Buy in slumps ... domains too?

[GeneCosta]

I've noticed that domain names that aren't usually selling for high end value are slumping in sales. "Canned.com" just sold for low X,XXX on Sedo, whereas a year ago I may have seen a bidder seriously consider twice as much. I've been buying up some domains that aren't necessarily retirement material, but they're decent enough. Does buying out during slumps and selling off during heights work for domaining as it works for stocks, in your opinion?

 

[mhdoc]

To quote my long dead father, talking about a prosperous horse trader: "When everyone wants to sell horses, I buy horses. When everyone wants to buy horses I sell them. "

Domains don't even eat much and with minimal development they will earn their annual fees.

If you buy domains for cash, with money you don't expect to need returned immediately, it seems like a good time to buy.

 

[snoop]

Does buying out during slumps and selling off during heights work for domaining as it works for stocks, in your opinion?

I think generally yes, the key question is are we actually near the bottom? It is never easy to know when that right time is. You could buy in now and make a fortune or we could see the market go far lower than it is currently. I would say buy domains for cashflow and forget about speculative profits for a long time.

 

[equity78]

THE OP asked about DOMAINS, not predictions for the stock market. Thank you

 

[-REECE-]

Certainly don't invest more than you can afford to lose at this point with speculative domains. I'm not sure how safe many/most cashflow domains are tbh. A generic will always have value, however a lot of the junk generating revenue won't be worth a whole lot if parking income continues to fall...

Call me paranoid, however I expect to see additional "Traffic Quality" methods of screwing domainers/webmasters over should Google stock continue to drop -- they have to please the shareholders somehow and what other choice do they have?

I still don't think we've hit the bottom -- I guess time will tell :gl:

I think generally yes, the key question is are we actually near the bottom? It is never easy to know when that right time is. You could buy in now and make a fortune or we could see the market go far lower than it is currently. I would say buy domains for cashflow and forget about speculative profits for a long time.

 

[equity78]

Excellent post Reece tried to rep you but would not allow it, I already repped another post.

 

[bmugford]

I am not a huge fan of "Traffic Domains" or "Rev Domains" unless the underlying domain name is strong, and the source of the traffic and revenue can be explained and trusted.

At of the end of the day any Traffic/Revenue name is only as strong as the domain itself.

Also domains with a use will always have a value. There will always be a buyer for a strong domain with a use in a trusted TLD (COM/NET/ORG)

Brad

 

[snoop]

Certainly don't invest more than you can afford to lose at this point with speculative domains. I'm not sure how safe many/most cashflow domains are tbh. A generic will always have value, however a lot of the junk generating revenue won't be worth a whole lot if parking income continues to fall...

Call me paranoid, however I expect to see additional "Traffic Quality" methods of screwing domainers/webmasters over should Google stock continue to drop -- they have to please the shareholders somehow and what other choice do they have?

I still don't think we've hit the bottom -- I guess time will tell :gl:

Agree, I wouldn't say any part of the domain industry is particularly low risk, though I think certain purchases can be classed "investment" and others "speculation". Relying on income from a portfolio (traffic and enduser sales) versus relying on rising asset prices. I think some might have the impression "investing" means something with low or no risk, that isn't the case.

 

[bmugford]

Any investment has a risk. Ask the Investment Banks who were leveraged 30 to 1 banking on housing prices going up forever.

To me the domains with less risks are ones that have a use, or have liquidity.

1.) Keywords in popular extensions
2.) Set patterns LLL.con, LLLL.com, LLL.net, CCC.com, etc.

The value on those could still go down, but at least they will have value.

When you get into "Brandable" names that don't mean anything or have a clear use, those are more risky.

The renewal fees on worthless domains can eat away at any profits.

Brad

Agree, I wouldn't say any part of the domain industry is particularly low risk, though I think certain purchases can be classed "investment" and others "speculation". Relying on income from a portfolio (traffic and enduser sales) versus relying on rising asset prices. I think some might have the impression "investing" means something with low or no risk, that isn't the case.

 

[Nerz]

Obviously the Obama team think the chances of the U.S and therefore the world slipping into a serious prolonged recession is strong enough to warrant a $500 billion dollar stimulus....or is it more. I dunno these figures make me dizzy, its just massive.

I think its a great time to buy domains right now, and if I was cashed up and prepaid to wait a while I would be doing so. Some great buys to be had. The question is where to put your money, new extensions or the tried and true, well personally i think the tried and true might be offering some great value, talking quality .coms etc.

In my very limited experience and from what I perceive, its a tight market however, with both buyers and sellers very cautious.

 

[duceman]

I've noticed that domain names that aren't usually selling for high end value are slumping in sales. "Canned.com" just sold for low X,XXX on Sedo, whereas a year ago I may have seen a bidder seriously consider twice as much. I've been buying up some domains that aren't necessarily retirement material, but they're decent enough. Does buying out during slumps and selling off during heights work for domaining as it works for stocks, in your opinion?

This is a truly interesting time. Now that we live in a true global economy we can all see how removing one card can make the whole house fall down. Who would have thought that school systems, unions, municipalities, etc. would be dumb enough to get caught up in mortgage backed securities. (Not to mention how idiotic the whole unregulated CDS market is)

That being said, I would rather invest in a solid ".com catagory killer" then to sit on a 401k or muni-fund. Who knows what company will fail next.

I think we won't see the U.S market stabilize till around Feb or so. Until then there will still be some short covering and selling to take advantage of tax credits for losses as the year comes to a close.

 

[goodkarmaco]

I read an article recently in domainer magazine, I think domainwire said he thought Rick S and Frank Schilling quiting blogging was because they need time to run their domain business and that they are wanting time to protect their names from the parasites that seem to now want them without paying.

I think domaining is getting attacked by all sides now and only the strong will survive.

 

[Aggro]

Call me paranoid, however I expect to see additional "Traffic Quality" methods of screwing domainers/webmasters over should Google stock continue to drop -- they have to please the shareholders somehow and what other choice do they have?

I still don't think we've hit the bottom -- I guess time will tell :gl:

Don't worry about "Traffic quality" - that's a minor battle in the grand scheme of things.

If G have their way, soon they will arrange with PC makers to install G Chrome browser on all new PCs.
The Chrome browser does not have the address bar - so no more type-ins.

 

[-REECE-]

Deja vu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft :gl:

Should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Don't worry about "Traffic quality" - that's a minor battle in the grand scheme of things.

If G have their way, soon they will arrange with PC makers to install G Chrome browser on all new PCs.
The Chrome browser does not have the address bar - so no more type-ins.

 

[labrocca]

When you get into "Brandable" names that don't mean anything or have a clear use, those are more risky.

Entry fee on these are low enough imho to hold a dozen or more at least.

The renewal fees on worthless domains can eat away at any profits.

I agree. I have sold off 25% of my portfolio the past 60 days to relieve myself of the heavy fees I built up buying domains en masse.

Call me paranoid, however I expect to see additional "Traffic Quality" methods of screwing domainers/webmasters over should Google stock continue to drop

I must be paranoid too then. I can't see how parking can sustain itself as sites continue being built and parking companies get squeezed for their revenue. It's VERY easy for Google to tell parking companies to F off but imho not as easy for sites since site owners have a plethora of methods to produce revenue. That's not true for parking pages. They have one basic source of income. Feeds. Maybe that's why we see consolidation between parking, registrars and drop companies looking to diversify.

I read an article recently in domainer magazine, I think domainwire said he thought Rick S and Frank Schilling quiting blogging was because they need time to run their domain business and that they are wanting time to protect their names from the parasites that seem to now want them without paying.

Maybe but a blog post doesn't take but an hour or two at most and even once a month is enough. I would LOVE to see how Schwartz's portfolio is doing. His entire domain revenue stream is based off feeds I believe. He doesn't own any developed sites nor does he sell domains very often. Of course he probably makes some nice change off traffic now. Still his portfolio and income would be a good marker.

The Chrome browser does not have the address bar - so no more type-ins.

I expect this eventually to be normal. Typos will earn almost nothing once that happens. And even extensions will become less important (still CNO should rule as THE brand to own).

Overall I think it's a good time to buy for DEVELOPMENT. I been hunting pretty hard for some good forum domains (my personal forte) but haven't seen much. Now is the time to look for quality. A time to get very picky about what you buy. However..it is the time to buy. There are some great deals to be found right now as some domainers panic or need the cash flow. I am sure the stuff I am selling is gold to someone else. I just sold off 10 sites for $30 each when normally I would want $50-$100 each. These are just the bottom of the barrel for me so I just don't want them.

Look for quality but definitely look.

 

[Optional]

Don't worry about "Traffic quality" - that's a minor battle in the grand scheme of things.

If G have their way, soon they will arrange with PC makers to install G Chrome browser on all new PCs.

The Chrome browser does not have the address bar - so no more type-ins.

Is that confirmed? The version I am looking at right now, which I think is the latest, has an address bar.

 

[goodkarmaco]

Geez, things are changing fast for domainers, hope we all prosper in the new frontiers.

I think Labrocca may be right time to work hard and deveope if you have the skills, I think that is what the big players are starting to do.

 

[mhdoc]

I think Labrocca may be right time to work hard and deveope if you have the skills, ...

I agree. Given that there must be a hundred parked sites for every developed one, your development skills don't have to be very impressive to have the best site.

A couple of years ago I sat down one weekend and did 40 wordpress installs. I wrote one or two short postings on each. A year later it was surprising how many ranked for some of the phrases I used. No, I did not do any link development. A keyword domain and some on theme content seemed to be enough.

 

[labrocca]

A keyword domain and some on theme content seemed to be enough.

Ain't that some truth. I find the best SEO is a domain with the keywords you target. I had some small sites that I worked with and some build up nice PR and uniques. I recently had one hit PR5 and I sold over $200 worth of links within a few days. Not too shabby. One great thing about having dozens of sites is interlinking them. I can start a site and create a couple dozen good links to help build it up almost immediately. Or at least in theory. It doesn't always work.