Originally posted by fizz
and I = I just regged it 
Good one!
But seriously...I think a really good rule of thumb is, if you need a second opinion before you simply
register a domain name (as opposed to buying it in the secondary market for hundreds or thousands of dollars), then it's definitely
not worth the registration fee.
Personally, I think there are very, very few domains left unregistered that are worth anything in and of themselves...and the ones that
are worth something usually derive their value from some event that suddenly makes a certain phrase or language construct commercially important.
For example, there was a recent news item about a new invention dubbed a "telephone tooth." Here's a link to an article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020628/ap_on_hi_te/telephone_tooth_4
On the same day, the "nickname" for this new device, "telephone tooth," was regged. Regged too were other close variations following standard naming patterns: "toothphone.com," "phonetooth.com," etc.
Should this device become popular once mass-marketed, and people start internet searching for "telephone tooth," (and no TM issues exist), the domain name "telephonetooth.com" and close variants could become valuable.
Here are some thoughts on what types of domains have stand-alone, "intrinsic" value (I've posted these thoughts elsewhere...my apologies for the repetition):
It's important to keep in mind that the value of domain names, above their registration costs, is derived from their use as marketing tools. Comparison to "1-800" numbers illustrates this value.
Certain 1-800 numbers are worth a lot of money (although this market is in some way more complicated than domain names), because they can significantly extend a business' marketing reach.
If you were in the loans business, which phone # would you rather have: 1-877-EZEMONI or 1-800-FINANCE? The second one, of course. Spending equal amounts of advertising dollars promoting both phone numbers, you'd reasonably expect a greater sales response to 1-800-FINANCE. It's much more memorable and authoritative. You get more business response for the same advertising dollars spent. That's why it's worth spending more to secure the phone number 1-800-FINANCE.
The same thing applies to domains, not including the highly important "type-in" phenomenon, which is basically "business for free" (although some "blind dial-in" business does occur with top-tier 1-800 #'s).
Also, it is my sense that currently, with few exceptions, the only domains with stand-alone value are ".com's." Again, it is much like the "1-800" example: "1-800" has become so ingrained in the popular consciousness as
the toll-free area code, that all toll-free extensions tend to be called "1-800 numbers." The human mnemonic default is "1-800" in the toll-free world, and it's ".com" in the internet world, at least in North America.
With this marketing foundation of domain value in mind, here's a suggestion for the categories of domains which hold true, intrinsic value (all in .com):
1) Short Domains: specifically, 2 & 3
letter (not character, although these can have value) domain names (e.g. "mz.com," "dpn.com").
2) Generic Words/Phrases: In this group are the heavyweight champions of the domain world ("stocks.com," "business.com," loans.com"), but even less commercially important single words can be valuable (see the recent discussion at dnf on "Skeletons.com"). Also includes domains like "PowerTools.com." "NewYorkRealEstate.com" is one of real estate agent Rob Grant's many keyterm real estate domains out of which he built an online real estate empire...there's a guy who saw the future of the internet.
3) Popular Phrases: This group can also include some highly valuable domains, like the famous "ForSaleByOwner.com" and "AsSeenOnTV.com." The key here is to identify compound word structures that are authoritative or highly attractive to markets which use the internet.
Of course, this isn't a complete list, and the many veteran domainers (safesys, snoopy) who frequent this board can add a lot more insight into what makes a domain name valuable.
But the bottom line is, if a domain doesn't have unique marketing strengths grounded in the
real language used for a specific industry which utilizes the internet, it likely won't have any value, and will be a waste of registration money.
Miles
