Domain Speculating vs Investing

[ttfan]

Are you a domain speculator or investor? How do you see the difference?

I see an Investor as some that buys domains based fundamental, like current and future earnings. These tend to be domains of meaningful words, where the earnings can be estimated.

A Speculator buys domains based on trends or potential earnings that may or may not occur. An example may be NNN.com domains.

Of course the difference is never black & white, but I think you can place most domains in one bucket or another. I think it's important to realise that if you're a Speculator, the risks are much higher, and the time frames much shorter.

How do you define Speculating vs Investing? Which are you?

 

[DnEbook]

Speculating is the New Gtlds, investing is 4L and 5N .coms

 

[S-B]

Speculating is the New Gtlds, investing is 4L and 5N .coms

I disagree.

5N.coms and 4L.coms are being bought and sold based on the value that another culture places on them, one which no one seems to understand. That's like flying a helicopter without any prior training.

Investing is about buying domains based on specific criteria that has been proven to translate to value.

Everything else is gambling.

 

[alcy]

I disagree.

5N.coms and 4L.coms are being bought and sold based on the value that another culture places on them, one which no one seems to understand. That's like flying a helicopter without any prior training.

Investing is about buying domains based on specific criteria that has been proven to translate to value.

Everything else is gambling.

but unless you are sying those proven criteria are not changeable and cannot change through time (including the future), then it is still speculating

 

[biggie]

investing is buying domains with inherent value, names that have traffic, that produce revenue

speculating is everything else


imo...

 

[alcy]

investing is buying domains with inherent value, names that have traffic, that produce revenue

speculating is everything else


imo...

well.. that about covers it then! can't take it too far or too deep! else its philosophy! well said!

 

[DNScholar]

Any domain which get transfer from one account to another within a year or two i.e. shorter time frame is called Domain speculating and the domain which stays invested for larger time frame say above 2 years is called Domain Investing.
And I also agree with other points which members made above.

 

[MisterSoft.com]

I'm planning on investing and creating my own new gTLD!
It's going to be .idiot (dot IDIOT) for the speculative investors

 

[Fancy.domains]

I am both!

I want to "play safe" with liquid names and gamble with others, at the same time. Most investments involve risks and those can also be described as "low-risk speculation". Pure speculation obviously involves much more risk taking, but if you are really lucky (and wise) you might end up with a royal flush.

As previously mentioned, there is no fine line between these two terms. A lot of names will be in a grey-zone, in between.

 

[S-B]

but unless you are sying those proven criteria are not changeable and cannot change through time (including the future), then it is still speculating

Adjustments are normal. This business is always evolving. Always. I never said these variables are concrete. My point is if you don't have actionable intelligence you are operating on assumptions.

 

[Asfas1000]

To me, it's almost the same. Only difference that when speculating, you rely more on assumptions.

 

[Paul123]

IMO you need some bucks to invest in a good domain to make coin. LLL coms might do it. I personally think the drop catcher sites and auctions have killed it -- certainly for those wanting a fast buck. It's not easy to do now but it does happen. Maybe 1 in every 10,000 gets a wage. The rest don't.

There are people sitting on their computers all over the world trying to do it. You have to be a smart cookie to get the right one. For most it is a passive income that might pay for a few beers.

Look back to the 90s -- those guys made serious coin. Maybe they still did 2005 ish. It's not going to happen today. The only people that make it big today are successful drop catching sites. The thing that amazes me is that it's still a massive market. The world revolves around it.

Whoever clocks the next way forward will have his / her back pocket full of wedge. The world is a changing place and it will happen. Whoever gets there first will make cash. Maybe it will happen in my / your life time -- maybe not. However in your children's life time it will happen. Let's hope the world gets it's act together before your kids grow up. It might be a great time to be born -- it might be the worst, Who knows ?

Best,
Paul

 

[Kate]

investing is buying domains with inherent value, names that have traffic, that produce revenue

speculating is everything else

It's a nice definition.
I would even add a third category: gambling. Probably the most widespread.
It means buying names without doing research, like you would a lottery ticket.
Investing is making a calculated but educated risk.
My own but biased interpretation is that investing 'involves' more research and knowledge than 'speculation'.

 

[Willox Perez]

I disagree.

Investing is about buying domains based on specific criteria that has been proven to translate to value

Well said Shane,

I agree regarding the specific criteria and being able to understand what makes the domain valuable. The only other thing I would add is by simply understanding the current market and looking at the sales.

This will help in making smart decisions even if you are diving into numerics, short characters and domains that just seem to be trending. By looking at the prices you can determine a floor and decrease your risk by buying at the right price (way lower than establish floor price)

Though I am more into keyword based domain with specific criteria I can focus on.

- Will

 

[DnEbook]

I didn't say to buy them now. It was an example of a good investment compared to a new Gtld , I would not but into a rising/peaking? market like the Chip 4Ls. However if you had purchased these two years ago you would be a happy chappy now. Like some other folk here I am more interested in the next trend, which could be two years away yet. If I had to condense it I would say that investing in .com and other established extensions is still the way to go in comparison to the New Gtlds

 

[ttfan]

I wonder if we can agree on an ordered list of domain investment, from the safest investment to the most speculative? Something like this:
Safest investment to highest risk speculative:
1. Established domain with proven earnings
2. short and 1-word .com / ccTLD
3. Short 2/3 letter acronyms .com / ccTLD
3. short 2-word .com / ccTLD
4. long or multiple word .com / ccTLD
5. multiple number / char domains in .com / ccTLD
6. single word gTLD
7. single word new gTLD
8. number/char new gTLD

I've probably missed a few... but it's a start.

 

[DnEbook]

You will never get full agreement because we all see the world different

 

[mhdoc]

That's what makes investing so interesting. Two investors take the same facts and use them to make totally opposite investment decisions. Both may turn out to be correct or incorrect depending on the knowledge, contacts, skills, luck they bring to the table. Both may be correct or incorrect depending on how they time the market.

In general I think luck plays a much larger role than most would like to admit.

 

[DnEbook]

Whilst it's true some folk just fart good luck, reading, assessing ..... deciding are surely the important factors. If you reg a trademark name and they come after you it is not "bad luck" Yes you make your own luck by being in it to win it. But if you regged a future trend domain, you may have to wait five years to get "lucky" Many aspects to domaining, no doubt

 

[Debt.tv]

Investing is your bread and butter, buy a domain, have prospective buyers and sell domain
speculating is "hoping" that some new idea or technology turns into something big...personally I invest in a few but not many.... you need to control yourself because speculating can cost you a ton of money if it doesn't come through...but it can make a huge windfall...how lucky are you in the lottery...