question What to do with a high grade domain? Go.LA

Perfect for a travel site. LA for Los Angeles versus Louisiana. I would look here NamePros. There’s a section somewhere that has members who would build a site for a reasonable cost. I definitely wouldn’t just park because it may take you a decade or longer to get the price you value this one at.

perhaps a domain hack for Gola.com :D ?

At that price you could register it for 10 years and forget about renewals Nice name.

wait 10yrs and no gurantee itll sell? bad idea imo
just put 4-5 figure...sell faster.....and go.la for nice trip with fam
gl

So why is ‘Go.LA’ a valuable domain and not only worth the registration fee?

Well to start with it is a short 2 letter domain name in a cctld. This fact alone gives the domain some value in the domain aftermarket. The two letters of the domain form a common and often used word in the English language, ‘go’. This I think puts the domain name in the $x,xxx - $xx,xxx price range.

There is also a UK brand of sports footwear called ‘Gola’ so here the use of the domain name as a cognitive domain representing this brand could enhance the value of the domain. Having researched the company and products previously I think this will secure the price in the low $xx,xxx range.

Now we will start building real value into the domain name, for the above is of nothing when compared to potential use for tourism in either the State of Louisiana or the city and county of Los Angeles in California

‘LA’ can and does stand for both ‘Los Angeles’ and Louisiana in the United States. This has not been lost on businesses with many using the cctld as a suffix for their domain registrations. Indeed in 2013 the registrar GoDaddy did a major marketing campaign in Los Angeles promoting the suffix as a good suffix for people, businesses, and organisations in Los Angeles to use. It has since then been regarded by many as the first ‘city domain extension’.


The State of Louisiana

Population: circa. 4,600,000

The domain ‘Go’ is a good positive domain name for travel and tourism, but it can also be applied as a positive forward moving and winning term such as in ‘Go Team’, in this case ‘Go Louisiana’.

The tourism industry in Louisiana is a major part of the economy. A report by the Lieutenant Governor’s Office Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism – Office of Tourism in 2017, reported among other things the following:

• Louisiana attracted 47.1 million domestic & international visitors to the state in 2017
  
  
• Of that, nearly 1 million international visitors were welcomed to the state in 2017
  
  
• Louisiana generated $17.5 billion in domestic and international visitor spending in 2017
  
  
• Visitors who came to the state spent nearly $371 per person during their trip
  
  
• A total of $1.8 billion of state and local sales tax revenues were generated by travel and tourism activities in Louisiana in 2017
  
  
• 21.65 million Hotel room nights were sold in Louisiana in 2017
  
  
• Louisiana’s hotel occupancy averaged 60.9 percent in 2017
  
  
• Over 14.3 million total passengers arrived and departed Louisiana airports in 2017
  
  
• LouisianaTravel.com had over 3.5 million website visits in 2017

This represents a huge potential market for the development of ‘Go.LA’ as a tourism site covering the State of Louisiana and the associated revenue streams from advertising and affiliate programs on such a site.

There is also the possibility of producing a secondary site for Louisiana residents, the revenue from such would be sourced from all the local advertising in the areas of real estate, law, employment, and all the other possible local advertising that normally is associated with ‘local websites’.


The City and County of Los Angeles in California

City of Los Angeles population: circa. 4,000,000

County of Los Angeles population: circa. 10,000,000

As stated above with reference to the State of Louisiana the same can be said concerning both the City and the County of Los Angeles. The domain ‘Go’ is a good positive domain name for travel and tourism, but it can also be applied as a positive forward moving and winning term such as in ‘Go Team’, in this case ‘Go Los Angeles’.

The tourism industry is massive in Los Angeles.

• In 2018 nearly 50 million visitors to Los Angeles County
  
  
• Of that number 7.5 million were international visitors
  
  
• In 2018 tourists spent $36.6 billion
  
  
• 30,182,000 hotel room nights were sold in Los Angeles County in 2018
  
  
• Los Angeles lodging Occupancy rate was 79.6% in 2018
  
  
• 87,534,384 total passengers arrived and departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

Again, the potential market for the development of ‘Go.LA’ as a tourism site, this time covering Los Angeles, and the associated revenue streams from advertising and affiliate programs is huge.

Again, there is the possibility of producing a secondary site for Los Angeles residents, the revenue from such would be sourced from all the local advertising in the areas of real estate, law, employment, and all the other possible local advertising that normally is associated with ‘local websites’.

An aside about the future

Between the two geographic localities it would at first appear that the potential for Los Angeles compared to Louisiana is circa. twice the size.

There is though one other factor that has to be considered, and it is not a trivial point, that is that in 2028 Los Angeles is hosting the Olympic Games. This will undoubtedly increase hugely the numbers of visitors, both from within the US and internationally, to Los Angeles.

Also, this event will bring about a spike in advertising revenues for any site with the demand for such space being at an extreme premium. If ‘Go.LA’ also were affiliated with a TV broadcaster so as to show the various Olympic competitions broadcast worldwide then it would be able to obtain world coverage via the internet.

And my new valuation is ..............

The above facts now move the valuation of the domain ‘Go.LA’ substantially in a northward’s direction. Given the above facts I have had to revise my initial valuation of the domain name ‘Go.LA’ away from being a $xxx,xxx domain. The new valuation that I envisage it at is in the region of $x,xxx,xxx. I presently have the domain listed on Epik.com at $4,000,000, though that figure could well change in the near future. (I have got much more research to do yet, but if the figure is going to change then it will only be in an upwards direction.)

I am though also open to leasing of the domain with a very reputable company or indeed a development partnership with a company with a proven track record which would take on the development and running of ‘Go.LA’ on a continuous basis.

For both Louisiana and Los Angeles this is a one-off domain name of a lifetime.


....................................................
(I undoubtedly will now be told how ridiculous my valuation is, insults will likely be made (and ignored), but the facts speak for themselves. You never know, should 'Go.LA' be developed then they might get a well known actor or music star to advertise it on TV. After all Arnold Schwarzenegger effectively advertised California worldwide. )

Nice name. I am thinking sports niche. Dëvelöp

@TheBaldOne after that article you wrote i would buy it if i had the funds xD
you marketer you

i just checked previous sales on namebio for GO exact keyword and .LA sales broski you are setting on a gold mine making me eager to follow my dreams and reg anything other than .com

Cool name to develop. Looks nice. Sounds nice.

Investment-wise, you're going to need a very large dose of luck (or huge growth in the popularity of the extension) to achieve a six figure sale.

Best sales so far have been:

• 8.la for $25K
• i.la for $19.9K
• business.la for $17.5K
• food.la for $11.25K
  
• pay.la for $10K
• x.la for $7.99K

Arguably, those are all more desirable terms/words than "Go".

Some of those sales are old, from 2008, but there isn't much evidence of an upward trend in pricing since then.

Low five figures does seem achievable, but volume of sales in the extension suggests a long wait with fingers crossed to get there.

@Joe Nichols - I am not bothered about the popularity of the extension at all, I am selling a 'brand', a unique brand at that.

If the potential buyers (which there are surprisingly quite a few) do not see what the domain brings to the table then it will not sell. But I think those that see what this domain name is and the brand it brings along with it, well then it will sell.

TheBaldOne said:

@Joe Nichols - I am not bothered about the popularity of the extension at all, I am selling a 'brand', a unique brand at that.

If the potential buyers (which there are surprisingly quite a few) do not see what the domain brings to the table then it will not sell. But I think those that see what this domain name is and the brand it brings along with it, well then it will sell.

Click to expand...

I'm all for aiming high, particularly if you're ready and willing to sit on the name for a lifetime.

I just like to keep things in perspective a bit. I agree the brand is strong, but a sale of the magnitude you're discussing would mean someone valuing a little known extension 160 times more than it has ever been valued by anyone (at least publicly).

When pricing non .com extensions, it's usually important to consider what the comparable .com would sell for as well. In most cases, alternate extensions are valued at about 10% of the .com. Would Gola.com merit a $40 million sale based on the value of the domain name alone?

I am NOT valuing the extension, I am valuing the domain and its worth to the State of Louisiana or the city and county of Los Angeles. I am looking at what the domain name will bring either of them, or anyone else who develops it, nothing else.

As for Gola.com (a developed website by the way) being worth $40 million I don't know, perhaps it would, but why in this instance go for second best with the .com and pay more?

(Oh and remember that of the top 1,000,000 websites only 50% are .com according to dofo mining on the subject.)

TheBaldOne said:

I am NOT valuing the extension, I am valuing the domain and its worth to the State of Louisiana or the city and county of Los Angeles. I am looking at what the domain name will bring either of them, or anyone else who develops it, nothing else.

As for Gola.com (a developed website by the way) being worth $40 million I don't know, perhaps it would, but why in this instance go for second best with the .com and pay more?

(Oh and remember that of the top 1,000,000 websites only 50% are .com according to dofo mining on the subject.)

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But the value of the domain to any potential buyer will rely heavily on the extension, even if you don't consider it to be an important factor.

Yes I saw that Gola.com is developed, which is why I specified domain name value only.

Just remember that "second best" is an opinion; in this case a biased one (as the owner of go.la). The vast majority of buyers see .com as the best. And I suspect the vast majority of investors would pick gola.com over go.la if given the choice of one to hold in their portfolio.

beat.la was sold to the owner of the PHX Suns for around 2k if I remember right. It still just sits there with the same splash page

@Grego85 - Please understand this, I do not care about what .la domains sold for in the past or what they are doing with them now. I am looking at what this single domain name can bring as a developed website, and that is huge.

For example, the London Olympic Games in 2016 advertising in the US alone brought in $1.25 billion alone, now imagine what the LA Games of 2028 will bring in just in advertising revenue.

People should start thinking about the real world and what their domains offer to the owner of them who develops them, and the fact that those who do not will lose by not owning a specific domain.

As I have said it is 'a brand' I am offering, a unique brand, and one with such huge potential that there will be many losers, and those are the ones that do not own it and utilise it.

(I am taking a couple of hours off before returning later, so if anyone should post a comment please note I will reply later. Thank you.)

TheBaldOne said:

@Grego85 - Please understand this, I do not care about what .la domains sold for in the past or what they are doing with them now. I am looking at what this single domain name can bring as a developed website, and that is huge.

For example, the London Olympic Games in 2016 advertising in the US alone brought in $1.25 billion alone, now imagine what the LA Games of 2028 will bring in just in advertising revenue.

People should start thinking about the real world and what their domains offer to the owner of them who develops them, and the fact that those who do not will lose by not owning a specific domain.

As I have said it is 'a brand' I am offering, a unique brand, and one with such huge potential that there will be many losers, and those are the ones that do not own it and utilise it.

(I am taking a couple of hours off before returning later, so if anyone should post a comment please note I will reply later. Thank you.)

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We're venturing into two different discussions here.

Are we talking about the value of the domain name alone? Or are we talking about the value of a developed website? They are not the same thing.

Some domainers fall into the trap of becoming starry-eyed by their own visions for their names, and price them according to the best-case value of their developed dream site/business on that name.

Could a billion dollar business be built on Go.la? Sure, but that applies to any name.

The question you need to answer is, if a buyer has $4 million dollars to spend on their project, does Go.la represent the best value they can get in a domain name alone? Answering that question requires more than digging for reasons to support your opinion of the name. It requires a critical analysis of many factors, not the least of which includes:

• How have similar names been valued in the past; and
• What could a buyer spend today to get another similar name

There are always other options.

TheBaldOne said:

(Oh and remember that of the top 1,000,000 websites only 50% are .com according to dofo mining on the subject.)

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I will. And you remember that being a top website is about development and marketing more than it is about domain extension.

A .com name isn't a necessity. It just gives you a leg up that is worth paying for.

@Joe Nichols - I am on about the product that I am selling, a domain name, in that sale I market it, show what the potential of the domain name is. This is common I would have thought, unless you just wait for someone to see your name in a list of millions and go 'Hey, I want THAT domain'.

Selling well is about finding the right potential buyers, but for that you have to first identify the market place where those buyers could be. Strange, I would have thought this was one of the basic principles of domaining, well at least to me it is anyway. I always look at what a domain name offers to potential buyers before I either buy it or register it as a first step.

It seems that some domainers do not follow the principles I consider basic, they perhaps just expect end users to spring up and buy their domains. I do not. (Though I must admit it does happen occasionally.)

You bring up things like 'similar names' - well there are no similar names, that is what increases the value of 'Go.LA', good isn't it.

If you do not see that then we have different approaches to domaining, not that either is wrong, I just think mine is by far more productive.

TheBaldOne said:

What to do with a high grade domain?

Click to expand...

Based on the stated renewal fee I'd plan to exit in year one and jump at any offer above my cost. Regarding end user targets:

• The sh0e company is indeed a perfect fit which is another way of saying that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to their mark so I'd tip toe around that minefield.
• Nola won the acronym battle in Louisiana so I'd have low expectations there.
• Los Angeles is your best bet but everyone there resisted the sedo $20k BIN (still listed there) so a $4M buyer would be astonishing but who knows -- good luck!

ecalc said:

Based on the stated renewal fee I'd plan to exit in year one and jump at any offer above my cost. Regarding end user targets:

• The sh0e company is indeed a perfect fit which is another way of saying that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to their mark so I'd tip toe around that minefield.
• Nola won the acronym battle in Louisiana so I'd have low expectations there.
• Los Angeles is your best bet but everyone there resisted the sedo $20k BIN (still listed there) so a $4M buyer would be astonishing but who knows -- good luck!

Click to expand...

If spending 11 cents a day seems high to you then yes I guess that would be YOUR plan.

Have you ever heard of a drink called 'Babycham'? It was originally launched as a cheap wine, it flopped, it was then branded correctly and marketed correctly and priced for the market and became one of the most popular drinks, and it went on to make a fortune for the company.

Domaining is not just registering domain names or buying them on the aftermarket. Good luck to anyone who thinks it is.

Eleven cents? I spent it all on horses, booze and women -- the rest I wasted. Is babycham the one with "as majestic as the cascading waters of a drain pipe" as their ad jingle? Love it, always keep a few cases on ice for special occasions. After reflecting on bum wine I’d like to retract my earlier gibberish and vote for persuading the State of Louisiana to drop “feed your soul” and “sportsman’s paradise” in favor of “gola”. I gar on tee it!

This is not a high grade domain. This is garbage.

TheBaldOne said:

@Joe Nichols - I am on about the product that I am selling, a domain name, in that sale I market it, show what the potential of the domain name is. This is common I would have thought, unless you just wait for someone to see your name in a list of millions and go 'Hey, I want THAT domain'.

Selling well is about finding the right potential buyers, but for that you have to first identify the market place where those buyers could be. Strange, I would have thought this was one of the basic principles of domaining, well at least to me it is anyway. I always look at what a domain name offers to potential buyers before I either buy it or register it as a first step.

It seems that some domainers do not follow the principles I consider basic, they perhaps just expect end users to spring up and buy their domains. I do not. (Though I must admit it does happen occasionally.)

You bring up things like 'similar names' - well there are no similar names, that is what increases the value of 'Go.LA', good isn't it.

If you do not see that then we have different approaches to domaining, not that either is wrong, I just think mine is by far more productive.

Click to expand...

Apologies. By "similar" I meant names that would also work for whatever project the buyer is contemplating. Typically they will have a range of options in mind.

Outbound marketing can be a great way to sell certain names. I just think brand names are a tough sell for outbound... particularly ones built around the Laos ccTLD where you're asking $4 million. Heck, even Zoom.com only sold for $2 million.

I'm curious to hear how your domaining approach has been more productive than mine thus far.

There is reaching for the stars and then there are delusions. Most top tier actual word premium domains don’t fetch 4 million. Same for desirable low letter (up to 4) count names in dot com.

Making an outlandish figure based on a maybe, a fantasy and visions in your mind alone is silliness. What Joe is trying to stress is the laws of probability based on past sales. You need to come back down to earth because that name will sit unsold for eternity (your lifetime) at that price. I would assume you would want to sell it in your lifetime otherwise why are you in this business.