域名|Chinese Perspective

[Kassey Lee]

I believe only short and easy-to-remember domain names are sustainable, regardless of where in the world you live and which cultural background you come from.

Now that the Chinese domain market has become a hot topic, I myself want to understand this trend too. Is there any real meaning behind each domain name sold in China? Here, I'd like to share with you what I've found as I read the Chinese news everyday.

GZX.com
GZX can stand for 更自信 (even more self-confident) which can be used in many fields such as education, self-help, and even consumer products to raise your self image.

XLY.com
XLY can stand for 夏令营 (summer camp) or 新领域 (new field) which can be used in recreation and high-tech products.

New: Follow my blog posts on NamePros for updates.

 

[sOliver]

Do you have the english translation for the most valuable terms?
- Legal
- Gambling
- Sex
- Vacations
- Insurance
- etc

I already know that FLV means LAW / LEGAL. So FLV.com would be one of the most valuable domains if the meaning is law.com or legal.com - is that correct?

Looks like I really got to take a class in Chinese

 

[sOliver]

旅游 = vacations / tourism but I havent found the letters yet that represent it

法律 = legal = flv

Let's see if we can compile a list or so, would be useful for us non-native domainers with Chinese domains

 

[jkhg]

Legal - 法律 - FL (no v)
Gambling - 赌博 - DB
Sex - 性 - X
Vacations - 假期 - JQ
Insurance - 保险 - BX
Travel - 旅游 or 旅行 - LY or LX

 

[sOliver]

Thanks, that's helpful. So how many Chinese use a latin-based QWERTY keyboard? Or how do they enter latin characters?

 

[Rahulseller]

881. ch is this worth ?

 

[pmax]

Thanks, that's helpful. So how many Chinese use a latin-based QWERTY keyboard? Or how do they enter latin characters?

Everyone I know uses a QWERTY keyboard.
When you key in a consonant, the computer or smartphone automatically shows you the most commonly used words starting with that letter, then you select it. Something like google suggest.
If the word you want is not displayed, you key in the pinyin for a more exact match.
Writing in Chinese is probably much easier than most people think.

If you want to write a common phrase that has 4 words, just in the 4 consonants. (4L anyone?)
4 times out of 5, the computer will get it right.
This is one of the reasons why CHIPs are valuable.
Only the truly hardcore will use a chinese keyboard.

If by latin, you mean spanish or portugese, it's just a matter of installing a language software.

 

[TheName]

As you already know, 8 is a super-hot number in China. Even though 88888888 is 8N, it still has value. To pronounce, just split it into two groups. Say 8888, then another 8888.

I have not found much news of .io reported in the Chinese media.

Within the domain industry, both eName and Admin5 introduced .io as I/O and British Indian Ocean Territory, the same as the extension is interpreted in the west.

BTW, I found a software developer selling in China. http://www.qt.io/cn/

Hi,

I'm really grateful for your detailed insights and taking your time out to reply unconditionally - it's much appreciated

Do let me know if you ever need any insights from London uk - cultural and geo collaboration is a catalyst to success in life ! It's great to have a China expert.

Shall checkout the the enduser link. Currently 88888888.io is sitting at $488 - I shall keep you posted with any China response

Cheers
A

 

[Recons.Com]

Can't you say "eight eights"? )

 

[Kassey Lee]

@TheName Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on China/domain as clearly stated in my signature. Love UK. Had wonderful short stay in Worcester. Want to see the Lake District and "Pemberley" one day.

 

[Kassey Lee]

A couple of interesting domain names were sold.

ZZ.com.cn @ 290k RMB
租租(rent rent),走走(go go), 找找(find find), 转转(turn turn)

TZZ.com @ 610k RMB
投资者(investor), 挑战者(challenger)

RDW.com @ 600k RMB
融贷网(finance web), 热点网(hot spot web)

SQC.com @ 480k RMB
四驱车(4WD car), 说汽车(talk about car)

MRB.com @ 480k RMB
美容吧(beauty bar)

Chinese source

 

[Kassey Lee]

@ChinaMobi
Can you please tell me if LUV abb same in Chinese as it in English?

Sorry. I really don't know.

 

[Kassey Lee]

MingYou (名优金融) is a marketplace operator which pioneered the concept of lending on domain names.

This is how it works. A domain name investor owns a premium domain name with a market value of 1m RMB. He applies on the MingYou.com website. MingYou looks at the market and assesses the risks, and then gives him a credit line of 500k RMB against the domain name as a collateral. Then, the borrower can withdraw or put money back to this account at any time. Currently, the maximum term is 6 months, but one month is most common. The interest charged is 20% when annualized.

On the other hand, people with extra money can invest. They can open an account on MinYou.com and deposit their their money into their account, earning an annual interest between 12 to 26%.

If the borrower defaults, the domain name is foreclosed and auctioned off.

The domain loan market is about 10b RMB, yet no bad debt has occurred.

Chinese source

Not sure how the 20% interest charged and the 26% interest paid out can be reconciled, and how the market value is determined.

 

[sOliver]

Here are some google translations for some domains I own (of course not the LLL), thought I'd share them, some of them are rather funny at times:

• QTT (please talk)
• HNV (fire woman)
• NJG (few)
• MXX (ming xiaoxi)

I found that a lot of times the three letters have really obscure meaning - the word often does not exist in English or phrases that we wouldnt use.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Domain investor You Cai WANG recently sold WJZB.com for 50k RMB.

WJZB can stand for 无价之宝(priceless treasure) or 玩家装备(equipment for players), and is suitable for antique or game site.

The domain name was registered in 2008.


Chinese source

 

[TheName]

@TheName Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on China/domain as clearly stated in my signature. Love UK. Had wonderful short stay in Worcester. Want to see the Lake District and "Pemberley" one day.

Lake District & Derbyshire where the fictional "Pemberley" is, are the best of Great British countryside - nice choice.
Keep connected & thanks again

 

[Kassey Lee]

In China there are two schools of domain investors. One school, the majority and the mainstream, focuses on .com and .cn. The other school feels premium .com and .cn are too expensive for the common folks to invest, but finds other extensions offer more value. eName editor Wei Wei interviewed eight domain investors (some names are nicknames) for their views.

Yao ZHANG sticks to .com and .cn only, because the former is king and the latter is backed by the Chinese government. Both extensions are used extensively and have wide support from corporations.

Yi Peng XIE focuses on .com but also buys .cn. He thinks the other extensions are very risky because they are subject to market manipulation, causing big rise and fall in prices.

Xiao He WANG buys .com only, because it's a "hard currency" in China. He does not recommend buying domain names in big lots.

Zuh Jiao does not go beyond .com, .cn, and .com.cn, because they are solid extensions. He suggests that investors should always be aware of risks, consider actual use and value to end users, and not to follow the crowd.

Qi says domain buying used to mean value investing but now is about speculation. He divides his fund equally between the two, and invests in .com, .cn, and .cc.

Yu Sheng DENG thinks investing in new gTLDs is fine. Because mainstream extensions are expensive (even 6N .com have rocketed in prices), end users will consider other extensions. He likes .club because it is used globally including China, unlike .wang and .top.

Li Mei mainly invests in .com, .cn, and .cc. She likes .cc because the extension is short, looks beautiful, has wide applications, and is backed by Verisign. This year she invested 350k RMB to hand-regged more than 20k of .cc and so far the value of her portfolio has risen to 20m RMB.

Ma Long loves new gTLDs because many names are available and easy to remember. The key is low price with a lot of room for price increase. He has no doubt the new gTLDs will have a place in China. A good example is .wang where he has profited 1m RMB.

Chinese source

 

[Kassey Lee]

S.cc was sold in an auction for 2.31m RMB.

The letter S has a lot of value in commerce. It may mean 商(business), 搜(search), 市(city), 省(province), and 盛(abundance).

Source: http://news.ename.cn/yumingjiaoyi_19700822_101721_1.html

 

[Kassey Lee]

Investor Little Black [nickname?] just announced sale of 0118.com for 300k RMB which he bought a year ago for only 100k.

0118.com conforms to the ABBC pattern. 01 are consecutive numbers and 18 rhymes with 要发 (going to make a fortune). The domain name is suitable for betting, ecommerce, and game sites.


Source: http://news.ename.cn/yumingjiaoyi_20151118_101703_1.html

 

[Kassey Lee]

[On June 16, 2015], the State Council issued a call for "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" (大众创业、万众创新), which really ignited the Chinese domain name market, causing prices to skyrocket. Many keen investors in real estate and stocks started to notice this huge market, but do not have professional experience in this new investment.

In view of this problem, well-known investor Liang Ji ZHUANG together with a number of experienced domain investors set up the first domain college (Mixue.com) in China. Courses cover investment techniques, risk control, selling skills, etc.

Source: http://science.china.com.cn/2015-11/18/content_8386559.htm

----------
CM:
* One of the lecturers is George Hong (Guta.com) whose name is familiar to many in the domain investing circle.

* The date was determined to be June 16 according to another article listed below.
China boosts mass entrepreneurship and innovation
http://english.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2015/06/16/content_281475128473681.htm

 

[Kassey Lee]

I just learned something from the following news story -- that being short is always good. I did not know 0c could mean something, and be very valuable.

----------

Investor Hao Nan CHEN recently sold 0c.com for a mid-6 figure RMB. To purchase this domain name, the buyer had to sell off part of his investment in stock.

Chen said he bought 0c.com because Oc can stand for:

0元买车 (buy car at 0 dollar)
0元创业 (start a business at 0 dollar)

The domain name can be used for ecommerce, shopping, used car sale, or business startup.

Source: http://news.ename.cn/yumingjiaoyi_20151120_101775_1.html

 

[Kassey Lee]

Investor Little Black (nickname) just bought back 277.com at several million RMB because seller needed cash. In this interview, he also shared his domain investment philosophy and market view.

----------

"I only do value investment, basically buying 3N, 4N .com plus some .net such as 99.net, 29.net, and 959.net. This is because these two extensions are mainstream global extensions. They are in demand not only in China but also all over the world."


"I find that the whole domain market lacks capital. As a result of bulk registration, a lot of money has gone to overseas registrars. Although the "bulk" players have made a lot of money, who are going to buy these domain names one by one? I find it difficult to believe that these domain names have much use. Once the big players leave, the newbies will be holding lots of junk domain names waiting to be renewed."

Source: http://news.ename.cn/yumingjiaoyi_20151119_101733_1.html

 

[Kassey Lee]

This is a new way to sell your domain names in China.

eName recently launched a new platform called 域名联盟 (Domain Alliance). When you join, you must decide whether you are a domain owner or domainer. A domain owner has domain names to sell, whereas a domainer has resources to promote domain names. eName also provides 6 free templates you can use to showcase your domain names, or you can use 313.com to create your own.

First, you list a domain name on the platform, determine a commission rate you are willing to pay, and then select a template to create a sales page for the domain name.

If a domainer succeeds in selling your domain name, you pay the stated commission to the domainer.


Source: http://news.ename.cn/yumingyingyong_20151120_101776_1.html

 

[korganian]

Sounds good if Domainer doesn't make a side deal with buyer to get a kickback.

Can we complete the sale without having to transfer to Ename.com? Just do a push at our current registrar?

 

[80-20]

To me, it doesn't sound good at all.

Apart from the fact that ename's name is quite tainted amongst non-Chinese domainers, very few of them are going to learn Chinese in order to navigate their site... and read their emails.

4.cn has the advantage of having a English version, but their interface and rules are far from being user-friendly.

Pity, because now more than ever we need a good, effective selling platform to reap the profits of all those buy-outs...

 

[Joshdns]

Sounds good if Domainer doesn't make a side deal with buyer to get a kickback.

Can we complete the sale without having to transfer to Ename.com? Just do a push at our current registrar?

I think that is one of the major problem in dealing with chinese buyers; they just want domain transferred to ename or nothing else.

How can one overcome this? chinese buyers dont wanna leave their comfort zone?