A Few Nice Domains Dropping Today (PS I Hate Time Change)
For a guy that goes to bed early and wakes up at 4 am this is definitely the worst time of year. It’s practically light when I go to bed and dark for my entire one and half hour run. I’m still trying to figure out why we still do this time change thing. At least I found a few good names yesterday, I was tired and grumpy while I did it, but I did it. Here are a few good names dropping today
WomenFu**ing.net It is not womenfunning it’s the dirty word but it’s alway what a heck of a lot of people are looking for. 27,000 searches. It could be worse OneGirlTwoDogs.com is also up for bid
HandmadeQuilts.net That’s quite a change from the one above isn’t it. Grandma may actually come this site. 4000 searches
Islanders.org 420 hits to this bid page show the interest. Hockey people will like the name
FourTimes.com One of those meaningless names that everyone knows how to spell and will remember. Great buy under $100
Flip.net One of the bigger names to come out for auction in a while. I’m in but probably not for long
NewGadgets.net 22,000 searches and and an all around nice name
ConcreteMixers.net The mafia will take this name from you just like like they did the readymix factories in Chicago. 22,000 searches means people are really looking for mixers
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It’s easy to find a lot more good names using DomainStryker.com
2008 Was a “Bubble” Year for 4Ls Yet I Wish I Would Have Bid a Little Higher
I sold a domain over the weekend and happened to take a sneak peek at all my bids and auction results from the past five years at Sedo. My first 5 years of domaining I concentrated on two things. Four L dot coms, namely CVCV and gardening names. I also added “premium” 5L every now and then. Although I bought a few, looking back I passed on way too many. I realize it’s easy to go back in time and see how cheap things were but this isn’t that far back. 2008 was actually a bubble year for 4Ls and yet these still have increased in value . Here are a few names that I don’t mind revealing my bids at the auctions and where they ended up. If I still owned these I think I could easily double my money, maybe more.
Dusu.com (August 07) I was out at $900 finished at $1050
Fuzu.com (August 07) I was out at $1000 finished at $1951 (turned for $4100 the next year)
Vofo.com (June 08) I was out at $2500 finished at $2550
Yusu.com (August 08) I was out at $800 finished at $1400 (had sold for $3200 8 months earlier)
and my favorite counter offer from a bid I made at Sedo
Phlox.com I offered $200 (I know it was a lowball) his/her response 16,777,215 EUR
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If you don’t mind sharing, what are a few names you passed on that have since sold for much more.?
What Would You Do? Someone Has the Chance to Sell a .travel for 5K
An interesting scenario is being discussed is being discussed over at DnForum. One of the members received a 5K offer on a .travel dot com. Without trying to get on Google for this and gathering too much publicity, it is the first word in a Saudian (on purpose) Arabian country type name. Actually the one to the left. He is searching for advice regarding how to deal with this offer. Here are the details of the value of the domain as I see it
1. The country above dot travel is reserved and not available to register
2. It’s a dot travel
3. $5K is a high initial bid for a dot travel
4. That country is known for Travel.. Mecca
Here are some of the pieces of advice given to the person
I would counter offer with $15,000 US. and close the deal on their next counter offer. Either way, its a great offer. The market is awful and you can invest the money into a .com!
You are holding the cards here so I would hold for much more.
.travel will go the way of .mobi sellllllllllllllllllll
if it is .travel take the money and run
unless you really have a personal interest in developing this domain, you should end this in a sale. $5000 is nothing to sneeze at, but you should still try for more.
don’t be dumb enough to not sell…just make sure you get decent money
If you don’t need the sale you’re in a good position. Even if they walk away they could come back later. Play hard to get then and get the price range you want.
Keep it, development and make millions… oh you want the truth, sell it fast before the chance is gone
And the last one reflects my thought exactly although I didn’t write this post
Since THEY contacted you, you definitely hold the cards here. My advice is to counter at $10,000… but don’t get too greedy. You can land a minimum of $5,000 at worst.
What would you do if you got the offer?
Monday’s List of Good Names About To Drop ($27.65 CPC)
NCAA Tournament won’t be as exciting for me this year as my Illinois team screwed things up late in the year and didn’t get in. Maybe I’ll get a good name today and it will make me feel better. Here are a few names dropping at Goddady or Namejet today.
Diplomatic.net 22,000 searches and a approx. $2K valuation
CaliforniaInjuryLawyer.com Big big CPC of $27.65 and over 1000 searches.
lbank.com It could be a typo of bank or a brand. Either way 36 people agree with me that it’s worth putting in an order to see how it goes
BestHDTV.com 33K estibot and $12,000 searches. Nice name for now and the future.
KeepOff.com Don’t have to worry about people misunderstanding this name. Nice and simple
SickleCell.net A disease that’s searched for 27,000 this month. Nice CPC as well
Sunday’s NY Daily News Article is a Nice Synopsis of Geo Domaining
Leland Hardy may dress like a pimp but underneath the flashy clothes and the Jay-Z attitude lies a brilliant man. He can also kick your butt. Leland attended Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, was a pro boxer and a Wall Street banker. In our world, what he’s most known for is owning NewYork.com. A name he bought on a hand register in 1994. Today’s article in the NY Daily News features Hardy and two other domain owners, Kevin Cahill, a firefighter, bought Statenisland.com for $30,000 seven years ago and Larry Fischer, a Brooklynite, spent five figures when he bought Queens.com
The article is written to showcase the value and money generated by geo domain names of New York but it really showed that the real value of the names are the people behind them. Leland Hardy is light years ahead of the other two when it comes to understanding monetization of his domain. It helps that he has a much better domain but no doubt in my mind he could do the same thing with the other two as well. Actually I could make more money that Fischer with Queens.com…..it’s parked and not very well. It’s obvious he just bought this to flip.
It’s a nice article and although doesn’t offer much new info, it does point out the three things you can do a great geo name. 1. Park it 2. develop it with little to no effort 3. Full on develop it. The other story within the article that is a good lesson for all….patience. All the guys are waiting for the right time to sell. They’ve all received offers that would make them very wealthy but they know the value of what they have and are willing to wait until they receive an offer they can’t refuse.
That Which We Don’t Understand Scares Us: Don’t be afraid of ccTLDs and IDNs but Be Careful
Over the last few days I have been working with Aaron of IDNTools on registering IDNs (full story at a later date) and friend Morgan Linton has recently unveiled his new site ccTLDinvestors.com (he’s evidently made some money because he bought the i in this name). I am smart enough to know that there is a whole market of non regular TLD domains that are still in growth mode, I just don’t know where to start. What I do know is those two sites are as good a place as any. I explained it to my wife as buying domains for places where my electrical plugs don’t work.
I now have a whopping two days under my belt and I already have learned enough to cause trouble but not even close to buying yet (except for a few practice purchases, story later here as well)
1. Online translators can be a little off. If you really want to get correctly translated names your best move would be to find someone fluent in that language. Finding people fluent in Russian, Chinese, and Japanese are very easy for me. I live a mile from a major University and have thousands of students that work for peanuts. I highly suggest that you get second opinions on what you are about to buy.
2. Before you buy, know what you are going to do with the name. It’s not like you are going to just put up a site. You don’t even speak the language.
3. Registering IDNs are a piece of cake. They simply change over to Unicode and can be registered at Godaddy. Took me the same time as a regular dot com and was only $8
4. You have a little time left to get into the German market (.de) but the window is closing quickly. These domains are skyrocketing. I’m trying to find the next .de
5. Do Your Homework. Buying IDNs and ccTLDs take ALOT more work but the rewards can be tenfold. There are so many people that don’t do enough homework that people seem to be overpaying for domains that they have no idea of what it REALLY means or how it translates. They are easy picking for some sellers
6. Never trust a posters translation of a word. Don’t even trust an online translator. Get it to a fluent speaker before you buy.
7. Ask questions. The people at the two sites and forums within are as nice of people as you’ll meet. They are like a small social group that shares the same hobby and are willing to help out anyone that wants to join along.
So after two days, I have a ton to learn and although I will never completely immerse myself into IDNs or ccTLDs, I am going to add some garden related domains into my domain portfolio. Fortunately every country in the world has gardeners.
8 MORE Reasons to Be Excited About the Future of Domaining
Domaining can be profitable. For most, domaining will lose you money. It’s a perfect way to $8 yourself into a financial black hole. Despite the risks, an intelligent, long term approach to this industry has enormous possibilities. Here are 10 more reasons to be excited about the future of domaining.
1. 500,000 estibot evaluations A DAY. That’s how many queries Esa-Pekka Palvimak, the founder of Estibot, says he’s getting . That’s a boatload. I’m sure many of those are bots putting names through but regardless, it shows huge growth in domain investors. We need other investors to keep prices moving upward.
2. Godaddy hit 40 million registrations. This translates to one registration per second. This also means there are a TON of junk names being registered and that officially, all the good names are taken. Well maybe not all but 99.999999999% of the dot coms
3. The next generation of full time domainers seem to making money. The second generation of an industry is always tell tale sign. It usually works one of two ways, the pioneers lay the groundwork for the next generation to make big money or the pioneers are the only ones that could make money because they got in early and the future generation fails and it all ends. Domaining seems to have both.
4. Speaking of new blood, the young generation has a new king, Merlin Kauffman. His company True Magic is acquiring names at an amazing rate. The recent acquisitions of lookup.com, freecomputers.com, and musicvideos.com prove that he has the the connections, the intelligence, and the deep pockets to acquire any name he wants. He even flipped musicvideos immediately. He’s great for the industry
5. Many businesses are still late arriving to the party and they are scrambling for eyeballs on the Internet. They thought Twitter and Facebook were it and now they realize creative websites, email signups, and online promotions are an incredible way to make their name stickier.
6. Much of the world doesn’t speak English. There are still some incredible deals out there in the IDN world waiting for people that are willing to do a little extra and jump into a whole new world. The term “lost in translation” never applied more than here but if you can find someone that speaks the language to make sure you are getting the right term you can really make a lot of money.
7. If you were late, you can still build a portfolio on drops alone. A ton of good names are dropping and sure they may not be the very best, but there are enough. This is a result of many things but most of them are a bunch of people that are poorly organized and have no idea of either the value of the domains or the fact they expired.
8. The increase of domaining blogs such as myself. Some think it’s meaningless chatter but any and all discussion is positive. Ask Chef Patrick and Ron Jackson about the importance of promotion in domaining. One can now make a living in the domain industry through promotion and coverage.
A Few Nice Domains Dropping Today ($12.54 CPC)
Yesterday was a day I waited for for the last month. A name that I previously offered $1500 a few years ago to buy dropped, and I ended up picking it up on a drop for $15. Unfortunately it’s not a name that I will sale because it is plant related but for me it was the buy of the year. Now on to the names
HoneymoonCruise.com At $41,000 it’s one of the more highly estibot valued names recently. 5200 searches and $4+ CPC
Mathnet.org PR 4, DMOZ listed site
WebProviders.com A $12.54 CPC and 500 searches. $6000 estibot value but tons of bids on Namejet
RTO.net Almost near what I consider a deal but will certainly go up from here in the last few minutes.
Fullmovies.net Obvious value with this one and a ton of traffic and searches. 14,000 visits per month. Already at $2K
AccountingClerkJobs.net 22,000 searches and a $2.73 CPC. Will go cheap and should be easy to make your money back with this one
It’s easy to find a lot more good names using DomainStryker.com
Another Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda: How Getting 15K For Pepe.com May Have Hurt a Little
I don’t know the seller of Pepe.com and I don’t know what they paid for it…but I do know human nature. When you sell something to someone and they immediately turn it around for a huge profit, you kick yourself. You don’t really care that you didn’t have the contacts, the ability, or even the knowledge to get that resale price. You just know it wasn’t you. In this case they left $45,000 on the table. To make matters worse, your nose gets rubbed in it as the new sale is plastered around the domain world for all to see.
They cheer the new seller for his salesmanship and business skill while you move into the shadows as the guy that did the best he could. We all dream of selling those $50,000 plus domains and you think to yourself that the guy who posted on your blog “you wouldn’t know a million dollar name if it hit you on the head” may actually be right. This is a story that uses the example of Pepe but it’s something we can all relate to. Domaining and especially the forums, is built around the “I think I can get more” philosophy. As domainers we hope to do one thing. Sell a domain for its full value. Deep inside when you sell a domain you are hoping that you have done exactly that. Each time someone flips your domain you realize you didn’t, and it hurts a little bit.
If my Mom were here (she’s not dead just not here) she would say, “you should be proud of how much YOU got for the domain, don’t worry about what other people do” and something to the effect of “don’t look back”. She used this approach after I had a 3:45 marathon (was shooting for 3:10) , my worst marathon and one where I had to walk 10 miles. She told me that very few people even come close to that time….running. It’s the same exact feeling. A selfish feeling. Why did all those other people finish the race so well. I trained hard, I did everything right and still I had this result. A domain sale is no different
There are so many different variables when it comes to final sales price. One is contacts. You have to know people that will pay big money. Francois, Rick Latona, Rick Schwartz, they get the most money for their domains because of this. Another is timing. The right time at the right place is something you can’t control.
So to the person that sold Pepe, good job. $15,000 is a very fair price for that domain and you did well. Most likely you never could have gotten the 60K price and if you passed on the $15K the first go round you might not have even gotten that in the near future from someone else. So take that money, buy another domain and I’m sure the 45K is right around the corner. (do I sound like my Mom?)
Today’s DDD: Daily Domain Drops
Ahh, nothing like the combination of upping the mileage for marathon training (now at 50 miles a week), springtime at the nursery, and two new online projects, to wear a person out. There have been some GREAT plant domains dropping lately but not a ton of good names today. Picked up GoldIris (d com) a PR 5 for just over $100. Had to be reauctioned, I stopped out at $300 last time, this time much better deal for me. Now on to today’s names.
RocketLauncher.net I didn’t think this would really have any searches but it came up with 10,000 exact so somebody cares about rocket launchers. Good buy at this level. $0
EarnOnline.net Great search results and good valuation($2K plus)
Saraiva.com 682,000 exact searches don’t lie. I’m 100% positive it will go for more than the estibot price of $15
Lisboa2009.org PR 6 with 2200 yahoo backlinks
Geraldo.com Unfortunately you may have a problem from this guy with a HUGE mustache and fakes helping people during disasters
It’s easy to find a lot more good names using DomainStryker.com
