question Are random 4L .com domains worth anything?

[Jetheat]

I have an opportunity to buy a random 4L .COM domain.

It's just a mixture of number and letters which don't mean anything.

Is there such a huge demand for 4L domains even if they mean nothing, or is the demand ONLY for those that have a pronounceable / brandable word?

Appreciate the help.

JH

 

[ak1985]

I notice that random 4L .com (not 4 characters) domains have some value. People are willing to pay around 100$ to 150$ for them here on namepros.
But do the random 4L .net and .org domains have some value? can they sell for at least 40$ to 50$? That's the question i have.

 

[branding]

I notice that random 4L .com (not 4 characters) domains have some value. People are willing to pay around 100$ to 150$ for them here on namepros.
But do the random 4L .net and .org domains have some value? can they sell for at least 40$ to 50$? That's the question i have.

Unless they're pronounceable those are a real gamble. I wouldn't advise anybody to explore this option if you're looking to sell within a short timeframe.

 

[ak1985]

Unless they're pronounceable those are a real gamble. I wouldn't advise anybody to explore this option if you're looking to sell within a short timeframe.

So random 4L .com's have value and can sell well and in short time but random 4L .net's and .org's are difficult to sell and can be avoided. Only those 4L .net's and .org's have some value which are pronounceable and have some meaning or short form of something. That's what we can conclude?

 

[BrandPlease]

Just need to be careful when you are thinking in very general terms. Value, conclude, & random are very dangerous words when used so generally. I wouldn't say run out and get random 4l just because it's .com - yeah there is a bit of liquidity - but you could start much easier.... That said - check out this post on 4L (and short names): Short Domain Buyer handbook.

 

[MapleDots]

domains with numbers and letter combinations, basically have no value above reg fee.

There are some exception, for instance when something looks good together and can be used as a brandable.

For instance

K1D.com (one of mine but a 3 letter)

Can stand for #1 Kid

Apply that to a four letter number combination that could somehow be used as a brandable or similar.

example 9HOL

As biggie said, a lot of them are worthless but if you hunt you can find the odd gem.

 

[branding]

So random 4L .com's have value and can sell well and in short time but random 4L .net's and .org's are difficult to sell and can be avoided. Only those 4L .net's and .org's have some value which are pronounceable and have some meaning or short form of something. That's what we can conclude?

That pretty much sums it up yes. Everything else is just a gamble and they have no liquid value as of now.

Will this change in the future? Who knows.

 

[Altoz]

I think @biggie might have been speaking about wholesale or liquid pricing. I have been writing about LLNN.com for many years now and some do sell for nice prices, especially repeating letter, repeating number with LL ending in 88 and 99 being the most popular. starting with HG,CP,QP being highly touted starting letters. These are mostly a Chinese phenomenon with few other buyers.

There are many that drop daily and many that get no action here, example, I was tired of a name I owned that got a bit of traffic, AA92.com I saw AA88 and AA99 going for big $$$ and they are far superior to my AA92.com. I started an auction here while those auctions were going on GoDaddy. provided comps, etc... starting the auction at $1 and got no bids, as I always do if no bids for 1 hour, close and delete the auction listing.

I placed it for sale on Sedo at $99 and got a sale a couple weeks later, nettted $80. Which imo would have been more than I would have gotten here.

I own a couple still and if I put them up for sale here I think I would get little to no action here, so I get what @biggie is saying, a 4L.com here is going to get some action, not end user pricing but it's always going to get bids and offers.

Wow, it didn't sell? I can't believe it.... I would take them in a flash

 

[poweredbyme]

PS Can someone tell me why JS is so attractive in LLNN names? It has sold about 10 times with good average price of almost $4000 but to me JS seems random. It must have a meaning I do not see.

JS is javascript.
Javascript file names end with dot js.
Click CTRL + U on your browser while reading this post. Then click CTRL + F in the new window and search for ".js" or only "js". You will see how many javascript files this page has. If you do the same on other websites, you will see almost all websites you will visit have at least 1 javascript file.

 

[postscripter]

Can I say I 100% agree with @Ategy.com to never buy any domain you do not understand. I would add though that randomness is in the eye of the beholder sometimes. Many of the $600+ mixed mode sales I see to me seem like random collections of letters. But just because I do not see a pattern, does not mean there is not one. In particular, it appears some of the ones in end use and that sold for good amounts went to Chinese market, so keep in mind the caution Ategy gives.

I would repeat again what I said earlier and is the key point I think.
If you see realistic end-use possibilities that are not random, it may make sense at right price. If they are random to you, you probably should stick away from any domain.

I think there is also some caution here though to not be too regionally biased in our view. Clearly certain regions like numbers and mixed much more than the US, and other regions like hyphens. Don't invest for those markets if you don't genuinely understand them, but also accept that each of us bring our own biases to the discussion.

Bob

PS Can someone tell me why JS is so attractive in LLNN names? It has sold about 10 times with good average price of almost $4000 but to me JS seems random. It must have a meaning I do not see.

probably because JS refer to Javascript the most popular "programming language" today

 

[Recons.Com]

I agree with the sentiment that you have to understand why the number is meaningful not just in 4C.com but in any domain.

Here are some from my portfolio and why I liked them:

12AY/com - means 12 months in Turkic languages, including in Turkish
4-P/com - the famous 4 Ps of marketing
OnThe9/com - On the 9th Cloud
180Recovery/com - Recovery basically often means making complete change of direction, which is 180 degree turn.
21Living/com - Living in 21st century. Will be relevant for next 80+ years ))
32Store/com - in reference to 32 teeth, dental products
4EA/com plenty of meanings to put behind
UK9/com - UK plus number, or u+Canine, dog related
4XOL/com and 4XUS/com - Forex Online or Forex US
5KLoans/com - 5K or $5000 is a popular amount to ask for for a personal loan. Hence plenty of end users.


Just make sure, your total number domains are not more than 1-2% of your total portfolio, as they are definitely higher risk.

 

[Ariff BD]

OPNZ to me is a pronouncable, so I bought it. End users in mind.

A random 4L like PXJL would not appeal to me at all.

I'd rather watch an auction. It's all end users. Try to never think like "domainers are buying them, so if no end user, it's still something I can resell to the community and get my money back."

I hope this helps.

I have good collection of pronouncing LLLL.com to resell in cheap price

 

[Ariff BD]

Wrong assumption. Hearsay without facts.
I sell them regularly. This year alone I've sold more than 4 of such domains. With very high ROI.
Below is one of my past sales of LLLN:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/report-completed-domain-name-sales-here.83628/page-623#post-6790764

Can you dm me about that?

 

[Zilla]

I have to say, most LLLL.com are valuable, for one culture/language, it is random, for another, it full of meaning...you aware or not aware is another question.

 

[Jason Baudendistel]

I have my first 5 5l .com even is a real word in French. Personally I don't think much of combining letters and numbers in most situations but to each their own.

 

[Moneta]

yeah i think You can daily take some 4character domains, which just dropped they looking trash but yeah maybe in future worth something. (Or You will also leave it after few years)

 

[tinabacot]

Can I say I 100% agree with @Ategy.com to never buy any domain you do not understand. I would add though that randomness is in the eye of the beholder sometimes. Many of the $600+ mixed mode sales I see to me seem like random collections of letters. But just because I do not see a pattern, does not mean there is not one. In particular, it appears some of the ones in end use and that sold for good amounts went to Chinese market, so keep in mind the caution Ategy gives.

I would repeat again what I said earlier and is the key point I think.
If you see realistic end-use possibilities that are not random, it may make sense at right price. If they are random to you, you probably should stick away from any domain.

I think there is also some caution here though to not be too regionally biased in our view. Clearly certain regions like numbers and mixed much more than the US, and other regions like hyphens. Don't invest for those markets if you don't genuinely understand them, but also accept that each of us bring our own biases to the discussion.

Bob

PS Can someone tell me why JS is so attractive in LLNN names? It has sold about 10 times with good average price of almost $4000 but to me JS seems random. It must have a meaning I do not see.

I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on the Chinese aspect of these combinations. We can't have tunnel-vision when valuating in the U.S. We are not the only ones who visit websites. There is a world out there larger than us and they utilize the web as well. While other countries may have their own extensions, they do use the irreplaceable .com.
My opinion: how many 4L, 4N, or a combination of either can we come up with? While it may not make "sense" to us in our own world, someone may see what we do not. I do not think we can value domains based on historical data alone. While it is a benchmark and measurement tool, we need to factor in "change." The world is changing & always has been progressive-thus we have gone from horse & buggies to autos to who knows what's next...ask Elon.
If you see a domain that has 4 of anything only, I recommend buying it. There are hard to acquire and desireable to someone. Especially if there is a root word, acronym or something you see that can be marketable. Think of other countries, research terms, near terms, and try to make sense of what it all means or could mean. You could have an angle on something big.
While not a good comparable "apples to apples," etsy is a prime example of a nonsense type "word" or acronym that I don't think has a meaning. There is former Etsy employee who claims that the name was a resultant of logarithm searches and combinations. Thus, the company name was founded based upon value of combinations of 4 letters of consonants & vowels.

Now the very strongly branded "Etsy" has a meaning that we associate a prime shopping experience with by that combination that 15 years ago was garbled to our ears. Nike is synonymous with shoes, much like etsy has succeeded in becoming synonymous with online shopping. many use to make their livings & has become a go-to for unique products.

Thank goodness we cannot measure everything, or we would repeat ourselves over and over in history and extinguish change & progress.

Just like the wise Bob here has pointed out the Chinese language, I would have a different recommendation for domain investors. The best advice I have ever heard about the topic of how much any domain is correctly answered with, "whatever someone is willing to pay."

How much would you pay for etsy? How much would you pay for evye? I just made that last one up. I don't know...neither does anyone truly. The future will hold the answer. I have a practice of thinking forward.

If I follow the current lessons in domain investing, I will pay a lot for many highly sought and fought over domains. That's stressful and no fun. I instead, look at the domain as a visionary. Yes, a visionary. Whatever value is placed upon my idea today could be less than $100. In 5 years, that could be a million-dollar site.

I have one for example I bought from godaddy after it expired. I looked at it and thought, "hmmm I see something." I wasn't really sure what I saw. I have not paid it much attention until last month. I have been reviewing my portfolio and this is the only domain I have at godaddy and nearly one hundred I own.

As I remembered my one little godaddy domain to review, I looked again, and it hit me. Now, I know why I bought it. I see it more clearly now. I created a logo, tagline, and it was so easy to see it! It was, in fact, too easy!

I looked and began singing, " It's so easy, it's so easy, yeahhh so doggone easy, to fall in love, it's so easy to fall in love...
You are singing too, aren't you? I was reviewing my domain tooesy.com
I have it for sale. I don't have a price and I will listen to offers. It's tooesy to fall in love, it's too esy to fall in love with tooesy.com.

While we base good decisions on the available historical data as that is what is available, let us open our minds instead of researching facts, tidbits, email blasts, and canned information. There is always a better cat house (notice I am tired of the "mouse-trap" example), and I want to find that. I don't want to fight over what everyone else "thinks" is hot and miss the opportunities of tomorrow.

One of the richest men I ever personally met gave me the best advice: Be a visionary. Visionaries become wealthy. Practitioners make a living. That is my copyrighted quote.
I took parts of his advice and coined my own quote, copyrighted quote by Tina Bacot:

"Practitioners make a living, but Visionaries become wealthy."

Cheers! TB.