discuss Do you ever feel bad about being a domain squatter?

[bluebox]

So I've been searching for a domain for myself (not for resell) a nice 3-letter acronym that is also be a surname.

I found around 50-ish names regged:
32 new TLDs - most aren't even resolving.
Main TLDs - .com is redirecting the rest is parked or "for sale"
ccTLDs - 10+ registered

Guess how many websites are there....
4 (cctlds)
Almost 50 domains registered and most of them is just sitting there, unused...

No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

Don't get me wrong - I know I am a hypocrite. Just the other day I used a few GD coupons to catch some domains for resale.
Still - I'm guessing 99% of 2-3 letter names and probably 90%+ of other domains is just parked/for sale.
I hate seeing names I like wasted like that...

 

[discobull]

So we now all know the technical, and non-technical, definition of the term "squatting". It simply means, you are sitting on the domain.

No, it simply means that you are sitting on a trademarked domain. The fact that you use the word incorrectly, doesn't change that reality.

 

[alien51]

Ok, let's leave the word squatting out of it.

You are sitting on the domain. Just that.

Happy now ?

 

[Key]

I have been searching domains for specific niches since last few months for developing my own sites. 99% of those domains were registered for .com, even with prefix/suffix which i think shouldn't increase their value or make them a good brandable in many cases. And 97% of those domains came to parked or unresolved page. Only 2% or less were developed. So yes, it really tick me off sometimes but what can i do except thinking that i was too late to grab it. Though i was angry about 10 years ago when i didn't know what domaining is.

 

[snailman]

If I understand correctly, the OP wanted to have his initials to be the name of his site/blog/email whatever. But there are millions of people with the same initials. What makes the OP better than any other person out of these millions?

 

[alien51]

But there are millions of people with the same initials. What makes the OP better than any other person out of these millions?

He is not angry with the millions of others who have the same JFK initials.

He is angry with the guy whose initials are actually REM who has no personal use for JFK, but he grabbed the JFK quick enough so he can resell it to all the JFKs out there for an inflated price - simply because he was too fast compared to others.

If REM was not quick enough to reg it, JFK would have paid just 10 bucks to reg it himself.
But now that REM owns it, he is now reselling the domain to JFK for $2,350 dollars.

JFK will probably not get upset, if he is battling it out with a fellow JFK. They both need the JFK domain. And JFK No.2 will probably be willing to pay JFK No.1 extra premium for abandoning his "need" for the domain.

But now, JFK No.1 is upset on the thought why he should pay premium to some REM guy who has no need for the JFK domain and is simply keeping it hostaged and unused.

 

[discobull]

This:

He is angry with the guy whose initials are actually REM who has no personal use for JFK

is contradicted by this:

but he grabbed the JFK quick enough so he can resell it to all the JFKs out there for an inflated price

As you've plainly indicated above, REM does in fact have a personal use for the domain. His personal use is to resell it at a profit. Obviously, you and the OP consider that a less legitimate use, but so far neither of you has been able to articulate why you think that's so.

 

[alien51]

As you've plainly indicated above, REM does in fact have a personal use for the domain. His personal use is to resell it at a profit.

There you go. "Personal use" for the other guy, meant using it to create something that would add value to the domain.

For the other guy, "Personal use" meant just making money.

Obviously, you and the OP consider that a less legitimate use, but so far neither of you has been able to articulate why you think that's so.

Don't drag me into this equation. I have no emotional attachment to any of this dramatics. I am merely describing how the other guys see this business.

 

[discobull]

There you go. "Personal use" for the other guy, meant using it to create something that would add value to the domain.

For the other guy, "Personal use" meant just making money.



Don't drag me into this equation. I have no emotional attachment to any of this dramatics. I am merely describing how the other guys see this business.

Fine. The only thing I would add to my above comment is that your use of the phrase "inflated price" is misguided. Just because I buy a domain for $10 and resell it for $2,350 doesn't mean that I've sold it at an inflated price. Value/price is determined by the marketplace and my cost in acquiring that domain is besides the point. That's why, for example, if I buy jfk.com for $10, I can resell it at a profit, while I can't do the same with a domain like 897hrewtw89.com even though for the sake of this discussion we're assuming that they've both cost me exactly the same amount. In fact, as we all know, the marketplace has determined that selling jfk.com for $2,350 would NOT be an example of selling a domain at an inflated price, it would actually be an example of selling it at a fire sale price.

So, when you keep raising the issue of domainers selling domains at a profit without adding value, you miss the point that the reason a domain can be sold for $2,350 is because the marketplace has determined that $2,350 is already its value before I've lifted a finger. In other words, I'm not buying a $10 domain and reselling it for $2,350, I'm buying a $2,350 domain that I was lucky enough to grab for $10 and reselling it for its actual worth. There's a big difference between those two perspectives.

 

[snailman]

There you go. "Personal use" for the other guy, meant using it to create something that would add value to the domain.

For the other guy, "Personal use" meant just making money.

"Just making money"? Really?
What if the first guy will do something that will take away value from the domain, what then?

 

[alien51]

Again, we are just arguing about semantics. We all know how it works.

 

[alien51]

What if the first guy will do something that will take away value from the domain, what then?

And what is that "something" ??

 

[discobull]

Again, we are just arguing about semantics. We all know how it works.

No, we are not just arguing semantics and you clearly don't know how it works which is why I took the time to explain it to you.

 

[alien51]

We can't drag this thread for so long trying to convince each other. So whatever makes you happy. LOL

 

[Joseph Green]

I just came across this Reddit AMA where a similar debate took place in the comments. Unfortunately, the discussion lacked many of the good points made in this thread. Still an interesting read.

 

[DomainVP]

My friend and his wife have a nail salon in Florida. There is a nail salon in Los Angeles with the same name or with similarities. He wanted the name of his business .com .. The brokerage place wanted $10,000.00 for that name because they assumed the Los Angeles company would probably buy it. Well... We just bought him the name with an added SPA at the end and it's as good as gold because it's a developed website. They e-mail him every week asking if he's interested...

Not to begrudge your statement, but you do understand how backwards that is?

First of, it's just stupidity by the seller. Your friend is making the sellers domain more valuable, especially if it's a geo or very common name used in the area. His best bet is just to stay silent with you, and sell to competition in your friends business area.

If it's a brandable/fanciful name, then wont it look bad when customers are looking for BojabooSpa and they go to Bojaboo and see that it's not your friends business. People notice these things, and there is a huge segment of the population that can't even muster the brain power to retain the knowledge that there are 26 letters in the English alphabet. How are they supposed to remember the 'spa' at the end.

I have to speak generally because I don't know the name.

I had a similar instance where someone wanted a generic domain I own. They didn't want to pay the price I was asking, and just told me they would add an 'a' to it and rank it for SEO.

Thats fantastic for any shorter exact match domain owner.

I want his company to make the name as popular as possible, soar to the highest of success. When someone else thinks that it's a great site, they will gladly pay big money for the shorter name because of the notoriety, traffic, established niche, and overall business being sent our way.

After all, it's my intellectual property; I don't buy names that I don't have an envisioned business plan for.

Which is why, at the end of the day, I don't shed a single tear for owning any name that is currently not in full development. Why should I pass up the opportunity to eventually develop a large business just because I won't be ready for another few years.

For example... I own Day / / Wire [dot] com. It's a great name for any consumer financial oriented business, or it could be used for selling vacations and travel services. I don't know what I will be doing 5 years from now, and maybe if I decide to launch one of these services it would be perfect for me.

If I like it, and it could be a business someday; I buy it, if price is right for my personal budget.

I don't buy it just for the sake of potentially selling to someone else who thinks $10k is a huge amount of money for a domain, and offers me $5k.

If you start any online venture you NEED a short brandable or high volume exact match domain; if you can get both in one domain the you should hold onto that name. $10k is nothing when you talk about the revenue that being online should be generating for a business.

When a business doesn't want to pay for a domain, or they think a quoted price is 'too high'; then the name is not for them and is better served in the hands of the owner who will get to it - eventually.

 

[Key]

I just came across this Reddit AMA where a similar debate took place in the comments. Unfortunately, the discussion lacked many of the good points made in this thread. Still an interesting read.

Domainer backed out immediately with "I agreed with you 100%, there is no avoiding it, like I said. I've experienced your pain" and he said end user is a clueless idiot. lol.

 

[vdonline]

My short answer: No

 

[kconan]

I look at it as virtual real estate, and basically no different morally than trading real estate. The only rules I go by for myself are no full names or purposefully choosing business names.

 

[bluebox]

Just to make it clear:

the domain name in OP is not my initials, just random 3-letter name. I found it funny/sad that almost 92% of the domains were parked or not resolving.
Out of around 20 previously registered only 4 were normal websites but some domainers found the need to register 30 more (new TLDs)
That's why I created this thread - I wanted to know what others think about it.
The title is just tongue-in-cheek (no need to be so gravely offended )

From time to time I search for my initials, find that there's nothing interesting and move on - no "dramatics".

Oh, and it's "gal" not "guy", thank you very much

 

[JB Lions]

Just to make it clear:

the domain name in OP is not my initials, just random 3-letter name. I found it funny/sad that almost 92% of the domains were parked or not resolving. That's why I created this thread - I wanted to know what others think about it.
The title is just tongue-in-cheek (no need to be so gravely offended )

From time to time I search for my initials, find that there's nothing interesting and move on - no "dramatics".

Oh, and it's "gal" not "guy", thank you very much

You might be the first Somali female pirate I know, that's cool.

This thread just goes to show how sensitive some domainers still are. When somebody out there is complaining about not getting a domain, if you feel the need to respond, just tell them to stop crying or go change their diapers. Any domain I buy today, they could have gotten it as well. It's a free market open to everybody. Some people are just smarter, use better tools, pay attention, know where to go etc. There's nothing to defend. Some people are going to feel that way regardless, so what.

6 pages this time, probably will go a little more. Hopefully in the future they're shorter. That would be progress.

 

[discobull]

Just to make it clear:

the domain name in OP is not my initials, just random 3-letter name. I found it funny/sad that almost 92% of the domains were parked or not resolving.
Out of around 20 previously registered only 4 were normal websites but some domainers found the need to register 30 more (new TLDs)
That's why I created this thread - I wanted to know what others think about it.
The title is just tongue-in-cheek (no need to be so gravely offended )

From time to time I search for my initials, find that there's nothing interesting and move on - no "dramatics".

Oh, and it's "gal" not "guy", thank you very much

The reason that you've gotten a strong response is that your question is a loaded one that implies wrong-doing. To me, it comes across more like an accusation than a question. To put things in perspective, try and imagine asking the same question of someone in another profession. For example, "Do you ever feel bad about being a grocer?" or "Do you ever feel bad about being a hair-dresser?". It's unimaginable, right? That's because the only reason you would ask such a question is if you'd already concluded that something bad was going on. It doesn't help that you've used the word "squatting" which everyone on here understands to mean an illegal practice. It's not an exact equivalent but the way you've phrased your question is sort of like asking a baby sitter "Do you ever feel bad about being a child molester?"

To be clear, I'm not responding here to argue with you or to make you feel bad. You've already explained that you didn't have these things in mind when you started this thread and I accept your explanation. I'm just trying to help you understand why people might not react well to the way you've posed your question.

 

[bluebox]

I'm just trying to help you understand why people might not react well to the way you've posed your question.

Well they definitely didn't react well - some person felt the need to add "childish, jealousy, entitled" tags

Sorry guys - didn't mean to be "childish, jealous and entitled"! :P

 

[ivey]

Actually it wan't meant to be thread about domaining - but thread about the ridiculous situation when you have 90% of all registered domains parked/unused...

How many names will never ever be developed...

I'm trying to look at it from the perspective of an end user... We sit years on something we don't even use, I can understand why they hate us.

It's no different from real estate or any other business. Someone, lets say "John" buys a property in New York for $500,000 as a investment. He has no intention for using the property for himself, as he bought the property for business purposes. Six years later, the property is now valued more, about 3.5 million+, especially since it's in a prime location. Now, it sucks to see a property not being used especially if you are looking for a property for your family or business. But, you don't go to the owner of the property with frustration and anger because, despite the unfortunate circumstance for you; you recognize it's a business. You realize that it is crazy to think a property in a prime location like NY was going to be waiting for you to get it free or buy for $100,000(or reg fee), like it's the 1800's. So, the only way squatting(investing or business is a better term) can be bad is if the owner is not using the property and at the same time do not want to sell the property. Even then, sometimes there is a legitimate reason-such as family inheritance. Plus, it's still their property;they do what they want. How can you get mad for wanting to put your house or business on someone else's land. Now, if the owner is willing to sell and you can't afford the property then that's just business and investment. I can't get mad someone bought a property in 1999 for a low price and now it cost millions. That's just good investment. Sex.com was not going to sit around at registration fee until 2014 for you to freely use it because you thought of a business or started one. This is the real world not fantasy land. I have seen names I loved and really wanted to develop but cannot afford and it sucks, but it's business. Just like real estate, i go and look for a more affordable place(domain)..Or I man up and invest in more affordable names and with patients work myself up to the big leagues. I might even catch a few deals on my way there. That's my take on it.

 

[bluebox]

I'm not talking about guys who buy one $500,000 property, I'm taking about those who buy everything they can get their hands on - the only thing left in reasonable price someone can afford is some tiny, rat infested apartment somewhere in the basement.
Well, actually, even those are taken: qzy.xyz etc

 

[bluebox]

So in conclusion - I'm the only one who find it funny/sad (I am a little bit surprised, but OK )

Please no need for long explanation why "dominating is not squatting but investing". I do understand why you feel that way.
I just wanted to know if you ever feel that 90% of domains not used for websites is a little bit excessive.

Seams nobody else (commenting) thinks that *shrug*