mercury.com - $1.1m, smoking.com - $500K, mr.com - $350K, americans.com - $150K

[.biz]

News from NetNames ???

The sale of generic domain names is seeing increased levels of interest, the likes of which have not been seen since the .com boom.

The most recent sale reported has been the sale of mercury.com, which was bought by Mercury Interactive Corporation (Nasdaq: MERQ), for $1.1 million. It was also reported last week that the domain name smoking.com was sold for $500,000, mr.com for $350,000 and americans.com for $150,000.

Isn't it a good news?

[Duke]

Smoking.com didn't sell for $500,000. That was the listing price at GreatDomains. We reported the actual selling price yesterday after getting word directly from GreatDomains:

http://www.dnjournal.com/lowdown.htm

Still a great sale and there is no doubt that business is booming again.

[.com.net.org]

Great news to us.

[DaddyHalbucks]

..and not a [.BIZ] nor [.INFO] nor [.US] among them!!

[mole]

..and not a [.BIZ] nor [.INFO] nor [.US] among them!!

Sure, the extensions you mention are still not sexually mature yet, daddy. Go mess with the adult section and leave the kiddies alone.

[Duke]

..and not a [.BIZ] nor [.INFO] nor [.US] among them!!

Yep, and not a single owner of one of those big dollar .com names among us either. On the other hand there are owners of very good Biz, Info & US among us who have sold thousands of dollars worth of new extension domains.

That's the point the .commies always leave out. They point to big dollar .com sales but have never come within sniffing distance of actually owning a .com of the quality that gets sold for a price like that themselves. And given the realities of today's marketplace, they never ARE going to get close to one either.

Meanwhile several new extension folks I know just go about their business piling up profits and building great portfolios for the future with names that are still affordable. The .commies sit and hope that somehow a big dollar .com is going to magically miss the Pool/NW/Etc auctions and fall into their lap. Easter is coming - maybe the Easter Bunny will bring you one! Dream on and continue missing what historically may be looked back on as the greatest buying opportunity since the early to mid 90's when the great .coms were picked up for a song. :-D

[actnow]

1. Meanwhile several new extension folks I know just go about their business piling up profits and building great portfolios for the future with names that are still affordable.

2. Easter is coming - maybe the Easter Bunny will bring you one!

3. the greatest buying opportunity since the early to mid 90's when the great .coms were picked up for a song. :-D

Duke,
Under point #1, I think the new extensions have already taken off.
And, they are now, no long affordable.
So, please stop buying them when they drop. :-D

Point #2, Everytime I asked the Easter Bunny to bring me something special.
It ends up being a "Rotten Egg".

Point #3. Did I miss another opportunity? Next time, please tell me about it!!! :disappoin

Personally, I think all of the .com supporters should continue to chase the available .coms'.

Because, they will push the .com prices higher and higher.

Which, will make all of the other tld extensions rise in price
when I go to sell them.

[DaddyHalbucks]

Yep, and not a single owner of one of those big dollar .com names among us either. On the other hand there are owners of very good Biz, Info & US among us who have sold thousands of dollars worth of new extension domains.

That's the point the .commies always leave out. They point to big dollar .com sales but have never come within sniffing distance of actually owning a .com of the quality that gets sold for a price like that themselves. And given the realities of today's marketplace, they never ARE going to get close to one either.

Meanwhile several new extension folks I know just go about their business piling up profits and building great portfolios for the future with names that are still affordable. The .commies sit and hope that somehow a big dollar .com is going to magically miss the Pool/NW/Etc auctions and fall into their lap. Easter is coming - maybe the Easter Bunny will bring you one! Dream on and continue missing what historically may be looked back on as the greatest buying opportunity since the early to mid 90's when the great .coms were picked up for a song.
++++++++++++++


Yes, .BIZ/ .INFO/ .US could be the next .COM in a few years.

Or... they could be a .BOMB

My money is on the latter..

Correct, great domains don't magically fall in anyone's lap. The best way is to open up your wallet and spent $XX,000 for a great .COM domain that could be worth 10-100 times that in the near future. There are a few people on this board who do this sort of .COM investing successfully. GeorgeK is one.

Or, you can hope to sell second rate merchandise at a much smaller margin. .BIZ/ .INFO/ .US are all second rate goods.

You can always hope that a .BIZ/ .INFO/ .US will grow up to be a .COM, but in my opinion, that is not an event that seems even remotely possible.

[Duke]

Yes, .BIZ/ .INFO/ .US could be the next .COM in a few years.

Or... they could be a .BOMB

My money is on the latter..

You've totally missed the point as well as the boat Hal. Info Biz & US don't HAVE to be the next .COM. It is immaterial. All they need is a small slice of the market to make them profitable for investors and they ALREADY have that with the growth curve just beginning.

I make my living (and it is a pretty good one for myself and my family) almost entirely from new extension sales. Of course, I understand that for some reason there are a handful of you who think dollars earned with .coms are more valuable than dollars earned with new extensions, but for some reason the U.S. Treasury hasn't gotten the word yet! They still treat those greenbacks the same regardless of where they come from.

Correct, great domains don't magically fall in anyone's lap. The best way is to open up your wallet and spent $XX,000 for a great .COM domain that could be worth 10-100 times that in the near future.

In the last few weeks I have sold three new extension domains that I paid $7 each for (at least one bought on this forum) for $1000 each. That is well over 100 times my money in just a couple of months time. But again, I know that money probably doesn't count because it did after all come from new extension sales.

<<You can always hope that a .BIZ/ .INFO/ .US will grow up to be a .COM, but in my opinion, that is not an event that seems even remotely possible>>

As I noted above, I couldn't care less whether that happens or not. It probably won't happen and it won't matter a bit if it doesn't. I was under the impression that people enter this business, like other businesses, to make money. What you haven't learned yet is that there is more than one way to make money in this industry. Why you think the money you make is better than the money someone else makes is a curious concept to me. Perhaps you could explain that one to me again.

The fact is you are hopelessly out of touch with what is going on in the domain market today (but you are only about 9 months behind, so I am sure you will catch up sooner or later). I wouldn't have it any other way though. If so many of you hadn't slept right through the golden opportunity that presented itself over the past few months, those of us who recognized it would not be banking nearly as much money as we are now (with the prospects of dramatically higher returns in the months and years ahead). History keeps repeating itself but not everyone pays attention to the lessons.

[DaddyHalbucks]

Duke,

It is good to hear your success story with the new extensions.

It goes to prove you can make money in niche markets if you follow them closely and work at it.

[Duke]

Duke,

It is good to hear your success story with the new extensions.

It goes to prove you can make money in niche markets if you follow them closely and work at it.

That is the only point I am trying to make and I would grant that it IS a niche market today - but it is turning out to be a very nice niche that will almost certainly broaden considerably in the months and years ahead. With new people coming into the business I think it is doing them a great disservice to tell them they have no chance to succeed unless they already have tens of thousands of dollars to buy top-level .com domains. I put virtually no capital into the business when I started less than two years ago and I now make my livelihood from it.

I am not knocking .com - how can you knock it? - I am just saying there is more than one way to skin a cat and the economic realities of today's marketplace make it wise to take advantage of every income option available to you. I personally like all extensions that make money for me (that is one reason I don't like .net - it has never produced for me). That is my one and only criteria for judging whether or not it makes sense to invest in specific areas.

In case you haven't guessed, I am also pretty tired of the "superior" attitude of those who think the money they make is somehow worth more than the money others make simply because they happen to be earning from different product lines. That is an asinine attitude that does the industry no good and I'll be happy to tell that straight to the face of any old timer who would like to hear it from me.

[NameTower]

Duke Question:

3 $1000 sales in a week?

how many do you have??

VERY impressive Duke.

- Jordan

[GeorgeK]

McDonald's makes a lot of money selling $5 and less Happy Meals. Profitable fancy restaurants exist at $100+ per person, too.

[Duke]

Duke Question:

3 $1000 sales in a week?

how many do you have??

VERY impressive Duke.

- Jordan

No, I said above "In the last few weeks ". Those sales have all been on the New TLD charts at DNJournal. Two of them were to Deutsche Telekom (owners of T-Mobile). Apparently one of the world's largest corporations sees some value in new extensions (they bought one .info and a different .biz a short time later). I do have an average of three 3-figure sales a week in new extensions however.

[Duke]

McDonald's makes a lot of money selling $5 and less Happy Meals. Profitable fancy restaurants exist at $100+ per person, too.

That's exactly right. There are several tiers in virtually every market. GeorgeK is a guy we all admire for the success he has had in acquiring excellent .com domains. He is a Lexus dealer and I currently sell Hyundais - but we both make an honest living. With threats like Verisign lurking out there I think we would all do a lot better if we realize we are on the same side and concern ourselves with real threats to our marketplace rather than imagined ones from domain extensions.

[NameTower]

No, I said above "In the last few weeks ". Those sales have all been on the New TLD charts at DNJournal. Two of them were to Deutsche Telekom (owners of T-Mobile). Apparently one of the world's largest corporations sees some value in new extensions (they bought one .info and a different .biz a short time later). I do have an average of three 3-figure sales a week in new extensions however.

Whoops..

Still a pretty nice return off of a $7 investment..

Congrats.
- Jordan

[actnow]

Harder I push my kids to do something. More they resist.

Duke, all you can do is give advise on the potential rewards of other tlds to the group that is open-minded.

If the other group is happy with what they have. Then, that is their destiny.

However, thank you for mentoring me thru this very opportune time in the domain business.

[DaddyHalbucks]

Duke wrote:

With threats like Verisign lurking out there I think we would all do a lot better if we realize we are on the same side and concern ourselves with real threats to our marketplace rather than imagined ones from domain extensions.
++++++++++++++

Agreed.

Although I never viewed the new extensions as a threat. If anything, they help me. They siphon off domainer money which could otherwise be used to compete in the .COM space.

[DaddyHalbucks]

Duke wrote:

With new people coming into the business I think it is doing them a great disservice to tell them they have no chance to succeed unless they already have tens of thousands of dollars to buy top-level .com domains. I put virtually no capital into the business when I started less than two years ago and I now make my livelihood from it.
+++++++++++++++

Respectfully, I disagree, and I would advise just the opposite.

I view it all as a way to grade investments and risk.

Yes, if one purpose of these boards is to educate newbies, my input would be that .COM is less risky.

Again, one can make money at anything. You have succeeded, but you have had a single minded purpose and dedication. Many newbies do domains as a hobby.

I have seen many domainers with huge portfolios of worthless domains. Far fewer have overpaid for top .COMs

The real world analogue maybe buying a countertop full of $1 lottery tickets --versus-- investing in fewer shares of some decent common stock and staying the long term course.

It is safer advice to newbies that they should focus on learning valuation and acquiring a domain with value than attempting a land grab. All too often the land grabs involve swamp.

[DaddyHalbucks]

To further clarify, I would add that Duke is successful in this alternate TLD niche market precisely because it is a full time endeavor for him.

That is a far different case than a newbie kicking some tires and looking to get started.

If someone isn't going to do domains full time, I would suggest a bigger market, and that is .COM

And if they want to further increase their odds of success, they should open their wallet.

If only it were so simple as investing a few dollars part time weekends and nights and getting wildly rich. Such a business would attract millions of opportunity seekers.