a site that:

• Was affordable (didn’t cost tens of thousands of euros)

• Wasn’t spammy or built with black-hat SEO

• Had solid content that delivered real value - not SEO content stuffed with keywords

There are a few places to look for websites for sale. The biggest is Flippa.com. However, I ended up on MotionInvest.com, a marketplace launched by the same Spencer Haws I’d been following.

One listing caught my attention: a field hockey review site.

Here’s the original listing I found in my inbox from March 11, 2022.

It looked like a great deal: aged domain, content that ranked well on Google, and steady monthly income.

The sport is seasonal - biggest spikes in August–September, especially in the US—but the income graph still seemed solid.

An operational website, generating revenue for years. A little bit outdated, but that’s where the potential is, right?

I was confident. Faster server, better design, polished content, new posts. I’d triple the revenue in no time.

Looking back, I was at the peak of Mt. Stupid. Some experience gave me the false impression that I could do it better. “After all, I’m a technical person. I’ll get quick wins and make it betterl.”

But… there was this one detail.

The Crucial 2 Months That Defined the Website

Two months where the income dropped to zero..

Coincidence? Not really. Even for seasonal sites, a total income blackout is rare. Maybe lower traffic, but not zero.

The reason for this was disclosed in the listing:

The site was down for 2 months.

That’s a lot of time for SEO rankings to start tanking.

But the price reflected that. Motion Invest generally calculates pricing as 30x the average monthly income over 6 months.

So it made sense to me. I figured I’d revive it—migrate to my server, update the theme, add new content—and watch it bounce back.

Looking back, I underestimated how much two months of downtime damages SEO. I should’ve seen it as a red flag, not a discount opportunity.

The Buying Process

Believing this was a good deal, I decided to move forward. The money was on the table, and the process was new—and stressful.

The first part of the payment was a $1,000 deposit. That was simple enough—probably done through PayPal (don’t remember exactly).

But the remaining $1,389 had to be sent via wire transfer to a Canadian bank. For someone used to SEPA payments, this felt unnecessarily complicated. I had to convert EUR to USD, input routing numbers, branch transit codes, and other unfamiliar fields.

PayPal was an option for the full payment—but the 5% fee meant paying over $100 just for convenience. That was too much for me.

So I went with the wire transfer, even though I wasn’t 100% comfortable. A few days later, confirmation came in.

The Transfer

The process was relatively smooth. Shortly after payiment, I got an email from the person responsible for the transfer. I was asked to provide “hosting login details”, which was pretty vague.

I had already spun up a fresh VPS (virtual private server) on Hostinger for the site—it’s my go-to for small projects. Their plans are affordable, and since the site targets the US market with Amazon affiliate links (that’s where the money is in the field hockey niche), having a US-based server helped deliver faster load times for American visitors.

I sent my server’s root credentials. They asked me to install WordPress and send the access details. At that point, I just asked them to give me the backup so I could do it myself.

They responded saying they’d need just 15–20 minutes if I gave them access.

Turns out, the site had been backed up via a plugin. But the restored version didn’t work with the latest PHP version on my server.

And just like that, I was debugging PHP compatibility issues, wondering if I’d bought a digital asset—or a second job. And it wasn’t 20 minutes from the transfer team after all.

Bringing It Back to Life

Here is how the site looked like in 2021.

Here’s what I found:

• Broken Amazon links - many items were permanently out of stock. Some of them were linked incorrectly - instead of amazon.com, they lead to fieldhockeyreview.com/dp/1591642442 (seems to be an issue of one of the faulty plugins that was used)

• Outdated Wordpress theme and plugins - it hadn’t been updated in years.

• Too many plugins - plugins for everything—redirects, tables, SSL, etc.. Some of them were clashing with each other, some of them were broken and ruining the site.

One of the first things that had to be changed were the broken Amazon affiliate links. There were plenty of them, but majority of them were out of stock, or items no longer existed:

The images in affiliate articles were also broken due to an old, unmaintained plugin. There was a lot of manual work in reviewing articles and fixing links.

It does not look like much, but when the website has tens of articles, with dozens of links in each of them, everything takes time.

Could I have used a paid plugin to speed things up?

Sure. But I didn’t want to invest more money. Plus, I wanted to learn the niche, so I reviewed everything myself. And even using a paid plugin it would involve some manual work.

I also added a couple of new posts:

• The Best Field Hockey Books

• How to Clean Field Hockey Goalie Gear?

But content opportunities were limited. Most product categories were already covered in the website. Field hockey is a pretty small niche.

One key mistake I made was removing unavailable products. Turns out, Google didn’t like that. Rankings for some posts dropped.

I found some legacy items being formatted with strikethrough instead of completely being removed. Here is an example of that:

Seems that this is a better approach than deleting it from the post.

One thing I was fully aware of: making multiple changes at once is not ideal. It becomes hard to isolate which tweak caused which result. And if rankings drop, you’re left guessing what went wrong—and it becomes much harder to recover.

So I let the site sit for a while after the initial clean-up. I wanted to give Google time to re-index and (hopefully) reward the improvements.

When the rankings didn’t improve, I made a conscious decision to take a bigger risk: I updated the theme.

That’s always a gamble. A full redesign can sometimes upset Google, especially if the visual or structural changes are significant. But the site was already underperforming, so I figured there was nothing to lose.

Did all of the changes Help?

Not really.

I don’t have access to the original Google Analytics 3 data, but I can tell you that the site didn’t bounce back.

Compared to when the previous owner ran it, both rankings and income were down.

Those two months of downtime turned out to be fatal. And Google didn’t reward my cleanup work.

The Earnings

And now comes the most interesting part - how much I earned from the website?

Amazon affiliate income was the main revenue stream, with some extra from Ezoic ads.

I had another site on the same Amazon store tag, so it’s tricky to isolate numbers. But roughly:

• 2022: ~$232

• 2023: ~$189

• 2024: ~$73 (broken images hurt conversions)

• 2025 (so far): ~$30

• Ezoic Ads: ~$52

Current Status

A few months ago, I took some time to update the site: fixed broken links, refreshed a few articles, removed underperforming ones, and added new posts featuring products that were actually in stock.

There was a slight bump in April's revenue, but overall, it didn’t have much of an impact.

Here’s what the traffic looks like today:

With majority of it being from United States:

And everything is a grand total of around 546$ in 3 years.

Was It Worth It?

Financially? No. I lost money.

But in terms of experience? Absolutely worth it.

I learned more from this one failed project than from all the YouTube videos, blog posts, and online forums combined. I now understand how to:Notice red flags and how much it might cost in the long term

• Migrate and fix aging websites (this one I would say is a red flag, as a Wordpress with unmaintained tech stack is a pain to deal with and upgrade might break everything that still works)

• Treat websites like an asset.

Would I buy another site? Maybe.

But if I had to do it again, I would:

• Avoid sites with recent downtime or penalization risk.

• Only buy in niches I understand (and care about).

• Spend the first month observing traffic before making big changes.

• Use paid tools or plugins if they save me 20+ hours.

Future of affiliate websites

With the AI being able to generate content in no time, affiliate websites future is unclear. It's easier than ever to spin one and stuff it with affiliate links. However the maintenance of it is another case.

It's even harder to predict if the smaller ones, like Fieldhockeyreview.com in my case, will survive.

There are well established affiliate websites with great rankings, and the whole team dedicated, so such businesses will keep existing. But even for them, the habits that might potentially change with the people using AI for search more, is a challenge.

Subscribe now