Another 3 Character Category Nears Extinction

[Grrilla]

character-hyphen-character (char-char) names

There are 1,296 possible combinations of L-L, N-N, L-N, N-L domain names. All of the .coms are gone. A hand full of .nets w/o acronym value and .orgs are still avail., and the majority of the combos w/ any meaning are gone- although if you search, there are still some left. (Did manage to find k-o.us the other day).
Of the 5 major tlds and the .us cctld there are 7,776 possible domains. Of these, there are only about 1,500 that are still unregged.
A few months back, there were char-char.coms that could be hand-regged.

Because 2 char domains are not avail in .info, .biz and .us exts, the hyphenated form is the only alternative avail for domains w/ only 2 LL, NN, LN, or NL. Just thought I'd pass this info along.

 

[.edu]

Thanks for the inside scoop!

 

[Wilfredo]

probably just big players like Eliqa that regs big numbers and we notice it now.

Dont think these domains have their true value, its just air filling up the prices/demand.

 

[csmaster2005]

grrilla, mind pming me what software you're using?
Thanks

 

[Wilfredo]

Me too, also looking for a software to do massive whois.

 

[redhippo]

that good news for those who own some hyphens 3 char!! price will go up!!

 

[kaliboy2g]

How much longer do you think before all 3 character domains even with hyphen or numbers in the main extentions (.com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .us) will be worth the reg fee

 

[Grrilla]

The day has arrived. Depends upon what letters, numbers and hyphens you are looking at, of course.

 

[1rrr1]

i will try to get one!

 

[kaliboy2g]

Originally posted by Grrilla
The day has arrived. Depends upon what letters, numbers and hyphens you are looking at, of course.

All and any three char

 

[Grrilla]

That's akin to asking when will every single-word domain name in every major tld be worth more than reg fee. Tough one to answer. Depends alot upon the eye of the beholder, and there are a alot of eyes out there.

I put up beaucoup.biz, ("alot of biz" in french) for appraisal today and it was valued at reg fee +/-. About a year ago, I had some strong single word .ws names get totally s~~t on at the appraisal board. I "dumped" all of them at Afternic Bazaar at a starting price of $35, blinked my eyes a couple of times, and they were gone as soon as they went below $30. Wish I had 50 of them, (they were avail back then). In 2 mos, I would have made $1,000 on these "no value" names.

Back in May, I put up 4MD.net and 4Rx.net for appraisal and the concensus was reg fee-$18, maybe mid $xxx to right enduser. Today they are listed at GreatDomains for $7,500 each. I'm sure there are members here who have submitted names that were better than these, that GD didn't accept. Mine haven't sold yet, so this proves nothing, but I will give odds that they will sell for substantially more than what they were being valued at on that day.

Eyes of the beholder.
Go figure.

 

[kaliboy2g]

Yea, the appraisals here area always whole sale even if they say end user

A real end user would pay a lot for a domain if he had his eye on it

 

[aww]

Since most search engines don't search for single letter words by default and a dash is seen as a space by most of them also, what is the value in a L-L domain? People do not natually type dashes either

 

[Grrilla]

If SEO was the alpha and the omega this group of names would not have value.

However, short, easy to remember, acronym and abbreviation friendly names, are highly brandable and their shear rarity make them attractive and these are factors that also influence value.

Many who see SE rank as the primary factor in name valuation believe hyphens can enhance results, but, conversely, these names don't necessarily carry any value. The use of hyphens, however, could be helpful in popularizing them.

But, no matter how you cut it, a 2-L name is three easy keystrokes and a salute away from a site, and as far as memory recall is concerned. these names are hard to beat.

 

[Badger]

look, accurate, 'non learning' word recognition software will swamp us in the VERY near future which will spell an end to the qwerty keyboard which in turn will equal a devaluation in the value of short meaningless 2/3 char TLD's. Imagine the scene, "computer, goto L dash L .com please". i dont think so.

Do yourself a favour buy up longer TLD's that mean something....

:o

 

[kaliboy2g]

Never consider S.E.O in buying a name. Any domain name/site can be S.E.O to be at the top of listings, consider names that are easy to remember or brandaable

 

[billinchina]

This is becoming more like coin collecting.

Never consider S.E.O in buying a name. Any domain name/site can be S.E.O to be at the top of listings, consider names that are easy to remember or brandaable

I would have to disagree with this. I have found that it is easier to get your domain to the top of search engines when it contains the keywords you are searching for. If I was going to have a successful business, I would need to choose a domain that was easy to remember (or brandable) over a search term domain. However, if you could combine the two, it would make things alot easier. If I wanted to build a radio advertising firm, and I could get my hands on the domain radioadvertising.com, things would be golden. "Radio Advertising" happens to be the search term that most advertisers look for. It is still fairly brandable and easy to remember. However, advertisingradio.com would not be a good move.

 

[Grrilla]

Do yourself a favour buy up longer TLD's that mean something....

TX. I have attempted to do myself that favor w/ three quarters of the names I have regged.

However, I buy into the the theory that rarity also equates w/ value. Where there are almost limitless possibilities for "longer TLD's that mean something"; there are only a finite number of 2-3 character domains available, and these, for the most part have been regged, particularly in the area that I have focused on: 3 character names that signify meaning.

Almost all of the short domains that I have regged have use as an abbreviation, an acronym, or as company initials, the latter being a popular trend that began taking off back when Kentucky Fried Chicken went to KFC. Sticking to the topic of char-char names, examples of this include:
3-x.biz "XXX"
I-5.us "Interstate 5"
k-o.us "Knock-out"
p-1.info "pg 1" (I also have pg1 in other tlds)
r-f.us "radio frequency" (rfid)
s-n.info "serial Number"
s-w.us "southwest"
v-p.us "vice President"
v-8.biz "V-8 car engine"
If you would like the list of the dozen or so char-char.net names that remain available and that I passed on because they carry no abbrev or acronym value, PM me and I will pass them along.

If you think these are stretches or not worth the reg fee of 4.95-6.95, you are entitled to your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. Additionally, good or even averege 3 char (particularly LLL and NNN) are proving to be among the most liquid category of all domain names.

If you wish, compare this activity to coin collecting, as billinchina does. I would prefer to compare it to penny-stock trading, if a comparison is necessary.
I have approx 700 names and the figure is rising weekly, as I sell off old names and invest in new. 90% of these names are for resale at a profit, and I make no apologies for this. In no particular order, I am a reseller, I work on developing sites and I am "in school" working on the skills necessary to build better sites.

As a reseller, I find names that I consider to have good marketing potential, go to work on coming up w/ ideas for them, and then seek out end-users that, hopefully, will find the idea useful but, more importantly, see the idea as a means of turning a profit for their business. This is a service that I am providing, and if I do it well, I deserve to realize my own profit.

Domain names w/ traffic and the *potential* for traffic, (no matter how the traffic is gained, or how the potential is projected), are worth money. Because of this, they have become commodities. The domain reseller need not justify investing in a name that he does not intend to develop or is out of his field and area of interest, anymore than a non-computer person need justify an investment in IBM stock.

Back on topic. I presented the info in the OP as a service, to inform other domain name marketers of a trend that I have tracked and that they may find of interest.

 

[edkerry]

It's difficult to read and understand

 

[Grrilla]

It's difficult to read and understand

Sorry to hear that. Haven't gotten a response like that in quite some time. I can tend to get verbose, but normally people that take the time, don't have a problem w/ understanding what I am discussing. I notice that you are visiting alot of discussion threads at the forum today. Did you read the whole thread to get a context for some of the issues I was addressing? I can see where you one might become confused if they didn't follow the thread.

Anyone else feel that my post is unclear? I am open to constructive criticism and suggestions, if that is the case..

 

[CWDigital]

grilla is a pimp..... agree all the way on the shortees!

 

[Grrilla]

grilla is a pimp

TX, That's the nicest compliment I have had in awhile.

My ho's
Come in threes and fo's

Think that would be a good slogan for my 3Character.com site?

 

[Rob]

Seemed slightly uncalled for, thats the problem with the internet, superdealchris might have meant "I am new to the game, therefore dont understand" but has just phrased it badly, and with a post on a forum its impossible to add a 'tone' to what you are saying. Some things can come across rude.

I think thats how alot of arguments come about online, IMO.

 

[Grrilla]

Seemed slightly uncalled for, thats the problem with the internet, superdealchris might have meant "I am new to the game, therefore dont understand" but has just phrased it badly, and with a post on a forum its impossible to add a 'tone' to what you are saying. Some things can come across rude

Well, "pimp" was an interesting term to use here , particularly after I took the the time earlier in the thread to lay out a mini-manifesto about how I view domain name marketing, and my relationship to it. His post was kind of a put down and a validation at the same time. I took it as a good natured jab, unfortunate, only because some people might interpret it at face value, but other than that possibility, harmless.

superdealchris has PMd me 3 or 4 times, asking me to evaluate names, which I did, while passing along some of my regged names that were similar to those on his lists, for comparison. One PM offered a link to a private ebay auction where undisclosed participants had bid up a list of "rfid" names to several thousand $$'s, but then the auction was pulled by the seller, I am assume, because the bids didn't reach the sellers expectations. Another of superdealchris' posts that I ran across, was in effect a "leaving the business" liquidation sale that included the same list of rfid names that had been at ebay. Go figure.

I find superdealchris, to be friendly, highly personable, energetic, and refreshingly positive in his forum and PM posts. Although I would prefer not to be referred to as a pimp, I took it as a good-natured barb, from a friendly, hopefully, well meaning member, who may have some contradiction issues that he is, hopefully, working on. Best of luck w/ your future endeavors , superdealchris.:wave:

 

[Rob]

Maybe it has something to do with the Pimps in your avatar, grrilla?



:great: