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.com TLD still carry some weight?

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I know that things aren't what they used to be (market-wise) but I am wondering what the current state of .com domain names is. With the 'right' name can one still make some good money? Does anyone think that any of the new TLD's have stolen the fire from the .com TLD (ie: .tv, .biz, etc)?

Have any domains sold for large amounts (+$100k US) in the last year or two that anyone knows about. The only place I know that has listings of any sort is www.greatdomains.com and their list has not changed in over a year, so this has me thinking that there are not many domain sales going on these days. Anyone?
 
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Guest
interesting topic, I think its fair to say that selling prices generally have fallen dramatically over the last 2 years, definately amougst resellers. As an example a year or so ago I can remember 3 letter .com names used to get $500 as an absolute minimum, today it seems to be $150.

I think transaction numbers have fallen greatly also, a good example is the great domains one which you pointed out, when was the last time one of their high profile names sold for anything close to the listed price?
 

Guest
as far as alternative tld's I think most of the older ones (.tv, .cc, .ws) have sunk to the point that even the the very best one word names aren't even worth the registration fee imo.
 

Guest
Thanks for the reply. To add to that do you think that 'any' domain names can still sell for a very high price. Does it happen at all anymore? I'm sure there must be situations where this does occur still?
 

Guest
just like winning tattslotto or finding someone has dumped a truckload of money on your dootstep; anything can happen :) . But bacially I haven't seen anything other than .com/.net/.org getting much at auction. .tv/.ws/.cc in particular are dead and buried imo.
 

mole

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It used to be that a good .com name was like an instant passport to attract VC interest during the heady dotboom days, thus the ridiculously high prices since money was literally gushing with nowhere to go.

I used to visit Afternic in those days, and people would be asking for $40,000 for names like thissiterocks.com.

What .info and .biz has done to the market is to make people realise that a generic isn't all that great or scarce or hard to get after all.

But look at it this way, buy a name of $8.99 and sell it for $100, that's a 1000% profit. Sell it for $20, that's a 100% profit.

Good .com names still fetch in the region of $2,000+, that's a 200X profit.

Try to earn that money elsewhere.
 

dotsofdomains

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Before the melt-down, if a dot-com domain would sell for X, the same second-level domain in dot-net would bring around .4X and the dot-org variant .2X. Today, with the expansion of me-too TLDs, even dot-net has been devalued to somewhere around .3X, with dot-org holding around .2X or .1X.

The other me-too TLDs are only worth playing if you can land the sexiest of generic terms for peanuts and then turn them into peanut butter. Mind you, as mole correctly points out, the percentage return can be great, but you had better turn over a bundle of them to make serious coinage.
 

buddy

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The only domains that will sell for over 100k today are domains that has loads of traffic to them, or even better that are making money. If you don't have a domain that is a high roller when it comes to traffic, it would be really hard to sell for more than 100k. No matter what the domain is.

Tip! Start developing your best domains into sites. That will dramatically increase the worth of any domain.

Kim
 

Nic

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I guarantee you... really good one word domains without traffic or a website could still fetch 100k+ !
 

Guest
High value mainstream end user sales ($10k+) are mostly done with the vanity motive in mind - not traffic.
 

buddy

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Indeed there are domains being sold for over 100k+ today w/o any heavy traffic to them. However, I can't recall the last time someone sold a domain for over 100K (at least not in the public eye), and I don't think those types of sales are common today. Unless they were developed before or recives a huge amount of traffic. I also know for a fact that the traffic is almost as important for some people as the domain itself. You can spend thousands of dollars in buying a domain. But for what purpose would it be if you can't generate visitors to your site?

A good domain with traffic is the best option. Type-in-traffic is the best traffic you can get and you will save tons of cash just in advertising, buying a domain that receives such traffic. Obviously, a site that represents the domain and what it stands for should be setup.

This is the trend I've seen at least for some months now, and I'm sure some would agree with me. But different scenarios can occur for different people. That is what makes this business so great. There is no tell what tomorrow will bring. :)

Kim
 

Guest
I don't think companies are as happy as they used to be to make these sales details public. jobs.com was the last public big sale I heard of.

Also, if the sales aren't taking place via public sales at gd or an - how would you know the details? When attorneys get involved and contracts are drawn up its common to have non disclosure clauses.

You ask why spend thousands on a domain that doesn't bring traffic - simple answer is vanity. If a company is spending millions on their marketing, a few hundred k worth of domain may well give the ads the "look and feel" they are after (prestige, one upmanship etc) as well as memorability and ease of referall.

None of my own $10k+ sales have *ever* asked about traffic, and thats by no means unique to me.

vanity is a more powerful motivator than traffic ever can be, because the companies can and do already generate traffic from their marketing spend.
 

Guest
Take this scenario. My sister-in-law owns a domain name (.com) which she registered about 3-4 years ago. She has been receiving requests to sell it for the last few years. A company with the same exact name has started recently in the US (her registration predates the company) and they have approached her now to sell them the domain. Does anyone have any advise/input on this one?
 

Guest
As its a new trading entity, they are unlike to have any trademark and even if they did, the predated registration means it could not have been a bad faith registration (meaning any udrp attempt should automatically fail). The domain was not available to them when the decided to use that company name.

Personally, I wouldn't treat them any different to any other intersted party - they just like the same name enough to trade under it is all.
 

dotsofdomains

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Safe:

I agree with you that a domain registration which predates the acquisition of trademark rights SHOULD negate a claim of a bad faith registration, but numerous UDRP rulings HAVE NOT SO HELD, but, rather, have found the mere holding of registrations of potentially trademarkable second-level domains without operation of any website at the domain as evidence, incredibly, of both (i) registration and (ii) use in bad faith. The arbitrators blur the distinction between cyber-squatting and cyber-staking. The latter should be allowable, in my humble opinion.
 

Guest
I agree - the udrp is anything but uniform and there are numerous cases that directly contradict each other, the rules and tm law.
 

mole

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Always, always protect your domain by demonstrating good faith. I have lawyer friends all a ready for my first UDRP fight :D
 

fizz

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Originally posted by safesys
None of my own $10k+ sales have *ever* asked about traffic, and thats by no means unique to me.

vanity is a more powerful motivator than traffic ever can be, because the companies can and do already generate traffic from their marketing spend.

safesys, just been going over the old posts and came across this interesting thread. Just curious as to whether all of your best sales have been generic .coms, or a mixed bag?
 
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