3 Letter Dot Com’s Continue Their Downard Spiral

As far back as June 7, I warned that LLL.com domains were going to fall and that it would be wise to sell them.  People laughed.  At that time, the cheapest three letter dot com domains were going for $7,600.  On June 26, LLL.com domains started falling, with several sales in the $7,100 region.  On July 2, LLL.com crashed below the psychological $7K barrier, with QVK.com selling $6,730 - and I continued to encourage people to sell.

Now the floor has finally fallen out.  On Wednesday, DNJournal reported that OLU.com sold for only $5,002.  That was shocking - and many people stated it was simply the venue at which the domain was sold.  But today the evidence came in with overwhelming strength at the GreatDomains auction - eqw.com sold for $5,211, fvz.com sold for $5,100, ouj.com sold for $6,350, wzu.com sold for $5,200, xag.com sold for 3,933 EUR ($5,778), and yxl.com sold for $6,700.

I’m sure there will be the usual round of excuse making for these results.  But the fact is, in June if you offered anyone $5K for even the crappiest LLL.com, it would have been considered a lowball offer and laughed at.  Now, these domains are routinely selling for this amount in highly publicized auction events.

As for the future, I do not think that the bottom has been hit yet.  My recommendation is the same as it has been over the last three months:  sell any three letter dot com domains that you own, sooner rather than later.

LLL.com Prices Continue to Fall

Previously, on June 7, I warned that LLL.com prices were about to fall. On June 26, I showed that prices had already began to fall. I hate to sound like a broken record, but today, evidence comes in that prices continue to fall further.

Today on Bido, the domain QVK.com closed at $6,730. A week ago, people were scoffing at the mention that a three letter dot com could sell below $7,000 - today one did.

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Bido Reviewed

I recently wrote a review of all the domain auctions. Since that review, there have been two new players who entered this lucrative market. The first is MyID, which is now running a series of Canadian domain auctions. I’ve discussed their auctions many times on my blog already. The second is Bido, run by a number of prominent domainers, such as Sahar, which had been announced at the time of my review, but has just gone live less than two weeks ago.

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LLL.com Prices Falling

On June 7, 2008, I blogged that I thought LLL.com prices were about to fall. It has indeed started to happen. It looks to me like prices have fallen about 10% since that post.

According to the June 1, 2008 3Character.com Price Guide, the minimum wholesale price (regardless of letter combo) of three letter dot com domains is $7,600. However, in the last week, there have been a number of LLL.com sales at or below this amount.

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4200 LLLL.com’s For Sale!

Like the title says, someone has apparently put up 4,200 LLLL.com domains for sale on Ebay. You can see the auction here.

4200 is close to 1% of the entire LLLL.com market - so it’s a pretty amazing event. It will be interesting to see how this sale goes.

8o.org Closing Soon

My domain 8o.org is on auction at Sedo and the auction will be closing in about 10 hours. Right now the price is only $1,050, which is a steal. You can read more about this domain here. Or, you can just head on over and bid here.

2 Character Dot Org Sale

I’m offering up for auction the domain 8O.org - a premium NL.org. It’s a very rare domain - there are only 260 NL.org in existence.

This domain consists of a premium letter and a premium number - which makes it even rarer still and more valuable.

It’s a really old domain, registered in 2000.

I’m told that eight is considered a lucky number in Asian culture because it sounds like the word “prosper” or “wealth” (?; Pinyin: f?). Additionally, it is considered lucky in Japan because the Chinese numeral character resembles a mountain, specifically Fujisan.

There are over 10 Million results in Google for the term “8O”.

See in the urban dictionary.

There is a no reserve auction.

You can place your bid on Sedo here.

The auction closes June 10, 2008.

What’s A Dot Asia Domain Worth?

The sunrise dot asia domains are finished and so are some of the initial landrush auctions. This gives us some idea what domainers are valuing dot asia domains at - and perhaps what you should bid if you’re involved in an upcoming .asia auction. From the Pool DotAsia website, there is a ticker tape listing all the completed auctions. The results are as follows:

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Weekly Roundup

I’m going to introduce a weekly feature on my blog - every Sunday, I’ll select 10 of the best blog posts from the domainersphere and discuss them in more detail. Like my blog, rather than concentrating on news stories, I’m going to select blog posts that have good practical value and will help you succeed as a domainer.

In no particular order, here are the posts I found most informative this week:

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Mobi Market Meltdown

Yesterday’s Traffic Auction showed that what I had predicted has come true: the dot mobi market has melted down.

Here are the .mobi auction results:

mortgage.mobi - $18K
drugs.mobi - $17.5K
sales.mobi - $10.5K
men.mobi - $10K
films.mobi - $10K
escort.mobi - $10K
computers.mobi - $9.5K
airlines.mobi - $9.5K
records.mobi - $8.5K
boats.mobi - $6K
forsale.mobi - $5K
show.mobi - $5K
religion.mobi - $3K

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Live Blogging the Traffic Auction

I’ll be live blogging the Traffic Auction for the first few hours (at 5 pm EST I have to pick up my son from school).

It will be interesting to see how the auction goes given all the concerns with the bad economy. If it goes badly, expect people to say that timing was bad, long weekend, late in the day, low attendance at Traffic, etc. But it will do the market a lot of good if this auction is successful - so I really hope that it is.

It looks like a couple domains have been scratched from the auction: something.com was one of them and busy.net the other.

At the start of the auction, there are 40 viewers and 45 bidders online. Starting about 8 minutes late - pretty good. Monte makes a welcoming speech and goes over the rules. Brent Corwin won the draw (congrats!). Room looks about half empty. Prizes will be given out at the end of every hour. Drinks and desert in the back.

Most of the .com’s are up front, then .mobi’s, then .org and ended with .net’s. Auctioneer will be bidding on behalf of sellers - unfortunate :-(.

Without further ado, here are the results so far:

10. doug.com - pass at 75K.
20. portfolios.com - pass at 900K - not sure if this is a real bid or on behalf of seller.
30. gasprices.com - sold $225K - internet bid.
40. DiscountTravel.com - comes with DiscountTravel.mobi - sold $300K
50. loancalculator.com - sold $350K.
60. Susan.com - sold $50K.
70. oh.com - pass $250K.
80. MARINA.COM - pass $150K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller
90. FreeHoroscope.com & FreeHoroscopes.com - pass $250K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller
100. Greek.com - sold $275K.
110. partner.com - pass $225k.
120. Pagers.com - pass $70K.
130. Grass.com - heavy bidding on this one from the internet - sold $70K - internet bidder #14026.
140. pay.com - pass $2MM - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
150. con.com - pass $85K.
160. koran.com - pass $450K.
170. InsuranceRates.com - sold $225K - internet buyer #13904.
180. sagittarius.com - heavy bidding on this one - $33,500 - bidders were all in the room.
190. Athlete.com - sold $122K.
200. Track.com - heavy bidding on this one -sold $92.5K to internet bidder #14026.

It’s now 2:30 p.m. - 89 viewers, 67 bidder. The auction continues:

210. TVschedule.com - sold $17K to internet bidder #14005.
220. BabyFood.com - pass $125K.
230. coloradoriver.com - pass $22.5K.
240. confession.com - pass $85K.
250. uscitizenship.com - pass $125K.
260. SpecialOffer.com - sold $35K to internet bidder #13977.
270. Ankle.com - Monte says: “anyone with an ankle raise their paddle” - pass $25K.
280. jackpot.com - Monte says: “let’s hit the jackpot” - pass $2.5MM -not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
290. Managed.com - pass 65K
300. Autobody.com - pass $425K
310. IllegalImmigrants.com - pass $15K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
320. televisionshow.com - pass $50K.
330. ow.com - some telephone bidders - heavy bidding - Monte whacks the auctioneer and calls out “ow!” - sold $120K to bidder in room - lots of cheering.
340. Dieselcars.com - pass $40K.
350. CLOSINGS.COM - sold $25K to internet bidder #13993. Monte calls out that we’ve reached $1MM in sales.
360. HOTPOTATO.COM - developed site. Pass at $17.5K.
370. FreeMerchandise.com - Monte says: “everyone wants this and we’ll be giving out some of this” - pass $10K.
380. travelconditions.com - pass $25K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
390. Yachts.com - developed website + developed website YachtCharters.com - includes Yachts.net and a forum - pass $3.5MM - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
400. lasvegasresorts.com - pass $60K.
410. maybe.com - Monte makes a lame maybe joke - heavy bidding - sold $40K to internet bidder #14015.
420. Israel.com - crown jewel of the auction - pass $5MM - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
430. affiliateprogram.com - pass $1.25MM
440. ComputerParts.com - very heavy bidding - sold $80K to internet bidder #13993.
450. blueray.com - sold $30K to internet bidder #14036.
460. Tune.com - pass $250K - not sure why - reserve was $100K - $250K - perhaps this was a bid on behalf of seller.
470. rainbow.com - sold $170K - to internet bidder #14005.
480. ladybug.com - pass $45K.
490. PregnancyCenter.com - pass $25K
500. action.com - pass - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller
510. minerals.com - pass $150K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller
520. idol.com - pass - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller
530. SUPERSTARS.COM - pass $25K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller

It’s now 3:00 p.m.. There’s a draw going on. Jeff Beasley wins. We’re at 106 viewers and 70 bidders online.

540. carwax.com - pass $70K.
550. breathalyzer.com - pass $45K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
560. SexShows.com - sold $55K to internet bidder #13903.
570. XmasList.com - pass $4K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
580. liens.com & bankliens.com -pass $150K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
590. hoodia.com - pass $400K - reserve was $100K to $250K - must be bid on behalf of seller.
600. UsedLamborghinis.com - sold $3,500 to paddle #215.
610. CertifiedDiamonds.com - pass $200K - not sure if this is a real bid or bid on behalf of seller.
620. FertilityServices.com - pass $30K.
630. flavoredwater.com & flavoredwaters.com - pass $30K.
640. SleepAwayCamp.com - pass $20K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
650. FilmMaking.com - active website - sold $55K to internet bidder #14026.
660. crowds.com - pass $40K.
670. WeddingParty.com - includes .ca, .org., .biz, .net, .info, etc. -includes active website - pass $200K -looked like a bid on behalf of seller
680. laptopcomputer.com - pass $45K.
690. SoccerBalls.com - pass $45K.
700. something.com - scratched.
710. Anger.com - heavy bidding on this one, but in small increments - sold $49K to internet bidder 14026.
720. desktopcomputer.com - pass $45K.
730. MetricConversion.com - very heavy bidding on this one - sold for $8,250 to internet bidder 14182.
740. ClothesShopping.com - auctioneer says: “someone asked why I hold my wife’s hand all the time - if I let go she goes shopping” - pass $25K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
750. patti.com - heavy bidding on this one - sold $12K to paddle 254
760. Lemons.com - pass $50K.
770. exerciseballs.com - sold $17.5K to internet bidder 14037. Energy level in the auction room seems really high.
780. SlangDictionary.com - pass $25K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
790. boxingnews.com - sold $25K to internet bidder 13895.
800. Affect.com - pass $15K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
810. Naturalists.com - pass $20K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
820. Hector.com - pass $20K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
830. LabSupplies.com - heavy bidding on this one - sold $18K to paddle 216.

It’s now 3:30 p.m. - 115 viewers and 70 bidders.

840. refinancerates.com - sold $12.5K to internet bidder 13980.
850. underconstruction.com - sold $12.5K to internet bidder 14083.
860. luxurygifts.com - pass $30K - looked like bid on behalf of seller
870. PinballWizard.com - pass $10K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller
880. ElectronicFundsTransfer.com - Monte says: “this is how we take most of the payments for this auction - pass $12.5K.
890. FootballScores.com - sold for $37.5 to paddle 217.
900. MusicDVDs.com - pass $15K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
910. floortiles.com - sold $30K to paddle 239
920. GraphicsSoftware.com - sold $2.5K to paddle 249
930. nannycams.com - pass $8K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
940. Asphyxiation.com - pass $4K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
950. longer.com - Monte says: “Who’s longer?” - pass $45K.
960. CarpetStores.com - Monte says: “If you have floor tiles you should go to a carpet store” - pass - looked like a bid on behalf of seller
970. typo.com - Monte says: “Very popular in the domainer community” - sold $25K to internet bidder 14033.
980. ENDORSEMENT.COM - heavy bidding on this one - sold $16.5K to internet bidder 14083.
990. InvestmentIncome.com - pass $20K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller
1000. onlinecounseling.com - sold $12.5K to internet bidder 14026.
1010. petbirds.com - auctioneer chirps like a bird - pass $10K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
1020. Conglomerate.com - sold $20K to internet bidder #14083.
1030. CivilClaims.com - heavy bidding on this one - sold $8.5K to internet bidder 13977.
1040. UniformServices.com - sold $3.5K to internet bidder 14114.
1050. VintageCigars.com - pass $4K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller.
1060. RainChecks.com - pass $5K - looked like a bid on behalf of seller
1070. livestreaming.com - Monte says “we’re live streaming right now” - pass $12.5K - Monte says “unbelievable”.
1080. Demonstrated.com - Auctioneer says “show ‘em how its done” - pass $12.5K
1090. Flammable.com - pass $10K - looks like bid on behalf of seller - Monte says “wasn’t as hot as we thought it would be”
1100. thankyougiftbaskets.com - sold $3K to internet bidder 13916.
1110. beerkegs.com - pass $17.5K
1120. EmploymentAds.com - sold $9K to paddle #235

It’s now 4:00 p.m.. Monte says: “They’re going to be swapping out the food soon, in case you’re interested in the chocolate. Right hand corner of the room.
1130. engraved.com - very heavy bidding on this one - sold $19K to internet bidder 14083 - wild clapping in the auction room.
1140. WebClass.com - heavy bidding on this one - sold $5.5K to paddle 223
1150. Migrate.com - heavy bidding on this one - sold $9.5K to internet bidder 13925.
1160. BodilyInjury.com - auctioneer said “Monte said if I don’t sell any more, I’d better buy this name - I don’t know what he means by that” - pass $20K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
1170. influential.com - Monte said “anyone influential in this room?” - sold $12K to internet bidder 13981.
1180. postalcodes.com - *extremely* heavy bidding on this one - lots of cheering - probably the most competitive auction so far - the crowds are going wild - sold $42.5K to paddle 274

There’s a new draw - nice GPS

1190. celluliteremoval.com - Monte says: “Gene Simmons and his wife just had this” - sold $10K to paddle 215.
1200. bavarian.com - Monte calls out “Beer!” - pass $7K
1210. FreeTrailer.com - auctioneer says to Monte “so you’re moving, are you?” - sold $17K to internet bidder 14026.
1220. subsidiaries.com - pass $6K.
1230. scraper.com - sold $5K to paddle 286.
1240. burningdvds.com - sold $3K to paddle 218.
1250. rabid.com - sold $3K to paddle 217.
1260. Commodes.com - Monte says “get off the pot” - Auctioneer says “no crap” - pass $20K - looks like bid on behalf of seller.
1270. establishcredit.com - pass $25K - looks like a bid on behalf of seller
1280. BathSupplies.com - Monte says “goes with floor tiles” - sold $9.5K to internet bidder 13977.

Dot Mobi Starts - 4:25 pm. Comes with usual terms of dot mobi premiums - ie must be developed in 6 months.

1290. computers.mobi - sold $9.5K to internet bidder 13886. Cheers from audience.
1300. airlines.mobi - Monte takes a cell phone call. He says “I’m in the middle of an auction right now - I’ll call you back” - sold $9.5K
1310. boats.mobi - sold $6K to internet bidder 13983.
1320. mortgage.mobi - heavy bidding on this one - sold for $18K to internet bidder 13981.
1330. men.mobi - heavy bidding on this one - crowd seems a bit more energetic than before - lots of cheering - sold for $10K to paddle 216.
1340. sales.mobi - heavy bidding on this one - again crowd is cheering - auctioneer says “it’s like 5 Euros” - sold - $10.5K
1350. forsale.mobi - Monte says - “you can’t let this one go if you’ve got sales.mobi” - sold $5K to paddle 425.
1360. drugs.mobi - heavy bidding - sold $17.5 to paddle 221.
1370. films.mobi - sold for $10K to internet bidder 13894.

OK, I’ve got to go now…

13 Reasons Why A Domain Has No or Low Value

A lot of things can impair the value of a domain. Here are 13 of the most common reasons that I’ve seen for domains to have no value or a low value:

1. Weak Term in a Weak Extension. For domains that are not .com or strong .ccTLDs, the keywords in the domain need to be much stronger to compensate for the weaker extension. A weak term in, for instance, a .info domain, isn’t going to have much value.

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Dealing with Email Enquiries for Your Domains

The best way to sell a domain is having an end user approach you for it. But what’s the best way to deal with such an enquiry? Recently, there was a good discussion about this at DomainState which is well worth reading.

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DomainBits - The Interview By Domain Magnate

I recently did an interview with Michael of Domain Magnate. You can read it here.

Thanks a lot! And make sure to add Domain Magnate to your feed reader.

IDNs Prevent Death

I’ve said before that IDNs are going to do well simply because even if people know English fluently as a second language, they prefer to use their native tongue when using the internet. Now an extreme example of the importance of IDNs has just surfaced - because IDNs weren’t available, two people died and three people are in jail.

The story reads like something from the twilight zone. A couple in Turkey split up and the wife had moved back in with her family. The couple were text messaging each other. The wife’s cell phone didn’t have IDN capabilities - and could not read or write the closed i or “?”. So, the letter i showed in place of the closed i.

As the article states:

The use of “i” resulted in an SMS with a completely twisted meaning: instead of writing the word “s?k?s?nca” it looked like he wrote “sikisince.” Ramazan wanted to write “You change the topic every time you run out of arguments” (sounds familiar enough) but what Emine read was, “You change the topic every time they are fucking you” (sounds familiar too.)

Wife then shows father the message, father accuses husband of treating wife as a prostitute, husband show’s up at father’s house to apologize, is greeted by the father and several family members wielding knives, husband is stabbed and seriously injured (later kills himself), husband takes knife that stabbed him and uses it to stab his wife, dad and two family members are now in jail.

Not only do IDNs save lives, IDNs are what people want and need. Buy ‘em while they’re still affordable.

Sedo Auctions Phishing Domains

I do recommend investing in IDNs - but only when appropriate. Appropriate means good commercial and similar terms in languages that use more than just English’s 26 letters of the alphabet. However, domains that are simply English words, replacing a vowel such as an “i” with an “ì” are worthless. Their only possible value is for phishing.

Yesterday while browsing Sedo, the auction of Office.net caught my attention. I wanted to place a bid, but because the bidding was so low for what is such a great domain, I hesitated. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.

Upon further investigation, I found out that the domain on auction was actually offìce.net. What’s the difference? Look closely - it’s an “ì” rather than an “i” in office. I wonder if the winning bidder noticed that and whether the transaction will actually close. There is absolutely nothing on the auction to alert a person that this is an IDN - Sedo should surely have also written something like: in punycode, this is xn--offce-vsa.net.

Come on Sedo - how hard is it to alert people to deceptive practices like this? You are supposed to be providing a much safer and more sophisticated domain platform than places like eBay.

Free Domaining Resources at DotSauce

One of my favorite domaining blogs is DotSauce, written by Mark Fulton. One of the things that makes his website special is the premium content section. In this section, he offers additional tools, bookmarks, coupon codes and articles. Normally, he charges a mere $10 per month for this - a real bargain. Now, for a limited time only, you can get free access to the premium content. Well worth signing up and taking a look around at what he offers.

Funniest Forum Thread of the Year

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force him to drink. You can see this principle in action at an ongoing thread at Domainstate. A chap going by the handle “Ace Brawler” is looking for an appraisal of the term AceBrawler.com. He’s told very politely that it’s worthless and why. Instead of learning from this, he decides to prove he’s worthy of the name “Ace Brawler.” Read the ensuing hilarity here. I do hope that the moderators at DomainState don’t edit this thread so that in the future, people can learn from this.

On a more serious note, if you ever wonder why no one bothers to give an appraisal in a forum, it’s often because they have been burned by this sort of “Ace Brawling” many times before and are tired of it. Kudos to anyone who has the patience to take the time to provide a domain appraisal and give reasons to back it up.

Don’t Drink The “Develop Your Domains” Kool-Aid

The biggest theme in the domainersphere in the last few days has been about development of domains. Many people are saying that this is the way forward for domainers and the best way to profit from domains. Elliot talks about his ideal portfolio. If you look at the direction he is heading in, he is basically reducing the number of domains he holds in order to concentrate on developing a few successful websites. Lord Brar talks about how he makes money from domains - essentially he develops them before reselling. Over and over we hear about how “pure” domaining is dying, and domainers need to hop on the development bandwagon.

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ICANN Story Misreported

Recently, I called attention to a news article in Gulf News that claimed Paul Twomey, president and CEO of ICANN, made some very negative statements about domaining.

I have since been contacted by Jason Keenan, who works at ICANN media relations. His statement is as follows:

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