Are You Spending More or Less on Domain Names?
Poll March 5th, 2008
In light of the downturn in the US economy and the potential Snowe legislation on the horizon, I am wondering if you are spending more or less on domain names that you have in the past. Results of recent domain auctions would indicate that people may be spending less on domain names at this moment, but I am wondering whether it’s a sign of the times or if the auction market has become saturated, and sales only appear to be down when they really aren’t.
Over the last few months, I think I have been investing about the same on domain names than I did in the past. I have been focusing less on the second tier names and more on the top quality domain names for development. Instead of buying 10 or so average to good domain names per month, I have been buying 3-5 better domain names for somewhere around the same price. I don’t know if this is a reflection of economic conditions or fear of the potentially damaging legislation, but I have been buying less names, although the amount I have been spending is around the same.
I am always buying high quality domain names that I can develop. Well, on second thought, I’ve always bought high quality domain names that could be developed, but more often than not, developing them became difficult. Now that I am learning how to use Dreamweaver and have a couple of great developers sharing advice, I am more inclined to develop domain names on my own. I am cautious about my investments though, so instead of going all out on domain names, I have begun to investigate ways to diversify my assets. I love domain names, but it isn’t smart to put all eggs in one basket.
So… my friends, are you spending more or less on domain names right now, and what is the reason for it?
March 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Elliot,
I think the two most recent Sedo auctions show that investors aren’t buying as many big names, but that may not be indicative of the overall market.
As for developing your domains, I’ve found XsitePro to be a good application for building light-weight sites. I’ve written about it here:
http://domainnamewire.com/2006/03/03/rapid-domain-development-with-xsitepro/
March 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I have been spending less on domains over the last few months than I did in 2007, when I first got into this. The reason is not so much the economy, but more about being pickier and smarter about the domains I acquire. If I have the opportunity to purchase the right domain (in my case, a domain I would develop), then I will likely be spending more than I did last year.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:39 am
The market has too many sellers and not enough buyers.
BRANDS, are not sold on Generic domain names.
How many Generic Top 500 websites are there? vs Branded.
Kayak.com is NOT generic, as it is a travel website, it is sold Kayaks then it would be generic, like perfume.com is.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I agree there’s too many sellers…and too many think their $3000 domain is worth 50k. Will buy less this year compared to last
March 6th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Too much this month!actually i take that back.It only seems so with the ppc on the decrease and auction sites beginning to resemble the black hole of calcutta.im excited to see how bido.com goes.i think the one name a day will be a refresher for buyers and sellers as they can finally focus on what everyone in this industry needs:good names
March 6th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I know for a fact that many more people are getting into the domain name business daily.
The online auctions are not the positive or negative indication that the $$ value of domain names is falling or going up.
Many domain name investors are buying domain names via private offers which are not reported many times.
The domain name value will continue to rise very fast (you only have to look at the availability of the LLLL.com’s to realize that - you can buy some of them on ebay for around $50 for now).
March 8th, 2008 at 2:44 am
I think if anyone is buying domains, you are spending more on those domains than you would have last year
Prices are up from what I see generally across the expiring aftermarket and obviously at auctions. There seem to be far less “deals” and as mentioned before more competition, so I personally am spending a little less to about the same. I’m hit or miss from month to month though.