I recently spent a year endeavouring to earn some extra cash by dealing in domain names. This is an idea that was touted as a good business to be in. The heyday of the sale of domain name was in fact before the burst of the dotcom bubble in 2000. The "dotcom" has always been the domain to hold for prestige and worth. The most valuable to be sold pre-bubble was business.com exchanging hands for a mere $7.5 million!

As the market has been picking up again recently, perhaps it was time to jump in. However, i found it quite difficult to trade, being a novice in the business with no practical experience.

There are quite a few things to learn about, such as how to acquire tradeable domain names. Also the rights,legalities and registering, which must be for one year minimum. Although you don't actually own the name, you do feel just a little important to see your name in the "whois" register! This gives all current information for all domain names.

A good source of information, support, and even a possible sale, can be found at domain name forums such as dnforum.com.

Here you can make yourself known and advertise. The drawback is that others will be seeking bargain deals, so they can trade on. A more reliable approach is to "park" your names with a company such as Sedo. Here, without a fee, each name is given its own webpage together with adverts, from which you earn a little money. The most lucrative, but not at all easy is to sell the name directly to a suitable business. This could be a new-start or one requiring a web presence and so a good name.

If you do not know the person to whom you are selling a name, it is wise to use an escrow service. It will hold the money involved until the transaction has been completed.