Hello All,
It might be worth noting that many of the lower LLL.com sales at Sedo/Afternic were not ones that went to Sedo/Afternic auction. They were bought the traditional way, by making an offer via Sedo/Afternic to the owner and a purchase was made via just two party negotiations.
This may be a way to get lucky and buy one cheap - The method is to lowball offer via Sedo/Afternic and see if negotiations can meet at a bargain price, and then somehow also not have the seller send the domain to auction.
Related to this, I own a few LLL.com domains and I get email and sedo offers quite often. There are several parties trying to buy them via quick "lower than market/wholesale" offers so that they can then sell for a quick flip (or perhaps just buy low to hold). I've also had a few recent portfolio purchase offers for my LLL domains by VC's, which are intriguing to get, though I'm happy to hold right now.
It's not a secret that LLL.com domains are incredible performers. They've never had a month, since I've tracked them, that they've not increased in value in the 5 years I've been maintaining data. As a matter of fact, the increases in the last few months have been pushing 8-10% wholesale price growth per month.
DNPresident, I wish you good fortune in your search for an LLL.com domain. They're great investments and leave open also great possibilities for end-user sales and for development.
- zesty