Today: Butterfly.net sold for $9,700 / The nations of the .Amazon want the name back / Domain Battle Round # 9 – Thunderdome Contest / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

Wanted: 2 Word .Com domains – Paying up to $20 each – Need a quick $20.00 (twenty-bucks) and have some two-word .com’s laying around collecting dust you could wholesale? Check out this buyers specified criteria if you do.

Brandable .COM wanted for term Grow/Growth – Budget: Up to $300.00 ea. – If you have any grow or growth related domain name assets in your portfolio and need some quick cash, this might be an opportunity for you.

Buying Exact match Social media marketing related Domains – Total Budget: $1,000.00 – Do you have any exact match social media marketing domain name assets in your portfolio you want to liquidate? If so, check out this buyers guideline.

The nations of the .Amazon want the name back – If you thought France.com was last time you would see governing body come after a domain asset or a new gTLD extension, don’t miss out on this one. The domino effect is bound to start happening.

Domain Battle Round # 9 – Thunderdome Contest – It’s time for the domain battle round #9. If you haven’t voted for the one you think has the best value yet, take a minute to click the vote button.

Why is your domain worth your asking price? – How did you get to the asking price on your domain name asset? Take a look at what some domain investors are saying about how they evaluated their domain asset and compare notes.

Butterfly.net sold for $9,700 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a nine-letter, single-word, .net domain for a high-four-figures. Do you think it should have sol for more or less than what it sold for?

Today: Share your green .com or .org domains / SportsBettingApps.com sold for $12,500 / For anyone thinking about hosting your own landing pages / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

The best months for selling domains – Have you been selling domain names for a while and think you have a grasp on when the busy inquiry months are? Share your thoughts and check out what other domain investors are saying the best months are.

Single letter .win sells for $22,500 – There’s an interesting single-letter .win new gTLD sales report. Did you think that a single-letter .win would be worth that much?

.horse SHOWCASE and DISCUSSION – Are you investing in any .horse domain names? Which ones are your favorite? Take a look at what some .horse investors own and compare notes.

SportsBettingApps.com sold for $12,500 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a seventeen-letter, three-word, .com domain for five-figures. Do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

Share your green .com or .org domains – Are you investing into any green related domain names? If so, which ones? Share some of your best green domain name assets and check out what other domain investors own.

For anyone thinking about hosting your own landing pages – Are you currently or thinking about building out your own domain name landing/sales pages? If so, this might be interesting to you.

Potential legal pitfalls for a US resident using a Canadian based domain name registrar – Are there any U.S. resident domain name investors reading this with experience using a Canadian registrar before? What was your experience? Take a look at what some domain investors are saying.

Today: Short hacks versus .com – Questions and Answers / Forent.com sold for $7,108 / New New .BEST Domains for $2.75 / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

Web design wanted – Budget: Up to $1,500.00 – Are you a website developer with the skill sets to build out an interactive domain industry related website within this buyers budget? Check out their guideline to find out more.

.baby now available for registrations – Yet another new gTLD to add to the mix. Are you going to register a .baby domain name asset? Which one would you choose?

Calling all .com owners, do you dabble? – Is your domain portfolio 99% .com and 1% new gTLD’s? Which new GTLD’s did you go for to break the .com cycle and why? Check out what some domain investors are saying.

Forent.com sold for $7,108 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a six-letter, brandable, .com domain for a high-four-figures. Do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

New .BEST Domains for $2.75 – If you have been on the fence and thing about registering a .best new gTLD, this promotion might come in handy.

Short hacks versus .com – Questions and Answers – Are you investing into short hack domain names instead of the .come version due to the length of the domain? How do you determine the value difference?

“Go Big Or Stay In Bed” …..Coach Speak Investing – Are you investing in popular coach speak phrases? Do you think this is a niche that has some potential? Check out what some domain investors think about it.

… or why we can’t even use new gTLDs for April Fools’ Day purposes 🙂

Seriously, with new gTLD domainer to domainer sales being so darn rare, this headline is so hard to believe that not even the most gullible newbie domainers would take it seriously.

In other words, here we are, in the FIFTH year of ICANN’s glorious new gTLD experiment and we can’t even use most of them to get a good laugh out of people… if nothing else, I believe this makes it clear on just how many levels this entire new gTLD thing has failed.

Could things have been different?

I don’t know, maybe.

At the very least, they could have been a little bit less ridiculous. Perhaps they could have:

A) released a LOT less new gTLDs, as in less than 10% of the current number

B) decided not to release confusingly similar strings… if you want a good joke, forget about this post’s title, just think about the fact that some people thought it would be a great idea for .Law, .Lawyer, .Lawyers, .Attorney, .Attorneys, .Legal, .Esq and maybe even others that I forgot about to co-exist… what could possibly go wrong, right?

C) try to avoid extreme pricing confusion: is this a premium registration fee *and* premium renewal fee domain? Or just a one-time premium registration fee name? Perhaps domain promo which involves a low registration fee but is followed by premium renewal fees? What do you mean I have to give you a kidney to renew the name?

… so, yeah.

Honestly, this entire train wreck left a very bitter taste in my mouth, just felt like a huge money grab from start to finish. Again, I have nothing against the idea of releasing new strings, knock yourself out. Am I going to invest in them? Probably not. But still, nothing against this idea.

But the execution… it still makes me cringe, several years after the launch. I can’t even think of a word that does it justice, “epic fail” is nowhere near representative enough. Maybe one of you is an astrophysicist and can come up with a metaphor as to the multi-dimensional failure this entire thing ended up being.

For investors, of course.

I’m sure some developers are happy with their new gTLDs, nothing wrong with that. Hey, I even kinda-sorta thought about starting a personal blog on “Andrei.Horse” with the slogan “That’s What She Said” but my wife didn’t find the concept amusing 🙂

So, just in case non-domainers land on DomainingTips after performing a Google search and end up reading this post, I just want to clarify that it refers exclusively to new gTLDs as investment options for people who want to invest in domains.

But even if you’re a developer, I’m sure there are several aspects that pertain to new gTLDs that make you cringe. If you just want to rely on search traffic and don’t care about branding, great… but if you’re in it for the long haul and care about creating a solid brand on let’s say “Best.Lawyer”, I don’t think you’ll be happy that many people who maybe hear about you on the radio will land on Best.Lawyers, Best.Attorney, Best.Attorneys… or, of course, BestLawyer.com.

In the end, whether you’re a domainer, end user, developer or something else, I guess the common denominator here is that this entire thing could have and should have been run in a much, much, MUCH, M-U-C-H more coherent and professional manner.

C’est la vie…

Today: Biggest ccTLD sales of all time / MChain.com sold for $17,250 / New .HOMES Domains for $9.35 / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

keyword .com domains – Budget: Up to $800.00 – Are you sitting on any keyword .com domains names that cost you at least $300.00 to acquire? If so and you want an opportunity to double or close to triple your investment, check out this buyers specified criteria.

Buying brandables ending with Vowels | .Com only- Budget: Up to $300.00 – If you are looking to liquidate some of your brandable .com domain assets ending in vowel, be sure to check out this buyers guideline.

Looking for short .COM ending with «LEX» or «DEX» – Budget: Up to $60.00 ea. – Be sure to check your portfolio for a .com ending with lex or dex. If you are tired of them collecting dust and willing to take a wholesale price on them, this might be an opportunity.

MChain.com sold for $17,250 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a six-letter, surname, .com domain for five-figures. Do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

New .HOMES Domains for $9.35 – If you are or have been thinking about investing in the new gTLD .homes, this new registration promotion might come in handy.

Biggest ccTLD sales of all time – What are some of the biggest ccTLD sales you ave seen over the years reported? Take a look at some of the breathtaking sales other investors are talking about.

Double hyphen domains dominating search results! – Have you been seeing more double hyphen domain names in the top of search results like other domain investors have been noticing? Do you think it means there is more value in today’s market for hyphens or could it just be their particular SEM/SEO campaigns?

Today: Buying a 4 Letter (4L) LLLL Pronounceable .com – Budget: Up to $25,000.00 / HistoricalTextArchive.com sold for $8,349 / A .app domain sold for $30,000 before it’s first renewal / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

Buying STADIA domains – Up to $1,000 – Do you have any stadia related domain names in your portfolio you would sell for up to $1,000.00 in cold hard cash? Take a look at this investors guidelines to see if you have what they want.

Everything Starts with a Domain Name – Wouldn’t you agree that everything online starts with a domain name? Check out what some domain investors are saying about the industry as a whole and share your perspective.

HOT.us – Did you see what I saw in the top domain forum today?

Buying a 4 Letter (4L) LLLL Pronounceable .com – Budget: Up to $25,000.00 – Be sure to check your portfolio again for one of these pronounceable four-letter .com’s outlined in the buyers specified criteria.

A .app domain sold for $30,000 before it’s first renewal – That’s not too bad. Did you anticipate that .app sales in the five-digits would take longer or should they have been selling sooner for that much?

HistoricalTextArchive.com sold for $8,349 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a twenty-two-letter, three-word, .com domain for a high four-figures.

How to contact a domain owner with private whois! – When you run into privacy on a domain names whois, how do you find out who the owner of the domain name is? Take a look at what some domain investors are doing to track down a domain owner.

Today: Negotiation tricks for high ticket domain sales / HealthChoicesPa.com sold for $5,505 / Why Dot-Best new tld may in fact be one of the “best” / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

Two word exact match .com – Budget: Up to $1,000.00 – Be sure to check your portfolio for one of these two-word exact match .com domain names. This buyer is ready for a quick wholesale transaction.

The percentage of assumed end user price a domain investor should pay to acquire a domain – Is there even a fixed percentage for that? Wouldn’t it all depend on multiple variables? How do you determine the reseller price based on the end-user price?

Why 6N.com w/ repeated pattern are worth more when the pattern is at the end and not the beginning – Do you know the answer to this domain evaluation question? Why do you think that there is a difference in value? Take a peek at what some domain investors are saying about it.

HealthChoicesPa.com sold for $5,505 – That’s not a bad domain name sales report for a fifteen-letter, two-word + one abbreviation, .com domain for a mid-four-figures. Do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

Negotiation tricks for high ticket domain sales – Do you have some super special negotiation tricks or strategies to help close a big ticket domain name sale? Take a look at what other domain investors do to close a deal and share your experience, too.

Why Dot-Best new tld may in fact be one of the “best” – Wait, did they just say the new .best gTLD might be one of or the best TLD’s? Does someone have any stats to compare to verify or debunk that?

Falling in love with domains again – Have you ever fallen out of love with domain names? Maybe you decided to take a break for a while. It may be time to step back into the game. More and more investors of one time past are coming back to play too.

Today: Ai (artificial Intelligence) names selling / The deal with VR .com’s and cannabis.com’s / AdExperts.com sold for $4,000 / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

Looking to buy a few English 1-word names in .io, .net and .co – Do you have any English 1-word names in .io, .net and .co you would sell for up to $500.00 each? If so, check out this buyers specified criteria.

Buying pronounceable .com’s – Budget: Up to $500.00 – Be sure to check your portfolio for one of these pronounceable .com’s if you need some quick capital. This buyer looks ready to do business.

Pricing Strategy – Higher commission / Higher sales price – Does your pricing strategy work like this or are you using a different strategy that works better? Compare notes with other domain investors.

AdExperts.com sold for $4,000 – That’s not a bad nine-letter, two-word, .com domain name sales report for a mid-four-figures. do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

The deal with VR .com’s and cannabis.com’s – Hey, do you know what the deal is with vr and cannabis related .com domain names are? Take a look at what other domain investors think the deal is.

Ai (artificial Intelligence) names selling – Are you investing in AI (Artificial intelligence) related domain name assets? Sold any yet? Check out what other Ai domain investors are saying about the market.

The most likely new TLD’s to sell themselves – How close have you been following the new TLD markets? This discussion is about the top new TLD’s that domain investors think are good investments because they sell themselves, without much effort.

Today: Hand Registration Contest ii March 2019 / Avesa.com sold for $5,150 / The appraisal of identity.id / And more!

Here are the new discussions that caught my eye in the domain community today!

DomainEscrow.net – What do you think about a domain escrow related .net? Could it be developed successfully with all the competition out there? What do you think it’s worth in today’s market?

Buying only “CBD” Domain – Budget: Up to $200.00 – Do you have any CBD domain names in your portfolio you would sell for up to $200.00 in fast cash? Take a look at this buyers guideline.

The appraisal of identity.id – Now, here’s an interesting looking new gTLD. A single dictionary word whos extension matches the words known abbreviation. How would place a value on a unique combination like this one?

Hand Registration Contest ii March 2019 – This looks like a fun contest to enter. Do you think you could grab the best hand registration to win? Have you entered yet?

Avesa.com sold for $5,150 – That’s not a bad five-letter, brandable, pronounceable, .com domain name sales report for a mid-four-figures. Do you think it should have sold for more or less than what it sold for?

Alternatives to outbound – Has outbound domain name sales worked for you? Does something else work better? Share what works for you and check out what is working for other domain investors.

… Stockholm syndrome?

As I was browsing around the domaining space this morning, it became clear to me that despite several years of cold showers, waaaay too many domainers are still buying the new gTLD dream.

They’re following landrush/GA phases, building portfolios, paying “premium” registration fees or at the very least higher-than-average renewal fees on completely unproven assets, calling other investors ignorant for not jumping on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… I just don’t know what there is to say anymore.

At the end of the day, maybe articulating additional arguments as to why new gTLDs are just not worth it for investors (again, for investors, not developers) is pointless.

Instead, I’ll just go ahead and post a few questions for those who believe new gTLDs represent opportunities worth taking advantage of for domainers.

How much money have you invested in new gTLDs thus far?

How much money have you made thus far?

Has your new gTLD adventure been profitable or not up until this point?

Maybe the answers to these three questions are not exactly impressive. Perhaps you’re losing money now but believe there’s so much opportunity out there that it’s only a matter of time until things will move in your desired direction.

If that is the case, here are a two additional questions:

When browsing through databases of recorded sales, how many dot com sales do you have to go through until you get to a new gTLD sale?

Out of the new gTLD sales you do notice, how many are sales made by registries rather than individual domainers?

Leaving everything else aside, here are some final questions that pertain to your portfolio:

How many new gTLD domains do you own and how much does it cost to renew them each year?

What’s your average sales price for new gTLD domains?

How many sales would you need just to break even on renewals?

How many sales would you need to not just break even on renewals but also recoup your initial acquisition costs?

Which percentage of your portfolio would you need to sell at your average sales price each year just to break even?

Is that percentage higher than let’s say 2-3% per year?

If so, what makes you believe your new gTLD portfolio can beat a decent turnover rate (end user sales, not reseller market sales) for dot com portfolios?

… hopefully, answering these questions will help you draw your own conclusion when it comes to the financial viability of your new gTLD strategy.

I mean hey, maybe you’re making a ton of money via new gTLD sales and are laughing all the way to the bank… if so, good for you!

But I for one have not come across a single meaningful *domainer* success story that pertains to new gTLDs, as in a domainer who makes a decent living by buying/selling new gTLDs. I’ve come across several case studies involving registries who made a bunch of money selling their own premium inventory but domainers… yeah, not really 🙂

Food for thought…