Expired DNs used to be fun

[.X.]

As the previous owner of NameMob.com ,,,,,I used to supply a service that would generate expired domain names ...and many other very useful tools aswell....Well...To make it short....I was basically shut down by the big drop catchers.....And with verisigns "central listing service" just awaiting icann approval....I was doomed to shut down the service ....what i had worked so hard to build.....But once icann approves the central listing service...Some of the big drop catchers will have to shut down aswell.

Catching expired domain names was what i liked best in the domain name industry...Although i still have ties to access data bases that have large lists of dropped names....They are almost worthless....The fact is...The big drop catchers own the premuim domain drops...And at a min price of $60 a name at that...Of course i never see a premuim name go at $60...Most go in the mid xxx to low x,xxx...and up to xx,xxx.

The fact of supply and demand of premuim domain names makes this a billion dollar market...Although there are still some decent dropped names to be snaggeg from time to time...Most of what i find are mere left overs of what the big drop catchers don't want.

Bring back the good old days of drop catching!!

 

[edit]

I remember the ol' days. Back when Exody owned the market and end users had no idea about it. I was cashing in thousands of dollars per week with my eyes closed. There were probably still thousands of people gunning for names but it felt like there was only 10 of us especially compared to now...when a name like "ajkhjdfh394834083048023.org" gets picked up within seconds of dropping by some bot.

But of course big companies had to realize this and make it harder for us to compete...especially the smaller websites like above. Unfortunately none of us had a chance.

-edit

 

[.X.]

I remember the ol' days. Back when Exody owned the market and end users had no idea about it. I was cashing in thousands of dollars per week with my eyes closed. There were probably still thousands of people gunning for names but it felt like there was only 10 of us especially compared to now...when a name like "ajkhjdfh394834083048023.org" gets picked up within seconds of dropping by some bot.

But of course big companies had to realize this and make it harder for us to compete...especially the smaller websites like above. Unfortunately none of us had a chance.

-edit

Indeed Exody.com owned the market at one time,And still a great site today! Is verisigns "central listing service" the answer to the drop catch problem? Absolutly not in my opinion...Here is my perspective...Verisign takes all expirys...Holds them for 5 days...during the 5 day hold...they are on auction at verisign...What kind of backward logic is that....It still leaves US with sloppy left over ...mid at best drops after they realease the names...after thier 5 day hold period....The only one gaining anything is verisign...As if they don't own enough already....I don't see a happy meduim here....Although i beleive snapnames will still play a big part in drops..I think Pool and TDNAM ect....Will be gone....Not that any of the above services are good...I don't like them simply because they charge $60 just to get your foot in the door to start biding on a name...If you loose your auction...of course you don't have to pay anything...But....They are selling mid domain name drops at mid xxx everyday....what a rip in my opinion.

 

[john777]

you can get good names only if you have $$$$$$..... watch in snapnames auction what ppl are paying for two name domains. .. .

 

[.X.]

you can get good names only if you have $$$$$$..... watch in snapnames auction what ppl are paying for two name domains. .. .

Very true...And that bites....There is no equal playing ground,,,Snap and Pool get every drop they want...One has to wonder exactly how?...If i back order a name a year before it drops..and see that snap has it...That out right bites...ICANN doesn't care one bit...Verisign does though...That's why the central listing service is going to happen...but it wont be any better.

 

[greenlight]

a more mature market equals more opportunities for you

I'm one of those guys that has recently come on the "scene" I have been buying domain names through the drop listers the past 4 months and more aggressively the past 30 -60 days.

My background is real estate and I currently run a very successfull real estate investment/rehab business.

I can tell you that our business is very similiar to the domain acquisition and development business.

In real estate you acquire deals through a "suppressed" market that is created by financial distress, landlord headaches etc. In other words the only way to get a good deal in real estate is to make sure that supply/demand is out of whack for your negotiations.


The domain market is currently in my estimation the most suppressed market around, and is currently devalued due to market conditions and public awareness.

These type of markets exist thoughout history and the time to take best time to take advantage of them is during the "early adoption period"

The domain business is currently in the early adoption stage marked by the increased articles and awareness that SEO is key for website promotion and success. The most telling sign is that sedo currently announced the ability to borrow against domain names.

Real Estate was in the same position about 90 years ago, when people were just starting to be able to borrow money to purchase land/homes.

Large land owners 90 years ago are still the wealthy families today.

So yes it's not like it used to be, but money is starting to pour into this industry and will be 10 fold in just a few years ( if that long)

If I was in possession like many are on this forum of the knowledge and skills to acquire and make money off domain names, i would sink everything I could time, finances, education and acquire as many valuable pieces of domain "real estate" as you can and hold on for a few years, I would only sell for top dollar or to raise money to buy and hold more names.

I would do this until it hurts, trade in you new car sell you house or whatever it takes to be able to dump your resources into this market.

Again, markets like this happen rarely and to have knowledge of this market during the early adoption period is PRICELESS

 

[btrader]

I would do this until it hurts, trade in you new car sell you house or whatever it takes to be able to dump your resources into this market.
PRICELESS

This is terrible advice, dont invest what you can't afford to lose. I think suggestions like this are irresponsible.

 

[.X.]

This is terrible advice, dont invest what you can't afford to lose. I think suggestions like this are irresponsible.

I agree...Never invest more than you can afford to lose in this industry,I have taken losses...and made nice gains selling,I do not sell very much in comparision to the size of my portfolio,So iam not a "Domain Reseller" so to speak,However,I have significant expierence in the dropped domain indusrty,I was making x,xxx a month off my drop site,I had a choice,deliver a few mid names,and a bunch of low range names to my members,Or bail out,I chose to bail out for many reasons,My bottom line of closing the site was,I simply couldn't keep up with snap and pool and versigns up and coming central listing service,I didn't have the resources,nor the funding to do so.

 

[greenlight]

This is terrible advice, dont invest what you can't afford to lose. I think suggestions like this are irresponsible.

Yes you're right I didn't mean for it come out like that. The point that I was trying to make was that if you have the knowledge of this industry, to leverage that by living well below your means and sacrifice as much as you can to acquire as many domains as possible today so that you can reap the benifit tomorrow.

In other words don't buy the new car and designer shoes when you can buy domains now.

One small point of contention is that while you shouldn't invest more than you can afford to lose, this caution is geared to investing in general. When you are investing in a field where speciaized knowledge gives you an infinate advantage, your risk of loss actually becomes very small, because you are able to regonize value that few have the ability to perceive.

But alas keep your children fed, your wife happy don't and quit your day job.

One more thought is I see it often in real estate and it probably happens here in the domain business or will soon; and that is people rush in and believe they are going to make a killing overnight so they neglect their occupation, quit their job, and ruin themselves. This is a game of education which takes time and is difficult to pull off making a living until you have more knowledge than most are willing to learn.

I hope most of what I wrote clarifies and makes a little more sense.

Thanks

Scott

 

[.X.]

Yes you're right I didn't mean for it come out like that. The point that I was trying to make was that if you have the knowledge of this industry, to leverage that by living well below your means and sacrifice as much as you can to acquire as many domains as possible today so that you can reap the benifit tomorrow.

In other words don't buy the new car and designer shoes when you can buy domains now.

One small point of contention is that while you shouldn't invest more than you can afford to lose, this caution is geared to investing in general. When you are investing in a field where speciaized knowledge gives you an infinate advantage, your risk of loss actually becomes very small, because you are able to regonize value that few have the ability to perceive.

But alas keep your children fed, your wife happy don't and quit your day job.

One more thought is I see it often in real estate and it probably happens here in the domain business or will soon; and that is people rush in and believe they are going to make a killing overnight so they neglect their occupation, quit their job, and ruin themselves. This is a game of education which takes time and is difficult to pull off making a living until you have more knowledge than most are willing to learn.

I hope most of what I wrote clarifies and makes a little more sense.

Thanks

Scott

Not sure about quiting thier jobs,But there are many who dive in head first and beleive the industry will bring them big money,I see where your coming from,and it makes perfect sense to me,I think it's just like anything else we do,You get out of it,what you put into it,In my case,It's more happiness than anything,enjoying the hobby...At the same time,If you have alot of funding,You can make some nice money domaining,Just the same in real estate,Funding,who you know,reserach and learning are the keys to most any success in my opinion.

 

[ukdom]

I used to use NameMob, I wondered why it had gone off-air, sorry to hear that.

This is an interesting discussion, expecially as I am more interested in providing the information (current good names still available to reg) than actually buying the domains themselves. I hold a few which I bought when I first became interested in domains but quickly found I enjoy searching out and providing lists for other people much more than buying and selling them myself.

I guess I will eventually be left having to look at finding the good names that are in the expiry process so that people will know what to look for when trying to find ones to buy them through auction or at the new central listing service if it comes into being. Although there will still be good names available to reg in some of the other TLDs(non .COM) and ccTLDs for a good while yet.

Tim

 

[.X.]

I used to use NameMob, I wondered why it had gone off-air, sorry to hear that.

This is an interesting discussion, expecially as I am more interested in providing the information (current good names still available to reg) than actually buying the domains themselves. I hold a few which I bought when I first became interested in domains but quickly found I enjoy searching out and providing lists for other people much more than buying and selling them myself.

I guess I will eventually be left having to look at finding the good names that are in the expiry process so that people will know what to look for when trying to find ones to buy them through auction or at the new central listing service if it comes into being. Although there will still be good names available to reg in some of the other TLDs(non .COM) and ccTLDs for a good while yet.

Tim

Thank you tim,It was an extremly hard decision to shut down NameMob.com,I worked very hard to build it and maintain it...It had 396 members when i shut it down,I was torn to peices,But i had no choice,It was becoming less and less efficient for my members there,That thanks to the two big dogs in the drop auction business.