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discuss The dangers of trends

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MapleDots

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As some of you who are following my posts have probably read umpteen times, I am not a fan of following trends in the domain industry.

Example

VR Domains, Crypto Domains, 420, marijuana etc.


I have often discussed that group categories end up being dominated by a few players. Yes we hear of big sales but we do not hear about the thousands of domains dropped that nobody ever buys.

I always say you can jump on the trend bandwagon but be highly selective in the domains you register and keep them to the highest quality. Try to pick maybe a half dozen to a dozen and then focus on something else.

On Namepros I know members who own thousands of 420 domains and asked for my help and all I could do was shrug. I did not have the heart to tell the member his investment was a loss. Now the real sad part about that was he was not able to meet his financial obligations for renewals and eventually dropped most of them.

Same goes for VR which I warned about very early and I was the target of numerous negative posts telling me I did not know what I was talking about. Now you hardly ever hear of a VR Domain selling anymore. I see them on the drop and can only feel sad for my fellow domainers.

Now I also know a few members that literally have thousands of crypto domains and there are only a few dozen viable targeted end user companies. Given the odds of a viable business actually using the name there are much better ways to diversify your domain portfolio than to own thousands of them. Remember that the sales you see reported are a rarity and not the norm, consider this before registering hundreds in a trending category. If you remove the made up sales the real sales figures would look very different. I have seen numerous reported sales where three months later the whois was still with the owner who reported the sale.

My advice is to forget the trends, participate with high quality and then set your own niche. Use something that is a national symbol where you have years of cross marketing to unlimited businesses. Or use terms that will be relevant in the future which justify owning domains for several years.

My motto today is I have to have at least one sale a year that pays my entire renewal fee or I need to crop my inventory. You cannot stay in business if you have thousands of non paying domains and especially if you are lumped into a single category that will soon be irrelevant.

Pick and chose wisely my friends, there is a wealth of knowledge available on namepros if you learn how to properly use the search function.

That said.... there is no such thing as a stupid question, it is far more stupid to proceed with something where you have not asked the questions of your peers.

I wish all members the best of luck and hope I do not have to converse with too many of you that have hit bottom and cannot pay renewals. Please think ahead, we are all here to help you if you need us. (y)
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
While I do agree people should be careful .. I think the bigger picture points to most of the problems simply being a matter of poor domain selection (regardless of trend/niche). New domainers not familiar with marketing and/or the intricacies of the English language who simply end up buying bad domains.

Ultimately I think buying very good names in SOME niches is a good thing. But the problem is that most of the names I see floating around would never be used by a business even if there were 10,000 new startups a week in the niche. But the exact same thing holds true with non niche domains .. which is why I don't think it's so much about the niche as it is the ability to choose good forms of domains. We just see it more in niches because that's where the volume is.

FYI (/disclaimer .. lol) .. I've recently picked up some truly amazing value Crypto, Marijuana and Gambling related domains that I am very happy with! :)
 
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I see people on here creating their own trends and in a few months we'll start seeing all those names drop (especially the ngtld's with huge renewals.)
 
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FYI (/disclaimer .. lol) .. I've recently picked up some truly amazing value Crypto, Marijuana and Gambling related domains that I am very happy with! :)

Now imagine your entire portfolio of thousands based on just Marijuana.... how long before you go broke.

You are doing exactly what I was telling newer members to do and that is to diversify into a number of categories. (y)
 
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I have separate baskets for my eggs.
I don't put them all in one.:xf.smile:
 
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Every investment is a risk. The problem aren't the trends but the perception of them, not all trends will be as big as 'cloud' but there will always be people registering 1000's of worthless fidget spinner domains.
 
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Anyone investing in thousands of domains in one niche is either very foolish or very rich. If you can get some of the better names before everyone else there is nothing wrong with having a handful of high quality domains in one or multiple niches. Better to have a few and be able to play the waiting game and renew than too many.

In your example, the cannabis industry isn't even entirely formed yet. Hopefully he kept a few of the better ones.

The people who do well with a niche heavy portfolio are those flippers that are aware they are going to have to sell a certain percentage to other domainers at a modest price and not expect huge money is coming for every domain.

Renewing out of obstinance happens too instead of assessing and reassessing if a domain is worth keeping and for how long.
 
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I always say you can jump on the trend bandwagon but be highly selective in the domains you register and keep them to the highest quality. Try to pick maybe a half dozen to a dozen and then focus on something else.
The best way to capitalize on a trend would be to anticipate it, but it is risky. It means keeping a close eye on emerging technologies, world news. Because when a trend is visibly taking shape and gaining momentum in the public space it is already too late to buy the good names, unless you contact domain owners who had the foresight to buy them before you, and often many years ago.
In business it's often best to be a fast second than a prime mover.

Now I also know a few members that literally have thousands of crypto domains and there are only a few dozen viable targeted end user companies. Given the odds of a viable business actually using the name there are much better ways to diversify your domain portfolio than to own thousands of them.
Another fundamental tenet. Few names are usable really, so you should aim for the best, or the second best. The names that other people would 'obviously' want.

Remember that the sales you see reported are a rarity and not the norm, consider this before registering hundreds in a trending category.
This is true for domain names in general. There are hundreds of millions of domains registered but very few sales, even considering that reported sales are only the tip of the iceberg. Domain sales are the exception and not the norm.
Domainers tend to overestimate the size of the aftermarket. This is a tiny, niche industry. When you think of it, there are not many millionaires in this industry. Yet millions are lost in this industry.

Shameless plug: selling 3dcryptoweed.club, serious offers welcome by PM.
 
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I like to buy a handful of "trend" domains, put them up for sale and then walk away. 12 months later if they don't sell, I dump them.

Right now there is every possible combo of words for the Crypto/Bitcoin/Token trend and 99.9 % of them will end up being dumped. Still, I had to buy a dozen or so just because it's a thing right now. I like trends, but unless I see real results, I get in, spend a little cash and move on to sensible things.
 
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Now imagine your entire portfolio of thousands based on just Marijuana.... how long before you go broke.

You are doing exactly what I was telling newer members to do and that is to diversify into a number of categories. (y)

lol .. yeah .. plus I've got quite a bit more diversity than just those niches.

But I guess what I was trying to say is that in most of these cases it doesn't matter if the person has 2500 Cannabis related domains, or 500 Cannabis + 500 Crypto + 500 Gambling + 1000 other domains (for a total of 2500) .. the end result is usually a total of 2500 bad domains that will never sell regardless of niche .. because the domains themselves are bad in form or too long or bad tense, etc .. (and not specifically because of the niche if you know what I mean?)
 
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Lots of sage advice in the OP from @MapleDots as well as the various opinions expressed by others.

I would just add one point. Ask yourself the question what are YOU well placed to contribute to the domain investing business. That is what niche does your expertise, interest, experience, education, connections, etc. give you a leg up over most others.
 
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.....Right now there is every possible combo of words for the Crypto/Bitcoin/Token trend and 99.9 % of them will end up being dumped.....

Based on the quality of names I see for sale here I would tend to agree on that but maybe 99.8% instead of 99.9%. An example is a name I see listed here CryptoToffee. What use could it have? The owner suggested a candy company can make candy with the Bitcoin logo om them!
 
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I think the key is diversity when it comes to trends. Unlike the traditional niches like insurance, business, etc, trends are mostly new and untried. It's safer to buy just a couple of names and spread them across several trends whether it be crypto, vr, ar etc.

Having said that, it's imperative that the names be of quality since it's basically new and you can't afford to have an obscure name in an obscure niche that no one has heard about. But getting a great name in a trend requires an early entry, at least 5 years before the trend actually happens.


So in conclusion, you've got to get really good names and that will take both foresight and guts to achieve.
 
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My motto today is I have to have at least one sale a year that pays my entire renewal fee or I need to crop my inventory. You cannot stay in business if you have thousands of non paying domains and especially if you are lumped into a single category that will soon be irrelevant.

That's sound advice!

I currently own about 50 domains and that's probably a relatively small amount compared to a lot of the seasoned investors here. Even though I'm very selective about the domains I buy, I can probably start diversifying a bit more.
 
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You guys would have loved trenddomaining.com, lots of greats insights..I see many posts are available from archive.org if you want to have a look see. Don't put all your eggs in one basket should be a given in the domain space. I agree with Kate, you want to be the first one to speculate on a few strong names, or be a hell of a picker and have money to spend when those trend are coming to fruition. Don't believe the hype.
 
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Based on the quality of names I see for sale here I would tend to agree on that but maybe 99.8% instead of 99.9%. An example is a name I see listed here CryptoToffee. What use could it have? The owner suggested a candy company can make candy with the Bitcoin logo om them!
But CryptoToffee could be one of those random unpredictable pairings that hits the lottery for blind luck. Then when that lottery is hit, there is a rush on everything crypto-food combo. Everything from cryptoPeas to iHeartCryptoCandy will be snapped up and defended on the basis of toffee.
 
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I think if you play your cards right and you get some of the premiums in the beginning of the trend you are good as long as the trend pays out. I missed the whole VR trend trying to avoid trends I don't think there's anything wrong with investing into them as long as you don't make it the main portion of your portfolio
 
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I'm going to start a domainer related trend :)
 
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If it's a trend it's most likely too late.
 
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You are right. covfefe.com is possibly the only worthy domain, and even then the window of opportunity is narrow. I don't like time-sensitive domains. They quickly depreciate. Today I would already dismiss this one as a collector's item.
 
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And the same "trend concept" is applied to new extensions.
The last is the .app fever.
History is always the same:
.cloud
.blog
now .app
tomorrow? .web?
No thanks.
 
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