China and Domain Names: My Prediction for 2016

[STUART MALOFF]

My prediction for 2016 in the Chinese market.

Savvy investors will realize the rarity of N-N-N-L and L-N-N-N domains and they will steadily increase in value. Remember there are 26 letters and only 10 digits. Remove the vowels, the letter V, and the #4 and there are only about 18,000 of each type. That's rarer than a 5 number domain and almost as rare as a 3 letter domain. I'm not saying there are worth as much as those 2, but they should be worth much more than what they are currently selling for and are one of the few Chinese interest domains that are undervalued in my opinion. Time will tell. Any thoughts?

 

[STUART MALOFF]

Thanks! Hopefully we will all experience many of these types of sales in the months and years to come.

 

[hugegrowth]

Nice one!

 

[STUART MALOFF]

Thanks HG! Over time we may discover that the buyer got the better end of the deal, but at this time I am elated with the sale.

 

[hugegrowth]

Do you know it's a Chinese buyer?

 

[STUART MALOFF]

Yes, the buyer is indeed living in China.

 

[STUART MALOFF]

However HG, even though this buyer was in China, I believe these kind of domains could also have end users in other countries including the United States.

 

[Chris Rice]

You all got it wrong when it comes to China.
See what the China domain expert says by going to his amusing thread:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/china-will-block-coms-for-a-competive-edge.913319/

China ended up crafting laws that ban foriegn companies from publishing on the Internet (in China) altogether. So it doesn't look like I was very off base.

But I will wait to see what happen's when .XYZ, .CLUB and other nGTLDs get approved by the MIIT in China.

I suspect that .com will not join the ranks of approved TLDs but that their Chinese IDN will.

 

[STUART MALOFF]

Hi from NamesCon! I woke up to good news in this niche. My domain name z682.com sold last night for $888 through Afternic. Although this sale is dwarfed by my earlier mentioned sale of s138.com for $4,000, it's still a good sign, especially if the buyer is in China.
Inquiries are steadily coming from my portfolio in this niche, but sales have been sporadic. I still believe that these are the most undervalued domains in the Chinese market and are still under the radar. The fact that nnl.com domains and lnn.com domains have a floor in the $x,xxx bodes well for domains adding a n to either side.
As we already know, 5 number chips start at 2k, but there are so many more of those than these hybrids. That high price is because of supply and demand. The supply of these kind of 4c hybrids is now very low. When demand increases, these have nowhere to go but up too. Even if the floor of these goes over $100 it's a solid investment knowing that the ceiling is at least $x,xxx. If anyone would like to discuss these hybrids at NamesCon, please message me through the NamesCon app.

 

[frank-germany]

When demand increases, these have nowhere to go but up.
.

that is true for every asset

 

[STUART MALOFF]

Of course, but it's only an asset if you can sell them for more than you pay for them over time. I'm trying to say I believe there will be more of a demand for these due to the limited supply and percentage of them currently being used for business in China. I personally think 6 number domains with weak numbers are much more speculative than the 2 sold domains I mentioned in this thread. There are like a half million 6 number chips and only around 10k of nnnl and lnnn .com domains. The supply of these is already low so the demand is more likely to go up. The real question is when it will happen.

 

[Kassey Lee]

My two studies of current and next-generation leaders in corporate China, as mentioned in my blog post "Chinese domain market: the next 30 years", give me enormous confidence that 4C has great future in China, even though short term it may not be that hot. (Yes, I'm dropping some but keeping the best 4C for long term.)

 

[168]

Hey Kassey Lee!

I have a handful 4c.coms Offers are increasing

What are your thoughts in the 4C .Club for the China market?
Cheers

 

[Kassey Lee]

What are your thoughts in the 4C .Club for the China market?

In corporate China, I think .club can play a supporting role as membership club of a company, e.g. Alibaba.club to complement Alibaba.com. A 4C .club matching a 4C .com may be a good idea. As a standalone domain name, I don't know.

 

[168]

Thanks
Cheers

 

[hugegrowth]

aren't there about 26000 lnnn and 26000 nnnl combos? For a total of 52000?

 

[campout]

aren't there about 26000 lnnn and 26000 nnnl combos? For a total of 52000?

Not if you remove AEIOUV04

 

[hugegrowth]

then you are talking 10240 each, or 20480 total

 

[hugegrowth]

I am surprised that nicer LNN.co and NLL.co don't sell more often.

 

[STUART MALOFF]

b168.com sold for $1,227 on tdnam today. s688.com sold for $1,505 on May 31. To me these are outstanding long term purchases, as these digital assets are rarer than 5 number domains and they are meaningful numbers proceeded by a liked letter. I know many individuals on this platform don't understand the value of these and continue to see 6 number .coms as better investments, but when you're talking a million 6 number domains vs about 10,000 of these chips, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see which are easier to acquire and which will be worth more in the long term. The recent success of NNL.com/LNN.com supports the long term play on these in my opinion.

 

[STUART MALOFF]

As per my last post in June, I will double down that b168.com was an outstanding purchase, as a very similar domain name, m168.com sold for $6,000 on Sedo. While, I would think buying a that domain for that much would be a mistake for an investor, the end user got a deal. I was in China a couple weeks this summer, and I think most Chinese would concur, that the next best number to 888 there is 168. I saw shops called 168 Hotel etc. It is a very powerful number and there are only 20 such names without vowels or v. I have had r168.com listed for $8,888 for a while. If any more of these sell for the same or more, I am raising it.
As for the rest of the LNNN.com/NNNL.com market, I can say inquiries are coming regularly. Hopefully this niche will become fruitful in the later part of this year into 2018. You can still buy these relatively inexpensively. They are speculative plays, but the upside is huge. They are much rarer than Chips and even rarer than pure 5 number domains.