Are domain hacks valuable?

[socketmalarkey]

I’ve been lurking on this forum for quite some time now and I’m considering getting into domain hacks with country code domains but seeing as how I haven’t actually bought and tried to sell any of them I was wondering just how valuable are they?

 

[robert_jones]

The short answer to this is that domain hacks tend to be harder to sell to end users as you have to find an end user that would be interested in building their entire business around a domain where a lot of people are going to very likely mistype it.

For example, not too long ago I was looking for VPN’s when I came across a website that has the domain “hide.me”. I visited the site and then forgot about it till a few days later when I remembered it and decided to visit it again. As you can guess the first thing I typed in was “hideme.com” and not surprisingly I landed on a completely different website. It took me a while of searching around on Google to find the website and that’s when I realized their domain name was a domain hack.

I personally don’t get involved with buying/selling domain hacks as they seem like a lot of risk but I do know of a few people that have managed to sell a few domain hacks to start up firms for low 4 figures so there is hope out there. If you plan on getting involved with domain hacks just beware that they can be much riskier than normal domains and you REALLY need to be able to a skilled salesman as there not easy to unload.

Hope that helps.

 

[Russkie]

Hide.Me was a nice idea, I like it - something similar would become potentially resalable. However, hacks like 'primro.se' do not have much of investment potential in my eyes.

 

[baseballworld]

The short answer to this is that domain hacks tend to be harder to sell to end users as you have to find an end user that would be interested in building their entire business around a domain where a lot of people are going to very likely mistype it.

For example, not too long ago I was looking for VPN’s when I came across a website that has the domain “hide.me”. I visited the site and then forgot about it till a few days later when I remembered it and decided to visit it again. As you can guess the first thing I typed in was “hideme.com” and not surprisingly I landed on a completely different website. It took me a while of searching around on Google to find the website and that’s when I realized their domain name was a domain hack.

I personally don’t get involved with buying/selling domain hacks as they seem like a lot of risk but I do know of a few people that have managed to sell a few domain hacks to start up firms for low 4 figures so there is hope out there. If you plan on getting involved with domain hacks just beware that they can be much riskier than normal domains and you REALLY need to be able to a skilled salesman as there not easy to unload.

Hope that helps.

Yet another reason dot com is king. lol

 

[rafass]

abc.xyz

 

[Kuli]

abc.xyz

That's not a domain hack.

 

[rafass]

That's not a domain hack.

I'm sorry, but you're completely wrong. abc.xyz is a domain hack.

https://www.google.com/search?q=abc.xyz domain hack&rct=j

 

[ulterios]

The short answer to this is that domain hacks tend to be harder to sell to end users as you have to find an end user that would be interested in building their entire business around a domain where a lot of people are going to very likely mistype it.

For example, not too long ago I was looking for VPN’s when I came across a website that has the domain “hide.me”. I visited the site and then forgot about it till a few days later when I remembered it and decided to visit it again. As you can guess the first thing I typed in was “hideme.com” and not surprisingly I landed on a completely different website. It took me a while of searching around on Google to find the website and that’s when I realized their domain name was a domain hack.

I personally don’t get involved with buying/selling domain hacks as they seem like a lot of risk but I do know of a few people that have managed to sell a few domain hacks to start up firms for low 4 figures so there is hope out there. If you plan on getting involved with domain hacks just beware that they can be much riskier than normal domains and you REALLY need to be able to a skilled salesman as there not easy to unload.

Hope that helps.

Great answer!

Although some of these domain hacks look and might seem good, the people who decide to build sites on these domains are going to loose a lot of traffic the way hide.me did by you. When people are trying to remember a site, they tend to always type .com if they can't remember the uncommon extension a site is on. Typing .com is a habit that is rooted inside most of us because it's the biggest and most well known/used extension.

In trying to sell these hacks, you have to find the right buyer who is willing to loose partial traffic due to people typing in the domain/website address wrong.

 

[rafass]

That can happen only first days with certain people. but it will change in the future. I'm sure.
One domain / brand can be easily remembered with other extension.

 

[Kuli]

I'm sorry, but you're completely wrong. abc.xyz is a domain hack.
Show attachment 15406
https://www.google.com/search?q=abc.xyz domain hack&rct=j

Just because it's written in Wikipedia doesn't mean that it's correct.

As said, the domain name including the TLD must be a name, word or phrase. I can't see what phrase abcxyz or "abc xyz" could be. It's just two independent sets of alphabet characters in a row.

It might be that abcxyz is a common abbreviation in some strange slang in the word, but I've never heard of it.

 

[TheWatcher]

A good example of domain hack is deli.cious.com, busi.ness.com ro.mantic.com d.omaining.com conf.erence.com and many others.

Is it valuable? Maybe, but many domain keywords available in new domain extensions doesn't make any sense to buy a domain hack.
It is harder to sell a straight keyword domain already and explain this to end user, try selling a domain hack. Too many time wasted.

When was the last time you see a domain hack sold?

IMHO. What do I know

 

[rafass]

Just because it's written in Wikipedia doesn't mean that it's correct.

Wikipedia only?
and the others 469,000 result in google of pages, interviews, articles, etc talking about the same?

As said, the domain name including the TLD must be a name, word or phrase. [...]

Who said that?? You?? Then you are the correct and everyone is wrong. ok.

 

[hikari]

I see both sides on abc.xyz but I would say it's a hack. It doesn't mean anything when set apart but together, it's implying the entire alphabet abc...xyz

 

[ulterios]

Well let's just say that technically it (abc.xyz) is a hack, but it isn't the more common type of hack that most people are talking about when they say "Domain Hack".

 

[Kuli]

Wikipedia only?
and the others 469,000 result in google of pages, interviews, articles, etc talking about the same?

https://www.google.com.tw/search?q=abc.xyz+domain+hack&rct=j&gws_rd=cr&ei=hi3XVYHHIcbx0AS5ppmwDQ

Where the first entry asks whether it's a domain hack, and suggests that it could be one.

Who said that?? You??

No, Wikipedia. In the first sentence. You already quoted it.

Whatever, I don't want to be pedantic. Of course, it doesn't matter in the end. And since there's no official authority that defines what a domain hack is (ha ha!), everone can see any host name as a domain hack if s/he likes.

I just wanted to say that abc.xyz is a bad example when it comes to domain hacks, because it's at least, well, questionable whether it's really a hack. I would say no. End of discussion for me.

 

[877PAGE101]

I'm sorry, but you're completely wrong. abc.xyz is a domain hack.

It's TM cybersquatting and ABC will soon sue Google over it and win.

A public company cannot use another public companies TM to do business.

It just shows you how arrogant and stupid Google really is.

ABC . anything belongs to ABC American Broadcasting Company

PERIOD

 

[hikari]

Would a good name hack on a horrible gTLD that nobody uses be worth anything?

 

[ulterios]

Would a good name hack on a horrible gTLD that nobody uses be worth anything?

It depends on what exactly the hack is and if you can find someone that would be interested in it. More than likely, it wouldn't be worth too much anyway.

 

[hikari]

It depends on what exactly the hack is and if you can find someone that would be interested in it. More than likely, it wouldn't be worth too much anyway.

I picked up b.exposed off expiring auctions but the premium reg fee is $100 so I'm not too sure about the purchase. (be.exposed seems to be reserved by the registry and not for sale)

 

[ulterios]

I picked up b.exposed off expiring auctions but the premium reg fee is $100 so I'm not too sure about the purchase. (be.exposed seems to be reserved by the registry and not for sale)

Well, that one is probably going to be a hard sell, especially since you need to make over the $100 to turn a profit. That extension is also not a popular one and it's long as well.

It's best to stay away from the lessor used extensions unless they are premium names.

I would start trying to market it right away because it's more than likely going to be hard to find a buyer.