From ugly to $1 million, guy wants to trade up his ugly domain name

[domaindigger]

I just saw this on digg and wanted some perspective. This guy wants to trade up his oneuglydomain.com for a more "beautiful" one worth $1 million. It's like that oneredpaperclip idea, but with domains.

My question is, does he have a chance or is this just a parody? I have a couple of dead domains I wouldn't mind trading for if I can feed off the publicity this might generate.

Thoughts?

 

[dontknow]

No offense to Andres but I think he doesn't quite know enough about domains to do this. It's strange: If no one gave their 2 cents, could OUD see a $x,xxx in a year?

No offense, but Andres came up with an interesting
take on the red paperclip, put up a site that people
are taking about, and has traded up to a good domain
set. I don't think the "voters" should be taking credit
at this point...

 

[Archangel]

Archangel, if you love TriGuard so much, why don't you offer $xxx names for it?

Uh.. whoever said I loved it?

No offense, but Andres came up with an interesting
take on the red paperclip, put up a site that people
are taking about, and has traded up to a good domain
set. I don't think the "voters" should be taking credit
at this point...

Agreed on all parts. The sad thing is OUD seems kind of like a one-trick pony: It was interesting at a time but it gets boring after awhile unless something shakes it up. Accepting packages made it interesting again but that interet is fading a bit. We're gonna need a breath-stealing trade to get that interest back.

 

[Erdy]

I think many people are missing an important point when valuing Triguard.com. There is not such a .com domain that is worth 1000 USD or more where the .net version is unregistered. I don't think anybody can show me a single example.

 

[dontknow]

We're gonna need a breath-stealing trade to get that interest back.

I agree. However,
I'm reluctant to put an offer
together for this set, as it has
potential trademark issues. I know
some people thumb their noses and
rub their hands at the idea of a bidding
war between the "infringed" companies,
but not everyone is so brazen...

 

[Archangel]

I think many people are missing an important point when valuing Triguard.com. There is not such a .com domain that is worth 1000 USD or more where the .net version is unregistered. I don't think anybody can show me a single example.

But what makes TriGuard.com a $x,xxx domain? It is very brandable and whatnot, yes, but as-is it might not sell for more than mid $xxx unless a TM owner shells out a lot for it. That's a given but what if none of them are remotely interested? That's a thought for you: Undeveloped, TriGuard.com might not be worth much to an uninterested person -- and if no interested ppl come around, well, you can figure out the rest.

I agree. However,
I'm reluctant to put an offer
together for this set, as it has
potential trademark issues. I know
some people thumb their noses and
rub their hands at the idea of a bidding
war between the "infringed" companies,
but not everyone is so brazen...

That might be why this round has so little (er, no) good offers: I guess no one wants to take a gamble with a TM'ed domain. I might be sending Andres an email tonight...

 

[holdem8]

I have some reservations on the TM issues but i am willing to take a chance. Anyway, some of my domains are sitting around collecting digital dust. Just offered some more names to trade.. mmm.. I wonder if any will make it.

BeyondMeans.com

EzySEO.com

MadeItRich.com

MajorStake.com

ManagingPPC.com

NoReservePrice.com

ProfitRates.com

RecordHighs.com

RV4.net (Recreational Vehicle For sale/rent?)

SpeedWhiz.com

YPNTip.com & YPNTips.com (as a set)

I think Andres alone is getting all the benefits from the red paper clip idea (other than the people who offer their domains there). What if there is a marketplace for every domainer to have their own portfolio for trade-ups? I am thinking of building such a marketplace for everyone... any thoughts on whether this idea is feasible? Any feedback, good or bad, would be appreciated.

Warmest Regards,

Al

 

[Archangel]

I haven't read your list yet so every comment I give you will be thought up on-the-spot:


BeyondMeans.com -- My beef is how it would be used. I don't see much use in this.

EzySEO.com -- EZ, maybe. Easy, yes. But I don't think anyone uses 'Ezy.' Trade-down

MadeItRich.com -- Requires a lot of branding. Trade-down

MajorStake.com -- The only way I could see any good in the term is if you had the plural of stake. The singular sounds bad.

ManagingPPC.com -- Why are there so many PPC domains on sale? I see no practical use for this, personally

NoReservePrice.com -- Needs development to be worth more than reg fee

ProfitRates.com -- This isn't bad. It needs developing to be a trade-up but it's a nice domain

RecordHighs.com -- Ditto

RV4.net -- It's still a 3 char .net

SpeedWhiz.com -- Brandable. I like this but I'm unsure about a trade-up

YPNTip.com & YPNTips.com -- Needs massive development IMO

 

[Archangel]

The ones I've gave a critique of earlier will be answered here with a yes or a no:

BNKY.com -- Too random. Are there any good acronyms for this?
MQSL.com -- SQL = yes QSL = no
EZQW.com -- Looks too random
JIZM.info -- I wouldn't mind this excpt the .info is terrible for this (a LLLL .info... ugh)
XMDW.com -- Random
XMDW.info -- Ditto
BeyondMeans.com -- No
EzySEO.com -- No
MadeItRich.com -- No
MajorStake.com -- No
ManagingPPC.com -- No
NoReservePrice.com -- No
ProfitRates.com -- No
RecordHighs.com -- No
RV4.net -- No
SpeedWhiz.com -- No
YPNTip.com (plus YPNTips.com) -- No
AttitudeProblems.com -- This couldn't be a trade-up without development
TVReruns.net -- Needs developing
UltraRace.com -- Ditto
Soupwich.com -- No reason of existing, reg fee
100th.mobi -- What good would this have? With a mobile device, 100 would be better than 100th, anyway
scamper.mobi -- Word doesn't match ext
Sunlit.mobi -- Ditto
Plutoed.mobi -- Ditto
h8r.mobi -- A 3-char .mobi? You've gotta be joking
Imagines.mobi -- Doesn't match the ext
Belated.mobi -- Ditto
Tardy.mobi -- Ditto
UnionStation.mobi -- This has some hope but it needs development to be a trade-up
Untext.com -- What's the use of this?
Cleaved.com -- Ditto
Swords.tv -- I see no connection between swords and TV...
FormalHandbag.com -- Too long and kinda pointless IMO
FieldCover.com -- And the use of this is...?
DanceInstruction.tv -- Bad .tv, this is

NONE of these are a trade-up or even a sideways trade. :yell:

 

[Peewee01]

Acronym for bnky.com because nobody knows why I kinda like it.

 

[RogueWriter]

Archangel- Just to point out why I submitted the domains I did, my reasoning behind why they have value....


Swords.tv -- Look on cable or satellite late at night, and you will invariably see QVCish channels offering knives and swords for sale. Even QVC itself dedicates shows promoting the sale of swords and knives. Swords.tv would feature streaming video demonstrations of specific blades or 'lots' of blades. You could focus on end buyers of swords, or you could focus on the flea market merchants that often purchase dozens or hundreds of units at once.

FormalHandbag.com -- Would make a nice site for a merchant or affiliate marketer of designer handbags, which are a relatively high margin item. More of an end user target rather than reseller domain.


FieldCover.com -- Common tarpaulin term among farmers and such also used in regards to baseball or football field covers. The owner of fieldcovers.com might be interested in the domain, or perhaps one of the other related terms.

DanceInstruction.tv -- "dance instruction" OVT=110,837 last month, alone. And isn't it relevant? You want to tango, view a demo tape then pay to download the whole dance. Regardless, 110K searches a month is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[dontknow]

I've found soupwiches around the internet,
one can be found at www.risingroll.com
LUNCH COMBO
Soupwich
Any Gourmet, Garden, or Oven sandwich served on our Soupwich bread with a cup of soup

:sold:

 

[cac14850]

reasons

Well we are at I submitted most of the mobis so I ll add my reasoning

100th.mobi -- What good would this have? With a mobile device, 100 would be better than 100th, anyway

Sort of agree but it is so vague it could be good for an event 100th anniversary of something etc.. It is mostly a short term thing I think but possibly useful

scamper.mobi -- Word doesn't match ext
Not really sure why or why not> Pretty vague lots of potential uses

Sunlit.mobi -- Ditto

Agree BUT there are a lot of businesses out there with it in their name (far more than Triguard)

Plutoed.mobi -- Ditto
yeah agree
h8r.mobi -- A 3-char .mobi? You've gotta be joking

short for hater, not great but general potential

Imagines.mobi -- Doesn't match the ext
ibid

Belated.mobi -- Ditto
Disagree, on the run mobil content for being remiss in sending something etc..

Tardy.mobi -- Ditto
again disagree, being late behind on the go etc.. is exactly what mobi should be
UnionStation.mobi -- This has some hope but it needs development to be a trade-up
Much more potential I think than triGuard but again not a .com

anyway there is my reasoning

 

[Archangel]

Archangel- Just to point out why I submitted the domains I did, my reasoning behind why they have value....

Reasoning is good. I thank you for it.
I feel different about DanceInstruction.tv now, to the extent where I see good value in it. And the others seem justifiable for being offered up, which is always good

I sent the following email to Andres -- all comments welcome:

Andres,

I've been looking over OUD for a week. Sadly, in my opinion, you've had only one good offer and that, a LLN.com, wasn't good enough alone to be a trade-up. I'm not too fond of a domain with a TM issue and I'm guessing others aren't, either; that can explain the lack of better offers.

I'm also not too fond of TM domains so I can't/won't offer anything magnificent for th TriGuard.com set. I think you should trade the set ASAP with a side-ways trade (one in which you won't make but won't lose any real potential value) and move along with the new domain. I will, however, place a few domains that you might find a good trade-up (or sideways trade):

GirlPortal.net -- The .net hurts a bit, yes, but the term has been used quite often with results of 10,800 in Yahoo and 9,270 in Google. It would make a perfect portal site for teenage girls and it has the obvious porn usage although I see this being a ten portal more than porn. (It is currently being transferrd to Google so the whois info might not reflect to mine until the transfer is complete)

VOAL.net -- A totally grammatical 4-letter .net that could be brand into anything. It is also a typo of coal.net, goal.net and foal.net (I don't think any of the three are developed sites ATM, though). I've seen comparables sell for early $x,xxx but I have no interest in this.

SharonOsbourne.info -- There isn't too much here exceppt Sharon is a well-known music producer & host in the UK. She starred with/manages her husband Ozzy Osbourne in the TV show 'The Osbournes.' With Ozzfest 2007 coming this summer, and with Sharon's decision to make the Ozzfest free this year, surely she'll become a favorite in searches.

I think I have more but I'm not too fond of TriGuard.com so I'll keep the others for a rainy day. My offers aren't the best offers you'll receive, surely, but they just might be what you need.

--Randy

 

[Archangel]

Here are the last few offers he received. I will not comment on my domains as I explained their value above:

GirlPortal.net -- No comment
VOAL.net -- No comment
SharonOsbourne.info -- No comment
JokesFile.com -- I DO like this domain. "Joke" would have been better IMO but this is good. But is it a trade-up? I'm uncertain
BeachFrontProperty.de -- No comment since I know little about .de
BestAdRates.com -- Might be good for an advertiser. I'd considr this
BestPPCRates.com -- This, however, I wouldn't.
BiosFinder.com -- The S kills it.
CashPuppy.com -- I'd say too random but it actully looks pretty easy to brand. But trade-up, I'm unsure

 

[verbster]

BiosFinder.com -- The S kills it.

FYI--this was meant to be a site for checking a computer's bios brand and version.

 

[Archangel]

FYI--this was meant to be a site for checking a computer's bios brand and version.

Ahh... I saw it as "biography finder."

 

[Erdy]

Hello Andres,

I'm writing to share my thoughts about the fiasco in this round. I think the problem was not making the usual checks. Did you know that triguard.net, triguard.org, triguard.biz and triguard.info were all registered one day before they were offered at OUD?

I think this was an important detail. It means nobody is interested on those domains. They are so uninterested they even don't pay 8 USD for triguard.net. If there had been so many companies interested on that domain we would expect at least one of them would register triguard.net but they didn't.

triguard.net is not even worth 8 USD. So, how much is it worth? Simple. It is worth between zero and 8 USD. Ok. Now we have a price limit for the .net version. As you might know a .net is worth only %10 of the .com. This is according the statistics from actual domain sales. triguard.com is worth 10 times more than triguard.net. Therefore triguard.com's value is between zero and 80 USD.

Now you have a maximum price for triguard.com. I think you should accept any domain that might be worth more than 80 USD.

 

[holdem8]

New Domains to swap

Hi all...

I am again offering some of my domains to swap with the Triguard set. Any comments/critiques?

VirtualInsure.com

Ameryl.com

DNTip.com

TalkITV.com

FreeSeating.com

MealPreps.com

RookieRanking.com & RookieRankings.com

OnlineMarketingJob.com

USFlicks.com

PageResults.com

FirstVOD.com

InstantJam.com

InstantSim.com

InstantGuy.com

VirtualBlock.com

FlexiTerm.com

FlexiOffer.com

IPTVScoop.com

AtomRSSFeed.com

PHPRSSFeed.com

StockRSSFeed.com


Thanks, Al

 

[Archangel]

Personally, all of these as a package wouldn't be worth it IMO.

Hi all...

I am again offering some of my domains to swap with the Triguard set. Any comments/critiques?

VirtualInsure.com

Ameryl.com

DNTip.com

TalkITV.com

FreeSeating.com

MealPreps.com

RookieRanking.com & RookieRankings.com

OnlineMarketingJob.com

USFlicks.com

PageResults.com

FirstVOD.com

InstantJam.com

InstantSim.com

InstantGuy.com

VirtualBlock.com

FlexiTerm.com

FlexiOffer.com

IPTVScoop.com

AtomRSSFeed.com

PHPRSSFeed.com

StockRSSFeed.com


Thanks, Al

 

[Archangel]

This thread hasn't been updated in a day so I guess I'll do the updating:

Yerx.com (brandable and pronounceable 4-letter .com)
This IMO is just too easy to remember, say, etc. It's my domain lol so I won't boast any further.

Consolidate.biz (premium finance word in a major extension that fits nicely...over 12,000 OVT and over 30 million Google results)
This is good without a doubt but even with .biz being a major extension, it's not THAT major (I seldom ever see .biz websites). .biz seems kinda worthless IMO It's established but seldom developed.

 

[Archangel]

No one's been posting in this thread for awhile. Is that a sign of OUD growing tedious? Possibly. I figured I'd throw something in so I offered up YERX.com. Suddenly, there were two domains Andres liked -- that and Consolidate.biz. Instead of putting them on a 3-day vote, as you'd think he would have, he merely chose one of the two and accepted it as a pseudo-winner. And so now we have our first round decided by Andres and not the voters. Consolidate.biz could be considered a steep trade-down but surely one could say YERX.com would have been, too. And surely some will say Consolidate.biz is a trade-up. I've preached it before and I'll do it one more time: Domains are far too subjective and if this shows you (From a GD-listed $10k domain to a LLL.mobi to a 3 char.com to a domain that'd only looked good in the eyes of TM owners to a .biz), I don't think OUD is going anywhere. I think I've officially became jaded with OUD. I'll probably drop a message here and there in this thread but that's it. Good luck to Andres on his quest for a million-dollar domain but I have heavy feelings that he'll never get a domain truly worth over $x,xxx -- let alone $x,xxx,xxx.

And no offense but I have no desire for Consolidate.biz, not even 1%. YERX.com will not be in the next round, sorry to say.

I'm out.

 

[domaindigger]

No one's been posting in this thread for awhile. Is that a sign of OUD growing tedious? Possibly.

I think so.

I figured I'd throw something in so I offered up YERX.com. Suddenly, there were two domains Andres liked -- that and Consolidate.biz. Instead of putting them on a 3-day vote, as you'd think he would have, he merely chose one of the two and accepted it as a pseudo-winner. And so now we have our first round decided by Andres and not the voters.

Uhm, Andres explained the rules of the overtime at the beginning of the round, so he didn't "merely" choose one. Copied from his site:

This is how it's going to work. There is no time limit. I will continue to receive offers indefinitely. However, the first offer that I accept and deem "worthy" automatically wins the TriGuard set. In other words, it's just like a Golden Goal, first one to score, wins. So it's first come, first served. In other words, if at 10am I see that trader A offered a great domain by 9am that I would accept and trader B offered an even better domain by 9:01am, trader A would take the cake even though trader B had made a better offer.

I don't necessarily agree with this approach, but I understand why he did it. I would have still done a vote, but that's just me (I love democracy!).

Consolidate.biz could be considered a steep trade-down but surely one could say YERX.com would have been, too.

Personally, I think Consolidate.biz is better than Yerx.com. I'm still undecided as to whether it's better than the entire TriGuard family, although at least he doesn't have to worry about the TM issues anymore. Also, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing consolidation-related keywords earning top-dollar in AdSense, although don't take my word for it (Andres should look this up).

I don't think OUD is going anywhere. I think I've officially became jaded with OUD. I'll probably drop a message here and there in this thread but that's it.

Is it me or do you always get bitter when your domain doesn't win? Don't take it personally, it's just a domain. :D

And no offense but I have no desire for Consolidate.biz, not even 1%. YERX.com will not be in the next round, sorry to say.

Like I said, I think Consolidate.biz is better than Yerx.com but, like you said, domains really are subjective.


Now I wonder what the new owner of the TriGuard family is going to do with it. Any thoughts?

 

[Archangel]

I think so.

Uhm, Andres explained the rules of the overtime at the beginning of the round, so he didn't "merely" choose one. Copied from his site:

I don't necessarily agree with this approach, but I understand why he did it. I would have still done a vote, but that's just me (I love democracy!).

Personally, I think Consolidate.biz is better than Yerx.com. I'm still undecided as to whether it's better than the entire TriGuard family, although at least he doesn't have to worry about the TM issues anymore. Also, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing consolidation-related keywords earning top-dollar in AdSense, although don't take my word for it (Andres should look this up).

Is it me or do you always get bitter when your domain doesn't win? Don't take it personally, it's just a domain. :D

Like I said, I think Consolidate.biz is better than Yerx.com but, like you said, domains really are subjective.


Now I wonder what the new owner of the TriGuard family is going to do with it. Any thoughts?

I figured you, of all ppl, would have used the 'bitter' card. lol I received YERX in a trade and had no belief it would "win." I really couldn't care less, as I have little time to mess around with possible-TM problems.

I won't say Consolidate.biz is truly better or worse than YERX. Subjectivity factors in.

Until OUD starts gaining REAL speed (and maintains it!) I think I'm out of the picture.

 

[BrandYourself]

As domaindigger said Andres stated the golden goal rules and fully abided by them.
I'm baised (as the ex owner of consolidate.biz) but i dont see much value for yerx.com. The major forums are awash with prounouncable coms and most struggle to make $30
Unless there's an organisation out there called yerx who wish to make a serious offer for it I dont see any value in it.
One good thing re: the golden goal is its impossible for anyone to make totally unfounded vote rigging allegations

 

[Alan Glennon]

Looks like OUD blew it. I would appraise consolidate.biz at around $35 (a tragic result since a few rounds back a LLL.mobi was traded). The take home lesson is that successful domaining requires more than just assessing possible trades to be successful. It requires knowledge of ongoing trends, expertise at domain valuation, good timing instincts, intelligence on potential customers, integrity (potential trademark issues seem to have chilled the latest round), and perhaps most important, patience.