discuss .LLC or .llc

[ThatNameGuy]

While I was away for the last month the new .LLC extension was introduced by the registry Afilias. Here's the scoop from the PRNewswire; https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-llc-domain-landrush-period-begins-july-9-300677484.html

I became interested in this new extension almost immediately because every company I've started over the last 20 years is a limited liability company, and has the LLC designation as part of the name. This is very similar to Lawyers having PC or a Doctor having M.D.or D.O.

Because .LLC was new and just out of the blocks I was able to register about a dozen pretty good single word .LLC's. What I've learned since is that many businesses carry the .LLC designation as part of their business name just as if they were required to designate .com as part of their name.

Since, I've done a demographic study to determine how many LLC's there are in the states and how many new LLC's are created each year. Because my brother-in-law has been designated as a "business" lawyer by the ABA, I discovered that he's helped start and name a new business a week for the last 35 years, or about 2,000 businesses. Heck, 25 of them have been mine, of which 5 or 6 of them my brother-in-law has partnered with me.

While it's still too early to tell, .LLC may become one of the new TLD's that is not only here to stay, but may even become profitable sooner rather than later....that's if I have anything to do with it

 

[CJ6]

A lot of businesses don't use LLC as their final business name. They may register as a LLC, but they use a trade name in order to drop the LLC part. I do this with a business that I have.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

A lot of businesses don't use LLC as their final business name. They may register as a LLC, but they use a trade name in order to drop the LLC part. I do this with a business that I have.

I agree, and I have some DBA's and ficticious name certificates myself, but half of my businesses retain the .LLC designation. Thanks for your comments.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

A lot of businesses don't use LLC as their final business name. They may register as a LLC, but they use a trade name in order to drop the LLC part. I do this with a business that I have.

Here's another reason from Legal Zoom that I'm pretty excited about the new extension:

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/do-i-have-to-use-llc-in-the-business-name

Like you said, you don't have to use it, but tens of thousands of businesses do use it.

 

[JB Lions]

Business name vs. Consumer facing site. I don't recall ever visiting a site with LLC in the domain name. Another extension for suckers. Also, most business don't call themselves generic name llc. So generics won't work here. Shoes.com, yes. Shoes.llc, no.

 

[bmugford]

I doubt a Word.LLC is going to be any more popular than a WordLLC.com.

As CJ6 said most companies might be registered as an LLC but don't use it when it comes to branding.

I wouldn't mind being the registry though because they will likely get many brand protection registrations at least.

BTW, .MD has been available for many years. It is the ccTLD of Moldova.
While you would think it would be a good hack, doctors barely use it.

Brad

 

[JB Lions]

Word has it they already own Amazon.llc...check it out for yourself. And you might want to check out what other major companies are also llc's.

Which has what to do with your llc purchases? This is just companies buying up their own names, nothing new. You still never tackled my question above, which sites do you actually visit with llc in the name. Companies usually leave that part off, with their domain. That's what you're buying and trying to sell. Why do you think they're selling low in .com? Like I said, we shall see how they sell.

 

[Recons.Com]

$39 for regular name dot llc. Ouch!

Even if we assume optimistically that 1 in 200 can sell every year, your holding cost will be $8000/year. For how much are you hoping to sell those?

There is a reason I can hand reg almost every LLL.llc right now.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

$39 for regular name dot llc. Ouch!

Even if we assume optimistically that 1 in 200 can sell every year, your holding cost will be $8000/year. For how much are you hoping to sell those?

There is a reason I can hand reg almost every LLL.llc right now.

First, I bought all mine for $24 a year and they renew at $24 a year....less ouch! Second, if you don't have a plan to sell more than 1 in 200 a year you shouldn't be domaining. Third, most all "Premium" .LLC's are already sold. Because I was so early to the game, I was able to cherry pick a few.....lucky me

 

[eurorealtor]

Long time ago I owned domains like Casino.l.lc, Business.l.lc, Poker.l.lc, Pizza.l.lc and I dropped them all.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Long time ago I owned domains like Casino.l.lc, Business.l.lc, Poker.l.lc, Pizza.l.lc and I dropped them all.

I can see why you dropped them all. I would have too.

Business.l.lc and Business.LLC don't compare

 

[vravis9]

Hey correct me if I am wrong...

I thought LLC is used mostly for startups and small businesses...and the status changes once they gain good portion of market or go IPO...
In that case the usage limit of LLC will be very restricted...imo

 

[CJ6]

Hey correct me if I am wrong...

I thought LLC is used mostly for startups and small businesses...and the status changes once they gain good portion of market or go IPO...
In that case the usage limit of LLC will be very restricted...imo

Google is a LLC. Just saying.

 

[vravis9]

Google is a LLC. Just saying.

Then my assumption is wrong...

I am thinking in terms of full form...limited liability company...
I guess my question doesn't make sense...

 

[Bob Hawkes]

@JB Lions asked "which sites do you actually visit with llc in the name?"

I can truthfully answer at least twice I visited https://get.llc/ where I went to read a bit about the new extension! (I don't own any, at least as of now)

 

[lambo.com]

Noone will need these, very few will desire and anyone who does will just register something that isn't already taken.

lmfao

 

[Kate]

Google is a LLC. Just saying.

Yes, but they don't use LLC in their domain names.

I have never been in favor of using suffixes in domain names like corp, inc, llc, ltd or whatever. First reason: it doesn't bring added value to your branding. The public doesn't care how you are incorporated - those who really want to know will check the SOS website or company register. Second reason: obviously, companies may change structure. Companies with foreign subsidiaries may be incorporated under different regimes too. Google is LLC in the US, but abroad it's different forms.

When you add those suffixes to a domain name, 'obviously' it's because the better and shorter domain was already taken. That begs the question: who badly wants them, either in the domain name or the extension, since they are superfluous.

 

[DNWon]

i.LLConceived!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Yes, but they don't use LLC in their domain names.

I have never been in favor of using suffixes in domain names like corp, inc, llc, ltd or whatever. First reason: it doesn't bring added value to your branding. The public doesn't care how you are incorporated - those who really want to know will check the SOS website or company register. Second reason: obviously, companies may change structure. Companies with foreign subsidiaries may be incorporated under different regimes too. Google is LLC in the US, but abroad it's different forms.

When you add those suffixes to a domain name, 'obviously' it's because the better and shorter domain was already taken. That begs the question: who badly wants them, either in the domain name or the extension, since they are superfluous.

In talking with my brother-in-law, one of the top lawyers in the state of Virginia, he seems to think a company domain like CarInsurance.llc could be a huge hit, especially compared to CarInsurance.com that sold for 49.7M with content back in 2010. btw, CarInsurance.llc isn't available, but I own a few that are just as good imho. While I paid a whopping $24 for my .llc names, and they renew at just $24 a year, I believe I'm a good enough salesman to to sell some of my premium llc's for more than the "zero dollars" you would lead someone to believe they're worth. I'm just glad I see the glass as half full, unlike the critics who think all new TLD's are worthless

 

[Kate]

Third, most all "Premium" .LLC's are already sold. Because I was so early to the game, I was able to cherry pick a few.....lucky me

Very lucky... I wonder how you do it, scoring all those gems every time...

I'm just glad I see the glass as half full, unlike the critics who think all new TLD's are worthless

What I see is an ever-draining Danaides' barrel, where domainer money is flushed down and disappears.

It reminds me a bit of the .asia discussions 10 years ago. I said it was trash, but some domainers disagreed, told me I was foolish to discard half of mankind (Asia). Again, the target market may be huge, but it doesn't mean there is any meaningful demand. The same reasoning applies to all other extension.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think we should all be wary of over generalization about an extension or area being great or worthless. I think it all comes down to a combination of quality, demand and uniqueness (and in some cases sales ability).

For example last month the domain name biotech in .asia extension sold on Sedo for $11,650 so I don't agree with your comment seemingly on the entire .asia extension @Kate "I said that it was trash." Does this mean all .asia are worth that? Of course not, that too would be oversimplification!

Domain investing success is complex with multiple ways to achieve it. We do ourselves no benefit when we try to oversimplify everything.

 

[Recons.Com]

I think we should all be wary of over generalization about an extension or area being great or worthless. I think it all comes down to a combination of quality, demand and uniqueness (and in some cases sales ability).

For example last month the domain name biotech in .asia extension sold on Sedo for $11,650 so I don't agree with your comment seemingly on the entire .asia extension @Kate "I said that it was trash." Does this mean all .asia are worth that? Of course not, that too would be oversimplification!

Domain investing success is complex with multiple ways to achieve it. We do ourselves no benefit when we try to oversimplify everything.

But it is trash from investment perspective. To get one sale like that you'd either have to have a luck of a lottery jack pot winner, or hold thousands of names that will result in loss after renewals.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I found this discussion of the meanings of LLC and Ltd (the legal terms not the domain extensions) helpful although their early statement about LLC and tax paying seems to me incorrect. Anyway for those wanting more background...

https://www.upcounsel.com/ltd-vs-llc

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thank you for your reply @Recons.Com

"But it is trash from investment perspective. To get one sale like that you'd either have to have a luck of a lottery jack pot winner, or hold thousands of names that will result in loss after renewals."​

I guess I would respond that the only choice is not to blindly hold thousands or none at all, but rather to use domain insights re niche, trends, demand, region, aesthetics etc to hold far fewer and improve odds. It is more complex, but to me more interesting. I would argue it supports my central argument against over-simplification (and while it is the only recent large sale, it is neither the only recent or nearly the largest sale in extension).

 

[Recons.Com]

Thank you for your reply @Recons.Com

"But it is trash from investment perspective. To get one sale like that you'd either have to have a luck of a lottery jack pot winner, or hold thousands of names that will result in loss after renewals."​

I guess I would respond that the only choice is not to blindly hold thousands or none at all, but rather to use domain insights re niche, trends, demand, region, aesthetics etc to hold far fewer and improve odds. It is more complex, but to me more interesting. I would argue it supports my central argument against over-simplification (and while it is the only recent large sale, it is neither the only recent or nearly the largest sale in extension).

What makes sense for a business in 99.9% of cases is

- Get .com of its name
- Or hold .cctld of his country if that is the primary focus and the cctld is the default extension there
- Or both of the above
- get .org if you are non-profit or similar
- get .net if it is an exceptional one worder, LL, some of LLLs and your service have something to do with the NET
- get .co for exceptional quality word, if the aboves were not available or within budget

I would never advice a business to do otherwise and I would feel awkward trying to sell something different to a business.

Of course, there are exceptions among other tlds that could make a business sense and not be detrimental, but I'd rather serve 99.9% of the market rather than focus on 0.1%.