new gtlds Even experts are investing in new gTLDs

[Arpit131]

Konstantinos Zournas of OnlineDomain shares his investment in new gTLDs that amounts to approximately $50,000.
He shares on his blog, that he has bought 565 new gTLDs so far, for a total of $50,000 which averages to about $88 per domain name.
He has sold two new gTLDs : 360.agency for $2,500 and city.tips for 8,500 Euros.

Check out what the experts like him are buying and selling.
The article may be found here.

As per my personal experience, I happened to speak to some people who recently started in Domaining, got lured by the new gTLDs and their highest flips are among the new gTLDs that they have sold for over $2,000.
I see some bright light here, for them. Perhaps they would do even better when they switch to .COMs! Good Luck to them.

How many flips have you made in new gTLDs?
Any experience that you would like to share with the community?

 

[garptrader]

My personal experience over the last six months - have sold more domains which were not .COM than I sold which were .COM - even though I hold more .COM domains than non-.COM. I do not own any new TLD domains but perhaps one can say there is some willingness to acquire domains which are not .COMs if the price is right. The key takeaway though is that all of those sales are low $XXX and if you find yourself paying premium renewals on a portfolio of new TLD domains hoping some end user is going to pay five figures for them, you are probably delusional. People buy alt TLDs because they don't want to pay a lot of money for a domain and the moment you quote a high price they now have a LOT of alternatives. Try typing in your domain's primary keyword/s into Godaddy Auction's search tool and see how many competing alternatives exist. How does your domain's price / quality compare? Now put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer with dozens or maybe hundreds of options? Why would they choose your domain and pay $XXXX for it?

 

[wot]

What the new gtlds certainly seem to have done is suck up the money that was the domainer to domainer market making a huge dent in secondary sales.

 

[Archangel]

And your point is?

These guys have money to tinker with. They can afford to lose. The fact that others are "investing" in new TLDs in itself means nothing in the scope of finding a shimmer of good. Just because some ppl are doing it doesn't mean it's actually worth doing.

"Donald Trump jumped off a bridge and lived, so..."

 

[Kate]

My personal experience over the last six months - have sold more domains which were not .COM than I sold which were .COM - even though I hold more .COM domains than non-.COM. I do not own any new TLD domains but perhaps one can say there is some willingness to acquire domains which are not .COMs if the price is right.

What do you mean by non-.com ? You sold .net ? .org ? ccTLDs ?

I know for a fact there is a market for non-.com domains, especially ccTLDs.
That doesn't mean new extensions will be appealing alternatives too.

 

[Fancy.domains]

Hello,

In my opinion a good domain is always a good domain and a good domain will always be able to sell. Some will sell for $XXX. Other's for six, seven or even eight figures.

- Show.biz is an excellent domain. Showing.biz is not.
- Craft.beer is an excellent domain. Car.beer is not.

At least in my opinion.

The difference with .COM is that it works with almost any keyword(s) and that the value of a .COM is so much higher in general. At marketplaces such as Sedo it is easy to see that many people have overrated the value of their new gTLDs. I have done this myself at times. Many of them will never be sold in the aftermarket at all.

It is pointless to compare an aged and trusted extension like .COM with super-niched and totally new such as .YOGA, .POKER or .ESTATE.

 

[NameFu]

Doesn't it all come down to sales strategy? There are people with great .coms who are not selling jack. There are people with bad .coms and selling like crazy. There is a small hand full people with new GTLDs who are selling. But in general, at the end of the day it's about your sales strategy right? I see shitty .coms selling regularly on DNJournal.com for thousands and on Flippa.com, because people believe that just because it's a single word.com it's worth thousands, even if it's something stupid like "spud.com".

Why not have balance by mainly investing in DOT COMs while taking an honest gamble with a few less popular extensions? What's the point of arguing this out? I see teams like with .Com VS New GTLDs ....it's like watching sports fans when it's not that serious....

 

[NameFit]

Hi - I have followed this thread very religiously and I feel that we are missing an important angle here - user/consumer/visitor. What makes an extension/domain popular is he visitor and his/her word of mouth and not the site owner. They are the ones who drive the popularity.

Let me bring up a user scenario. I go driving out, on a van, I seen signs for

gocars.com
then I drive further, then I see go.cars
then I I see cars.ninja
then I see autocars.com
then on radio I hear cars.auto
then on TV I see ad for auto.cars

What do yo think is going through my mind. I think I am going cars.nuts!

Do you think I will remember any of these names, so what will be my starting point when I get to my computer? I have couple of options -

i) I can search in google just 'cars' or 'auto' and I will see what Google wants me to see and not what I want to see
ii) type-in directly the site name in browser, where do you think I will start?

I will leave it to you since you are the user!

 

[NameYourself]

As far as high profile, if you're meaning the person who wrote the blog post:

February-March 2014 (2 months): 335 domains
April-May 2014 (2 months): 139 domains
June-September 2014 (4 months): 60 domains
October 2014 - April 2015 (7 months): 31 domains

Averaged out per month:
167.5 domains a month
69.5 domains a month
15 domains a month
4.4 domains a month

Notice how that's trending down? Big time. Going from 167 new domains a month to 4, looks like a loss of enthusiasm to me.

If these statistics are true, I find it very indicative of this individual's outlook. One of the biggest mistakes a domain investor can make is not fully realizing the full cost of a domain investment, taking into account the total of all future years' renewal fees. This can really add up with .coms (and they only cost $8.50/yr). I can only imagine with most of these priced around $30ish/yr for non-premium ones how fast that will add up.

The thing is, on the premiums, ones you even pay an extra several hundred or so to reg in early registration (+ an additional inflated renewal fee) the mounting costs will be amplified even higher, not to mention when you shell out so much initially for it, dropping such names or finally selling at a loss at some point will be even harder because you have so much more already vested in.

The reason for the slow down with the investor within the article, even myself is because of the recent trend of massive high reg fees. During the first launches you could reg a premium at the normal reg fee. Sure some went to auction but many didn't.

Now, one year later, another example, you can't reg even reg a .video LLL for less than $150 US per year and if you search a decent term it really jumps.

This tells me the registries themselves are the investors and slowly but surely they are closing the gap between anything that might be a profit margin for the secondary domainer, shifting as much of those profits as is predictable directly into their own hands. As someone on here mentioned, the registries are getting smarter. Don't forget they can always up their prices for top names, once they no longer need the initial investment that was so eagerly supplied by domainers. That's worst case scenario, IF a market develops for a tld and is capable of becoming successful. If a big enough one doesn't, then it switches back to lower and lower prices so domainers can buy in again. If that happens, its because they couldn't make the end user sales themselves.

 

[interassets]

I personally think it's a great move on his part. In a few years that portfolio will be worth a lot more!

 

[domainerfella]

How many new TLD's are there? 400? Going to grow to 700? Guys, it is a lost game unless you have keyword1.keyword2 combination. The insane crowding of new ones will only increase coms values.

 

[Kate]

Doesn't it all come down to sales strategy?

No, it's the inventory that counts. Sales strategy does not make crap domains sell better.

There are people with great .coms who are not selling jack.

Perhaps because they are pricing their domains unrealistically... and if they can't even sell .com they should definitely refrain from buying new extensions for resale.

But in general, at the end of the day it's about your sales strategy right? I see shitty .coms selling regularly on DNJournal.com for thousands and on Flippa.com, because people believe that just because it's a single word.com it's worth thousands, even if it's something stupid like "spud.com".

What kind of shitty .coms have you seen lately, selling for thousands ?
Okay, some bad names happen to sell, and many domain sales are one of a kind. But the likelihood of making a sale in exotic extension will always be low, even when the keyword is strong.

 

[BostonDomainer]

... and if they can't even sell .com they should definitely refrain from buying new extensions for resale.

.

I love this point because it's true. If you can't sell a .com, this isn't for you. It's the newcomers in the industry who will suffer and it's because of a lack of experience. A lot entered the new gtld with already bad .com names and have no idea what they are doing. When I see names like Cloud.bike registered (no offense to the owner) you know something is wrong. I started domaining in 2003. I've had my share of learning experiences in diving in new extensions or cctlds too early or too late and plain 'ole not knowing what the heck I was doing. Now I know what sales strategy to apply, what keywords will likely move, how to price realistically yet reap a nice profit, what to avoid, when to sell, exit strategy and so on. I learned from my .whatever mistakes which allowed me to be able to capitalize big on the .mobi craze that came in 2006 (and subsequently ended). It was simple, in and out with strong premium names. People thought just because it was backed by "experts" such as Google, Vodafone, Visa, Microsoft, Ericcson etc that it would succeed.... well we all know the rest. Experts don't drive the domain industry though they certainly can influence its in the short term- demand drives an industry. Right now the demand for new gtlds is among domainers and a few into technology and a few risk-loving ventures- that is not a very large base. So take caution, listen to the people who aren't wet behind the ears on the forum.

I still believe this is a great investment opportunity IF you are not risk averse, IF you can afford to ride the wave, IF you have some years under your belt, and IF you had a solid business plan. One strategy I employed for leverage was to buy the .com (or is I already owned it) to get the new gtld. One example is Open.Network owned the .com, suites the extension perfectly, BANG execute. A .com new gtld pairing was a no-brainer strategy. So hopefully some readers on here take something in from these posts. Good fortunes to all.

 

[Puckerhuddle]

If you have great keywords that span the dot these will be great names. Some categories such as all the photography related extensions will cause confusion and the value will be deleted. Certain gtld's are specific and these are the ones that I feel will have great value for marketing. Just a few examples .mortgage, loans, kitchen etc. Of course the most of the premium names in these categories command a hefty renewal fee that kills the upside for domain investors.

 

[Fancy.domains]

How many new TLD's are there? 400? Going to grow to 700? Guys, it is a lost game unless you have keyword1.keyword2 combination. The insane crowding of new ones will only increase coms values.

I agree...

From a domain investor's point of view, I think only the really good combinations of keywords will sell on the aftermarket.

 

[vivaldi]

Is this what you believe ? Personally I prefer to save money than take a huge risk.

While nobody can predict the future for sure, looking at the present (and the past) provides a lot of clues.
I am not seeing the new extensions gaining traction now. Apparently end users are not embracing them. What's holding them up ? Could it be that new extensions are not a so great idea ? That hardly anybody wants them ? .com has grown as much as all new TLDs combined. That says it all.

Even assuming a science fiction scenario, that people start buying new extensions only, the 'old' extensions will remain dominant for a long time, simply because of the accumulated volume of registrations. Don't dream, people are not going to ditch their old URLs...

I have always said that new extensions would be marginal, and the fact that there are so many now available results in mutual dilution: very few will stand out. Background noise.

I am not saying that a modest shift cannot happen, but it will be modest and slow. Example: .club could become as 'popular' as .biz, big leap but that still doesn't spell success
Hoping for a major change of landscape in just 5 years is plain unrealistic. Do not underestimate inertia.

I do calculate risks and chance. Not taking different factors into account is stupudity. Afterall it's not we here who decide the outcome. What if Google et.al. started to push for them like they did with their bloated web browser. Most of us don't decide these things. Just look at .club, not the best extension but the biggest marketing budget = the most popular new extension that ain't free. The different generations look at this things differently. Many scenarios and factors to look into not just personal preferences and feelings.

Even if this all ends in your favour it is still possible to earn money on all this.

 

[RogueWriter]

The insane crowding of new ones will only increase coms values.

I disagree, the plethora of new extensions will hurt the second tier .com market in the long run and leave the top .com relatively unaffected, imo.

 

[lembing]

How

A good gTLD is worth the investment...
A bad gTLD is not...

It's interesting how much this topic stirs the nest.

There will never be a gTLD worth more than .COM unless it benefits SERP, like domain hacks do.

How about .xyz , is good to invest or is it gambling?

 

[mad409]

This tells me the registries themselves are the investors and slowly but surely they are closing the gap between anything that might be a profit margin for the secondary domainer, shifting as much of those profits as is predictable directly into their own hands. As someone on here mentioned, the registries are getting smarter. Don't forget they can always up their prices for top names, once they no longer need the initial investment that was so eagerly supplied by domainers. That's worst case scenario, IF a market develops for a tld and is capable of becoming successful. If a big enough one doesn't, then it switches back to lower and lower prices so domainers can buy in again. If that happens, its because they couldn't make the end user sales themselves.

I agree: http://domainnamewire.com/2015/05/08/3d-software-domain-name-sells-for-100000/

 

[Fancy.domains]

How

How about .xyz , is good to invest or is it gambling?

.XYZ is currently (almost) not selling at the aftermarket. Personally, I sold a few ones six month ago, but after that no inquiries. However, I am not the one to predict the future.

 

[DomainVP]

How about .xyz , is good to invest or is it gambling?

.XYZ is just about the riskiest of the .whatever domains to 'invest' in.

Over the extensions history it has been wrought with fraud-like tactics to inflate it's "popularity".

Most .XYZ domains that are registered, nobody wanted; they were auto-registered for domain owners and stuffed into their accounts.

They are promoting the .XYZ brand heavily, but it jus hasn't caught on.

Domains that mimic exact match keywords, also known as domain hacks, are the most profitable. The most valuable .XYZ would be abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw.xyz. Might as well register a .BIZ in my opinion.

 

[brandnow]

This thread is filled with paranoia.

.XYZ is a good investment.. for 2 - 3 years from now. Out of the 900,000+ .XYZ registrations only something like 1/3rd were given away for free. So it puts it still well and above any other ngtld in terms of registration numbers. Furthermore, I read an article recently that Web.com is profiting from people who are choosing to renew some of the free .XYZ domain away for free.

Like most people here.. I think XYZ is seriously an odd extension.. but it is memorable (I think) and starting to catch on. But there is no aftermarket YET. There was an aftermarket for some .XYZ names right after launch. I think it is best to give it 2 - 3 years and then we will begin to see an emerging aftermarket for the most popular ngtld. Plus, the renewal rate on XYZ is only $9 / yr.. not too bad. What I think is a losing strategy are the registries with a few thousand registered names at $30 / yr. Eventually domaineers will drop some of their domains at $30 a pop / per year.. and a few thousand registrations will not sustain the registry anyways long-term.. those extensions will probably end up being the big losers.

One last note..

examples of good XYZ domain names:
music.xyz
sports.xyz
love.xyz

examples of bad XYZ names (for investment purposes):
WatchSportsNow.xyz
coolsite.xyz

For those of us holding desired single word .xyz names.. just hold on for a couple years more.. I think the aftermarket will come full force.

 

[vivaldi]

How

How about .xyz , is good to invest or is it gambling?

If you picked up a great keyword at launch you could hold it for a year or two and see what happens at most. Even though they do market themselves well, I don't see how they should put up with it year after year. This extension needs to be marketed heavily because it .sucks.

 

[brandnow]

If you picked up a great keyword at launch you could hold it for a year or two and see what happens at most. Even though they do market themselves well, I don't see how they should put up with it year after year. This extension needs to be marketed heavily because it .sucks.

I agree with this sentiment on some level too. :D I DO think they have to market it because it is not the greatest. But on the flip side, I am glad they are spending the money to market it, so I don't have to. Some food for thought.

 

[DomainVP]

You will always encounter the passionate gTLD believers; the investors that have bought their names and hope to win the gTLD lottery. People are passionate about their investments, as they should be.

The fact is that every investment is risky, and expecting .XYZ to be the next great .COM is very bleak at this point.

Even if one were to say there would be 'some value' in the extension in the distant future, it's hard to justify not allocating your assets in an extension where there is an active aftermarket that you can profit from today.

There are pages and pages of spirited debates that you can find here on NP, browse away.

 

[brandnow]

You will always encounter the passionate gTLD believers; the investors that have bought their names and hope to win the gTLD lottery. People are passionate about their investments, as they should be.

The fact is that every investment is risky, and expecting .XYZ to be the next great .COM is very bleak at this point.

Even if one were to say there would be 'some value' in the extension in the distant future, it's hard to justify not allocating your assets in an extension where there is an active aftermarket that you can profit from today.

There are pages and pages of spirited debates that you can find here on NP, browse away.

Well said.

I never shared these estimates and numbers before. But my personal domain investing portfolio is approx.
90% .com, 2% .org, 1%.net, 3% .club, & 5% misc. CCs and nGTLDs.

^ note these numbers DO NOT include the free .science and .party names I registered.. I left those off.. because frankly I don't think those count for much at all.