.mobi LLL.mobi Possible-Buyout

[Archangel]

Everyone knows that the LLL.mobi sold out long ago but eventually, many owners let their domains drop. I made a list a few days ago showing the available LLL.mobi domains and I'm a tad surprised.

There are 18,928 possible LLL combinations. When I complied the list, there were 1,984 LLL's available. But a decent amount were regged from then til now. So I'm thinking that since .mobi is still pretty new and many companies will surely develop more mobile-friendly websites, there could be another LLL.mobi buyout. I have no idea if it'll stay but I do foresee a buyout sometime soon.

GoDaddy is having a $7.99 (or so) .mobi special and several other registrars are having sales, too. I think it would be wise to pick up a few LLL's now for future investments. Even if LLL.mobis fail to turn a decent profit, you'll only be losing your reg fees. For those interested, here is a list of all LLL.mobis available right now. I'll try to keep this list updated. Reps are always appreciated

What is your opinion of LLL.mobi? Do you think ppl should take this small gamble? Anyway, here is the list as of Sunday May 31th 2009:

BUYOUT!

0 domains!
(5/31/09)

(1,984 were available around 3/1/09)
(1,943 were available on 3/6/09)
(1,916 were available on 3/11/09)
(1,865 were available on 3/26/09)
(1,294 were available on 4/22/09)
(1,267 were available on 4/28/09)
(1,254 were available on 5/11/09)

 

[snoop]

All this talk about LLL sellouts is just a myopic domainer thing and doesn't mean all that much in the big scheme of things. No matter what the extension, end users (where the real sales are made) don't know or care about any other domain other than the one they come to you for (via whois or online listing or that you introduce and present to them via proactive marketing).

The better and more often used the letters, the larger the potential universe of application there is for an acronym and hence the better chance of a decent sale. Buying the last mostly unwanted letter combo names in any LLL or LLLL "domainer buyout" is a low odds bet subject to greater domainer-activity related fluctuation.

Having a number of LLLs gives better odds that someone will be looking for one of them. If the selling price covers the reg fees for the rest of your LLL holdings then you are doing well to start, and everything after that is gravy. Actively finding potential end users wil increase the success rate but it seems that most domainers do not bother to do the legwork. Even if one does the research finding potential end users for all the X,Y,Z,K LLLs it is an uphill battle.

If one wants to think in terms of buyouts, you should consider "best letter" buyouts and then the remaining "junk" letter buyout names as a separate group.
.

The thing is, most of the demand for LLL domains (regardless of extension) is from domainers. Not sure I agree with what you are saying here. How many enduser want an LLL .mobi? Probably a tiny a fraction of the demand that would really support a buyout of the high quality names.

Take LLL.com's for example, the low quality names have gone up at a much faster rate long term than the high quality names because mostly they are bought to collect. Going back in time I can't remember a single person saying "buy the junky ones rather than the good quality names", yet the junky ones have outperformed.

 

[Archangel]

The thing is, most of the demand for LLL domains (regardless of extension) is from domainers. Not sure I agree with what you are saying here. How many enduser want an LLL .mobi? Probably a tiny a fraction of the demand that would really support a buyout of the high quality names.

Take LLL.com's for example, the low quality names have gone up at a much faster rate long term than the high quality names because mostly they are bought to collect. Going back in time I can't remember a single person saying "buy the junky ones rather than the good quality names", yet the junky ones have outperformed.

I do wonder how many anti-premium LLL.coms are even developed. So yeah, "collectors" will be the likely ppl registering their .mobi breatheran assuming a buyout ever happens again.

 

[snoop]

"Fantasy" math and logical math are different things but I'm not quite sure which you are going by. Assuming you bought a decent LLL.net for $60 in 2002 and held it all these years, renewing at $10 a year, your total investment would be a little over $100. LLL.net sells pretty damn well these days and will likely sell better after this recession.

I assume when you say "2002" you mean "2003" which is what you were talking about in the previous post (those are very different market alot happened in that year) Anyway the minimum is about $400 now is it not? ie 3-4 fold increase since 2003. Nothing wrong with that but most other categories have done better over the last 6 years.

If I had the cash (that's always a factor), I'd have picked up 20 or so. Sure, I might have spent $150-200 a year in renewals but I could sell the lot for $20k rather easily these days. Perhaps you wouldn't have done it but smart investors with cash to invest would have. And ppl like me, who seldom get thousands of dollars at a time, the same.

You think the minimum for LLL.net is around $1000? (20k/20)

Yet again, you missed my point. I was pointing out that there HAVE BEEN good sales of non-word LLL.mobi even though there are still a lot left in the pool of unregged LLL's. I need to look at the whole market, as you said, but I'm not foolish enough to base a sales decision on 1 sale. I'm a professional. I'm not that stupid and lord help those who are. You need to look at what is POSSIBLE, not what you personally expect.

There have been good sales in .cc and .pro as well, it isn't saying anything about profitability of buying certain types of names.

 

[Archangel]

You think the minimum for LLL.net is around $1000? (20k/20)

It's just a think I've seen. Good omes have been selling around $700-1k in certain places. But like you said earlier, no one should assume an 'absolute' value from only 1 sale. You might wanna look at namebio, though
STAFF EDIT

And you were thinking they were about $500?

 

[snoop]

It's just a think I've seen. Good omes have been selling around $700-1k in certain places. But like you said earlier, no one should assume an 'absolute' value from only 1 sale. You might wanna look at namebio, though:


It is getting confusing, weren't you talk about low value names? ie the ones people could pick up for $65 in 2003? Alot of those sales are pretty dated also, the marketed has close to halved since Sept last year.

It's just a think I've seen. Good omes have been selling around $700-1k in certain places. But like you said earlier, no one should assume an 'absolute' value from only 1 sale. You might wanna look at namebio, though:


And you were thinking they were about $500?

From what I can see of it the minimum is around $400 now (I think that may actually be generous but there is a lack of sales data), lowest I have seen is wky.net for $330 in January.

Not much point in saying you've seen good ones selling for $700-$1000 then talking about how they were once selling for $65 in 2003. You are are comparing low quality then with good quality now.

 

[Archangel]

You are are comparing low quality then with good quality now.

No, I'm comparing the market then with the market now.
And the market has been hit, no doubt. That's only good to investors, who can snatch a good namew these days that they couldn't have this time a few years ago.

 

[snoop]

And the market has been hit, no doubt. That's only good to investors, who can snatch a good namew these days that they couldn't have this time a few years ago.

If the prices falls are "good" for LLL.net investors then .mobi investors must really be loving it!

 

[Archangel]

If the prices falls are "good" for LLL.net investors then .mobi investors must really be loving it!

They are from what I can tell
I've seen many LLL.coms sell for around $3k lately (albeit ones with sucky letters). Such domains would have sold for more had the economy been better... a big duh, I know.

 

[snoop]

They are from what I can tell
I've seen many LLL.coms sell for around $3k lately (albeit ones with sucky letters). Such domains would have sold for more had the economy been better... a big duh, I know.

Well, the fact is the economy isn't better, and I really doubt .mobi investors are having a good time. Most would have seen almost all of their investment disappear. As far as LLL.com goes they were grossly ovepriced in my view. I still have some doubts that they are appropriately priced.

 

[Archangel]

Well, the fact is the economy isn't better, and I really doubt .mobi investors are having a good time. Most would have seen almost all of their investment disappear. As far as LLL.com goes they were grossly ovepriced in my view. I still have some doubts that they are appropriately priced.

To be fair with ya snoop, a lotta investors aren't having a good time... unless they have cash to spend. The rich get richer & the poor get poorer. The ppl with money can buy the good domains at a steal while the poorer ones can't afford the reg fees & wind up selling to the richer (or they just let domains drop). If you have money, get a steal now while you can. If you're one of the pooe investers, heed my words: make good damn sure you know what your parting with and at what price. You may live to regret it if you're clueless.

 

[snoop]

To be fair with ya snoop, a lotta investors aren't having a good time... unless they have cash to spend. The rich get richer & the poor get poorer. The ppl with money can buy the good domains at a steal while the poorer ones can't afford the reg fees & wind up selling to the richer (or they just let domains drop). If you have money, get a steal now while you can. If you're one of the pooe investers, heed my words: make good damn sure you know what your parting with and at what price. You may live to regret it if you're clueless.

I don't think many people would really argue the rich are getting richer right now. Most people are getting poorer, in particular though the rich who are most exposed to financial asset declines.

As far as those dropping names etc the vast majority of those names are worth nothing. When someone "can't afford the reg fees" that is a very bad sign for that domain portfolio because it sounds like that portfolio has no revenue stream. In other words what they own isn't really an asset, rather it is a liability as it is taking cash from their pocket each year.

(Here is an intersting news article from today on the rich getting poorer)

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/12/news/12Forbes-billionaire.php

Overall though I can't say this enough, don't buy something just because it was more expensive that in the past, buy it because you can see a clear ROI. I can't see an ROI in LLL.mobi myself, I wish good luck to the people buying these names, for their sake I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Kate]

As far as those dropping names etc the vast majority of those names are worth nothing. When someone "can't afford the reg fees" that is a very bad sign for that domain portfolio because it sounds like that portfolio has no revenue stream. In other words what they own isn't really an asset, rather it is a liability as it is taking cash from their pocket each year.

I agree. If your portfolio sucks today, then it sucked yesterday... It's all about quality. Quality can withstand a crisis while mediocre names will be hit first.

 

[scandiman]

If the prices falls are "good" for LLL.net investors then .mobi investors must really be loving it!

As a mobi investor I am loving it! What's not to love about low prices when you're adding names to your list?

 

[Jeff]

As a mobi investor I am loving it! What's not to love about low prices when you're adding names to your list?

What's not to love? :blink:

How about the very likely prospect ... that your new ".MOBI" investments (at "low prices") might very well turn out to be worth even LESS in several weeks or months time? :imho:

By the way, which "firesale" domains have you picked up lately ... and what is the stauts as to their unique and compelling development(s)? :gl:

-Jeff

 

[mjnels]

ahh Jeff's back in the mobi forum. did my (maybe someday regrettable) suggestion make it thru?

still waiting for that much needed NP$... tonight, i tried an adult beverage i havnt had yet.. some DogFish Head Indian Brown Ale

 

[Jeff]

tonight, i tried an adult beverage i havnt had yet.. some DogFish Head Indian Brown Ale

^ Good stuff! :music: :imho:

200 NP$'s en route ... :talk:
-Jeff

 

[snoop]

What's not to love about low prices when you're adding names to your list?

The fact that what people already own has declined 90%-100% in value.

 

[scandiman]

What's not to love? :blink:

How about the very likely prospect ... that your new ".MOBI" investments (at "low prices") might very well turn out to be worth even LESS in several weeks or months time? :imho:

You say "very likely" as if you know the future. Unlike you, I'm actually doing something to add value to my own investments.

By the way, which "firesale" domains have you picked up lately ... and what is the stauts as to their unique and compelling development(s)? :gl:

-Jeff

firesale lol, you're always ready with the derogatory quip about .mobi. If I actually thought you gave a damn I might actually consider answering your question.

 

[Jeff]

You say "very likely" as if you know the future. Unlike you, I'm actually doing something to add value to my own investments.

Paul, the reality is that the ".MOBI" has declined minimum 85% - 90%+ ... it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that whatever one may now be picking up at "lower prices" could still decline even farther, IMHO. :blink: :red:

Again, what recent acquisitions have you picked up for "lower prices" ... are now developed, or are being developed with unique and compelling content? :gl:
Set an example, and give us some substance!

Thanks for the assist.
-Jeff

 

[scandiman]

The fact that what people already own has declined 90%-100% in value.

Yes, if I were to sell some of my early purchases I would likely not gain a profit, but they are not for sale. Few if any would be a 90%+ loss.

If you have any appreciation for the extension and think it has a future then the low prices are a great opportunity. If you have no appreciation for the extension and think it doesn't have a future then you think the pricing will stay this low forever. We've been pretty consistent in our disparate perspectives about .mobi, I suspect this discussion will have little impact in changing that.

Paul, the reality is that the ".MOBI" has declined minimum 85% - 90%+ ... it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that whatever you may now be picking up at "lower prices" could still decline even farther, IMHO. :blink: :red:

Similarly they could increase in value, no degree in rocket science required here either.

Again, what recent acquisitions have you picked up for "lower prices" ... are now developed, or are being developed with unique and compelling content? :gl:

Thanks for the assist.
-Jeff

Again, If I thought you actually cared I might answer your question.

 

[Jasonn]

The LLL might as well be sold out as the only ones left are crap.

 

[Jeff]

Again, If I thought you actually cared I might answer your question.

Paul, I have been spot-on correct for nearly THREE YEARS ... challenge me ... prove me wrong ... show us what you have picked up recently at "lower prices" that have been developed, or in the process of developing! :gl:

As most are well aware, I have great respect for those that develop ... but in this discussion and context, it is those domains that have been acquired recently for "lower prices" that I am most intrigued, IMHO. :blink:
-Jeff

 

[scandiman]

Paul, I have been spot-on correct for nearly THREE YEARS ... challenge me ... prove me wrong ... show us what you have picked up recently at "lower prices" that have been developed, or in the process of developing! :gl:

What would my recent purchases prove? That I am in fact buying .mobi domains? You can view my trader rating at the other forum to see that I am buying.

As most are well aware, I have great respect for those that develop ... but in this context, it is those domains that have been acquired recently for "lower prices" that I am most intrigued, IMHO. :blink:
-Jeff

I never claimed my recent purchases are developed, I'm too busy with existing .mobi development projects to consider it right now.

 

[Jeff]

What would my recent purchases prove?

I was inquiring more about stand-alone developments and/or developments-in-process ... of recently purchased ".MOBI" domain names (that you acquired, as you state, at "lower prices")? :blink:

I never claimed my recent purchases are developed, I'm too busy with existing .mobi development projects to consider it.

Fair enough, but I don't feel as though I've been challenged (as yet) IMHO.

-Jeff

 

[scandiman]

Fair enough, but I don't feel as though I've been challenged (as yet) IMHO.

Challenged about what, my purchases? I have no clue what you're talking about. :?