Digital Hoarding and letting old domains go vs selling domains

byFoobard

565 followers

8 years ago

I started collecting domains many years ago, back when there was only one registrar, NSI, and domain registrations were $200 a year! Back then, it was hard to justify holding a domain when you weren't using it.

So I let a couple go when my plans didn't pan out for them.

Then, years later, ICANN began letting others register domain names, and the cost of domain name registrations plummeted. I registered a few that I thought would be good, but I never really did anything with them. Year after year, I renew the registrations, thinking "I might use them someday."

It doesn't cost much to do this, but there is a burden to keeping things you don't need. There are TV programs about hoarders who can't throw things away, who live, trapped in their homes, surrounded by garbage, filth, and an excess of things they just don't need.

I recently realized that I am a digital hoarder. I've got many backups of backups of old computers, old domains I'm not using, dozens of games in my Steam library that I will never even get around to installing much less playing, and dozens of courses in Udemy that I will never get around to watching.

Digital hoarding can be a large burden on your mind just like physical hoarding, just without the rats, roaches and bad smells!

I took my first steps to cleaning things up by turning off auto-renew on my old domains. My first one expires tomorrow. It feels weird to do, but I think it will be good to live with less digital clutter. Next up will be deleting the myriad backups and have a more logical, streamlined backup solution.

I know I could probably try to sell the domains, but I don't think they are very valuable, and I'd rather them just be gone. If you do want to sell your old domains, you have a few options.

• Sedo is the largest worldwide domain marketplace
• Godaddy Auctions has the brand name recognition of Godaddy.
• Flippa is a big marketplace for both websites and domains. Here is good advice from them on selling your domain.

I am curious to know if any of you have sold (or attempted to sell) a domain name? Or did you just let it go, and why?