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I often get questions like the title ("Do you domainers bring any social value whatsoever to this world?"). OR, straight attacks; or anyway questioning the morality of domaining right from the start. ("... you're keeping it hostage!!", ever got that one?)
This post is my answer to that (just some thoughts near a cup of coffee). Hope it inspires you.
First off, a short bio note. I started domaining long time ago (about 15 years) when you could reg as many 4-digit domains as you want (including VCVC). I stopped doing that after a while and let them expire. Those domains could be worth millions today. I don't have them anymore.
The reasons I stopped were two-fold. First off, not many sales venues back then (although I knew they will be worth a lot in 10 years). But the big problem was that I was also questioning the morality of doing this. And this has kept me away for more than a decade, from doing something I enjoy and consider it fits me like a glove. And made me lose a real fortune. I was terribly wrong.
Domaining is tightly connected to human nature, and its characteristics derive from it.
It's not a business, it's an investment. And yes it is a speculative investment. But isn't any other kind of trade in the world based on buy low, sell high? Are you ever pissed off at your corner market because perhaps they have added 100% margin on those apples? (they often do) Ever yell at them for that reason?
I believe domaining actually brings value - and on several levels.
I came to yet another direct realisation these days, when I wanted to buy a domain for one new business. I found a decent one priced at 1K, alright price. Then I suddenly realized: What if all domains were free to get and to keep forever by anyone? In that case, a business could not find any free name as all names would be already registered by everybody else and kept forever, just in case they might need one someday.
Simply being able to buy that special domain for my business, brought a lot of value to me, as a business owner. The renewal price also makes the difference between who should and should not hold it; if it is not worth renewing to you, then that domain is not intended for you. Let it loose.
High-value domains are not intended for individuals to grab for free. They are for businesses.
Individuals can always register IReallyLikeGardening .com or JohnHasBeenHere . They're free to reg for just the reg fee. Businesses NEED good names. There's a big difference between need and want.
I replied to one person: How about Real Estate investing? Not building apartments, but buying them just to sell later. That moral or not? Or purchasing houses etc simply as a way to keep money (such as top cities where a ton of properties are always empty while countless people are desperate to find one).
How about arts, that Paul Gaugain painting should, perhaps, be free for take by whoever and hang on their wall just like that? What kind of social improvement does that private collection having it brings to the world? Aren't you pissed off that your favorite land in the center of the city is owned by someone else? Yes you might be. Well, in that case, are you going to go and yell at that owner for the mere fact they own it? No? I thought so.
Yet, nobody complains about real estate speculators or arts. Because they have been here for way too long, so everybody is used to that as normal. Domains are a new thing, hence this misconception.
How about crypto? Are they hodlers all immoral for keeping those coins? Or, perhaps, stocks and all the sorts. Isn't that also speculative investment? Well, newsflash, domainers are also investing, and risking a lot of money in hope of a profit they may, or may not make. That's no different than in other such field. Think about that.
Another question I asked them:
Suppose you walk on a dirt road and you see a gold coin in the road. What do you do, do you let it here for someone else to pick up? Wouldn't that be stupid?
And if you pick it up and sell it, is that immoral?
Domains are gems on a dirt road, that can be spotted by a trained eye and either picked up or paid for. Then resold for a profit. It's just as it is.
By doing this, you generate value, because an entire trade industry has been generated, and the money flowing in the business sustains jobs and so on. Any new trading market fuels SMB's and employees and the common person's wages.
Because domainers aren't really corporations keeping money in vaults or in accounts with billions having no social impact whatsoever, or merely feeding a billionaire's ego. No. Domainers are mostly individual investors, small businesses, and their earned money are spent on normal items, clothing housing food whatever, the corner shop, the taxi driver, and therefore these amounts get back in the real world and help people in the real world make a living.
Not to mention the fact that you can help your friends, relatives, whoever needs help, to get a good domain name for themselves for low cost of just reg fee, due to the skills you've trained. I do that often and really enjoy helping them out.
It's all related to human nature. Everything demanded an in scarcity, will eventually be picked up by the trained investor. The more scarce they are, the more value they have. And there's no immorality to invest in something of value.
So if you're ever going to asked about morality of domaining, now you know how to answer.
This post is my answer to that (just some thoughts near a cup of coffee). Hope it inspires you.
First off, a short bio note. I started domaining long time ago (about 15 years) when you could reg as many 4-digit domains as you want (including VCVC). I stopped doing that after a while and let them expire. Those domains could be worth millions today. I don't have them anymore.
The reasons I stopped were two-fold. First off, not many sales venues back then (although I knew they will be worth a lot in 10 years). But the big problem was that I was also questioning the morality of doing this. And this has kept me away for more than a decade, from doing something I enjoy and consider it fits me like a glove. And made me lose a real fortune. I was terribly wrong.
Domaining is tightly connected to human nature, and its characteristics derive from it.
It's not a business, it's an investment. And yes it is a speculative investment. But isn't any other kind of trade in the world based on buy low, sell high? Are you ever pissed off at your corner market because perhaps they have added 100% margin on those apples? (they often do) Ever yell at them for that reason?
I believe domaining actually brings value - and on several levels.
I came to yet another direct realisation these days, when I wanted to buy a domain for one new business. I found a decent one priced at 1K, alright price. Then I suddenly realized: What if all domains were free to get and to keep forever by anyone? In that case, a business could not find any free name as all names would be already registered by everybody else and kept forever, just in case they might need one someday.
Simply being able to buy that special domain for my business, brought a lot of value to me, as a business owner. The renewal price also makes the difference between who should and should not hold it; if it is not worth renewing to you, then that domain is not intended for you. Let it loose.
High-value domains are not intended for individuals to grab for free. They are for businesses.
Individuals can always register IReallyLikeGardening .com or JohnHasBeenHere . They're free to reg for just the reg fee. Businesses NEED good names. There's a big difference between need and want.
I replied to one person: How about Real Estate investing? Not building apartments, but buying them just to sell later. That moral or not? Or purchasing houses etc simply as a way to keep money (such as top cities where a ton of properties are always empty while countless people are desperate to find one).
How about arts, that Paul Gaugain painting should, perhaps, be free for take by whoever and hang on their wall just like that? What kind of social improvement does that private collection having it brings to the world? Aren't you pissed off that your favorite land in the center of the city is owned by someone else? Yes you might be. Well, in that case, are you going to go and yell at that owner for the mere fact they own it? No? I thought so.
Yet, nobody complains about real estate speculators or arts. Because they have been here for way too long, so everybody is used to that as normal. Domains are a new thing, hence this misconception.
How about crypto? Are they hodlers all immoral for keeping those coins? Or, perhaps, stocks and all the sorts. Isn't that also speculative investment? Well, newsflash, domainers are also investing, and risking a lot of money in hope of a profit they may, or may not make. That's no different than in other such field. Think about that.
Another question I asked them:
Suppose you walk on a dirt road and you see a gold coin in the road. What do you do, do you let it here for someone else to pick up? Wouldn't that be stupid?
And if you pick it up and sell it, is that immoral?
Domains are gems on a dirt road, that can be spotted by a trained eye and either picked up or paid for. Then resold for a profit. It's just as it is.
By doing this, you generate value, because an entire trade industry has been generated, and the money flowing in the business sustains jobs and so on. Any new trading market fuels SMB's and employees and the common person's wages.
Because domainers aren't really corporations keeping money in vaults or in accounts with billions having no social impact whatsoever, or merely feeding a billionaire's ego. No. Domainers are mostly individual investors, small businesses, and their earned money are spent on normal items, clothing housing food whatever, the corner shop, the taxi driver, and therefore these amounts get back in the real world and help people in the real world make a living.
Not to mention the fact that you can help your friends, relatives, whoever needs help, to get a good domain name for themselves for low cost of just reg fee, due to the skills you've trained. I do that often and really enjoy helping them out.
It's all related to human nature. Everything demanded an in scarcity, will eventually be picked up by the trained investor. The more scarce they are, the more value they have. And there's no immorality to invest in something of value.
So if you're ever going to asked about morality of domaining, now you know how to answer.
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and the fact I am posting this from my phone
