question Personal Domain Names

[Toms Domains]

Anyone like to talk about their experiences selling domains with people's names, such as JohnGalt.com?

Did you have much success? Do you still sell them etc?

 

[Samer]

look, i dont have skin in this niche,

(other than my own name) but interested hear

Samer

 

[Ategy]

Unless it's an obviously fictitious name, or the name of a historical (dead) person or someone in politics, I stay away from such names. Huge potential trademark issues .. but more importantly I find holding them to be unethical and it's a part of why many people call domainers cyber-squatters and all kinds of other names.

There are a few threads on the topic already:

From shortly after I started domaining I've been of the mind that acquiring anyone's full name is wrong (unless deceased or a political figure).

Beyond that there's also this for Americans or those who use an American based registrar:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2012-title15/html/USCODE-2012-title15-chap107-subchapII.htm

SUBCHAPTER II—CYBERSQUATTING PROTECTION
§8131. Cyberpiracy protections for individuals
(1) In general - (A) Civil liability


My advice to all .. stay away from full names. Whether it's legal or not is really besides the point .. as ethically you're targeting a domain because someone has that name. It's effectively what gives the domain industry a bad reputation. People come up with all sorts of creative arguments about how to justify holding such domains, but in the end it's cybersquatting 99%+ of the time unless it's also your actual full name.

That being said .. if it's a dead person .. even a famous one .. then I personally couldn't care less because that person can no longer make money (yes the argument can be made that the person's estate is still a legal entity .. but the actual person is dead, so at least morally I don't have issues .. although there still could be legal ones technically)

When it comes to politicians it gets a bit trickier .. because the site could be acquired by an end user who does not intent to profit financially from the domain (political criticism). So for politicians it is a bit more complex, and I'm not as morally opposed (as long as you aren't fraudulently making money pretending to be or represent the person .. which includes advertising/affiliate income and most forms of monetisation).


Definitely do NOT monetise any full name that is not your own, or of anyone with whom you do not have a legal contract that permits you to do so.


That being said .. I think first names (alone) and last names (alone) are great investments and totally generic enough to justify holding as potential generic brands (as long as the name isn't extremely unique)..

 

[Toms Domains]

Thanks @Ategy , good food for thought.

 

[Omar Negron]

As long as it's a common name, I think it's fair game.

JohnSmith, MaryWilson etc.

As long as your not infringing on someones trademark or holding a famous celebrity name, then I am fine with it. I've sold several First Name Last Name combos. You probably wont sell them for thousands but a few hundred is cool especially when your usually getting them for $10 or so.

-Omar

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Anyone like to talk about their experiences selling domains with people's names, such as JohnGalt.com?

Did you have much success? Do you still sell them etc?

Some people have cool names despite whether they're famous or not. Here are names of friends who I recommended to them they should own their respective names;

DaneeWhite
TonyRitz
ReidDerco

Danee is a professional trainer at the gym where I work out, and since I recommended to her she should own her name she bought it.

Tony is Vietnam Veteran who suffers from PTSD, and has a hard time keeping a job. I told him about a month ago he should own his name, but I see it's still available. I may just buy it to give to him to show my appreciation for his service and sacrifice to our country.

Reid is a local sports professional who I just met on Friday and I told him he had a great name that he should own as well.

Finally....@Omar Negron you have a cool name and I'm guessing you own it. Good on you Omar

 

[Omar Negron]

Finally....@Omar Negron you have a cool name and I'm guessing you own it. Good on you Omar

haha thank you! and yes you guessed right! I do own my own .com first name last name =)

-Omar

 

[bmugford]

As long as it's a common name, I think it's fair game.

JohnSmith, MaryWilson etc.

As long as your not infringing on someones trademark or holding a famous celebrity name, then I am fine with it. I've sold several First Name Last Name combos. You probably wont sell them for thousands but a few hundred is cool especially when your usually getting them for $10 or so.

-Omar

I agree. Unless it is a domain that is targeting a specific party, I would say it is fair play.
I own and have sold many of these combos that are names shared by thousands of people.

John Smith (com) sold for almost $6K reseller on NameJet in 2014. Honestly that is a pretty solid price when you consider the size of the pool of end users. There are 70K+ on LinkedIn alone.

Brad