31–40 of 66 posts
I recently got my four letter domain for a very reasonable price when I made it clear that the domain seller that I was willing to change the name. When people know that you're an emotional buyer, that's when you get screwed.
It would be cool if you were more reserved with your usage of "squatted" to describe domain names. Amateurs commonly use it to mean "he has something I want," but in domainer lingo, a squatted domain is used specifically for trademark infringement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticybersquatting_Consumer_Pro... . I think it's an important distinction to make when describing domain name disputes.
In general lingo, domainer = squatter. If you bought a domain name for the sole purpose of sitting/squatting on it until you can find a buyer who will pay significantly more than you did, than you're a squatter.
As someone who both buys and sells domain names (and particularly 3 letter .com's since 1996) let me point a few things out. I might also mention that I am the go to guy for a few well known VC's that you have heard of although that is not my main business at all (although it could be it just doesn't pay that well compared to other things I spend time on.) This statement: "Within a day or 2 we started getting respons…
> People in the business can be jerks and unreasonable for sure but it would be more likely for someone to "ask" for 100k or simply say "domain is not for sale" than to say "7 figures" (2 letter, possible, 3 letter, specifically "all of the responses", no. FWIW, here's an email I received when enquiring about a 3-letter domain name: Thank you for your interest in this domain name This domain name is among our most pr…
The "five-figure and higher" line (repeated four times!) is pretty funny. I'm not sure of any other market where price estimates span multiple orders of magnitude. It is just a transparent way to get you to name a figure first.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People in the business can be jerks and unreasonable for sure but it would be more likely for someone to "ask" for 100k or simply say "domain is not for sale" than to say "7 figures" (2 letter, possible, 3 letter, specifically "all of the responses", no. FWIW, here's an email I received when enquiring about a 3-letter domain name: Thank you for your interest in this domain name This domain name is among our most pr…
Are you sure you talked to a person and not a robot? I'm sure that each and every domain you ask about is one of their "prized and sought-after" domains. The "five-figure and higher" line (repeated four times!) is pretty funny. I'm not sure of any other market where price estimates span multiple orders of magnitude. It is just a transparent way to get you to name a figure first.
I presume they are targeting an anchoring effect:
I sold RebelSpirits.com for $500 to a winery business owner last year. We scanned and emailed each other our drivers licenses and he sent a check for $500 in the mail. I released the domain to him after I deposited the check. His check was from a major bank. Can some one tell me if my method was smart or stupid? What could have gone wrong other than check fraud?
My suggestion would be to seek out a generic tld other than .com (unless you have a lot of money to burn). Here's Google's list of what they consider to be a generic tld: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en I recently picked up a useful .fm three letter domain for a new service. It perfectly matched the service, and I think the negatives of alternative generic tld's can be overcome very well th…
Let me put this as clearly as I can. This is very bad advice. I've been in this business since 1996 and I deal with end users and customers on both the buying and selling side. For everything from a standard domain registration (at normal pricing that you can get at your registrar) to high value sales (let's say hundreds of thousands of dollars). Anything but .com is almost always going to be problematic and will mor…
For me it's a matter of principle: I will choose common sense over google. Sure if you're selling SEO services, you're google's b*tch, but when you're building a visionary company (yes, blah-blah), to me it's important to get a good name, and not worry about some ugly .com domain.
Zerrply Tweekly Songza Vobbler.. etc
- that's what this leads to. No thanks.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In general lingo, domainer = squatter. If you bought a domain name for the sole purpose of sitting/squatting on it until you can find a buyer who will pay significantly more than you did, than you're a squatter.
Squatter implies no legitimate rights. I've bought a lot of things with the sole purpose of selling it for more. Nothing wrong with that.
We aren't talking about land here, we're talking about domain names. A domain squatter has legitimate right to the domain names (s)he owns. Domain squatting is neither illegal, nor contrary to any rules.
I happen to despise the practice, and wish ICANN implemented measures to prevent it occurring.
> I've bought a lot of things with the sole purpose of selling it for more.
Try buying a lot in a modern real-estate development in a developed nation and see if you can sit on it. They won't let you, because your empty lot lowers the value of all the properties in the vicinity. They won't let you just throw up a lean-to and call it a building either. You'll actually have to build a proper house that not only follows all relevant codes but that actually looks good.
Generally speaking, domain squatting is a shitty practice by shrewd business-people who found a way to conjure big bucks out of thin air... ie. without creating any value whatsoever.
> Nothing wrong with that.
That's like, your opinion, dude.
My suggestion would be to seek out a generic tld other than .com (unless you have a lot of money to burn). Here's Google's list of what they consider to be a generic tld: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en I recently picked up a useful .fm three letter domain for a new service. It perfectly matched the service, and I think the negatives of alternative generic tld's can be overcome very well th…
Let me put this as clearly as I can. This is very bad advice. I've been in this business since 1996 and I deal with end users and customers on both the buying and selling side. For everything from a standard domain registration (at normal pricing that you can get at your registrar) to high value sales (let's say hundreds of thousands of dollars). Anything but .com is almost always going to be problematic and will mor…
The end of the dominance of .com was always inevitable, and is already occurring. Sites as varied as ask.fm, twitch.tv, minecraftwiki.net, foods.tv, formspring.me, php.net, about.me, imageshack.us, last.fm, mega.co.nz, rapidgator.net, popads.net, speedtest.net, ustream.tv, prchecker.info, who.is, all.biz, jsfiddle.net, justin.tv, bit.ly, scoop.it, snap.do and vine.co are proving that every day (or already proved it in the past). And that's ignoring the rest of the vast array of .net and .org sites. There will be a lot more big alt sites in the next five years. Instagram didn't start out as instagram.com. Clearly Vine didn't need the .com to succeed at all. Different use case than your typical 1998 .com? You bet, and that's exactly the future.
The proof is already in place: you don't need a .com to succeed any longer.
Among the top 5,000 global sites, .com addresses are in the minority now. Apparently other entrepreneurs and businesses in other countries are also having no problems building global, world class businesses without using .com.
In fact, over the last decade as the web has become dominated by non-English speaking and non-American businesses and users, I'd argue that everybody outside of America is already very accustomed to the use of alternative domains. Just another reason .com is the past.
Saying that something is going to be problematic, doesn't mean that it is actually so.
Only $70,000 for that .com? You mean in other words very few startups could actually afford that. You're talking about an elite class of startups - the top 1% - once you're talking about spending $70k on a domain.