question .com is unavailable, should I prefer a .net or .co domain?

[Voslo]

For an investment purpose:
Should I buy and invest in LLL.net and LLLL.net or in LLL.co and LLLL.co?
Some brandable and pronounceable domains are still available or can be bought for a few bucks.

Focusing only on CVC, VCV, CVCV, VCVC, CVVC, VCCV and dictionary words.

 

[Domainzy]

Stick to .com's.

Thats all i was gonna write, however this reminds me of a lesson my dad taught me when i was young. "Buy premium, so you don't have to buy it twice"

He said almost every product has a 'cheap', an 'affordable', a 'premium', and also an 'over priced' brand. He said 'cheap' & 'overpriced' are for fools who don't know better, and always go with 'premium' if you can get it, if not settle on 'affordable' not cheap'

When in comes to domains: (imo)
Cheap- .info
Affordable- .net & .org
Premium- .com
Overpriced- .co & .biz & .gLTD's(with rare exceptions)

 

[nicedomains]

LLL.co only if they are pronounceable or really primo letters...for a few bucks. LLL.net can't be bought under $xxx. LLLL.net don't waste your time. Best bet is to stick to short .coms.

 

[alien51]

Would it be possible and easier to build a brand on a .net domain? (Knowing that .com domain is unavailable)
This is the goal of an end-user.

Yes. I have built quite a few brand business on a .NET extension myself. This is because the .COM versions were all being sat on by domainers and they were asking me for boatloads of money. And i kinda like the keyword-combination of the domain name as a brand so i chose the option not to look for other .COM names and instead went ahead and built the business on a .NET.

All my .NETs are ranking nicely on search engines (content and SEO are king).

In order for the .COMs to be rendered unusable by domainers, TMs were applied on the keyword-combo to shut out the specific goods & services that my .NETs are catering. If ever these domainers found a buyer for their .COMs in the future, they can't use the domains in the same "goods & services" as my TMs.

I am sure all sensible End-User buyers would first check on the Trademark Database to see if the domain will infringe on someone else's business, before buying the domain.

 

[tomcarl]

If I had no other choice, I'd personally go with .net over .co

It's the senior and .co is more likely to confuse people. I can say that when I tried marketing .CO domains (only about 10 or so), nearly every domain I emailed about received a response asking ".com? what's .co?" followed by no interest after explaining. Doubling your work, not only do you have to sell the keyword(s), you've got to sell the extension too, unlike with a .net. I wouldn't risk building a brand on it, the chances are higher to redirect your visitors to the .com version of your name. Plus you still see .net sales being reported every week, not the case with .co, can't remember the last time I seen a 4 figure co sale being advertised.

 

[wwwulff]

They are a waste of time because they are difficult to resell, but if you believe in brandable cvcv.net in the long run so buy some - the reason they are so cheap is that no one else wants them now.

LLL.net is better but has also fallen in price in recent years, perhaps the best of them will come up in price again - It´s a gamle but who knows.

Personally, I'd stick to coms

 

[Name Trader]

If the .com is taken, and no other tld's are taken, which is presumed if the.net isn't taken, I'd 100% go for the.net over the .co. Of course, you need to have a plan to sell it to somebody. Just speculating on wzy.net (or any other .net which isn't registered) without a plan, isn't going to yield any results, in the short term.

 

[bmugford]

Domainers might shun .NET, but there are still far more end users who will consider a .NET vs a .CO.

I would go with .NET by a wide margin. While it is a secondary option to .COM, it is still widely known and used. It also does not face the same potential confusion of .CO vs .COM. Many people are just going to assume .CO is a typo and add a M at the end.

Still, you need to buy the right domains at the right price. .NET need to be really high quality to have any real resale value.

Brad

 

[Name Trader]

With maybe a few exceptions, two word .net's are only worth regfee. Single word .net's are probably over your budget, in most cases. Three character .nets might have some value, if you can afford them. Four character .nets are such a gamble, unless you know what you are doing. There isn't really a brandables market in .net's. Most .net's have a long wait time before they sell. So where are you going to invest in these .net's?

 

[Name Trader]

If it's for a project, then none of my comments are relevant. My comments were based on you being a reseller of the domain. It also sounds like you are branding the domain to your domain business. You can do that with any domain, .com, .net, et al. You can pick up decent .com domain related to domains, from the drops, or Pre-Release auctions from $5 to $69, or just wait for them to drop and pay reg-fee. You could also pick up a brandable in the same way. I wouldn't personally go through this angst of going for a .net, when you have so much choice out there. You must have some other preconceived notions, like it must be an LLL/LLLL domain. Whereas you should be looking for a domain with the word "domain" or "name" in it. Plural if at the end of the name, singular if at the beginning. Unless you are going to brand the name to your business. Then it doesn't matter what the domain is called or what extension you use. But it will cost you more in SEO services. Domains with "domain or "name" in them, are usually already "branded" to the selling of domains. I would personally recommend you stick with a .com domain, since selling .com domains from a .net address seems a bit iffy to me.

 

[Name Trader]

"keyword"domains.com is easier to remember than "xxxx".com, since you are selling domains, and your customers are buying domains. It looks more professional, as well, from a naming point of view.

An example (only). Would you be more likely to shop for a domain on HugeDomains.com or on Huge.com?

Agree that a CVCV.com is going to be way beyond your budget of low $xxx. So you should take that off your list of possibilities.

 

[Name Trader]

Forgive me for assuming. But if your budget for a domain is low $xxx, then how much is your budget for website development and promotion? You'd need at least mid $xxxx to brand and promote your website. Probably a lot more. So I feel there is some kind of mismatch between you naming expectations, your plans and your budget. Which is why I keep harping on "keyword"domains.com, as your best bet. Then after you make your first million you can re-brand to something you can afford to buy, develop, and promote, properly. That is, if you haven't come to love your "keyword"domains.com

One suggestion for you. Go to Name.com's Nabber and filter your search results to suit your needs. You might find something to your liking there for regfee. Of course most of the better names will be gone. Snapped up by the drop-catchers.

Another suggestion would be to watch GoDaddy's (Pre-Release) Auctions. Also SnapNames/NameJet Pre-Release Auctions are good places to be watching.

 

[anhnguyenict]

.co is more fashion, rare sales relate to .net

However, renewal fee of .co is more expensive. ( ~ $24 / ~ $8 )

 

[vdonline]

I personally prefer .net
I remember when I text my friend about an website using .co extension, he asked me "typo?"

 

[baseballworld]

I would go with .net if the .Com is taken. Would have to be something I really wanted though.

 

[tultseo]

.net domain, it is more recognized than the .co in terms of marketing. People tend to recognize it more than the .co. You see on TV websites being promoted with .net extensions

 

[Voslo]

Thank you @Jahfree, your reply is very helpful! I really like your analysis.

I would like to stick to .com's but unfortunately, the asking price for them are often too high for a domainer like me. They don't take into account the fact I am a domainer and not an end-user.

 

[alien51]

I agree. Resell and Projects, are two different things.

Reselling a .NET domain is a difficult prospect.

If you are trying to build a project on a .NET with the purpose of reselling it as a website package, i am not pretty sure about that idea either. Simply because a buyer looking at your business, may not necessarily have a strategy in mind on how to proceed with owning an online business on a 2nd-rate extension. Most of them have a ".COM is King" in mind, and would be wondering why on earth you have a website running on a .NET ?

If you are planning to run a .NET "project", this means it is assumed you know exactly what you want, and what you are doing.

 

[alien51]

Yes, the only viable business model i have seen so far, is becoming a "third-level reseller" of domains.

This means, you buy from the cyborgs, and then resell it to end-users.

Because profit margins with domains are high, there's enough room for jacking up the price tag. The benefit here, is that you managed to cut down the time you would have spent sifting through the drops or fighting in the auctions. Just pay the gadem cyborg, and pass-on the cost to the end-user.

 

[Name Trader]

What is the project related to? I take it this is probably going to be a completely brandable domain. If you have no problem with your budget for website development and promotion, excuse me for asking, then why so stingy on your domain acquisition budget? Just asking?

I would probably focus on a longer .com. For me personally, I could go from 5-10 chars. But of course the shorter the better. But longer is preferable, if you get a better domain. Don't be so hung-up on it having to be only 5 or 6 letters. Branding a .net, you need to be very skilled. I can think of ThemeForest.net as an example.

Personally, I would not be putting my project on a .net of any kind. Stick with .com. If it's going to be just a website shared with a few friends, then a CVCV.net would be just fine. But if you hope to attract a wider audience, perhaps your whole country or the world, you should be on a .com.

You should still visit those auctions I mentioned earlier. And at Nabber too, but you are going to hit a wall searching for previously registered available 5/6/7/8/9/10 character .coms

If you are looking for 2 keywords, then www.leandomainsearch.com, is a pretty good place for finding available .coms. It might give you some ideas too.

Or. Just add a prefix/suffix to the subject of your project. theproject.com or projecto.com for example

 

[Name Trader]

There are still so many questions. Is this going to be a small or big project, subject matter, target audience, etc, etc. We are kinda stretching at straws, having to guess all these things.

 

[Voslo]

Thank you @nicedomains for your reply.
Can you explain to me why buy LLLL.net is a waste of time? Some of them are very brandable (CVCV, VCVC) and can be bought for less than $8.

Yes, I agree, LLL.net are more expensive. However, is it worth to buy it?

 

[Voslo]

Thank you @wwwulff, I understand better now.

I will stay focused on the .com domain names

 

[Voslo]

Thank you @tomcarl for your interesting point of view.

With your diverging opinions, it is quite difficult to make a choice.
.net is a well known extension and .co are currently very popular with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

.co is more fashion, rare sales relate to .net

However, renewal fee of .co is more expensive. ( ~ $24 / ~ $8 )

You're right @anhnguyenict, renewal fees of .co are more expensive. This is why, using coupon codes may be interesting.

 

[Voslo]

Thanks @stub!
Would it be possible and easier to build a brand on a .net domain? (Knowing that .com domain is unavailable)
This is the goal of an end-user.