discuss Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

[S-B]

I have the opportunity to buy 200 double repeating premium LLL.in at $90 a piece and I passed on it due to my uncertainty. Turns out that was a big mistake.

What was your most recent shoulda, woulda, coulda moment?

 

[Ali]

I had a full ride to a university. Computer science major. 2001.

Walked in on orientation day, walked out within seconds.

Went on a wild ride through the music industry instead.

Moral of the story...

I missed out on countless high value domains because I chose the rockstar life.

But hey... 15 years later... here I am...

:D

 

[AlejandroGarcia]

selling iot.com for $17.5K back in 2007

and 700.com for $19K in 2009

 

[james haw]

Turns out that was a big mistake.

I disagree it was a mistake for the same reason I don't feel I made mistakes with unpredictable CHIPS. And this can be applied to most peoples "mistakes" or "regrets".

Seeing something in hindsight does not necessarily mean the original decision was a mistake, as long as it was a logical and calculated decision with the only info available at the time.

Buying "potential" CHIPS is a risk as their spilling into all kinds of TLDs was and still is always a fairly high risk with potential for a loss. No-one can really say if a certain TLD is the next bubble, or how high prices will rise.

So it's mostly a risk either way - Either buy early at high risk they become tradeable at all; Or wait to see a trend forming and buy at a higher price which is then a risk in getting ROI.


So yes you would have made a good ROI, but you could have lost a fair bit too. Given the risk factor, it's not a mistake just simply a decision to not take a risk. I think this is just good business sense TBH. Risk are needed in domaining, but calculated risks not pure gambles.

 

[DU]

I regret not buying something because it sold later for more.
I regret buying something because later I had to drop it for a loss.
I also regret not going to humblebrag school.

My biggest regret is the hours that I spend here instead of doing something useful.

 

[DNScholar]

I should have started domaining 15 years back

 

[garptrader]

Renewing marginal-quality domains is probably a common mistake many domainers make. Renewing 100 marginal-quality domains for two years at $8 each is $2500 in total cost (initial + renewals). Keep those names for five years before you finally drop them and you are out $4k. Imagine the caliber of domain you could have acquired with that money. Registering hundreds of senseless domains in any TLD which you will never sell is digging your domaining grave. Add premium renewals for some of those and you get into trouble real quick. I have had to pare back .TV holdings because those $28-$30 renewals just get too expensive but some nTLDs have renewals of hundreds of dollars.

 

[tomcarl]

Last summer someone let hundreds of 4L domains expire, so many that there were about 20 - 30 chips that reached closeouts at $10 each. I put off buying them thinking they'd drop again in price since the aftermarket was flooded at the time. An hour later someone bought them all (lucky them). A couple of months later they were selling for $1500 each. I would've been holding on to $40K - $60K in 4L domains had I just bought them on the spot.

Risk = reward.

 

[Ms Domainer]

In my early days (2007), I passed on a Go Daddy closeout domain (it was a poker domain); a few months later, it sold for $31,000.

But we learn from these missed opportunities.

 

[AndyM]

Another big mistake I made was paying $350 for a "premium listing" on fippa

 

[deflee79]

Don't look back..you're not going that way.

 

[DomainGist]

I almost developed a content platform / niche specific writing community for which there was a huge demand and ready made user base at my disposal and decided against. That was in 2011. I had an awesome domain for it, which I sold.

I've now come back to this project, repurchased the exact same domain (fair price) and will be building that platform with a 2017 launch.

I knew it would work in 2011, I know it will work now in 2016, only it would be a lot easier to establish in 2011 and I'd have a massive business right about now. There is still a decent ready to go userbase for me to go and grab, only its shrunk significantly.

At the time I was well connected online and respected within a specific niche community / subculture and its only with hindsight that I realise how valuable it is to have a big network to tap into when it comes to getting a startup off the ground.

So I've got the chance to undo my mistake, but I still regret it.

On the plus side, I've been busy liquidating my domain portfolio and got back into developing web properties, at a time when there is a very healthy market for selling established sites.

That has been a natural progression from domaining, after domaining got me back into the game and interested again (pretty much after just collecting a few domains that I simply don't want to part with, and now have a hunger to develop). I built a nice little empire on the net back in the day which got destroyed by some algorithm updates, it left me with depression and no desire to build anything for 4 years, now I'm building again and I thank dabbling in domains again for getting the fire back into my belly.

I'm enjoying the internet again.

 

[Jasonn]

loved connaught.com didnt bid, winner went on to sell it for 250k
sold some great NNNN.coms in 2014
sold a LLL.com for 238,000usd but the buyer accepted my first offer!

most will never sell an lll.com for that or even be able to own one. 238k is not much of a regret.

 

[S-B]

I disagree it was a mistake for the same reason I don't feel I made mistakes with unpredictable CHIPS. And this can be applied to most peoples "mistakes" or "regrets".

Seeing something in hindsight does not necessarily mean the original decision was a mistake, as long as it was a logical and calculated decision with the only info available at the time.

Buying "potential" CHIPS is a risk as their spilling into all kinds of TLDs was and still is always a fairly high risk with potential for a loss. No-one can really say if a certain TLD is the next bubble, or how high prices will rise.

So it's mostly a risk either way - Either buy early at high risk they become tradeable at all; Or wait to see a trend forming and buy at a higher price which is then a risk in getting ROI.


So yes you would have made a good ROI, but you could have lost a fair bit too. Given the risk factor, it's not a mistake just simply a decision to not take a risk. I think this is just good business sense TBH. Risk are needed in domaining, but calculated risks not pure gambles.

You make a very valid point, which actually makes me feel a little better.

 

[Premium gTLD]

Not buying LasVegas.city because of the $440 per year renewal cost.

LasVegas.city seemed very expensive compared to most of my .CITY domains which renew at Uniregistry for $22, $36 or a few at $72 per year.

Really dumb move. Las Vegas.online sold at NamesCon for $4,750 and LasVegas.Asia went for $30K a few months ago to the same company that owns LasVegas.com.

 

[Omar Negron]

A domain name I had been watching at Namejet pre release didn't get any bids and went to the pending delete list.

At the pending delete auction, went for a little over 11K.

Or the time I didn't raise my bid by $10 in a NJ auction and that domain sold a few months later for a lot more than I ever thought it would. I should have just put that extra bid...o well.

-Omar

 

[DomainGist]

sold a LLL.com for 238,000usd but the buyer accepted my first offer!

You never know, they may agreed a maximum of $200k and had to have a heated argument in the boardroom about whether they could meet your price. At $250k they might have blanked you and resorted to plan B, so it is silly to regret that one. No solid reason to think that you left money on the table, maybe you simply hit the sweet spot.

 

[betthelot]

selling iot.com for $17.5K back in 2007

and 700.com for $19K in 2009

You win!

 

[Embrand]

Selling several lll.coms for low $x,xxx just a few years ago. It hurts to think about it

 

[betthelot]

loved connaught.com didnt bid, winner went on to sell it for 250k
sold some great NNNN.coms in 2014
sold a LLL.com for 238,000usd but the buyer accepted my first offer!

 

[DomainGist]

My only regrets are always not being bolder.

It is also possible to regret being too bold though, when you get an offer, get too greedy and push the counter to a ludicrous price and then never get a decent offer again.

 

[MisterSoft.com]

I have the opportunity to buy 200 double repeating premium LLL.in at $90 a piece and I passed on it due to my uncertainty. Turns out that was a big mistake.

What was your most recent shoulda, woulda, coulda moment?

Hey, don't look back. Stay optimistic. Bumps and bruises are part of life. We are all human and we are not perfect. If someone tells you he/she is perfect, that person is lying.
Have a faith and a kind heart, you'll be fine.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Not buying LasVegas.city because of the $440 per year renewal cost.

LasVegas.city seemed very expensive compared to most of my .CITY domains which renew at Uniregistry for $22, $36 or a few at $72 per year.

Really dumb move. Las Vegas.online sold at NamesCon for $4,750 and LasVegas.Asia went for $30K a few months ago to the same company that owns LasVegas.com.

how the hell would LasVegas.Asia even work?
lol

 

[Ms Domainer]

I think we all have that regret, they were less than $20 in 2009!

In 2012, LLLL coms were going for BIN prices at Go Daddy, I mean like $11, $10, $9, and $8. I even snagged one for $5.

The most I paid for a LLLL com was low $$$ (WDJS and Lyni). In this manner, managed to amass 89 of these.

I think these are worth holding for now.

 

[DomainMagnate]

I let all my NNNNN.com drop shortly after registering them, in 2009 or so, that would be $1-2M today.
Also let hundreds of LLLL.com chips drop or sold for penauts in 2009-2011.