88.com, numeric domains, China market

[galoop]

Well, after reading the Sedo numeric auction thread here, I started having a look at Chinese websites to see what the chatter is:

At least 50 threads dedicated to the 88.com sale, with more every day. At least 2 I found have users try to establish co-ops to buy the domain, a few "guess the final price", and dozens of "omg, no way, good name, financial crisis, etc.." . Press releases about a CEO who makes a plea to the provincial govt. to buy the domain as a springboard for businesses. In an interesting twist of narrow worldview, several posts about how Chinese will get it because the westerners place no value on it.

On english speaking forums, threads that I have found (including this one): 1
In fact the only user I have heard talking about this is maxeaus here at namepros.

I'm sure the things I've learned are common knowledge, but I found them interesting so I'll post in case they can help anyone else:

- International markets, specifically China are mad for numerics.
- The main Chinese search engine is http://baidu.com
- One of the biggest China domain forums is http://www.domain.cn/club/ with over 5 million posts.
- .net names are well regarded in China, much more so than the US
- .cn extensions are being widely traded and developed
- .com still rules
- Sedo is king, they all know about the site, and most of their premium domains get listed there.
- Google translate completely owns Yahoo's babelfish.
- For pricing, apparently a lot of these guys use a term for a unit of 10,000, and the translators choke on it. So they might say Invest.com sold for 100,000.
- Last, but most importantly, lucky number combos. You may have 4 or even 5 digit domains that are worth a lot more than you think. Most people know about 6's and 8's but there are plenty of other combos that make a difference. There are also unlucky combos.

So that's a quick report of my journey through Google translate! It was inspiring, there are always new opportunities out there.

BTW the other upcoming sedo numeric auction domain I hear a little chatter about is 25.com, but nothing mentioned of the others. However I would guess that 777.net will outperform expectations.

 

[h2o]

I'm a fan of numeric names. Good to see that market still healthy.

 

[Pred]

excellent post
repped

get back over there and promote 867 dot com & Giant Panda dot com :bingo:

 

[-REECE-]

88.com is a gem

 

[Terrains]

I'm Chinese, and although I'm not particularly superstitious with numbers (born and raised in America) my parents definitely are. The Chinese culture does place heavy emphasis on the superstitious and certain numbers are lucky, while others are unlucky, of course, repeating numbers are even luckier.

Everyone knows the 2008 Olympics started on 8/8/8 at 8:08 PM. Perhaps the luckiest set of numbers in Chinese culture is 168 - phonetically and translated they pretty much mean (prosperous all the way/road). I remember when my aunt got the last 4 numbers of her home line to be 1688 she was ecstatic.

Also, 4 is a bad number because it sounds like death. Many buildings in the US don't have a 13th floor, many buildings in China won't have a 4th floor.

 

[galoop]

Woo my first rep, thanks! :D
My guess is that 867.com is a good one for sure. From some of the chat the users were talking about 163.com (well developed already) and how they prefer that name over many other 2 digit numeric .coms

 

[Terrains]

Well, 163. One-Six sounds like "all-road" and three sounds like "life". The Chinese like it because it means "life all road". Eight sounds like "fortune" so 168 means "fortune all road".

 

[Pred]

88.com is a gem

it truly is but you know the insane wipo decisions and the like lately and over eager greedy lawyer scum, it's not fantasy to think if it ever even had a ppc link related to gambling, you know who would come a knocking
yes, its insane, but look at the recent decisions, it actually looks more likely the more i think about it


i just visited that forum. looks pretty well run and busy, but even with google trnslate is a pain. there is a small english section but the buttons dont translate and you cant paste off the charcters to translate, so after a bit of lucky dip i eventually found link to sign up but it wont display the captcha, thats only after translating another page by pasting. something about i have to undo some security setings and my firewall.

err, no thanks :D

Woo my first rep, thanks! :D
My guess is that 867.com is a good one for sure. From some of the chat the users were talking about 163.com (well developed already) and how they prefer that name over many other 2 digit numeric .coms

you now have your first emerald. arise sir. galoop :bingo:

 

[galoop]

Chinese Lucky Number Cheat Sheet

Ok, here is a cheat-sheet for basic Chinese lucky numbers. There are plenty of more esoteric ones that I'm researching - ones that are more dialect specific, but this is a decent starter list:

1 - Sounds like certain
2 - Sounds like easily
3 - Sounds like rise or grow
4 - Sounds like death - not good obviously
5 - Sounds like not or won't
6 - Sounds like roll / roll over and sometimes descend
7 - No dominant sound-alikes, but very popular
8 - Sounds like prosperity / profit - a favorite
9 - No dominant sound-alikes
0 - No dominant sound-alikes, could mean bring or take

xx - doubles and triples are phonetically pleasing, and greatly desired

Some examples: (ratings in brackets)

113 - certain to rise - (decent)
163 - certain to multiply and rise - (very good)
168 - certain to multiply and profit (very good)
232 - easy to rise easy (good but not as phonetically pleasing)
233 - easy to rise rise (very good)
6868 - multiple profit x2 (very good due to the repeating pair)
88 and 888 - pure Prosperity double and triple (excellent)
128 - certain of easy profit (very good)
218 - easy cetain profit (good, but in Chinese not nearly as good as 128)
444 - certain death (bad.. duh)
488 - could be seen as "killer profit", not necessarily bad, could even be seen as good
884 - funny enough, this is not good, it means your profit will rise then die.
58 - will not make profit, almost as bad as 44 (not good)

There are obviously quite a lot of combos, and some interesting exceptions.

 

[-REECE-]

Yeah, half them idiot panelists would probably believe an argument that 88.com is a typo of 888.com (popular internet casino)

Our society places too much emphasis on credentials, not enough on common sense, something which no amount of degrees can get you.

it truly is but you know the insane wipo decisions and the like lately and over eager greedy lawyer scum, it's not fantasy to think if it ever even had a ppc link related to gambling, you know who would come a knocking
yes, its insane, but look at the recent decisions, it actually looks more likely the more i think about it

galoop, thank you very much for sharing that with us -- I left you a rep as well. It's nice having people on here who can help break the language barriers.

 

[Pred]

I regged a domain for a particular purpose related to luck and the chinese market. The domain has 888 in title, is .com

Want to know the date and time i regged it?

Record created on: 2008-08-08 08:08:16.0

I could have got 8 seconds too, but wanted to be sure i was well in the 8th minute. Im happy the 16 is a multiple of the 8's

Im not a numeric freak normally, but this was a lot of fun planning

I think the site will be a hit becuase of it's uniqueness

More details to come later ................................................... :bingo: :kickass:

 

[kwok]

777.net should get a good price.

 

[maxeaus]

In fact the only user I have heard talking about this is maxeaus here at namepros.

Cheers, i did start to feel like the lone voice! I am realy bullish on this sale, it's going to be fun watching the bidding war. I still predict someone, or a company from China will get it.

 

[Truthman]

Ok, here is a cheat-sheet for basic Chinese lucky numbers.

Thanks for that, what about Zero? (0)

Does 303 have any special meaning? How does it sound in Chinese?

Cheers

 

[Pred]

anyone an actual member on that chinese domain site?

if so, pm me please, need a post done if possible. can pay np$ or something
cheers

 

[maxeaus]

anyone an actual member on that chinese domain site?

if so, pm me please, need a post done if possible. can pay np$ or something
cheers

Wish i had learned Chinese at school instead of Indonesian now, LOL. I would also like to have some domains posted in the forum, maybe a commission deal for successful sales? Wish Google translator worked properly.

 

[Truthman]

I want to include a NNN.com in the upcoming sedo auction. I just sent a message to them...

 

[galoop]

Sorry Arnie I can speak some Chinese but not read or write.

Truthman: 0 is fairly neutral. It could sound like "bring" or "take" but it is rarely used as part of lucky number combos. On a good note, it is not bad at all, so a 303.com or .net could be pretty well received, congrats!

I regged a domain for a particular purpose related to luck and the chinese market. The domain has 888 in title, is .com

Want to know the date and time i regged it?

Record created on: 2008-08-08 08:08:16.0

Really nice, wish I had thought about that!

 

[lzy]

Very good research, considering you relied on Google Translate (only?). :tu:

I can read, write Chinese. If anyone requires any special assistance, I'll be glad to help (for a % of course). :gl:

 

[yesonline]

anyone an actual member on that chinese domain site?

if so, pm me please, need a post done if possible. can pay np$ or something
cheers

Welcome to visit my forum :http://www.domainclub.org which is the largest Traditional Chinese domain forum I think

I own money168.com which is considered a VERY LUCKY and FORTUNE domain :gn: