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Domain strategy: three or four "perfect" domains or hundreds of third-tier domains?

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Carolina.SC

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Would you rather have a few "perfect" domains... or hundreds of second and third-tier domains?

By "perfect", I mean one-word .com's with economic importance.

Actually, in the case of my collection, it would be an exact-match capital city in the .com or its respective country's ccTLD.

An example of a second-tier name would be one word, but in the .org or something -- or a decent two-word combination in the .com.

Third tier would be anything less than that.

If I had to choose between my "top five" domains, or the entire rest of my collection, I would choose the top five.

I feel like some people might be flushing thousands of dollars on a vast collection of lesser domains, while the "smart play" would be to save up money to buy one or two top-tier domains.

The key question is not how many domains you have, but how much your collection is worth, right? One nice aspect of having a small, but very valuable, collection is less expense on renewal fees.

Am I missing something?
 
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For resale you need a mix. If you only have a handful of high quality domains you can hit a wall when it comes to sales.

A mix of great, good, and average in different price ranges works well for resale.

Brad
 
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For resale you need a mix. If you only have a handful of high quality domains you can hit a wall when it comes to sales.

A mix of great, good, and average in different price ranges works well for resale.

Brad
This is pretty much what I came here to say. Nice to see that I'm on the same page as one of the industry veterans. :)

@Carolina.SC - While a few top tier names are great for long-term investment, they likely don't do much for cashflow unless you're into developing and monetizing.

If you're just starting out with a couple thousand bucks, I think the "mid-quality" names are the way to go. That way you can get your feet wet with the experience of hunting for good value names, and hopefully you can get some sales under your belt in the first year.
 
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For resale you need a mix. If you only have a handful of high quality domains you can hit a wall when it comes to sales.

A mix of great, good, and average in different price ranges works well for resale.

Brad

I see your point and it makes sense.

Having only "ultra-premium" names -- especially if you want a "fair price" (six figures), could mean sitting on your small collection for decades with no real action.

I personally took a controversial strategy -- I probably under-sold a few ultra-premium domains, but then luckily I found several more ultra-premium domains that were even more underpriced.

In light of your comment, I guess I would amend my original post to suggest that people have a couple of ultra-premium domains, but also a certain number of high-quality second-tier domains -- names they would feel comfortable selling in the four-figure range.

My main point is this: no one should spend thousands of dollars buying a collection that is exclusively third-tier domains. Save that money and buy one or two high-quality names.
 
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My main point is this: no one should spend thousands of dollars buying a collection that is exclusively third-tier domains. Save that money and buy one or two high-quality names.
Agreed. If you focus on all low quality or all high quality, you're probably handcuffing yourself since you won't have many (or any) sales coming in regularly.

Your strategy of buying great value premium names and re-selling for wholesale is solid. The trick is being able to find those names; a skill set all its own! But you seem to have it, so well done.
 
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This is pretty much what I came here to say. Nice to see that I'm on the same page as one of the industry veterans. :)

@Carolina.SC - While a few top tier names are great for long-term investment, they likely don't do much for cashflow unless you're into developing and monetizing.

If you're just starting out with a couple thousand bucks, I think the "mid-quality" names are the way to go. That way you can get your feet wet with the experience of hunting for good value names, and hopefully you can get some sales under your belt in the first year.

That's a good point. Experience does enhance wisdom -- no big surprise there, but still important to consider.

I guess I would throw out this word of caution to newbies: if someone could conceivably make the argument that a domain name is third-tier, it probably is.

Slow down and aim a little bit higher. Some domains you will probably have to get on the aftermarket, not hand register.

Start making offers and be ready to pull out of negotiations -- at least it gives you a sense of the back-and-forth.
 
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Well I would love to hear what we are calling ultra premium domains names, they are usually not underpriced.

Ultra premium is 2L,2N,3L,3N.com and one word generic .coms like Blue.com or Chain.com, etc...

It also depends what you are getting into domaining for, as @bmugford mentioned if you are looking to be in the business and do business year in and year out you need an array of names.

If you just want to make a few investments and don't plan to be active, own the best name you can possibly own.
 
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Well I would love to hear what we are calling ultra premium domains names, they are usually not underpriced.

Ultra premium is 2L,2N,3L,3N.com and one word generic .coms like Blue.com or Chain.com, etc...

It also depends what you are getting into domaining for, as @bmugford mentioned if you are looking to be in the business and do business year in and year out you need an array of names.

If you just want to make a few investments and don't plan to be active, own the best name you can possibly own.

I mostly focus on geo domains because I can consider and compare economic and demographic quantitative data in relation to those of other locations.

For me, an example of a top-tier domain is the name of a city / state / country -- exact match -- in the .com or in its respective ccTLD.

Another example would be the three letter abbreviation of a city (sometimes the airport code if it's commonly used as the city's shorthand hand), combined with the fitting ccTLD.

As my profile name suggests, I also like domain hacks using the state abbreviations, e.g., .SC for South Carolina. Domain hacks might not be quite as good as a .com, but when they fit perfectly, I think they're still very good.
 
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Well.. perfect fits, well-rounded; I think we're all on the same page here.
 
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Well.. perfect fits, well-rounded; I think we're all on the same page here.

With geographic proximity it fits even better.

Personally I'm relocating to the dirty South.
 
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I think if you can afford an premium name, its good to have a few of these to hold onto but you have to patience, buts it good to alos have a bunch or a good 2 word .com or strong cctld names, just to get some some cashflow happenening.


For me, an example of a top-tier domain is the name of a city / state / country -- exact match -- in the .com or in its respective ccTLD.

You keep mentioning premium and ultra-premium names, just so you know, not many people on here own those names as they are expensive. You dont just find a premium or ultra-premium names accidentally listed at Sedo for $1000. You mention Geo names, if you owned Germany.com, Argentina.com, Miami.com or NewYork.com, then yes you own a premium name. If you on Tuscumbia.com, a small rown in the USA or DenverColoradoUS.com, this is not premium. If you have Miami.at (Austria) or Portland.de (Germany) these are not not premium names....this my help with whats premium and whats not.

Another example would be the three letter abbreviation of a city (sometimes the airport code if it's commonly used as the city's shorthand hand), combined with the fitting ccTLD.

If you have LLL.com, then you can call it premium, but it has to be .COM, AFG.net or SLZ.org are not premium
 
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Not many people on here own those names as they are expensive.

That's my point. Yes, you have to save up a little bit of money. But at least then you own something with real and undeniable value. If you use an equivalent amount of money buying hundreds of third-tier domains, you don't necessarily own much of value... actually you just have an annual renewal obligation.

Thanks for your heads up about "what premium means." You're welcome to consult my list of domains (on my site). I have a large number of exact-match capital cities and countries, in the .com and also in the geographically relevant ccTLD.
 
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Sticking to just one niche can stifle sales imo. Also there are people making excellent bank selling what you refer to as 3rd tier names on brandable sites. There is no one pathway that is best or better. The desired outcome is consistent sales.
 
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Sticking to just one niche can stifle sales imo. Also there are people making excellent bank selling what you refer to as 3rd tier names on brandable sites. There is no one pathway that is best or better. The desired outcome is consistent sales.

I never meant to say that geo domains are the only good strategy. It's just my concentration. I recently sold a five-letter .com geo domain that was bought by a company that just wanted the brand potential -- and the site has nothing to do with the actual locality (one of Nigeria's states, Kwara... it's some kind of banking site).

In terms of the third-tier domains, I know that sometimes they do get sold, but I doubt it's really profitable. Add up all the renewal fees and all the time spent trying to market and push names with little return.

My theory is that a mixture of top-tier and high quality second tier names makes the most sense. The top tier names are for secure storage of wealth and long-term growth, while A- names are for everyday trading.

Avoid the B- names and everything lower.
 
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That's my point. Yes, you have to save up a little bit of money. But at least then you own something with real and undeniable value. If you use an equivalent amount of money buying hundreds of third-tier domains, you don't necessarily own much of value... actually you just have an annual renewal obligation.

Thanks for your heads up about "what premium means." You're welcome to consult my list of domains (on my site). I have a large number of exact-match capital cities and countries, in the .com and also in the geographically relevant ccTLD.

No worries, what capital cities in .com do you own? I coudnt see any.
 
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No worries, what capital cities in .com do you own? I coudnt see any.

Two examples are the .com exact-matches of the capital cities of Honduras and Tanzania (population 60 million).

Did you go to my actual site?
 
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Two examples are the .com exact-matches of the capital cities of Honduras and Tanzania (population 60 million).

Did you go to my actual site?

OK I see, unfortunately you will struggle with a name like Dodoma as its not really a popular tourist destination like other parts of Tanzania (Zanzibar, Ngorongoro, Dar es Salamm, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro etc) Your average person would not have heard of it, even if you mention Tanzania to them.
 
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The link leading to your collection from the main page is not so clearly obvious as something to click; from first glance seems more like a heading.

That being said; your write up on the collection and domains is a wealth of good info. A couple points I don't agree with, but we all have our agendas/opinions!

Going back to your original question, some great answers and personally I would lean towards holding a smaller group of top-tier rather than managing hundreds of budget names. I fall somewhere in the middle there, but my preference is diversity and it's challenging keeping a tiny portfolio when there is so much awesomeness. As mentioned, any choice would be an effect of one's planned commitment and style to domaining.
 
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OK I see, unfortunately you will struggle with a name like Dodoma as its not really a popular tourist destination like other parts of Tanzania (Zanzibar, Ngorongoro, Dar es Salamm, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro etc) Your average person would not have heard of it, even if you mention Tanzania to them.

Do a little bit more research.

It was only a couple years ago that Tanzania finalized the transfer of its capital to Dodoma. It's undergoing rapid and dramatic infrastructure development and growth.

Obviously not everything happens immediately. Read about the histories of other transfers of national capitals, e.g., Canberra, Abuja, and Brasilia.

Tanzania has seen 7% GDP growth in recent years. And by 2040 it's expected to have a population of 100 million.

Look up "New Alamein" in Google Images to check out another exact match .com domain from my collection.

And my ccTLD domains are arguably even better.
 
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The link leading to your collection from the main page is not so clearly obvious as something to click; from first glance seems more like a heading.

That being said; your write up on the collection and domains is a wealth of good info. A couple points I don't agree with, but we all have our agendas/opinions!

Going back to your original question, some great answers and personally I would lean towards holding a smaller group of top-tier rather than managing hundreds of budget names. I fall somewhere in the middle there, but my preference is diversity and it's challenging keeping a tiny portfolio when there is so much awesomeness. As mentioned, any choice would be an effect of one's planned commitment and style to domaining.

HotKey, thank you for taking the time to check out my site and the article I wrote there to introduce my collection.

I agree with what you said... in principle, I also prefer to keep a small collection of top domains, rather than a large collection of lesser names, but when you impulsively check various ideas (like I do), sometimes it just makes sense to grab a domain of good (but not amazing) quality.

As an example, I compared Indonesia's ".ID" domain against the metro areas of Idaho, and the #2 by population, Idaho Falls, was available. No, it's certainly not one of my top domains, but I also know it could snapped up by someone else and I would regret it. (In this case, it's also a fairly cheap renewal fee, and Indonesia is a fairly stable and democratic country.

And thanks for the tip regarding the link. Let me know if anything else looks out of place or not entirely accurate. Thanks.
 
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Do a little bit more research.

It was only a couple years ago that Tanzania finalized the transfer of its capital to Dodoma. It's undergoing rapid and dramatic infrastructure development and growth.

Obviously not everything happens immediately. Read about the histories of other transfers of national capitals, e.g., Canberra, Abuja, and Brasilia.

Tanzania has seen 7% GDP growth in recent years. And by 2040 it's expected to have a population of 100 million.

Look up "New Alamein" in Google Images to check out another exact match .com domain from my collection.

And my ccTLD domains are arguably even better.

I was born and grew up in Africa and have been to Tanzania many times, I known about the area pretty well, Dodoma has been recognised as the capital since the late 60s or early 70s, nothing has changed in 50 years. Its about whats at these locations, the country is reliant on its scenery and wildlife for tourism and those areas will remain the popular spots. Population growth doesnt mean a lot, especially in Africa, you only have to look at Ethiopia, Nigeria, DR Congo to understand what I mean. I live in Oz now and tourists dont go to Canberra unless they like politics :xf.smile:

Regarding New Alamein, they have been talking about this since around 2015, if you google the project and check some of the article dates you will see. They have been selling New Alamein properties for ages on propertyfinder and other real estate sites. These new cities/major projects (Dubai, Bharain, Qatar, Oman, Morocco etc) have been done for years, and many domainers have been buying name relating to them for years and not made any money, the companies/developers have their site long before domainers jump on the bandwagon....here are a lot of threads about it it on here - here is one example https://www.namepros.com/threads/beyond-dubai-reem-island-abu-dhabi-dont-miss-out.374326/

I bought a handful of Al Reem names (back in 2005/2006) and ended up flipping them for peanuts to fellow domainers :xf.wink:

Hope this helps

Good luck with the names
 
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Dodoma has been recognised as the capital since the late 60s or early 70s, nothing has changed in all these years.

Regarding New Alamein, they have been talking about this since around 2015, if you google the project and check some of the article dates you will see. They have been selling New Alamein properties for ages on propertyfinder and other real estate sites. These new cities/major projects (Dubai, Bharain, Qatar, Oman, Morocco etc) have been done for years, and many domainers have been buying name relating to them for years

I guess you've been out of the loop in recent years regarding Dodoma. Yes, it was officially recognized as the capital in 1974, but Dar es Salaam remained the de facto capital until Magufuli's first presidential term (he was just now "re-elected").

At this point the executive branch, legislative, and judicial have finally all moved to Dodoma. He was just sworn in for his second term in Dodoma -- the first time a president took the oath in Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam.

In terms of your comment about New Alamein, my name is not just "related" to that new city, it's the exact match in the .com. And yes, it's not the first new city, but it's also clear that Dubai_com is arguably a domain worth more than one or two million dollars.

Will New Alamein immediately be as big as Dubai? No, but I also don't need a million dollars to change my original purchase price into a very profitable return.

I bought it in the summer of 2019 when the construction was no so far along and it seemed more like just an idea.
 
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I guess you've been out of the loop in recent years regarding Dodoma. Yes, it was officially recognized as the capital in 1974, but Dar es Salaam remained the de facto capital until Magufuli's first presidential term (he was just now "re-elected").

At this point the executive branch, legislative, and judicial have finally all moved to Dodoma. He was just sworn in for his second term in Dodoma -- the first time a president took the oath in Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam.

NewAlamein.com - You have to think who will buy it off you, not the developer as they would have purchased it pre-2015 if the were going to use it, maybe developing is your best option here.

Not been out the loop at all, its just the reality, its easy to google some facts, but thats just fluff thats doesnt affect domains. This doesnt increase the price of the name? Dodoma, like Canberra here, will still be a little town where the politicians live. Ask your average Tanzanian about this, a lot of the locals have never even been to Dodoma, its miles from any of the major tourist spots too so people dont have to go there.

Just giving advice thats all. I do wish you all the best though.
 
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The top tier category killers don't always translate to quick sales.

It depends if the local market is already dominated by an existing entity.

I don't want to go into specific names I have been holding for almost 20-years, but for example, my countries property market is dominated by two domain names - domain.com.au or realestate.com.au - so holding related major city or state names is almost pointless in the property market here.
 
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NewAlamein.com - You have to think who will buy it off you, not the developer as they would have purchased it pre-2015 if the were going to use it, maybe developing is your best option here.

Not been out the loop at all, its just the reality, its easy to google some facts, but thats just fluff thats doesnt affect domains. This doesnt increase the price of the name? Dodoma, like Canberra here, will still be a little town where the politicians live. Ask your average Tanzanian about this, a lot of the locals have never even been to Dodoma, its miles from any of the major tourist spots too so people dont have to go there.

Just giving advice thats all. I do wish you all the best though.

I agree that for the time being, developing New Alamein is the smart move. Unfortunately, although the construction is progressing rapidly, most of the city remains a construction site. I will probably wait two years before I visit the city to start some development.

In terms of Dodoma, I think the demographics and overall situation are closer to Nigeria than Australia. Abuja is seeing population growth of 6% per year. Dodoma will probably have more than that for the first few years and then perhaps level off at 6%.

Every 10 years it will probably double in size. I'll be old by the time it's a city of five million people, but my children won't.
 
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