"Hmm. Just by reading it aloud, it doesn't sound that great or brandable."
Google crawlers cannot detect sound. I didn't realize a domain had to sound good when verbalised for it to be an effective selling tool - so I guess some of the very lsuccessful, very large multi nationals that have websites with names that don't exactly roll off the tongue have got it wrong. I thought the objective, for a website owner was to have a website name that matches as closely as possible to the search that a potential customer types into the google search box? I bow to the obvious wealth of marketing and advertising experience in this thread. I want to set up an e-commerce business selling 3D movies, can someone please offer a suitable domain name that aside from suitable SEO and linking will have google find my site.
"Have you studied the market and reported sales ?"
- have you? What market do you speak of - the domaining market or the real world of commerce and retail out there? The answer is yes and no - there is very little solid data available, retail sales dollar volumes, profits, etc - any available data at present would be less than useful as the products have only been in the marketplace for 4 months. Trends? the graph is vertical but that is to be expected given a zero base. The best indicator of the "market" and the expectations is the commitment of mega dollars by some of the worlds most respected companies and individuals. Read Rupert Murdochs letter to shareholders when announcing Newscorps financial results 2009. This type of "study" is relevant indicators of the market at the top end, the tail will follow. Why are prices of HDLCD televisions falling significantly? You don't have to be einstein to figure that out.
What kind of names actually sell in that price range ?
Let me guess - pretty sounding names or names that have very real commercial value?? What is very real commercial value? - in the case of MOVIES3DLATEST.COM there is no-one in this forum that has any clue as to the value of this name to any of the major retailers of movies, dvds, videos. Only those retailers will know the value to their business. If a large retailer, say 500 stores across the U.S. (that is actually a small retailer) paid 50k for that name then from the additional hits to their website (likely redirected from this name to their main site) then each store would have to realize 1k per annum additional profit for the company to achieve ROI - less than $100 per month, less than the profit from sales of an additional 20 movies per month, less than one per day. If I was managing a company turning over hundreds of millions of dollars per year in a competitive market I would certainly seriously consider a $50k "advertising"commitment in a domain that suits the searchers inquiry versus spending that money on 50 30 second commercials or 8 full page magazine advertisements. That is why some of these names will sell for 5 figures plus, because astute business managers out there do their sums, and in some cases astute domain name owners do their sums and present them as a business proposal to such business managers.
That is when you get reasonable dollars. So short answer, many, many names sell in that range, or more correctly have sold in that range. Stats from some of these selling sites and even DNJ won't show this - why? - aside from some gems being brought out of a dusty file, or names that definatively suit a niche, the rest out there are from the bottom of the heap - so what can you expect. "Recent sales - sales last year" data is useless in defining the value of domains in a "new market". Even in the new 3D market many of the super duper waterfont properties will have been sought by buyers directly with the registrants and such purchases being private are not available to DNJ - unless the seller blabs.
Let me throw the question back at you - how many names in other market sectors have sold for 5 plus figures? If you know then it appears the second coming has arrived. Forget any of "my" names - there are hundreds of 3D names that will sell in 5 figures - simply because the market is / will be so enormous - again it all revolves around the mighty dollar.
We all wish our names are worth 6 figures each, but that's wishful thinking, not reality.
True - but let the market out there, the business managers trying to make money, gain market share and beat off their competitors decide what real "value" is to their business - not what we may think. I would really implore you to sit back and look at numbers, they are mind boggling - use the yellow pages as a guide to the number of variations of a key word for a business to attract customers - research the sales volume in dollars of movies (dvds, videos) sold in the U.S. last year as an example seeing as we are using that name as an example - same applies to other 3D products.
Sticking 3D in front of <insert random long-tail domain here> just isn't recipe for success.
Certainly not - research is though - "home theater systems" as an
exact search inquiry retrieves 1,080,000 searches p.a. in the U.S. (the singular retrieves 350k) - In a years time how many people will be searching for a home theater system without adding in 3D in the search criteria?? So hometheatersystems3d.com (20 characters) will be of some real value to a business selling home theater systems - the operating profit from the sale of a 3D home theater system would average around $750 ($5000 x 15%) - at conservatively 300k searches definitively inclusive of 3D if as a retailer I paid $15000 for that domain name and appeared on page 1 of google (obviously it goes without saying that quality SEO is required to rank) and I get say 5% of those inquiries as hits = 15000 then all I have to do is convert 20 (twenty) of those hits (0.0013%) into sales and I have recovered my investment.
As an astute business person I would SERIOUSLY consider an investment of that amount for a very long domain name.
Having such a name registered and waiting for a buyer to contact you or putting it in sedo or any other sales site would be an absolute waste of time and money. It must be actively marketed to prospective buyers, that is where the research and the hard part of the selling of a useful domain starts.
Even astute business people do not wake up in the morning and say "I think I will look for some available domains for my business today" (if so where do they look?? - you know but do they?) - if you have a product to sell then you must let the real potential customers know you have it, someone has to turn the light on, or you will grow grey and old waiting for that knock on the door.
Short answer - long names will work if they are known to be searchable.
"MOVIES3DLATEST.COM is an excellent advertisement for a business / retailer to let consumers know that he has the latest 3d movies - just what the consumer was searching for - bingo!!"
Not really. It fails the very basic test of nobody says that phrase, movies 3d latest. Search volume on that phrase, exact match - not enough data. 3dmovies is obviously a nice name.
Does it matter whether people say that phrase ?? Is that the basic test of the worth of a website name, how it sounds?? I was under the dillusion that what matters is typing that phrase into a google search box, you know, that person sitting there at their computer, that dumbass potential buyer of a product, the one that makes money for a business, like you and me, typing in what they are actually looking for. (IKEA - strange sounding name, wish I owned it). Did you really expect that there be any data for that phrase with 3D televisions only being in "some" stores for only 3-4 months tops?? (many stores are struggling to get stock!!). And yet again the term used by a few in here "nice name" - nice names do not make money - "effective" names do, effective means it creates money for the user of that name as a website or as a signpost directing to another website(porn is not a very nice name at all, in fact it is offensive to many, but it sure is effective and worth gazillions). For search data potential for that phrase try removing the blinkers - movies retrieves 1 billion per annum in the U.S. - you do your own sums as to what numbers may be there under that exact phrase search in a years time
If they're so good they must be on the DNJournal sales report each week, right?
This week? Nope, none.
Surely they'll be on the YTD list, right? They should domainate it, right?
3DTV.co.uk sold on 3/31 for $15,000 pounds (about $22,000 US).
That's the only domain on the YTD chart with "3D" in it.
Reading some of the previous responses should suffice as a response to your blinkered observations. As for 3DTV.CO.UK selling for 22k in my opinion (which apparently is like my domain names and my enthusiasm for the potential of 3D names, not worth much) the person who sold that domain was very astute in obtaining or registering the name however is not really an astute business person, imo. That name would be worth much more than that "to the right company". Having said that, do the maths, the population of the UK is 70mil, the u.s. is 310mil or a factor of 4.4, 22k x 4.4 = 97k. This ratio is valid by way of number of consumers, other factors obviously come into play. Very close to 6 figures right? And again IMO it is very much undervalued. What would Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch and other media network moguls pay for 3DTV.COM ???
Do you know who purchased that domain - if so that could possibly be an indicator of its real or future value - was it another domainer, a marketing company, a television network, a satellite tv company? - was it purchased for resale?? if so keep an eye on the next sale
In essence I am not particularly concerned about what prices others may be getting - there are far, far too many factors involved in what determined the selling price, most of which even DNJ and others are not privy to. Based on the above, the current owner of 3DTV.COM, if he/she was to use that sale as a value indicator would be looking at about $100k for his/her name. I do not have $100k but if offered that domain at that price I would beg, steal or borrow the money to buy it and treble my investment within months.
I haven't bothered looking at the sites you mentioned, mainly because I am yet to enter the aftermarket phase, but will have a look, I might see something "effective".
Parting comment - I have listed about 300 of my domains for sale on a few sites, not that I expect them to sell mainly because the majority of visitors to those sites are domainers anyway (what percentage of the professed 35million domains on afternic actually have bids against them??). Why did I list them then - simple - when I send letters of offer to prospective customers I can subtly indicate that the domain(s) is/are currently listed for $x on such and such a site, by far the greater majority will assume that the listed price is a reasonable market price and will negotiate down from that price - silly me, who am I to suggest how to sell effectively, I am but a novice domainer.
Dude! You are way out of line. This guy has been domaining for TWO MONTHS! You should just step back and think about how much experience he brings to the table.
and for you Diabro - sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, however if you wish to have a sarcasm duel then I am your man
On a serious note - you are obviously an experienced domainer so I wondered if you might assist a novice like me.
What is a domainer? Is there a training manual? How many domains do you have to have to be a real domainer? How many sales do you have to have under your belt? Do you have to have reached a certain single sales value for a domain to be regarded as a successful domainer? Does a succesful domainer have to serve an apprenticeship, if so how long? Does a successful domainer need to have experience in business, marketing or selling to be successful or just have an eye for a nice name?
I really want to learn. I have been under the dillusion that having a degree in Marketing and having had 25 years experience in sales and marketing globally having conducted business in 23 countries, having an analytical mind, a reasonable command of the English language (except when I type too fast), having excellent written and verbal negotiation acumen, being forward thinking, being an opportunist, and an all round nice guy that I may have had basis for making a success of recognising, marketing and selling effective domain names.
The books I have read seem not to have the wealth of experience and knowledge that you obviously have in successful sales and marketing (of anything). So please offer me some of your valuable guidance.
Thanks, Mike
