Confused about IDN

[sobeman88]

First of all I want to thank everyone for responding to my post about finding domains at Godaddy!

I am confused at what exactly is IDNs. I realize it is some kind of code that translate to another language or something like that. But what I am confused about is this, is the actually code worth more than the actually word? For example, I am mainly talking about Pinyin language. I have been thinking about getting into this. But when I type into Godaddy using a Pinyin term, most are available! This shocks me. Maybe I shouldnt have told anybody lol. To make things more clear for everyone, just an example: jinjin.com is available, but xn---blahblah.com is not available (stands for jinjin.com)...

So this makes no sense to me. Which is more valuable? Ive seen actual english Pinyin go for some big money, and a lot of generic pinyin is still available. Seems to easy in my eyes.

 

[Erdy]

sobeman88,

You have already spent some money in low quality domains and you will find it hard to recover the money. IDN is an even worse idea. Don't try these kind things.

Stay away from IDN. Stay away from ccTLDs. Stay away from unpopular exotic extensions.

I have noticed that during the last year domaining has become more difficult. There are now too many people doing extensive research.

I can see only one strategy that might work, and I will give you the best advice you can get but it is up to you to decide:

My advice:
Buy expired domains for $200 to $400 at auctions.godaddy.com, namejet.com or snapnames.com that have at least 5 bids.

The reason I suggest between 200-400 is because it is an indication that the domain quality is good. Again the reason I suggest 5 bids is because it shows it is a good domain. This method is newbie proof.

You can NOT make money by hand registering domains. It is impossible. You will only lose and lose and lose more money.

 

[wellmanneredsquirrel]

sobeman88,

You have already spent some money in low quality domains and you will find it hard to recover the money. IDN is an even worse idea. Don't try these kind things.

Stay away from IDN. Stay away from ccTLDs. Stay away from unpopular exotic extensions.

I have noticed that during the last year domaining has become more difficult. There are now too many people doing extensive research.

I can see only one strategy that might work, and I will give you the best advice you can get but it is up to you to decide:

My advice:
Buy expired domains for $200 to $400 at auctions.godaddy.com, namejet.com or snapnames.com that have at least 5 bids.

The reason I suggest between 200-400 is because it is an indication that the domain quality is good. Again the reason I suggest 5 bids is because it shows it is a good domain. This method is newbie proof.

You can NOT make money by hand registering domains. It is impossible. You will only lose and lose and lose more money.

I don't think you answered the question.


IDN stands for Internationalized Domain Names. IDNs are domains that use something else than english letters.

Pinyin uses english letters. So Pinyin domains are NOT IDNs. They are two different things.

Another thing that you must know is that each IDN has 2 forms,
1-what humans can read (unicode), example : 车.com
2-what computers can read (punycode), example : xn--h43a.com

These are 2 forms of the same thing. It's like if xn--h43a.com was the translation in computer language of 车.com

So the person that owns 车.com also owns xn--h43a.com.

I hope that helps

 

[Erdy]

You didn't answer it either. The OP said things like "a lot of generic pinyin is still available" and I'm explaining why they are still available: Because they are rubbish and you should stay away.

 

[fm1234]

posted by Erdy:

You can NOT make money by hand registering domains. It is impossible. You will only lose and lose and lose more money.

Nearly every domain I have ever acquired was hand-registered. Quality counts, and good research begets good quality.


Frank

 

[wellmanneredsquirrel]

I am confused at what exactly is IDNs.

I'm pretty sure I answered the question

 

[Erdy]

This year, a time has come where you no longer can build up a portfolio with hand registered domains. You can maybe maintain an existing portfolio.

Hand registers might have worked in the past. It doesn't work anymore IMO.

I agree that domaining requires incredible research and that's why I suggested an alternative because 98% of domainers can not do the research that is needed and they don't know how to do it. I'm using some advanced custom scripts that we developed over months and I spent about 5.000 on those scripts.

What I can say is that there are many other people who do as sophisticated research as I do because I meet them in the most unexpected auctions at snapnames.

 

[fm1234]

@Erdy: I understand exactly what you're saying -- essentially alluding to the "wisdom of crowds" inasmuch as, if a domain has five distinct bids and is over $200, chances are it's a decent domain (other factors to be considered as well, but it is a good starting point.) And this is probably very good advice for newbies, who will cringe at the idea of spending $200 on a domain but cheerfully spend $400 registering one halfway-decent domain and 39 variants, alternate TLDs etc. I am merely saying that the contention that making money with hand regs is impossible is incorrect. Lots of money can be made in hand regs; like anything else it requires proper research and organisation.


Frank

 

[sobeman88]

Well I understand the whole symbols thing. What I am trying to say is this: when you see xn--h43a.com, this stands for chinese symbols. But those chinese symbols in return stand for some sort of Pinyin. Theres english pinyin and pinyin in chinese. Confusing I know. For example, we have bank.com. Thats obviously taken. The pinyin for bank.com is taken as well. And also the IDN for bank.com is taken as well.
BUT, some english pinyin sites are available and they are generic as well. Just as good as bank.com in pinyin language. Ive seen sales for both IDN and pinyin spelt out the english way

So I am just confused as to what is more valuable? You'll see bank.com in pinyin sell for a lot, but then the IDN wont sell?!? Or vice versa. I just think a lot of Chinese people dont exactly know what they want in the domaining market, or understand it.

 

[wellmanneredsquirrel]

I understand what you're saying.

My personal guess is that you should go with the version that is most memorable. Which version of a domain will people remember if they see it just once on TV or on a billboard, is it the Chinese pinyin, English pinyin or IDN ?

 

[wot]

The simple reason that pinyin was used to mirror the actual Chinese characters was because IDN was not available.

Things are slowly changing and the simple question to ask yourself is if I was given the option to access the internet in my own language, a foreign language, or a romanized version, which would I choose.

And which do you think all the new users in China,Russia,Japan etc up and coming would prefer.Their own language or----?