debate Domain age is myth

[Isac]

I sold many Handreg and new domains to end users but till now i am not able to sell a single aged domain to enduser in my portfolio.
.
Enduser all about cares about name. What u say ?

 

[xynames]

We really went into this same topic in this thread:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/aged-domains-question.1046474/

and one of the things discussed was that the pool of available domain names was better years ago than today. I mean look at the stuff that new domainers are hand registering today and then barely able to re-sell for more than the reg fee. While if you had your pick of hand registrations from twenty years ago and then held those domains for twenty years obviously that pick of aged domains would be worth more today than whatever you could pick up cheap today.

So one comparison could be: hand register twenty years ago what had never before been registered,
versus
hand register today, what has never before been registered.
Could anyone seriously say that the newly registered domains could possibly be better than the twenty year old ones?

Another comparison could be: hand register what is available twenty years ago (whether newly created or not)
versus
hand register today anything available (which could include some older domains).
Still, even in this comparison I think the older set of domains would end up being worth more than the newer ones, because better stuff was available twenty years ago versus today.

As long as the domains twenty years ago were picked with the same skill as what might be picked today, it would be quite hard to say that the new domains would be anywhere near as good as the twenty year old domains.

Other than terms that were unknown years ago, newly emerging tech terms or terms such as bitcoin etc., for the most part what was available to hand register before, is better than what might be available to hand register just today. By implication, the better names are usually older.

 

[Bayan]

Focus on whatever sells the domain, age included. Unless you want to leave money on the table

Fair point.

 

[Acroplex]

My style can be abrupt but my intentions are noble. Age matters. Just like domain size matters. And pronunciation, keyword clarity, dashes vs. no dashes, ccTLD vs .com etc. The arguments are endless.

 

[Acroplex]

That being said, Locomotion.com dropped. And was re-registered, losing its original date from the 1990's. Does this make it less valuable? No.

 

[Bayan]

[

My style can be abrupt

Not at all, I really enjoyed the discussion . I always learn

 

[Bayan]

That being said, Locomotion.com dropped. And was re-registered, losing its original date from the 1990's. Does this make it less valuable? No.

Great point

 

[Acroplex]

Are there crap names that were registered in the 1990s? Of course. I'm not supporting this type of argument.

But odds are that aged domains are far more superior in their overall qualities and value, as xynames said.

 

[Bayan]

Acroplex, I have just noticed your registration date now

Are there crap names that were registered in the 1990s? Of course. I'm not supporting this type of argument.

Spot on, true.

 

[Acroplex]

LOL. I *was* being a smartass

 

[Bayan]

LOL. I *was* being a smartas

Not at all, to be honest I have just noticed your join date 2003 and I am quite impressed (I started learning in 2011). I do appreciate and respect your knowledge and experience in the industry

 

[Acroplex]

We all learn something new, every day. Enjoy!

 

[Chris Hydrick]

The thread is titled "domain age is a myth" - that's really the myth here, debunked.

That title could have been debunked from the get go. WHOIS records the domain's age, nobody can question that.

If the question is, does domain age add value? Then maybe we can have a more constructive conversation.

Legal value: Does age matter even if you are not the original registrant? ie What if a domain [exampleX.com] was regged since 1997, and a company trademarks exampleX in 2007... If the original registrant decides to auction the domain in 2017, will there be a trademark risk to the bidders attempting to buy the domain which matches a live trademark after the WHOIS registration date? And if not, could the new owner expect any trademark friction if they decide to auction the domain in 2018?

Marketing value: I think sellers should use every truthful marketing edge available. You can't lie about WHOIS age, and the fact that it has been registered continuously for X amount of years. Beyond the value of domain age to a domain seller (or broker), it's rare for a company to market the age of their newly acquired domain. Age is generally inherent with quality. ie When Facebook acquired FB.com, I don't think anybody assumed FB.com was a newly registered domain.

Sales value: Aged domains sell for more money than hand regs. You can argue exceptions against the rule such as great domains that dropped, and have a newer WHOIS date, but those exceptions are generally outliers against the norm. Not all endusers care about domain age, just like some may not trust, nor care about previous sales prices.

Sortable value: Generally, if you sort your domain lists by registration date, you will find a better quality towards the aged side, vs the new side. Not all aged domains have value, but this metric is one of the few true metrics the domain industry has that can't be faked, or altered.

Seo value: Not my area. Opinion's welcomed...

At the end of the day, we are talking about domain names. It should be obvious that the name is the greatest metric of all. But names have metrics such as supply, demand, history, and above all marketing value. So while the age of a domain may have sales value, and give a domain seller a marketing edge, this metric may be more valuable to resellers than endusers.

Do you consider the domain age when reading news articles online? Off the top of your head, can anybody say they are aware of the reg dates of CNN.com [1993] or Fox.com [1995] or BuzzFeed.com [2002] HuffingtonPost.com [2005]? Thanks to important services such as Archive.org, the internet's history is generally recorded. Budweiser.com was created in 1995, but Budweiser was introduced in 1876 . Imagine if there was a timeline of budweiser since 1876?! Hopefully, 100 years from now, archive.org and other services will continue documenting the internet, and established company trust will be more easily fact checked.

Should you consider NamePros account age as a source metric? Members such as @Acroplex with a 2003 creation date have more than a decade of experience over members such as myself with a 2015 creation date. There are exceptions to members who have been in domain names for longer than their account creation date, but generally, account age matters IMO. Granted, there are some very smart, up and coming new domainers on this forum, they still lack the full history of the industry.

[end rant]

 

[Acroplex]

I liked the Budweiser analogy. Just don't drink and register domains.

Great breakdown of how a domain's age, along with other factors, can affect its value and subsequent sales numbers. Job well done!

 

[Isac]

Let me make it more clear. Leave aside a domains that we hand reg. Let take an example of 4 Letter domain. xxxx.com ( 12 year old ) and other side is same 12 year old domain with same traffic and history ( xxxx.com ) which a drop catch caught and we won an auction for that domain. But as later was dropped so age got refreshed. So age " 0 "
.
Now we are selling this domain to end user. Every thing is same traffic, backlinks etc etc except age.
.
Now i believe end user will pay same for both domains

 

[LamsuanlunT]

Wow. I agree with you totally. What is there to an aged domain which has never been developed and with no backlinks? If we are talking about domains only and not websites, I too feel that there is not so much in the age of a domain to an end user. All that matters is the name and the extension.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Let take an example of 4 Letter domain. xxxx.com ( 12 year old )

Do you acknowledge 4L.com's regged in 1996 are generally worth more and/or of better quality than what you will find with a 2006 registration date?

If you could go back in a time machine to 1996, and you could only register one 4L.com, what would you register? Maybe you'd want Coin.com? Sorry, regged in 1994. How about Cool.com? Sorry, regged in 1995. You could register Blue.com though! What do you think was left in 2006? If anyone would find value in it: I can parse a list of what I think is the top 4L domains regged on a per year base to show how (generally) quality decreased as time went on.

@Michael -- I know this is a little off topic, but in the event the great creators of the domaingame are in the market for new versions, a guess the registration year (or time frame for multiple choice answers) would be an IMO an excellent learning resource for domainers to memorize odd facts [such as reg date] about memorable domains.

 

[Isac]

Do you acknowledge 4L.com's regged in 1996 are generally worth more and/or of better quality than what you will find with a 2006 registration date?

If you could go back in a time machine to 1996, and you could only register one 4L.com, what would you register? Maybe you'd want Coin.com? Sorry, regged in 1994. How about Cool.com? Sorry, regged in 1995. You could register Blue.com. If anyone would find value in it: I can parse a list of what I think is the top 4L domains regged on a per year base to show how (generally) quality decreased as time went on.

@Michael -- I know this is a little off topic, but in the event the great creators of the domaingame are in the market for new versions, a guess the registration year (or time frame for multiple choice answers) would be an IMO an excellent learning resource for domainers to memorize odd facts [such as reg date] about memorable domains.

1st instance :

I think you didn't got my point. Let's say coin.com ( 20 year old ) is sold by a person named " Isac" to end user for 1 million in a year 2017

2nd instance :

Now let us assume a 20 year old domain coin.com is dropped and is caught by a person a named " Isac " in year 2017.

Now because as its dropped so age become refreshed but traffic and backlinks and everything remains same.

Now if a person " Isac " sell coin.com to end user. How much he will get 1 million or less than that ?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

1st instance :

I think you didn't got my point. Let's say coin.com ( 20 year old ) is sold by a person named " Isac" to end user for 1 million in a year 2017

First thing I would ask is what venue sold it? A few months ago, it was pointed out that a million dollar sale later showed as cancelled, and recently, an industry leader included that sale as a reference of value for a particular domain class. The fact checker in me was irritated to see a sale that appears to have been retracted, being used as an example of baseline value for a particular domain class.

Now if a person " Isac " sell coin.com to end user. How much he will get 1 million or less than that ?

I think you'd get more than 1 million for Coin.com. That's based on the particular name, and the recent crypto domain hype. But, I get what you're saying, and to that I would say that the resetting of the age of coin.com to 2017 doesn't effect the value. I assume coin.com would be caught, and sent to auction. Thus, a need for domain auction sites to be trusted, and possibly something needs to be done to keep bidders binded to their bid to help prevent nonpayers.

I think you are arguing outliers. Because yes, great domains drop, and when they do, the age means nothing, because the value was always in the greatness of the domain. Defining these as outliers is based on the assumption great domains are renewed continually much more often then they are dropped. To emphasize my point, randomly think of a great domain, and see what the registration year is.

 

[Lox]

Now if a person " Isac " sell coin.com to end user. How much he will get 1 million or less than that ?

Right after 75% max, 1mil after 1-2 YRs of holding, sweating and shaking (to be able to sell B2B, D2D D2B, B2D etc networking is important). Don't be flat in understanding. Count on many factors (periodic table of domains).

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Right after 75% max, 1mil after 1-2 YRs of holding, sweating and shaking (to be able to sell B2B, D2D D2B, B2D etc networking is important)

Are you talking about coin.com, or any domain that sells for 1mil, and drops? A little by your post regarding 75% and a 1 or 2 year hold,

 

[Lox]

More drops, less money. No one is willing to spend a big money on something unstable or let's say tortured. The domain name must have a very good behavior. At least in my B2B net no one is going to buy something unreliable (ghosts angry and locked in the basement)

 

[Chris Hydrick]

More drops, less money. No one is willing to spend a big money on something unstable or let's say tortured. The domain name must have a very good behavior. At least in my B2B net no one is going to buy something unreliable (ghosts angry and locked in the basement)

Drops = less money or unreliable?

I thought unreliable would be something like a lawsuit attached to the domain. ie Monkey.com recently sold for $500k. Owner defaulted, and lawsuit filed against the ICO for a separate reasons. Even though the domain is attached to some monkey business, is that to say the domain is forever tainted, and will not sell for more than $500k again? Does that grant the domain owner grounds to sue the party who defaulted, on the basis of damaging the assets value? How would one define the amount of value supposed lost as a result of such monkey business? Some say sales price are dependent of who's aware of the domain auction, as as such, this negative publicity may bring added attention should the press catch wind in such a story.

If drops = unreliable or less money, can you say which adds to greater loss in reliability or value: drops or negative prior domain use?

 

[Lox]

I'm not going to catch f.e. pimf.com cos I don't have any client on horizon (whoever used this before / French company / bankruptcy). For flipping D2D, it's up to the my team to decide if there is profit (time+money+stress+sleepless+hopeless). I let them learn at their own pace.

Investigate, collect the info, study, how to get client/s and decide.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Here's a question about age, and how other metrics may supersede value.

I am looking at buying one of two domains right now. I will not reveal the exact names until my purchase is complete, but what I can say is one is a 6L.com [2002 reg] VS a 4L.com [2006 reg].

The 4L is classified as a CVVC.com [repeating VV] and can be acquired for $3XX. No specific use or enduser in mind besides reseller value acting as a safety net should I want a quick reseller flip.

The 6L is a word + single leter.com, and can be acquired for $1XX I have no particular enduser in mind, but I can think of a few uses for this domain. Might only get $XX if a quick reseller flip was needed.

The 4L has instant reseller value, and for the purchase price, I feel it is some what of a lower risk investment, than the 6L [based on the amount of 4L buyer, and current price point]

However, I think the 6L has a greater upside, in that it has a greater chance of being independently thought of by a start-up / naming agency on their own accord given product/service req, where as the 4L, though brandable, would need to be marketed to start-ups seeking a short made up domain.

Should I take into consideration the age of the 6L with 0 drops [2002 reg] when deciding to purchase that domain over a 4L.com with 2 drops [2006 reg] even though there are more 4L.com pattern buyers at the moment? If I were to take age (and drops) into consideration, it would lead me to believe the older and less dropped domain is more valuable, even though the 4L has a more expensive purchase price and assumed reseller price.

 

[Mifuru]

aged domains - its history.
in web.archive.org