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analysis Sales of Domain Names Containing Three or Four Words

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This article covers 2019 sales of .com domain names that are made up of three or four words. The analysis is limited to sales reported in the NameBio database.

There were 49 sales above $7500 of domain names comprised of at least three words. These sales represent 3.9% of all .com extension domain name sales in that price range.

The highest-value sale was $57,000. Only 14 of the sales were at $15,000 or more.

Domain names in the health field represented about 20% of the sales. Betting, tourism, entertainment, food and general phrases were also common.

At time of writing, about 53% of the domain names had developed websites. Nearly 20% of the domain names were listed for sale again.


What is a Three-Word Domain Name?

I used data from the NameBio database, going through it by hand to identify .com-extension names made up of three or more words.

Defining a three-word domain name is not as straightforward as I expected. What about a name like Recipe4Living.com? Strictly speaking, it has two words plus a number. However, it seems to me that the idea is three words, so I did include it in the analysis.

A name like mHealthWatch.com was a tough call. It has two words and a letter, but I considered it a combination of three, and did include the name in the analysis. Similarly, I classified VeteransAndPTSD.com as a three-word domain name, treating the acronym PTSD as a single word.

Sometimes it is possible to interpret part of a domain name as either two short words or a single longer word. For example, blockchain is usually considered a single word, and therefore the sale of blockchainwallet.com was not included in the analysis. For similar reasons, I did not include golfsuperstore.com or crosswordsolver.com.

One sale I struggled to classify was orbitdownloader.com. While down and loader are dictionary words, I interpreted downloader as a single entity, and therefore considered this a two-word domain name, and excluded it.

How many words are represented by a name like LasVegasNightClubs.com? Strictly speaking, four, but in my mind Las Vegas should be counted as one entity, so I counted this sale as a three-word name. Similarly, I did not include TravelNewZealand.com in the analysis, interpreting New Zealand as a single component.


Sales and Prices

After these classification decisions were made, there were 45 three-word and 4 four-word domain name sales in the reporting period. The names and prices are shown in the table.

ThreeWordCOM2019Graphic.png


Sales of three-word and four-word .com domain names in 2019 that had a sales price of at least $7500. NameBio is the source of the data.
Click on the image to see the table in magnified form


The names I classified as containing four words were HudsonValleyNewsNetwork.com, HistoryOfTheGame.com, HerHeartIsSouthern.com and eMarketingAndCommerce.com. The last one could arguably be considered three words.

The top sale was the name gambling-law-us.com. Interestingly, it was the only name in the set that included a hyphen, and it had two. A developed site had existed on the domain name for some years, with many backlinks, justifying the high price.

If we compare the 49 sales in this set to all 1262 .com sales of $7500 or more recorded in NameBio for 2019, we see that three-word and four-word domain names only account for about 3.9% of sales $7500 and up.

Only 8 of the sales were $20,000 or more, and just 14 were $15,000 or more.

If we compare this to the analysis of two-word 2019 .com sales, clearly high-value three-word sales are much more rare. For example, there were 19 two-word domain sales at higher prices than the top three-word sale. There were 60 two-word sales at prices of $30,000 or more, but only 2 three-word sales in that price range.


Venues

I had a look at where sales of three-word and four-word domain names took place. Sedo accounted for more than one-third of all sales. Keep in mind that sales from many venues, such as Afternic and DAN, are not included in NameBio, unless individually reported.
  1. Sedo 39%
  2. GoDaddy 24%
  3. Uniregistry 12%
  4. Domain Market 10%
  5. DropCatch 6%
  6. NameJet 4%
  7. Flippa 2%
  8. Vegas Opt 2%
The distribution is not much different than found previously for premium two-word .com sales.


Niches Represented

One of my motivations was to see if certain niches were more common among longer domain names. For each of the 49 sales, I assigned the name to one, or in a few cases multiple, niches. Categorization is subjective in a number of cases.

Here is what I found.
  • Overall the niches represented are quite diverse.
  • The most popular application was health and medicine, applicable to 20% of the sales. I included mental health and nutrition, as well as physical health, in the category. Names in this category include examples such as SmartHealthCare.com and AllStarNutrition.com.
  • About 18% of the names were related to travel or regional entertainment. Three of the names included the word Vegas.
  • 14% were gambling or betting related domain names. Examples include GoGoCasino.com and SportsBettingApps.com.
  • While most of the names make some sort of phrase, I classified 12% as primarily a phrase. Examples include names like MakeThatMove.com and WorkItMom.com.
  • 12% related to food in some way, such as SweetPeasKitchen.com and PureLifeFoods.com.
  • I was surprised by how few of the names were related to online sales of an obvious product.
Only one of the names starts with the word the.


Current Status

I checked the current status of each of the domain names, and here is what I found.
  • 53% of the names are developed.
  • An additional 8% are in use for redirection purposes.
  • Approximately 20% of the domain names are listed for sale again. Supposedly these were either domain investor acquisitions, or the original plans of the purchaser quickly changed.
  • For 14% of the names there was no operating site or lander.
  • About 4% were in use for monetized parking, but apparently not for sale.
Keep in mind that some of these sales were very recent.

The domain names were used for blogs, reference sites, business sites, online commerce, etc., with no dominant pattern in type of use.

A few of the more interesting uses were HowThingsWork.com that goes to a domain name site, RememberMyName.com that directs to a Twitter account, and RunsOnRipple.com that redirects to the Ripple site.


What Do You Think?

I welcome your comments related to this topic.
  • What is your favourite three-word domain name from the list?
  • Do you hold many three-word names in your portfolio?
  • Have you yet sold any three-word domain names?
  • Are you surprised by the prices, or the types of names, that sold?
  • Do you feel that three-word domain names are likely to sell more often, or at higher prices, in the future?
Thanks to NameBio.com and Michael Sumner for the data used in this analysis.

I also wanted to mention that the idea for this article came from Laguna, who suggested it in the comments to the earlier article on two-word domain names. I always welcome suggestions for future NamePros Blog articles.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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I sold a 5 word dot com many moons ago for mid-4 figures so I am happy to see this category still going strong as I still have some 3+ word dot com names...

Once again an incredible analysis! Thank you!!
 
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Pinup.com how much?
Thanks for your comment and welcome to NamePros @Concarnie. I have no idea, but you should ask questions like this in the Appraisal Section, not in comments to an article about 3 and 4 word sales. Thanks for understanding, and best wishes in domain investing. I remember my early days at NamePros, and it is tough to figure out where things are to go. Hopefully someone who knows that niche will give you an opinion there.
Bob
 
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@Bob Hawkes this a excellent read and in-depth information and sharing of knowledge and data. Thank you so much for this. I do have a few/several 3 Word Dot coms. The can and do sell when they fit just right!

As for your pointing what niche does best, it’s funny as the betting one is correct and I’d say my best 3 worder there is
BetCryptoOnline.com

Most of my 3 words are health /lending & betting niches.

Thanks again
 
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wow, thx for defining that for me. ty. :)
 
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Thank you @Bob Hawkes, its one of excellent threads today on Namepros, learn from accurate data to bring new opportunity
 
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wow, thx for defining that for me. ty. :)
Do you mean what is a three word domain?:xf.wink: Before I started this, I thought that was the simple part, but it ended up the hardest. About one-quarter of the names were not clearly defined, at least not in my mind (but maybe I just like to make things complex:xf.eek:).
Bob
 
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I like 3-word .coms because they are neglected by the domain sharks and I sometimes manage to scoop a nice one. However investing in 4 words seems a bit risky, unless it's a well-established phrase.
 
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I sold a 5 word dot com many moons ago for mid-4 figures
Wow, really nice sale!

BetCryptoOnline.com
Nice three worder that combines three active keywords. Best wishes for it.

Personally, I think have only a single three worder in my portfolio (I had a few awful ones in my first year). InternetOfWork (.com) I just like the idea of it, connecting work opportunities collaboratively like Internet of Things connecting devices. But when I need to explain a name..... :xf.eek:

Bob
 
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Do you mean what is a three word domain?:xf.wink: Before I started this, I thought that was the simple part, but it ended up the hardest. About one-quarter of the names were not clearly defined, at least not in my mind (but maybe I just like to make things complex:xf.eek:).
Bob
I wouldnt even of thought to put numbers and abbreviations in. kudos. :)
 
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Nice post Bob.

Like them and here are a few of mine,

SaferThanEver.com

KnockedOutOfThePark.com

StayInTheKnow.com

EndOfSpecies.com

WebSecuritySolution.com
 
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Very interesting info thank @Bob Hawkes I learn a lot when you publish something, thank you very much!!!!(y)(y)
 
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Thanks Bob, very interesting information.

I have several three-word domains, but very few four-words. Including:

FeedMeFood(.)com
FreeYourThirst(.)com
FrontPorchDelivery(.)com
WebRadioStation(.)com
WorldOfResources(.)com
FibreToHome(.)com
Fibre2Home(.)com
SolarWaterTech(.)com

Not that long ago I sold the three-word domain GreenLuxuryVillas(.)com. Approx 1 year back and forth with buyer before concluding price and sale. While any more details surrounding the sale is confidential, I can say that it was one of the first names I acquired from the aftermarket.
 
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This article covers 2019 sales of .com domain names that are made up of three or four words.

Great article....thanks for the work Bob!
 
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I own personal / healthcare / plans in com.
 
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GoGoCasino Sportsbettingapps Hometowninn my fav. In fact, I was researching with Inn a few days back.

I sold chinaisthefuture.com only for 55 USD after 3 months of reg. Should have holded more.

now i have digitalyuanchina.com 360vrarcade.com dubaitownhouses.com for sale of this category.

I don't feel surprised for any domain sale price. Only buyer knows the reason.
 
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Thank you very much for sharing this analysis with us @Bob Hawkes , it was an interesting read for sure.
 
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Amazing article!
Showcase one of my recently regged 3-4words domain: Botandbodyworks.com(y)
 
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Thanks, Bob, this is one of your best work!
Thee word some of the most difficult to sell, and I generally try to avoid them.

Given me more hope with this market analysis

Samer
 
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Thanks for the information on this thread. I was contemplating on registering 3 words domain but this thread has given me the inspiration to do that.
 
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Thanks @Bob Hawkes. Nice post as always!

I have a few 3-word domains in .com:
3D / Modelling / Software
3D / Video / Call
Realtime / Data / Analysis
Realtime / Data / Analytics


I consider "realtime" and "3D" as one word each as they are used as adjective in the domains.
 
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