Are i-____.com & e-______.com A Waste of Money? - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

Banned: Peachesbackwards · 12-29-2007, 01:16 AM

I was just surprised to find some .Com domain names are availablethat have an i- or an e- in front of the main word, i.e., like (these aren't available but just for example if they were): i-NewYork.com or e-ParkPlace.com. Is anything where you use a i- or e-, a waste of money no matter how good the name, if its a .Com and you have no more dashes?

**Acro** · 12-29-2007, 01:20 AM

Only e-mail.com would be worth a lot, although most people write it without the dash nowadays.

**Devil Dog** · 12-29-2007, 01:22 AM

Absolutely worthless.

There's some guy here with e-nic.com for his name and he swears it's the best thing since tube socks.

Banned: Peachesbackwards · 12-29-2007, 01:26 AM

Thanks You Saved Me Money on this one Anytime something looks too good to be true it is.

**Devil Dog** · 12-29-2007, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peachesbackwards

Thanks You Saved Me Money on this one Anytime something looks too good to be true it is.

**memmst** · 12-29-2007, 01:34 AM

it's often easy to convince yourself you are about to buy the right domain.
a little harder to convince the buyer sometimes

Best of luck, try and dig deeper into specific niches and check for stats with the various tools
(google estimator,freekeywords.wordtracker,overture etc.)

**sdsinc** · 12-29-2007, 08:15 AM

IMO the only good names would be e-mail, e-business... a few exceptions. Most e- and i- names stink, actually hyphened names are worth less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devil Dog

Absolutely worthless.

There's some guy here with e-nic.com for his name and he swears it's the best thing since tube socks.

At least he has some nice non-hyphened names

**Doc Com** · 12-29-2007, 08:31 AM

Depends on the application and the name.

I just regged a new surgical procedure and tool that actually begins with the letter "i" and a hyphen...

i-...........

In this case, the letter "i" can mean internal or intrinsic or invasive.

The audience and the searches may be small initially, but in the long run medical related domains have been the highest PPC for me with some paying as much as $12.98 per click and some a low of $3.05 per click.

**Devil Dog** · 12-29-2007, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdsinc

At least he has some nice non-hyphened names

**Focus** · 12-29-2007, 02:09 PM

some are good...if it makes sense go for it as I personally have sold some names like these to end-users and there are some big finance sites and other companies using domains like these as their homepage recently..it never hurts to have great keyword domains with an e or i in the front but not two and three word combos..good luck dude! (if you have a list send it to me PM and I'll cherry pick it for you)

**exponent** · 12-30-2007, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devil Dog

Absolutely worthless.

There's some guy here with e-nic.com for his name and he swears it's the best thing since tube socks.

I hate tube socks. They never fit my Fred Flintstone feet correctly. Anyhow, back to the topic at hand.

Dashed domains with "E" or "I" are generally a waste of time unless one of the following circumstances arises:

1.) You're clever, and you snag a deal on something short like e-nic or i-pod etc.

2.) You're trying to build a brand and for some reason you decide a dashed domain would be nice (reverts back to e-nic)

Banned: Peachesbackwards · 12-30-2007, 05:23 AM

Just to reiterate what I've read here. If one's intent is to "flip" a domain name & make a decent profit, even if you could get at registered price say E-LasVegas.Com, E-USA.COM,
i-Stereo.com, i-HDTV.COM, assuming these were available, you wouldn't bother because in all likelihood you would be lucky to sell it for your registration price? That's the general concensus, right?

**Doc Com** · 12-30-2007, 08:05 AM

If you want a quick flip, then perhaps be cautious. For revenue generating via parking, not a bad choice.

Search engines do not read a hyphen as a hyphen or a space.

Type i-pod into google search bar. Or even ip-od.

Typically these names are great for parking. Traffic is traffic.

From my perspective these are hardly worthless domains. And from my direct deposit's perspective as well.

For some reason, I have been getting much higher traffic and CTR and PPC at Bodis.com on hyphenated names than anywhere else. I understand they are not taking new customers at present.

Perhaps others can share where their hyphenated names are parked and if they have been successful.

**DomainName** · 12-30-2007, 11:51 AM

I have a few i- and e- that generate traffic with nice revenue. I don't think all i- or e- are worthless. Believe it or not, but there are people that actually type the hyphen still

If you're looking into getting i- or e- I would look into getting high payout keyword names and stay with 1 word...do not get 2+ word names.

**Zilla** · 12-30-2007, 12:50 PM

do have some exxxxx.com or ixxxxx.com but never try e- or i-, never think this kind of name..., not matter what kind combination, a "-" kill the name in most scenario.

**DomainName** · 01-08-2008, 12:45 AM

I went to BD and noticed that they have a TON of i- names available. I am very shocked at the prices they asking for them as well.

i- $12k
i- $5k
i- $5k
i- $4k

Check it out for yourself.

very interesting...are i- worth anything? BD thinks so.

This shows you that the price of a domain is worth whatever the owner thinks it should be!

**sdsinc** · 01-08-2008, 06:16 AM

BD has a lot of names with hyphens which are pretty weak IMHO.
Their prices are often steep but remember they cater to end users even though they welcome business from domainers.

**alexsimon** · 01-08-2008, 11:36 AM

As others said, they may not be good for reseller market, but end users think differently than resellers. Don't reg it with intention to flip to domainers in mind.

But, if you find the non-hyphenated idomains or edomans available, and if they make somewhat sense, go grab them.

**mediawizard** · 01-09-2008, 09:46 AM

I'd be really interested in knowing what you all think of these type of names without the hyphen.

I bought the following for my business - iConsult, iBrand, iDevelop & iPromote - mostly for web solutions.

These are of course local ccTLDs and not coms but they serve my target market well. One is already developed and the others will be very soon.

**DomainName** · 01-09-2008, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mediawizard

I'd be really interested in knowing what you all think of these type of names without the hyphen.

I bought the following for my business - iConsult, iBrand, iDevelop & iPromote - mostly for web solutions.

These are of course local ccTLDs and not coms but they serve my target market well. One is already developed and the others will be very soon.

i without the hyphen is a solid name...e is much much better though. Don't expect a ton of type-ins. Strictly from a marketing perspective...its great