Guide to numeric domains (Part 2) - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

**sevent** · 06-23-2006, 03:27 AM

(Part 1 is here)

What makes one numeric name better than any other? When it comes to selling to end users, it doesn’t matter much which domain you are selling. Your goal is to get as much as possible based on how badly they want the domain name and how much money they have to spend for it. Sure, you might have to justify your price by pointing to sales of similar numeric names, but basically there are no rules for which names are worth more than others. If a company wants that name, they have a reason for wanting it and expect the name to benefit them. Try to get as much as you can out of them

When it comes to determining reseller prices, there are a few general rules which make a numeric domain worth more money or less money. Keep in mind that these are just general rules. There are thousands of numbers which have special meanings to millions of people, even though the number might not seem all that special to you.

Things which increase value

Obviously the biggest factor in pricing a numeric is how long it is. Shorter is almost always better, and in the long term NN will be worth about 10 times as much as NNN which will be worth about 10 times more than NNNN. Again, these is only true *in general*, but shortness is the most important factor in determining resller value for numerics.
Numbers which end in “0” are better. The more 0’s at the end, relative to the length of the domain, the better. Just take a look at how fast 500.com sold here at DNF
Repeating digits are a good thing. In general, a name like 333.com is going to be worth more than 352.com.
[li] In China the numbers “3”, “6” and “8” are lucky. Don't ask me to explain why. Ask someone with a Chinese flag next to their name.
Lower numbers are better. People tend to think that all digits occur with the same frequency throught nature and society. That’s wrong. Numbers starting with 1 are more common that numbers starting with 2 which are more common than numbers starting with 3 and so on. The science behind this could fill a whole book. If you want the full story do a Google search for “Benford’s law”. I think you could argue that, because of pricing, the number “9” probably does better than Benford’s law predicts. At any rate, a name like 1372.com is probably worth more than 8372.com.
Numbers in sequence are always nice, so 654.com is probably better than 627.com
Numbers ending in "5" or multiples of "25" are a little bit better.

Things which decrease value

Again, except for special cases, the more numbers the less value. Right now all NN.com, NNN.com, and NNNN.com names are taken. The vast majority of NNNNN.com names are taken too, but there are still some free.
Numbers beginning with ‘0’ are worth less. Look at the recent sale of 06.com for just $20k. I would guess that’s a full 1/3 less than the reseller price for an average NN.com name. As with the other things which decrease value, keep in mind that a domain beginning with '0' isn’t necessarily a bad investment. It may be a very good investment, just make sure that you pay less for these names than you would for a similar domain starting with a different digit.
Numbers containing “4” are unlucky for Chinese speakers, though this might not be as strong a preference as expected. I get lots of offers from Asia for my 4N4.com names.

Your mileage may vary
I can’t stress enough that these are general rules, there will always be special numbers that seem very normal to you. If you think there are other things which make numeric names worth more or less please let me know!

For Part 3 I am planning to write about investment strategies, but we’ll see

**9888** · 06-23-2006, 05:47 AM

Another great article, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I look forward to Part 3.

Cheers.

PS: 8294.com spells Verb and is listed for sale at Sedo!

**OnSpec** · 06-23-2006, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9888

PS: 8294.com spells Verb and is listed for sale at Sedo!

8294 also stands for Taxi, and was taken years ago.

I believe that it's 8294.eu that's for sale on Sedo.

**bigbobm** · 06-23-2006, 11:10 AM

Great read. FYI.... Anheuser-Busch Inc., owns and uses numeric 180.com

**sevent** · 06-23-2006, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9888

PS: 8294.com spells Verb and is listed for sale at Sedo!

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnSpec

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts regarding .mobi vs: numeric .com domains in respect of accessing internet sites on mobile/cellular phones.

That second quote was actually from a response to Part 1 but I put it here with the other.

I had thought about including "spells something on phone keypads" as one of the factors that can increase a numerics value, but I just haven't seem much evidence of that... yet. Maybe there have been one or two sales to end users because of this meaning, but I don't know of much evidence that it has affected reseller prices for numerics relative to each other.

Really this whole issue is a huge wild-card -- it could be a REALLY big boost for numeric domains or it could turn out to be a very small factor. I think it's still too early to tell, but maybe people on this board have a different opinion or have special knowledge about this.

One thing about .mobi though: I think that .com will ALWAYS be king, at least until my I'm so old they make me give up salt. The only way .mobi could gain traction is if phones come pre-configured to automatically add ".mobi" to the end of domain names and email addresses, like some browsers add .com to the end of words to make them resolve.

**9888** · 06-23-2006, 05:03 PM

"At any rate, a name like 1372.com is probably worth more than 8372.com."

Sorry my mistake, 8372 is what was quoted and spells verb, 8294 does spell Taxi.

**bigbobm** · 06-23-2006, 09:30 PM

Word Dial has a great collection of numeric domains that spell search terms like 7676.com and 7000 more like it. "Their numeric domains definetly spell something". I will perdict that their portfolio will be bought by a one of the bigboys.