chickenfingers.org & kayakrentals.co

[DMarkel]

Hi

Interested in what you think these two domains are worth.

chickenfingers.org & kayakrentals.co

Thanks

[INFORG]

I don't see much value in these. I would think that if you could get low XX on either you'd be doing well. You might get lucky and find someone ignorant of domains to pay low XXX for the Kayak domain - but unlikely.

[WhoDatDog]

ChickenFingers.org is kinda funny. It isn't worth anything as far as being able to sell it, but you might get $8 worth of smiles per year just by looking at it in your account. The KayakRentals.co is an absolutely BRUTAL and worthless name. Whatever thought process you had when you registered that name is a thought process that is going to cost you a lot of money in the future if you don't change your thinking.

[DMarkel]

Really? Why?

I would have though different why are these bad specifically?

[INFORG]

Really? Why?

I would have though different why are these bad specifically?

Brandability - unless you are branding a nonprofit or community site that would be associated with a .org, a .org is a poor choice for branding. A .co would be more appropriate for spanish terms branding, or at a minimum, a service/product highly sought after in that country.
Search Demand - Although there are exceptions, a .co with less than 1000 exact match searches isn't really a gem. A .org at 2400 exacts is better, but there are plenty available with that or more.
Marketability ROI - what are you going to do with chickenfingers.org that would make you money? A potential buyer would have to see a return on investment to value the name. For kayakrentals.co , why would a potential buyer spend big dollars on a name he could not brand, in a country extension that he doesn't operate in, and where he would lose much of his traffic to the .com?
Advertiser Demand - what is the CPC for these terms? See again marketability/ROI

So, before registering any more names, always ask these questions - and answer honestly:

1. Is this name brandable? Would it sound good on TV, easy to spell, not easily misunderstood, short and catchy?
2. Are people looking for this term? What is the search volume, and what do names with similar volume sell for in this extension?
3. Is there a return on investment for a buyer? How Much? If this were developed, how much traffic and revenue would you expect to make from it per year? Take that number and divide it by 10, subtract out what it would cost to build the site, and you have your value.
4. How much are advertisers paying for qualified traffic in this niche? Again, evaluate #3 for a return on investment.
5. Is there any existing traffic to this name either type-in or old links traffic? How much? and again see #4 and #3

Schools out. It is OK to play around with low end names - that is pretty much my business model and I see a lot of people doing well in the XX to XXX range. But, if you are just flipping names, you have to do much better than these. If you are buying junk, you need to be able to develop some basic sites to try and eke out some earnings on your portfolio and hope you can trade up later, or catch a lucky break. Read the forums and see what stuff sells for - figure out why it sells for what it does, and then look for names where the cost is less than those values. If you don't know why some names suck, you need to do more research.

And even then, we all buy a real stinker here and there - be prepared to drop at least 10% of any hand-regs each year.

[DMarkel]

I really appreciate you spelling this out for me like you did.

As you probably guessed I am a newb in domaining.

[WhoDatDog]

One of the problems is that seasoned domainers who know better are mostly unwilling to save newbies from themselves. The .co extention is rampant with fraud and phoney alleged sales, just like .mobi was. Just like .eu was. What happens is that they try to get a lot of names and sales prices published early on and then people get to work trying to sell names they bought for $10 to newbies for thousands. The game gets old and I would be happy if a few scammers were put in prison for thiur financial crimes. One day it will happen and I hope they rot in prison for years.

If people got the word out that these alternative extentions like .co were generally a horrible idea for a new domainer then the world would be a better place. I try to do it, but I often get lowlifes trying to tell me how spectacular the new extention's prospects are, or they tell me that I cannot prove that someone didn't spend 5 or 6 figures on a worthless name with no traffic.

I wish you luck. Stick with dotcoms until you figure it out. The best thing to do is to read. Don't let the scum that floats around these new extentions like .co sour your mood. They wll get tripped up one day and get arrested for financial fraud. It will happen sooner or later. Everybody who doesn't take a stand against shill bidding, phoney sales, and other schenanigans is really dishonest. It is a a buyer beware indsutry. If you were dying of thirst not one of the fraudsters who scams people with .co and other horseshit extentions would give you a glass of water.

[DMarkel]

Thanks again for giving it straight. I hate things sugar coated, especially when money is involved.

Two posts with some valuable lessons.

Thanks

[Acro]

The .co extention is rampant with fraud and phoney alleged sales, just like .mobi was. Just like .eu was. What happens is that they try to get a lot of names and sales prices published early on and then people get to work trying to sell names they bought for $10 to newbies for thousands. The game gets old and I would be happy if a few scammers were put in prison for thiur financial crimes. One day it will happen and I hope they rot in prison for years

Yet another fine example of this guy's agenda and stupidity-laden commentary. What gets old is that in every "appraisal" this Debbie Downer does feels compelled to spew his Area 51 quality venom that reeks of jealousy and unsubstantiated allegations.

One of these days the registries you so falsely accuse will serve you a nice C&D to back up your allegations, rest assured, Debbie.

[LoriAnne]

@DMarkel, there are a lot of very seasoned domain investors who you can turn to for thoughtful guidance and advice as you learn the ropes of being a domainer. Like you, I learned about the domain industry as a newbie by reaching out and asking for advice from those with more experience who had "been there and done that." The value of good advice can not be overstated. Mentors, industry friends and trusted colleagues can cut years off your learning curve -- and cut many zeros off the dollars that your own "mistakes" would have otherwise cost you! Believe me, I know this from experience! Good advice early in my career from people like @dotcomgod and others I have met on this forum, and on the various other industry blogs and at domain industry events, saved my hide on more than one occasion. Thankfully, I'm now in the position to return the favor by giving some helpful guidance to people like you who are now in the same shoes I was in myself not so long ago.

So here is my advice to you. I hope it serves you well.

There are a lot of people in the domain industry with a lot of opinions. Who is right? Whose wrong? What's good? What's bad? When is something worth investing in? When is something just a passing fad? Unfortunately, my friend, there are no simple answers to these questions. There are all sorts of domainers with different philosophies, investment styles, and short and long term portfolio objectives. Some domainers invest for traffic. Others invest for long term brand value. Some invest in hopes of generating parking revenue, others intend to develop their domain names, and still others hope to buy and flip or buy and hold. With all these differing styles and objectives, it is simply a fact that there will never be one "right" piece of advice in any given situation. The best you can do is to open your mind and to try to learn a little bit from each person, and to learn from your own mistakes -- with the expectation that over time you will develop your own unique investment style that melds your interests, your tolerance for risk and your personal goals and objectives.

But please, as you start this journey -- please beware that not every person who posts a comment on a blog or a forum is worthy of your time and attention. This is a small industry. Those with wisdom to share are easy to spot -- as the content of their posts are typically filled with useful information, grounded in fact (or considered opinion), and have your best interests at heart. A good example of such a post was the one made by @2gajgops. Not everyone may agree with everything he said word for word -- but no matter how you slice it, his intention in creating that post was to give you his take on things and to help you to find your way.

On the other hand, every once in a while you will find someone in the domain industry who simply likes to sit on the sidelines and rant and rave, but whose commentary provides no useful guidance, gives no authoritative information, and adds no value whatsoever to the broader debate. I'm not quite sure what their purpose is, but all they seem to do is create a lot of noise and confusion. Believe me, they are not difficult to spot in a crowd. You can typically find them making baseless allegations about "frauds," "scams" and "crimes," name calling and ranting without focus or purpose -- and most definitely, without any facts to support their claims.

As with all things in life, please be judicious about who you take your advice from. Try to learn from people who have demonstrated success, who are transparent in their dealings, and have your best interests at heart. There are many of these good people in the domain industry, and I have no doubt that your career as a domain investor will flourish if you choose your teachers and mentors wisely.

Good luck to you, and if you have any questions for me personally, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Kind regards,

Lori Anne Wardi,
Director, .CO Internet SAS

[bgmv]

nicely said Lori Anne