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discuss Dash-Domains?

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ThatNameGuy

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While I've heard/read some discussion about using dashes "-" in domain names, what I've heard and read doesn't make a whole lot of sense. First, a dash or a hyphen are considered punctuation like comma's, periods, and question and explanation marks. As far as I can tell, a dash/hyphen is the only punctuation permitted in a domain name, and there are certain names that almost require it to make sense. Take for example; Caution-SlowDown.com, Warning-MooseCrossing.com or Disclaimer-FakeNews.com.

My point is...NicheHappens, and a dash can lead to a lot of great domain names take Vacation-Rentals for example, VacationRentals (without the "-" sold for 35M in 2007). Seriously, if VacationRentals sold for 35M,
why wouldn't the more grammatically correct domain, Vacation-Rentals, sell for even more?

Just asking?

Bulloney:xf.grin:
 
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While I've heard/read some discussion about using dashes "-" in domain names, what I've heard and read doesn't make a whole lot of sense. First, a dash or a hyphen are considered punctuation like comma's, periods, and question and explanation marks. As far as I can tell, a dash/hyphen is the only punctuation permitted in a domain name, and there are certain names that almost require it to make sense. Take for example; Caution-SlowDown.com, Warning-MooseCrossing.com or Disclaimer-FakeNews.com.

My point is...NicheHappens, and a dash can lead to a lot of great domain names take Vacation-Rentals for example, VacationRentals (without the "-" sold for 35M in 2007). Seriously, if VacationRentals sold for 35M,
why wouldn't the more grammatically correct domain, Vacation-Rentals, sell for even more?

Just asking?

Bulloney:xf.grin:
You don't have any chance to get even 1% of the 35M. They do sell, but much harder and for much less. They work in Germany and most of EU, but not in US. I've sold 3 of them this year and dropped around 20, I still have 4-5 left. If you have a really strong two words domains you could sell them, but otherwise it will be really hard, just with some exceptions. If you have vacation-rentals, real-estate or something the same you could do well, but they are not available for years.
 
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Seriously, if VacationRentals sold for 35M,
why wouldn't the more grammatically correct domain, Vacation-Rentals, sell for even more?
Unless it's a branded name, e.g. Coca-Cola, it's really just not that visually appealing. Yes grammatically the name may be correct, but dashes tend to kill value.

CopAFeel.com registered since 1998
Cop-A-Feel.com available
 
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Unless it's a branded name, e.g. Coca-Cola, it's really just not that visually appealing. Yes grammatically the name may be correct, but dashes tend to kill value.

CopAFeel.com registered since 1998
Cop-A-Feel.com available

Thanks, and while I totally agree with you, I still don't get it? I actually like your example of Cop-A-Feel.com better than CopAFeel.com. Maybe we should start a Domain-Revolution....seriously!
 
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You don't have any chance to get even 1% of the 35M. They do sell, but much harder and for much less. They work in Germany and most of EU, but not in US. I've sold 3 of them this year and dropped around 20, I still have 4-5 left. If you have a really strong two words domains you could sell them, but otherwise it will be really hard, just with some exceptions. If you have vacation-rentals, real-estate or something the same you could do well, but they are not available for years.

Thanks...interesting that you'd say "they work in Germany and most of EU, but not in US." That observation should make them more valuable, but sadly not so. Do you think we could start a Domain-Revolution?

Bulloney:xf.grin:
 
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Thanks...interesting that you'd say "they work in Germany and most of EU, but not in US." That observation should make them more valuable, but sadly not so. Do you think we could start a Domain-Revolution?

Bulloney:xf.grin:

No Chance, Your not going to rewrite domain usage with wishful thinking or by registering hyphenated domains. and lets not forget most mobile devices require you to switch touch-keyboard to insert anything other than . dot/full stop , comma or @ at.
So hardly an incentive for new players on the internet either
 
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No Chance, Your not going to rewrite domain usage with wishful thinking or by registering hyphenated domains. and lets not forget most mobile devices require you to switch touch-keyboard to insert anything other than . dot/full stop , comma or @ at.
So hardly an incentive for new players on the internet either
Oh...there's always a chance. Thanks for the encouragement.
 
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Thanks for the encouragement.

After over 18 years of domains (yes, 18 years of learning) , I can't encourage misplaced/novice beliefs. Don't get me wrong I actually agree with you from a visual sense point of view but they just don't sell or get used apart from Germany. How's your German ?
 
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dashed domains are great
but not all of them
just a few...
 
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After over 18 years of domains (yes, 18 years of learning) , I can't encourage misplaced/novice beliefs. Don't get me wrong I actually agree with you from a visual sense point of view but they just don't sell or get used apart from Germany. How's your German ?

I thought you said they work in most of Eastern Europe as well? I've actually had 50 years of practical business experience where I've started and named 20 businesses. Just to name a few of the businesses I started and actually had/have domains for most, ContactUSA.com, CreditControl.com, Acsel.com, InquisitorInvestigations.com, SOB-NATION.com, SavingMinds.org, JudgmentScore.com, TheCollectionConnection, National1099.com, HoBoShine, CreditClaims, PREPEnterprises, AssociatedClaims, and there's a few more.

My point is, there really is a chance, especially when you agree they are aesthetically more appealing, and they're popular in Germany and Eastern Europe.

Hey, I'm a business guy first, a marketeer second, and a domainer third, but I do know enough about business and this industry in particular to realistically believe that dash/hyphenated domains in the US have a chance "if" promoted passionately, enthusiastically and smartly.
 
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dashed domains are great
but not all of them
just a few...

Thanks Frank...I see you're from Germany where dashed domains are more popular then here in the US. Unless there's some legal issue I'm not aware of, I plan on developing them as niche-domains along with areacode-domains and memory-domains. Who knows, there's enough volume in each of these niche areas to generate a lot of revenue....like in the millions of $$$.

If I hadn't spent a life time generating millions of dollars in revenues, I wouldn't be so sure. btw, generating millions of dollars in revenues is not the hard part, it's generating millions in profits, and then holding on to them. Thanks again:xf.grin:
 
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This interesting discussion prompted me to check out some stats using the Namebio database. If I include only .com which sold for more than $1000, there were 147,823, of which 2997 used hyphens. This is about 2.0%. If I make the price level $200, the stats are pretty similar, with 6420 hyphenated .com out of a 298,720 sales total.

I think both 'sides' can use these stats to bolster their case. Yes, most domain name sales for reasonable amounts do not involve hyphens. But with almost 3000 sales over $1000 that is a multi million dollar industry (over the length of the database).

I know that Germany and especially eastern Europe are keen on hyphens, and the US is negative on them. Can someone tell us how they are viewed in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, for example?

Bob
 
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In case anyone wants to register it, I noticed that
no-dash-domain-names.com
is available to hand register :xf.wink:
 
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I designed a website for a company who use a hyphen in the name. Whenever they quote the email address over the phone, they always have to follow it with "hyphen?.. it's a minus sign".
 
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This interesting discussion prompted me to check out some stats using the Namebio database. If I include only .com which sold for more than $1000, there were 147,823, of which 2997 used hyphens. This is about 2.0%. If I make the price level $200, the stats are pretty similar, with 6420 hyphenated .com out of a 298,720 sales total.

I think both 'sides' can use these stats to bolster their case. Yes, most domain name sales for reasonable amounts do not involve hyphens. But with almost 3000 sales over $1000 that is a multi million dollar industry (over the length of the database).

I know that Germany and especially eastern Europe are keen on hyphens, and the US is negative on them. Can someone tell us how they are viewed in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, for example?

Bob

Thanks Bob...no doubt there's a huge opportunity, and your research confirms it. I happen to own one dash/hyphen domain, and that's SOB-NATION.com. I've actually trade marked the name and turned it into a brand. I've attached the story of how this came about. As for the dash "-", sobnation.com was taken, and many people I talked to thought "sob" meant to cry, like in crying nation. btw, I ended up buying the sobnation name for $100 in case the dash was left out when keying it. You'll see where you can get to my Shopify site, if you key in either url. The dash helped to better identify my brand, so I went with it.

Bob, you may have heard me say there's another "niche" I'm interested in developing and that's AreaCodeDomains (for which I own the .com). Since starting this thread, I just realized that most area codes are separated from the local number with a dash. So from an aesthetic look, the dash could be used for the domain 212-XXXX as an example. Note, 212 is NY Cities area code.

Bob, since you're interested enough that you've actually done some due diligence research, I'll send you a personal message to see if we can help each other. Thanks,

Bulloney :xf.grin:
 

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Just because a dashed version of a domain name makes sense in certain cases to a german
that doesn't mean its a gold hidden niche for the world or US market
even in germany some dahes in domains make no sense
its a litlle more complex
 
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Just because a dashed version of a domain name makes sense in certain cases to a german
that doesn't mean its a gold hidden niche for the world or US market
even in germany some dahes in domains make no sense
its a litlle more complex

I'm not German? But I do know that many a high priced domain here in the US could be imitated by simply adding a dash/hyphen. While I haven't registered them yet, I've come up with a number of professional and sports domains that use a dash/hyphen that look pretty good. Thanks again Frank!
 
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I have music-fm.com & Criminal-laws.com both have very high number of searches per month , Few combinations works well with dash.
 
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Hyphens act as word separators. I think it makes sense to use hyphens when the last letter of the first word is the same as the first letter of the second word.
 
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