Domain investors?

[Traveler]

Just a simple question for those of you that invest in domain names. Seems like only half of the people on namepros are into the .mobi and the other half have said forget it.

Seems to me that investing in a domain name is speculation, no matter what. So why would anyone not register a .mobi if they are into domains?

To me the risk vs reward just seems to be so good I can't resist. Even if I thought .mobi would fail, if I was into domains at least I would hedge my bet by buying one or two .mobis just in case.

So, if you have been around here a while (couple hundred posts or more and a star or two) tell me why you didn't buy a .mobi name or two?

 

[Kate]

One simple reason is, when speculating you have to leverage risk. Some people are prepared to take a higher risk, but the risk of failure with .mobi seems to be particularly high...
You are right about the speculative nature of domaining, however there is also an emotional factor that goes into play. For instance, I don't buy .mobi but I don't invest in .biz either because I have never liked the TLD and I am not a believer. It's not only about money but it's also a matter of personal taste :imho:

 

[ekal]

JP - this is not commenting on you in anyway - I don't know your situation.

It depends on your income sources. If you're making plenty of money from elsewhere you can afford to speculate on the future. If this is your job you need quick turnover. Personally, I'm a fulltime webdesigner so I can invest (mostly in India now) in the hope of a long-term ROI. Thats just my situation.

Plus of course theres the matter of how you see websurfing on phones, and thats a whole other discussion...

 

[B33R]

You weigh up the risks and your personal preference, then make a decision based on it.

For me, I don't like .mobi because of the "i", because I think it's too long. I made a post somewhere else a long time ago having worked out how many button presses it takes to type ".mobi" as opposed to ".mo", ".mob" or ".com" on a phone.
Basically I just don't like it and would much rather invest in something I do like.

Same with .biz, .eu, IDN's, blooks, zunes, wii's and to some extent .org's.

It's the same as life, some people like some things, some people like other things. Some people like to gamble/speculate, others like to play it safe and stick to a sure thing. We can't all like/do the same things in life, imagine how boring that'd be...

Personally, although I'm a gambler by nature, I prefer to stick to the sure things, things I like, things I'm comfortable with. I've had no problems with this strategy so far and intend to stick to it.

 

[fonzie_007]

Weigh risks and opportunity costs. For me, the risk of .mobi is higher than other extensions, although the ability to potentially profit greatly from this extension may be higher than average (when compared to other lower risk extensions). I decided not to reg any .mobi domains because of my opportunity costs--I would have to forego other opportunities that I feel have lower risk and/or higher profit potential.