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Broker Cashes in on Domain Name Registrations

Posted on: Thursday, 27 July 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Yudy Pineiro, The Miami Herald

Jul. 27--Wilson Alvarez, a computer consultant who lives in West Kendall, thought it would be cool to design a website for his wife's 30th birthday.

But since it was the mid-'90s and the Internet wasn't yet cool, when he told his wife, Barbie, that he was thinking of buying the "barbie.com" for her, she gave him an odd look.

He bought her a purse, instead.

"The following year, the name sold for $500,000," said Alvarez, 40. 'That's when I said ' My goodness, I can make so much money off this.' "

So now every time Alvarez hears something catchy, he signs onto www.bulkregister.com and checks the availability of a domain name that contains that word or phrase.

Alvarez likens buying domain names to purchasing vacant land; in turning it over, the buyer hopes to make a quick profit.

So far, he owns 951 names, including: 305computers.com, his own site, haybendito.com, mypocketbook.com and italy2006.com, which he said he bought several years ago.

Since Italy won the 2006 World Cup, several people have expressed interest in the site, but Alvarez has not been quick to give it up. He wants to make the most of it.

Last month, another domain broker, a man from Istanbul, e-mailed Alvarez to ask about minimoto.com -- and he sold it for $40,000. The website now sells pocket bikes.

"I just wanted to make a quick buck -- pay my taxes and buy my kids the pool they always wanted," he said.

He just signed a contract on a pool. Digging should start soon.

How Alvarez got started: In 1987, when he married Barbie, they shared a house with her brother and paid half the costs. Barbie's brother taught Alvarez how to audit his expenses using Lotus 1-2-3, one of the original spreadsheet programs.

At the time, Alvarez was working as a bookkeeper, and when the company's chief financial officer found out he knew Lotus 1-2-3, he quickly made him his assistant.

"One thing led to the other," Alvarez said. "One day, the marketing department needed a database program. I created it, and we got a full-blown marketing program. Then a computer broke, so I ordered a part for the computer -- and that's how I became the computer guy."

After that company closed in 1990, about five former co-workers turned to Alvarez for computer advice.

"I thought it was a part-time job, but those five clients quickly turned to six, to seven," he said. "I didn't even know I was in business. I was just a kid back then."

Alvarez was 25. That year, he started Wilson Alvarez and Associates. Now, as owner of Wilson Alvarez Consulting Group, he fixes computers, sets up networks and runs websites.

He's just now starting to get into making money by buying and selling domain names.

"My business motto has been to rent them out," he said. "In the long run, it's more profitable." He charges at least $100 a month to host the website.

He's also busy with another project: "WelcometoMiami.com."

The idea behind it, he said: 'Let's say you're looking for a real estate attorney, instead of going to Google and typing 'Miami real estate' and getting 700 pages, you can go to WelcometoMiami.com and click on real estate attorneys and it's filtered for you."

For businesses looking to advertise, it's an attractive option to invest in a one-stop site. But Laura Jackson, Alvarez's secretary, said the site will be very exclusive.

"We want somebody who has been in the business 20 to 25 years, has strong ties in the community and five-star quality," she said. "There may be 50 beauty parlors in Miami, but I want the best."

For those looking to cash in on the domain resale market, Alvarez suggests the following: Visit one of the main registrar websites such as networksolutions.com and pick a name, but not just any name.

"You have to have the brains and know-how to pick buzz words," he said. "If you have a really attractive name, people are going to e-mail you and inquire."

For example, Alvarez said that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the media raved about a camera on wheels that navigated through the wreck and shot pictures on its own.

He thought it might be profitable in the future, so he signed into bulkregister.com, looked up the name Camera on Wheels.com. It was available. So he bought it.

'One day, someone will call me, and say 'Hey Wilson, I want this,' " he said.

Alvarez said the domain business can get rather costly. It costs $15 to $30 to register a new name, and then you have to host it for about $10 to $25 a month, he said.

Newbies have to be careful not to become cybersquatters -- a person who claims a domain name using a trademark that someone else already owns.

Alvarez said he was challenged once for eshoeshow.com. A client wanted a footware website by that name. So he designed it, not knowing that Shoe Show was a footware company in North Carolina. The company contacted Alvarez, as the webmaster, and he dropped the name.

Source: The Miami Herald

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