@Bob Hawkes .. I wrote the below before this .. but realised that ultimately we are saying the similar things .. with the main difference being that we're talking about different domains.
You're thinking about the average domain you and others write about with regards to domain sales ... which in that respect you're right in that if you look at the average quality 2-word .com domain
that sold and was written about in the last couple of years, very likely you'll end up with a median of quality where it is worth getting the spanning ngTLD version.
However .. you need to keep in mind that domains like OnlineCasino.com and FreeGames.com aren't even anything close to being the reality of anything close to the average 2-word .com domain quality of average domainers. They are the 1% of the 1%, nothing remotely close to average domainer reality. When I say it's not worth getting the spanning Word1.Word2 ngTLD domain, I'm talking with regards to the entire portfolio of an average domainer .. including the 98++% of domains they don't sell each year. (And if you include domainers who don't continue to succeed, the sales rate is probably far lower than 1%.)
It's important to bear in mind that the super majority of 2-word .com domains never sell ... HOWEVER .. ultimately today in 2019, ngTLD's sell at lower frequency and at lower multiples than those .com's .. so definitely if you're talking to the average domainer with an average portfolio, then it definitely is not a good investment to get the spanning ngTLDs.
But if you're talking about the average domain quality of domains that have been sold, then yes .. definitely get the spanning ngTLD.
We're both right from our relative perspectives .. however .. when giving advice to the average domainer, we need to base our advice based on the average domain in an average portfolio.
It is possible you are over analyzing all of this.
If Word1word2.com has value to an end user, why wouldn't Word1.Word2 have
some value?
Word1.Word2 would add value, to an end user, for:
- Marketing
- SEO
- New or additional products/services
- Defensive purposes
Considering there is additional value to an end user for having both the exact match .com and the exact match NewG, it would also translate to additional value for investors who own both.
They definitely do and would have value to an end user .. I've never said they don't, and even stressed that fact a few times .. but how many of your domains have you sold where having the alternate would have made a difference .. most sales platforms don't even have a way to associate pairs like that. It's not enough of a sales amplifier to justify the costs.
More importantly, most domainers don't even make a profit ... then consider that such equivalent ngTLD's sell less frequently and for a lower markup and cost more. They aren't necessarily bad domains .. they are simply bad investments when you could put that same money into another 2-word .com.
In the end it's not that they don't have value, it's that they simply aren't worth the investment .. you're better off taking that money and buying more 2-word .com's where the probabilities of sales and profit and more tangible and realistic.
Like you are saying OnlineCasino.com is valuable, for example, but Online.casino would not be? Or FreeGames.com is a great name, but free.games not so much?
Those are all rare 6 figure domains. I'm talking about the average bread and butter 2-word .com domain that sells for $1000-$5000 which make up the bulk of the portfolios for the majority of domainers. The typical stuff you'll find here:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/your-purchase-or-snap-of-the-day-no-handregs.756868/page-327
So isn't that an argument to hold the pair? If you are saying hold it, but don't offer them as a pair up front, I think that can be legitimately argued as a bargaining tactic.
Again here I think your perspective is too set based on domains you write or read about. The sales where brokers are involved, or high enough where there was direct communication involved.
But the reality is that most domains never sell .. and of the ones that do sell .. most are via buy it now button or automated systems where there isn't even any opportunity to offer or even mention the pair.
In the case where a domain is good enough to be brokered, then they are typically worth $50k and beyond ... for any and all such domains I'd be the first to say yes .. and to get the spanning version if it's still available. But again .. those represent less than 1%of 1% of domains being held by domainers .. it's just not the reality of over 99.9%+ of domains being held by domainers.
Are you acquiring at less than $4 (when the effective fee you need pay for extension after the expiry is included)? If not then I don't think your statement is true for year one.
I agree that renewals now, in .com, are less than in most desired new extensions, but not by the factor you are assuming.
lol .. shhhh ... I buy good domains at very good prices!
... Although admittedly you need to add the cost of my time going deep into the lists. But if you assume a very generous 2% sell though (the reality is actually far less when you include domainers who give up in their first year). Then you need to factor in the average 50 year typical domain hold. So even if the upfront is a bit more on an expired (auction or closeout .com), it isn't much .. but afterwards renewals are typically about 3x for ngTLDs. Admittedly, the math for cheaper ngTLDs might make those something to look at ... but you still need to remember that each time you get a pair, you're not buying a new 2-word .com which will have a better chance of selling at a higher price. In the end it always comes down to the fact the .com is generally the better investment.
Let's say you are going to do a 3 year trial on a few matches (and well Rob M accountant makes him stop the loss deals
so you have to pay wholesale prices for .com).
3 years of ownership of .com registration at wholesale price to registrar (before the coming price increases) costs $23.55 + ICANN fees. 3 years of .systems at similar wholesale but no other fees cost $32.00 + ICANN fees. Most of the others in the above list are about the same. So yes, higher, but not by the amount that I think you are assuming. Or if you want to just do a one year trial, then it switches and the new extension addition lowers your average cost.
Even if you do get the costs close to that of .com .. there simply is no denying that you have a better chance of getting a sale AND getting a higher multiple if you take that same money and put it towards yet another .com.
Again .. I have to stress .. it's not that these domains are bad .. but getting .com's are simply the better choice .. you are far better invested with two different 2-word .com's rather than one W1W2.com + W1.W2 pair.
Effectively in 2019:
W1W2.com + W3W4.com > W1W2.com + W1.W2
Because ultimately you can't dismiss that other 2-word.com you didn't buy because you put that same money towards the spanner.