Competition for dropped names increasing?

[The New Guy]

Over the past few months it seems like it's harder to drop catch decent names, and even marginal names are getting snapped up quickly.

I make a spreadsheet of names I like each day and select the best for drop catching.A few months ago I could pick up maybe half of the domains I really wanted, now I end up getting shut out most of the time. Then when I go back to the list to check, almost all of the names are registered, while a few months ago maybe half of them would have been registered.

 

[AEProgram]

You simply got better at picking more quality names thus creating the illusion that more people are after names, it happens to all of us

 

[The New Guy]

You simply got better at picking more quality names thus creating the illusion that more people are after names, it happens to all of us

I've taken that into account already. I haven't had as much time to search drops over the past month but over the holiday weekend I did my old routine and pulled out as many domains as I used to, using the same criteria - really good names, ok names, and names to just watch to see if they're picked up. All across the board they're getting snapped up. It used to be I could go back to 3rd string list a week later and see almost every one still available - now they're almost all gone.

There are things like single word non-english .com's that were able to be picked up just a few months ago. Now even longer, multi word names - including some 20+ character german domains are getting snapped up the second they drop.

 

[garptrader]

Perhaps HugeDomains.com is a factor. They have some good names but they have a lot of not so good and overpriced names as well.

 

[enlytend]

It has gotten more difficult. More and more non-domainers are competing for drops.

 

[Name Trader]

It's not just over the last couple of months. It's been happening like that for years. I agree with everything The New Guy is saying. But it's been a growing trend for years now. My question though is who are these guys? I think they are not non-domainers (as enlytend suggests), but new domainers coming into the industry. Some of them could be Chinese buyers, a growing trend, imho.

 

[carob]

But it's been a growing trend for years now. My question though is who are these guys? I think they are not non-domainers (as enlytend suggests), but new domainers coming into the industry. Some of them could be Chinese buyers, a growing trend, imho.

Yes I have seen a quite a few names get picked up and listed for sale by people in China.

Actually if your names are good this may help you - you can only sell a name when enough near-matches are also bought up that a buyer needs the aftermarket. If everyone was dumping domaining probably prices would crash.

 

[enlytend]

When I said "non domainers" I didn't mean end users... I don't really want to spell it out, but there's a rapidly growing market in some circles for pre-owned, gently-used domains.
Chinese domainers have been buying up quite some time now, no?

 

[The New Guy]

When I said "non domainers" I didn't mean end users... I don't really want to spell it out, but there's a rapidly growing market for pre-owned, gently-used domains.

Carmax is getting into domain names?

 

[The New Guy]

One thing I thought of when I started to get into this - if people who play the stock market knew what kind of profit margin can be had from even a modestly successful catch and flip, they'd start spending some time learning the ropes of the domain industry.

 

[DomainVP]

Yes, competition is high; especially over the last six months.

Companies are realizing the value of a short .COM exact match .COM and the various other domains that are actually valuable.

Gone are the days of a 'cheap' drop-caught domain. If you are going to make a good investment, be prepared to pay for one.

Competition is high and the prices have gone up. Picking 'better names' is not a factor, I've seen the increase in orders and bidders.

Some names I hand regged six months ago I wouldn't be able to get today at all unless I used a dropcatch.

Any domains that are caught by NameJet / Snapnames with high competition, I don't even bother bidding unless I just want to drive up the price for the buyer.

I picked up a good 4L at another DC service for $800, six months ago that name would have been $350.

The good thing is that the market still has quite a ways to go... any great name you buy now you can turn into a good investment and ROI 3 to 5 years from now.

Six more months from now, you wont be able to get decent 5L's without the $69.99 dropcatchers... this will continue to increase for the next 5 years... after that will then be a 'bubble' where the dropcatching and domaining market will explode... thats when they buyers of now will be able to cash in on just about any short .COM or .COM with a good SV.

 

[tomcarl]

I'd look at this in a positive way. There is demand for good .COMs - I think it would be a *bad* sign to be getting good .COMs increasingly easy.

 

[Kate]

Or simply more speculation that is not matched by increasing demand

 

[tomcarl]

Regardless of speculation and if the new gTLDs will be a major game changer, it won't be happening overnight, we're talking 5-10 years from now. If the true reason behind release of gTLDs were to keep up with the ever-growing population of the internet you not only wouldn't be finding a good .COM now-days, you wouldn't be finding a good .NET, .ORG, .INFO, etc either. And this is simply not the case, and these are TLDs that have been around almost as long as .COM - There are tons of great 2 word .NETs/.ORGs, that are readily available as an alternate to the .COM yet what does a potential buyer do when they find the .COM isn't available? Most of the time they don't go for the .NET but rather go for an alternate .COM, unless it's a *truly* great .NET. Now what leads us to believe that if most people/businesses do not regularly choose to develop their brand on a .NET or .BIZ, they're going to brand and develop their 2 or 3 word domain on a .GURU or .CLUB or .BARGAINS - 1 Word domains aren't a limitless supply on these new gTLDs which in my opinion are the only domains that will hold value down the line, once domainers snap all of these up it's back to square one for end users and setting for 2-word domains on these alternate extensions, in that case why not just stick with a good 2 or 3 word .COM that's been around the block and earned its right as King? I think this argument is rarely discussed and the investors that are out there snapping up these .COMs have the same outlook.

 

[Name Trader]

I think tom is right on the money as it stands today. If somebody wants a domain and the .com is taken, they go for an alternative .com rather than the .net or something else. People will continue to do this with the new gTLD's also. As it has been said before. These new gTLD's are not for the current crop of developers. They are for the next generation. It may take 10+ years before these new gTLD's reach a quantifiable acceptance level. By which I mean, in actual usage. The problem for these people is the most good keywords have been retained by the registry's themselves. What they haven't kept have been eaten up by domainers. Just try registering a good commercially viable domain* in these new gTLD's. You will find them already registered (at least in my small experience with them). The people who will make money on these new gTLD's are the registry's themselves, provided they can manage their cash-flow, and not go broke.

What to do in the interim? Continue to invest in .com domains.

* By commercially viable I mean probably a dictionary word (noun, verb, adjective), just like we see in the .com today. IMHO. Investing in two keyword new gTLD's could be risky with so many alternatives to choose from.

 

[AEProgram]

800 numbers are like .coms, then you have 888 thats like .net, then the 877 866 855 is like .whatever

many will still only use 800 numbers that are either vanity or easy to remember while others will use anything 800 then you have those that could care less and will use 855.

I would guess that most people who are serious about starting up an online venture will want a .com. Sure you can find examples of those who didn't but the majority prefers a .com and rightfully so.

 

[carob]

So are more domains being registered overall or are the drops just getting re-registered faster?

I'd be interested to know if the number of people buying domains for resale is increasing, and whether the total spend on all these domains is increasing. Or is the spend the same, but shifting to new areas?

You can see overall registration levels for 2104 at Hosterstats.com
http://www.hosterstats.com/DomainNameCounts2014.php

For the first six months of 2014 .com is up by 2 million.

And you can see really big drops in tel, asia and mobi, but .me is still growing.

 

[DomainVP]

So are more domains being registered overall or are the drops just getting re-registered faster?

I'd be interested to know if the number of people buying domains for resale is increasing, and whether the total spend on all these domains is increasing. Or is the spend the same, but shifting to new areas?

You can see overall registration levels for 2104 at Hosterstats.com
http://www.hosterstats.com/DomainNameCounts2014.php

For the first six months of 2014 .com is up by 2 million.

And you can see really big drops in tel, asia and mobi, but .me is still growing.

Drops are definitely getting re-registered faster, domain resale is increasing, and spending is increasing.

Thats just a first-hand observation.

Plus the whole 'brandable' domain boom has increased registrations. Nonsense names for resale, and more businesses are going online. The economy is recovering, and being online is still a huge opportunity for success.