domains Most of Us Missed The Boat… Again

[News]

If you are at your computer reading this on a nice Friday before Memorial Day weekend, you are probably like me and missed the boat in the 1990s and as recently as a few years ago. I never look back regretfully at the 1990s, but I do feel like I missed the boat with numerics and short .com domain names.

Some numeric domain names that were sold for $500-$1,000 just a few years ago are selling for $8,000 – $15,000 +- on a regular basis. Some domain names that sold for $10,000 – $25,000 a few years ago are selling for six figures +- on a regular basis. Some of the better names that would have been in the mid five to low six figures a few years ago are now selling for high six and low seven figures +/-.

The numeric .com domain name market exploded right in front of our eyes, and there aren’t all that many people who made a killing on them. Yes, there are many who made good profits. Heck, I made some great ROIs on private deals, but none of those were really business altering.

Source

 

[Arca]

Where is the next boat, and when is it leaving?

An issue I'm following and as some people mentioned in the comment section, the future of the Chinese economy is not looking good at the moment. A financial crisis in China would have a huge impact on the world economy (as well as the domain industry). If this happens in the coming few years, might offer another "boat" to those with funds to acquire domains at that time.

 

[S-B]

I know people who could do that for $20.

 

[Josh R]

Next boat is LLLL.com

no doubt.

 

[enterscope]

That's why people that are successful are successful, and those that aren't... aren't. Because successful people will find opportunities NOW while others are complaining about missed ones. You see, there are opportunities RIGHT NOW, but you have to find them. Making money isn't easy, otherwise threads like this wouldn't exist.

So try and find the domains that are undervalued now, and be patient. Chances are you will sell a domain now for $300 that might be worth $10,000 in the near future. For instance, there are still plenty of 5 char domains available, but you might not be interested because 4 char is "hot". You've probably heard never buy High and sell Low, so why would you pay a premium for a 4 char?

Instead, invest in the undervalued 5 char that in 5-10 years will be where 4 char is today.

 

[domaincandy]

There were few threads in 2007 or so where people asked if anybody had every lost money on domains. Lots of people chimed in with answers like "don't be silly", or why would you ask a stupid question like that. In hindsight, you can see that it was an indication of a market top.

But whenever people push for a next big thing, like LLLL.com's or alternate loser extensions, there is always a crash because people will often bid up worthless assets. Most LLLL.coms are worthless. People will bid them up for a while, but they will crash.

Generic dotcoms get stronger by the minute, just like other world class assets. You can always look back and see that you could have bought something really cheap. It is hard to land on something that is extremely undervalued. Many of the so-called legendary domainers actually warned the masses and newbies that they ought to concentrate on trying to dig up a few gems by doing some legwork and putting in some real effort to try to get a good deal on a solid name or two. Not many listened. They want fast money, like pipe dreams simlar to LLLL dotcoms, which are just the flavor of the month.

What is interesting is that most people who have never been right on anything in their whole lives imagine that if they had been around during the mid 90's, that they would have the smarts and wherewithal to actually make life-changing buys of domain names. These people would have struck out just like they strike out everyday in their regular lives. I certainly wasn't thinking about domains back then, but I have never thought for a minute that I missed out on something huge. Those renewals were $100 I believe. These people around here won't even give you $10 for a legitimate good name, so I doubt they would have ever paid $100 renewal costs, let alone land on the right name(s). What is interesting is that not many people in the whole world could even imagine the Internet, let alone make the leap that names that were being given away for free would amount to anything of value at all. Even the creators thought it would be a numerical system. And nobody knew that dotcom would become synonymous with business and commerce. It could have been .net or something else.

What is funny is that one of the biggest losers in domain forum history, a guy that posts at DNF, makes threads with worthless names he is trying to sell. They are horrific names with zero value. He has stated for a few years that he accepts PayPal or bitcoin. Now, I haven't checked that forum in a year or so, but I am pretty sure he was mentioning bitcoin when the price was really really low. Bitcoin used to trade at pennies around 5 years ago, I believe. You could even get them extremely cheap in 2011 and maybe even 2012. Early on, they were basically being given away. He was into bitcoin somewhat early on from what I can recall.

So, the point is that even a moron can land in the right spot once in a while, and maybe that guy loaded up somewhat near the lows. It is not all that different than how domain names exploded in value. At first they were basically being given away. I was anti-bitcoin for a while, but I can at least appreciate it a bit now. But when I first heard about it years ago I never once thought about getting in on it, even at a dollar or so per share. Most people who actually got in on it have hard luck stories of frittering them away, and their tales usually involve the phrase "if only I had held onto my bitcoin".

So, life is tough. It is tough to win. It is tough to land in a good spot. It is really tough to land in a good spot and materially change your life because you have some sort of insight that others don't have. But there are opportunities out there every day, and you only really need to be right once in your life on something major. Most domainers are actually crowd followers. They don't know how to take a strong stand on something where they might have some insights. That is why not many are successful.

But always remember, if at first you don't succeed, failure may me your thing.

 

[Archangel]

Does this apply to .us? I own a NNN.us that ends with 2 identical numbers. I offered to sell it for $150. Now I'm heavily wondering...

 

[domaincandy]

The main thing that creates value is if the name helps create commerce on a site. That generally means transactions where people spend money. That is why Hotels.com or Loans.com is so strong. The Chinese have a thing for numbers, so you will see Chinese language sites with numbers, and they want dotcom.

Business is not easy. I mean, YouTube is barely profitable, if that. There are lots of people there, but not lots of transactions, as their attempts to have the adds on YouTube convert to increased business and cash flow for those doing the advertising has been a tough thing to pull off.

I find it hard to believe that getting involved in anything related to the .us extension would be a worthwhile endeavor. You may get a bunch of domainers to start pumping them, but if it ever goes up, it will crash right back down to where it should be. The .us extension is a loser extension. It is similar to .biz. How many sites have you ever seen in your life that are .us or .biz where you would be willing to engage in real business? Those are amateur extensions that are not taken seriously by those involved in commerce.

 

[Bilal Arif]

Dear I want to sell
Domain

Tell me how to sell which plateform to use

 

[Kate]

...
What is interesting is that most people who have never been right on anything in their whole lives imagine that if they had been around during the mid 90's, that they would have the smarts and wherewithal to actually make life-changing buys of domain names. These people would have struck out just like they strike out everyday in their regular lives.
...

^ OMG this is so true.
And in fact I was "around" in the mid 90s like many of us. I was on the Internet early, but I became domain-aware late. I missed the boat not just once, but several times...
For instance I could have made a lot of money by keeping more LLL.com. But I needed cash flow in order to pay the bills. So it's not just a question of insight. It is also the difficulty of dealing with today's reality that hampers your building the foundations for the future.
But I think it's never too late to seize opportunities.
If you think today is difficult, tomorrow you'll be saying those were the good old days
But like you said, few people will ever achieve significant success at all.

Most domainers are actually crowd followers. They don't know how to take a strong stand on something where they might have some insights. That is why not many are successful.

You will certainly love this quote
Following the crowd will not get you anything but a view of their backside.

 

[Nazz]

You will certainly love this quote
Following the crowd will not get you anything but a view of their backside.

EPIC!

 

[Dante91]

Decided to reg my own country all NN's which where available.

 

[Archangel]

Valid points

The main thing that creates value is if the name helps create commerce on a site. That generally means transactions where people spend money. That is why Hotels.com or Loans.com is so strong. The Chinese have a thing for numbers, so you will see Chinese language sites with numbers, and they want dotcom.

Business is not easy. I mean, YouTube is barely profitable, if that. There are lots of people there, but not lots of transactions, as their attempts to have the adds on YouTube convert to increased business and cash flow for those doing the advertising has been a tough thing to pull off.

I find it hard to believe that getting involved in anything related to the .us extension would be a worthwhile endeavor. You may get a bunch of domainers to start pumping them, but if it ever goes up, it will crash right back down to where it should be. The .us extension is a loser extension. It is similar to .biz. How many sites have you ever seen in your life that are .us or .biz where you would be willing to engage in real business? Those are amateur extensions that are not taken seriously by those involved in commerce.

 

[Obtain Domains]

Stop worrying about the past. Life is full of choices. In retrospect, some are good, some are bad. Some, at the time, you know that they are going to cost you money in the long run, but need to be made anyway (i.e sell this domain, sell this real estate, i have bills, etc. . . ).

Learn and Live to fight another day. The older I get, the more I believe that a series of small, consistent acts can change your life just as easily and more predictable than a big "all in" move can.

My two cents . . .

 

[Genius327]

"The best time to buy a domain was 20 years ago.
The second best time is NOW."

 

[Ali]

Build your own boat.

 

[BhuvaneshKV]

Next boat is LLLL.com domains?

 

[Jasonn]

^ OMG this is so true.
And in fact I was "around" in the mid 90s like many of us. I was on the Internet early, but I became domain-aware late. I missed the boat not just once, but several times...
For instance I could have made a lot of money by keeping more LLL.com. But I needed cash flow in order to pay the bills. So it's not just a question of insight. It is also the difficulty of dealing with today's reality that hampers your building the foundations for the future.
But I think it's never too late to seize opportunities.
If you think today is difficult, tomorrow you'll be saying those were the good old days
But like you said, few people will ever achieve significant success at all.


You will certainly love this quote
Following the crowd will not get you anything but a view of their backside.

i spent a few weeks back in 1998 searching for domains but i couldn't really find anything great. looking for good generics and geo names, they were all already taken. or at least the ones i searched did but there were basically no tools or anything to help. lots of domains dropped around that time but i had no clue about it all. i emailed dozens of people but any replies i got back wanted six figures. maybe 98 was still too late but everyone makes it would like it would of been so easy if they just were around back then but it wasn't for me in 98. i didn't keep it up either, after a few weeks i stopped and went back to making sites which was what was making me money at the time.

even now i see how much more difficult it is to get good names at a decent price than it was 5-6 years ago. so much more competition in the drop catch area. chinese buyers ramping up the prices of short domains, etc.

 

[Alice Wonder Miscreations]

I just bought a ticket for a big boat, the biggest ever made. It's called the Titanic and I ain't gonna miss it.

 

[brandnow]

Next boat is LLLL.com domains?

That was last year's boat.

 

[BhuvaneshKV]

That was last year's boat.

What would be the current boat? 5 letter domain name will rock?

 

[Nem0]

Next boat is LLLL.com

no doubt.

And Bingo was his name-o..

That was last year's boat.

Not hardly.

LLLL.com has nowhere to go but up, and there are plenty of good deals still to be had.

LLLLL.com has 10+ years before it will, with every possible letter combination, reach the level of liquidity and minimum price of even the weakest LLLL.com. If ever.

 

[Genius327]

I believe LLLL.coms will reach $100 by the end of this year for any letter combinations.