.mobi The Risk of .MOBI?

[yoyosean]

I have seen on this forum and other forums this theory that the .MOBI bubble is going to burst and the risky investment of .MOBI and I am thoroughly confused. Perhaps somebody who thinks this way can shed some light.

I trade stocks for a living and at any one point in time will have $300,000 to $400,000 dollars including margin at "risk" in the market, I do this to exploit small moves in the market and make a .25 cent to .50 cent move in the stock there are Billions of dollars at any single time in the stock market doing this. Now, I buy lets say 400 domain names for $20 each or $8000 and the .MOBI bubble bursts and the domains are worthless are worth reg fee, what have I lost? $8000 or nothing, or somewhere in between? Is that risky?

Now lets say .MOBI is wildly successful and to be ultra conservative IMHO, my names (which I believe to be great), are worth on avg. $200 each. I have turned $8000 into $80000 and made a 900% return on my investment. I dont get how the risk reward ratio is anything but in the favor of the people regging .MOBI domains or even buying them for good prices in the aftermarket, can someone please poke holes in my theory because I dont get it.

 

[mvl]

IMHO the biggest risk I'm taking is the risk of not making a big profit, not the risk of losing a lot of money.

 

[S-L-O-W]

Anyone who got keyword domains on September or before that is suitable to mobile devices is taking '0' risk. It's easy money if they wish to sell out now thus profitig from this investment. I already made have a very nice ROI already so right now, I eaither plan on developing or holding on. It feels good not having to worry about "making my money back" when it's already made. There will always be .mobi haters the same the were/are .us, .eu, etc. haters out there- nontheless the wise and those who learned from those extensions will repeat success. Succeed or fail- .mobi will make people who know/knew what they are doing some solid returns.

 

[acc]

Risks, lost money, drops, developing mobis

Every business venture no matter what its size involves risk, possible risk of capital and loss of time and energy put into working at the business. Enjoyment, personal fulfillment, and possible profits and their associated benefits are the payoffs.

Every hobby involves pre-accepted risk, guaranteed loss of money and time spent on the hobby. Enjoyment and personal fulfillment are the payoffs.

Everyone on this board who bought a brand new car since September 2006 when the .mobis came out has probably already "lost" several thousands of dollars due to immediate depreciation. They knew that loss was inevitable going in but the need for a new car overrode the value of the money lost. So what's a couple hundred or few thousand dollars if you know the risk going in?

Every single day you see many thousands of drops covering EVERY extension, including the "king" .com - and they are laughingly awful names like "rhubarbie007.com" or e-rhubarbvids.com". So when people say that there will be many dropped .mobis in 2008, I say "so what", it's a natural occurence. I am sure that most every person at NP has early on regged what turned out to be worthless "brandable" names because they had an idea, or thought it might be worth something. If that $10 or $20 reg brought them enjoyment and got their mind turning with ideas, well then I think that may be good enough. Like someone said, the cost of a dinner out or a couple drinks can pay for several domain regs. I prefer the tasty generic .mobis.

As far as mobi names having to be developed ASAP "or else the extension is doomed to failure" - having many full, active, .mobi websites is the best scenario. But having a bunch of parked ones whether short term or long term is not going to break the extension. Just do any search for a .com. .net, .info, and 50% of them are just parked and look how long those extensions have been around. Parked pages are also evolving, adding RSS feeds, smarter targeted ads, better graphics, etc.

What would be nice to have right now is some way of creating immediate 5-7 page site frameworks in bulk, 10-20-50 at a time. If time is so critical, then maybe MTLD.mobi or dev.mobi can help out by offering more dot mobi specific templates and tools designed to spit out sites ASAP. Content can then be added as time permits. Or maybe there can be a some kind of auto-wiki for mobis where others can post or offer content for a page or two on a mobi site which is set up to accept such input. Wheels are turning....

... Risk vs. reward ... YOYOSEAN has it right. Just do it on your own scale.
Good luck to all in their ventures, no matter what the extension.
-acc

 

[hawkeye]

Well put acc. If one can live with the realities of investing, the true risk is that 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

 

[Badger]

Right, risk vs reward... If you perceive your investments to be worthwhile then this is your choice and good luck to you. You are afforded this right by living in a free, democratic and capitalist society.

In order to improve your chances however then a high percentage of development must ensue. For if, of the 500,000 and counting .mobi domains remain as parked entities, then your risk is increased beyond it being a viable proposition. And a break down of the .mobi ecosystem would then occur

 

[mykel241]

In order to improve your chances however then a high percentage of development must ensue. For if, of the 500,000 and counting .mobi domains remain as parked entities, then your risk is increased beyond it being a viable proposition. And a break down of the .mobi ecosystem would then occur

Exactly...

If you are risking your money then why not risk your time as well as develop some .mobi sites.

Michael

 

[oldtimer]

When you hand regg new dot mobis you are getting the first chance at testing some names for two years for their development or resale potential, even if you have to drop half of your names in two years the important thing is for you to end up with a few really good ones that you can use for development or resale, many of the successful dot commers only had a handful of names that made all that money for them. Now if you go and buy names in the aftermarket for thousands of dollars then that would be considered a true investment and you have to consider all the different factors as to their risk and reward ratio. IMO

 

[goodkarmaco]

Acc, Hawkeye, well put.

This stock broker who some say " I don't have that kind of money to invest" is not a fence sitter. It does not matter if .mobi goes or flops to him. He has the winning advantage, that is play the averages. He knows when investment is made in a certain new marketplace, that investment is some proof to him to lay the cash on the table.

Domaining may not be poker, but the ability to go "all in" when the inner sense tugs at you is what makes a big player. He did not get where he is today by ignoring his hunches.

To us small time .mobi investors its just so much mocha money, go without it, or invest in a few keyword .mobis and let the chips fall. If a names sells you are a visionary. If all your .mobis fail you sqaundered nothing as it would have been spent on a few lattes.

To develope your .mobi is up to you. If you are a pure specualtor, don't.

 

[aggieuk]

Too right hawkeye! You got to speculate to accumulate!!!

 

[yoyosean]

You are saying that all 500,000 are parked entities and this is not correct there are 10s of thousands of developed mobi sites increasing daily

 

[mykel241]

You are saying that all 500,000 are parked entities and this is not correct there are 10s of thousands of developed mobi sites increasing daily

I do not see to many developed .mobi sites. Most are parked or do not resolve.

Michael

"Develop Don't Park"

 

[scandiman]

You are saying that all 500,000 are parked entities and this is not correct there are 10s of thousands of developed mobi sites increasing daily

There is an issue with the quality of development IMO. I am glad to see fewer parking pages but at the same time sites like Manhattan.mobi are lacking in functionality that people IMO will want. How do you search for or book a hotel room? People not only want this, I feel they will expect it. I will have some static sites like the one mentioned just to simply get away from a parking page but I certainly want to move to a deeper level of functionality than currently being presented and I need to get there quick to be credible to the public.

 

[Jeff]

Critical!

I think there are more .MOBI registrations occurring daily ... than REAL developed - with unique and compelling content - useful / meaningful .MOBI websites, IMHO. If this persists, long term, then there is a very real risk to the "ecosystem"! The trend, as I see it, need to reverse ... more super cool and high quality websites and less junk (including my own) being registered ... :music:

Seriously. :imho:

-Jeff

 

[hawkeye]

I think there are more .MOBI registrations occurring daily ... than REAL developed - with unique and compelling content - useful / meaningful .MOBI websites, IMHO. If this persists, long term, then there is a very real risk to the "ecosystem"! The trend, as I see it, need to reverse ... more super cool and high quality websites and less junk (including my own) being registered ... :music:

Seriously. :imho:

-Jeff

Obviously as names are regged, especially in this early stage, more effort by domainers will be put into 'hunting' for good domains than developing. Also, as more 'non domainers' so to speak, hear of high sales prices, there will be more names being regged by these non developers that are hoping for a big or quick payout, rather than make use of the name. So there is the chance for a lot of non developed sites with .mobi. But, if someone/company is quick and/or smart enough, there lies a big opportunity in acc's scenerio -

What would be nice to have right now is some way of creating immediate 5-7 page site frameworks in bulk, 10-20-50 at a time. If time is so critical, then maybe MTLD.mobi or dev.mobi can help out by offering more dot mobi specific templates and tools designed to spit out sites ASAP. Content can then be added as time permits. Or maybe there can be a some kind of auto-wiki for mobis where others can post or offer content for a page or two on a mobi site which is set up to accept such input. Wheels are turning....

..and mobi then would have a good chance!

 

[oldtimer]

The reality is that most people are going to continue to concentrate their efforts on buying and selling names at least for the first year, any serious development will probably start after that. Even the .mobi themselves are going to take over a year to release all their premium names, and there is nothing more important for the success of .mobi than for those premium domains to get developed in a professional and meaningful way. Many people who rush to develop their names will end up with a bunch of low quality sites that might actually make .mobi look bad. Its is better to choose a handful of your best names and make really good and professional sites instead of mass developing low quality sites. IMO

 

[Jeff]

I completely agree that time is CRITICAL ... as we've already seen that within two years .MOBI domainers / investors will "be dumping their names for pennies on the dollar!" :blink:

Time is of the essence, and I agree wholeheartedly with Acc.
The partners & so-called consortium need to step up for the future viability of the .MOBI, like yesterday ... :imho:

Love reading other's input, as well!
-Jeff

 

[Badger]

Ok, so now the extension is 4 months old. Does anyone think there are any worthwhile available .mobi domains left worth registering??

 

[Jeff]

Ok, so now the extension is 4 months old. Does anyone think there are any worthwhile available .mobi domains left worth registering??

Except for the one I got last week :p , needle in a haystack Mr. Ian! :imho:

:notme:

 

[mykel241]

I still think that mTLD should enforce development of the extension to the point that a minimum of 25% of ones .mobi's should have to be developed with content (not parked) as well as newly reg'd names would need to be developed with X number of months or risk losing to someone else with a viable business model for the name.

 

[scandiman]

Ok, so now the extension is 4 months old. Does anyone think there are any worthwhile available .mobi domains left worth registering??

Brandable words probably -- keywords, not likely