debate What is the difference between a good domain name and a bad name?

[xynames]

I'm not referring to the stellar, obviously good ones, like x.com sex.com beer.com aaaa.com etc. that may be considered money in the bank, that people will fight over to buy at any given moment. The stellar ones might be different things at different times, for example btc.com ethereum.com today, versus years ago. But I'm not talking about these types of instant cash domains.


I just mean "good" versus "bad."

I think that a good domain, if held on to long enough, will sell for a decent price, when the right buyer who needs it comes along,

while a bad domain, no matter how long held, will rarely sell for much of anything. (Unless it is lucky enough to come into fashion as some new trend, such as for example, a new cryptocurrency etc.)

That's the key difference. That time, and the right buyer, equal a cha-ching! of a good sale.

By implication, even a good domain doesn't necessarily translate to instant money in the bank. It takes the time and patience to wait for the right buyer.

But your crappy names, no matter how long you wait, the chances of someone wanting them enough to pay much of anything for them, are slim.


See also:
Which kind of domainer are you?
https://www.namepros.com/threads/which-kind-of-domainer-are-you.1053017/

 

[Brands.International]

I consider good domain to be:

A) A .com / .org / .net or a popular ccTLD (such as .de / .co.uk / .io / .co / .se / .in etc), with keyword(s) taken in almost all ”worse” extensions. Example: Golfclub (dot) com.

B) A new gTLD in which the keyword and extension forms a phrase which is taken in most other extensions. Example: Golf (dot) club. Here, renewal fees etc are also a main factor!

C) A good hack. Example: Cl (dot) ub. Also here, renewal fees etc might be an important factor!

And of course exactly as written in above post.

 

[Ategy]

good domains are (at least for me) those, which get offers and get traffic
bad domains are those without offers, and without traffic

Yeah .. but like I said way above .. while that is most certainly very true .. the point of questions like this is how can you tell BEFORE buying the domain. What actual elements and characteristics tend to result in a domain that gets offers/traffic? (Note that that is a rhetorical question that I already answered above .. lol)

 

[xynames]

Okay but the premier theory of good if sells, bad if does not sell, is irrefutable. (It's a basic economics theory of supply and demand if you want to look at it that way.)

Everything else...no one seems to be able to agree on.

 

[Brands.International]

Yeah .. but like I said way above .. while that is most certainly very true .. the point of questions like this is how can you tell BEFORE buying the domain. What actual elements and characteristics tend to result in a domain that gets offers/traffic? (Note that that is a rhetorical question that I already answered above .. lol)

Well, imo, sometimes you can tell only AFTER you get them

What I mean, even with lot of research, domainer really can not tell/predict who the best possible end user can be for a specific name, and when this end user will need the name. Or we can predict, but we can be wrong, lol.

Because of that, I think one needs to test it - to check regularly number of offers and traffic for all names. Sometimes I think the name is great, but if I do not see a traffic and offers during a year, for me it is really an indication that I was probably wrong. And vice versa - there are some names I did not have any large expectations for, I bought them in bulk deals for example, etc, and suddenly - lot of traffic, few offers - and after I check then in more detail, I usually start to understand why.

So point is - do not be afraid to drop the names, if you tested them and you see weak indicators. And focus on names where you see offers and/or larger traffic - even low balls from other domainers can usually indicate something positive.

 

[Ategy]

Okay but the premier theory of good if sells, bad if does not sell, is irrefutable.

Yeah .. but to say a domain that sells is usually a good domain is obvious to everyone .. so much so that I don't even understand the point of asking the question. It's a very oversimplified answer that doesn't really answer the real question of what are the actual common or similar attributes of domains that sell!

Everything else...no one seems to be able to agree on.

Just because people don't agree in no way means that there aren't some common sets of domain attributes and characteristics that make some domains better or worse than others. What it does mean is that some people are right on some things and some people are wrong on some things ... and more importantly .. that in the world of domains .. there are plenty more than just 50 shades of grey! lol

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Argh. Bulloney. Please don’t hijack another thread with talk of these -i domains.

Sorry...you're so right....what a waste of time this thread. This just adds fuel to my claims that this is the most screwed up industry I've ever been associated with, and I've been directly or indirectly involved in a lot of businesses over the years. Sad

Bulloney

 

[xynames]

I don't think it is a screwed up industry so very much, but I still Liked your post.

 

[Joe N]

Hey Joe...I just met your profile and your Namepros info page. How come all the great domainers are from Canada? I luv Canada and I luv your site BrandSail.com Happy New Year!

Bulloney

Thanks Rich! I'm far from a great domainer yet, but I'm working on it verrrry slowly.

Glad you like the site. Big shout out to Efty for a great platform!

 

[Dave]

Thanks Rich! I'm far from a great domainer yet, but I'm working on it verrrry slowly.

Glad you like the site. Big shout out to Efty for a great platform!

If you've only been doing this since 2016, you've done very well indeed. Keep up the good work.

 

[Recons.Com]

It is quite easy to identify bad ones though. Go to domain sale section of the forum and you'd have to look through tens of threads with ugly names to find a decent one. And for those ugly ones, you can look to the right of the thread with 99.99% certainty that the last reply in that thread is from the seller himself/herself...

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I've enjoyed reading the comments from all those who have posted. I would just like to add two bits.

(1) While agreeing with the characteristics of a good name mentioned, I think we also need to take into account the type of end user we hope the domain name will appeal to. A name that might appeal to a one-person 'company' is different from a domain name a major company would value. Price (both acquisition and renewal) is more important to someone starting a part-time business or consultancy, and they are probably more likely to consider something catchy. They in a way also need a more memorable name, since they won't be able to spend a lot branding a name. Also a NGO will want something different (beyond the extension) as well. A marketing company looking for a domain phrase also has different considerations.

(2) Ultimately success is defined (I would argue) in providing names that someone will want, and making a profit over your costs. As such, a very low resale value can be successful, if your acquisition costs were also low. If you sell a name for $20 that you hand registered for $2 and the person is happy with the name, I would argue it is a good name, just as someone who pays $2000 and sells for $3000. As such the only names I would say are bad are those that appeal to no one at a price you need to at least have some profit.

Bob

ps of course who am I to know, it totally beats me that MTSupermobile.com sold for $12k and lead the daily repot today. I would never pick that as a valuable name, nor does the evaluation bots like GoValue that say it is worth a few hundred. Can someone explain why it got such a great price? And congrats if it was someone on Namepros!
https://namebio.com/blog/category/daily-market-report/

 

[Pritam Singh Obi]

If a domain gets a buyer then bad domain also becomes good domain.so I feel it is demand which matters.No domain is bad.

 

[xynames]

That doesn't even make sense, by accepting the premise that a good domain is one that sells, you end with "no domain is bad." Not every domain will sell.

Anyway, what I wrote was:

I think that a good domain, if held on to long enough, will sell for a decent price, when the right buyer who needs it comes along,

while a bad domain, no matter how long held, will rarely sell for much of anything. (Unless it is lucky enough to come into fashion as some new trend, such as for example, a new cryptocurrency etc.)

This doesn't mean that a domain you bought for $8. that re-sells for $25. is a good domain. It must sell for a decent price. A $25. sale is not much of anything.

 

[DanielN]

There are definitely bad domains bought by inexperienced people. The market isn't always right. You might pass on a terrible domain yet it would have sold right away. Or you might pick u a great domain yet no one buys it.
Since the domain market is based on people, they will act subjectively and irrationally sometimes.

 

[rickypham]

Something bad with me but good with other and opposite

 

[namelancer]

Okay but the premier theory of good if sells, bad if does not sell, is irrefutable.

Would that place vice goods like cigarettes and alcohol in the good or the very good category ?

 

[namelancer]

Branding commences as soon as a company decides to use the name for something! You can't know, first of all, when that branding commenced...sometimes it predates the domain registration.

The available data detailing the process of branding by startups and many smaller and mid-size companies looking at the clean slate start of their business cycle.contradicts your assertions It's be highly counter-productive to commence branding efforts for a name one has laid one's eyes upon, as the awareness of branding activity by the domain seller would only have the effect of driving the price up. It's enough to look at Fitbit enterprise who acquired the name in the early stages of their start-up for a fraction of it's moderately listing price. Had they waited with acquisition of a name until the next round of funding would have placed them in the semi-winner category, the price would have gone up considerably.

 

[namelancer]

QUOTE="xynames, post: 6498842, member: 998120"]And the moment a company decides that such and such oddball name is a great name for their company, then the value of that oddball domain goes up. If that happens at some point, then the name becomes good, if it sells.[/QUOTE]

It's incorrect, if the reference is made to generic value as such. The value of that mismatched concoction of a brandable does not go up the moment a potential company (without prior branding done for the same name) settles on the idea of adopting the name as a great asset for their company, because the asking price of the name, representing its value, that is usually displayed next to logo on some brandable marketplace udre regular circumstances stays the same throughout the buyer's decision-making process, having been established by a complex algorithm that looks at a multitude of parameters before making output of price recommendation.

Or rather,it's not the value of the name as such that increases in value the moment it finds the willing buyer, but the value of the name vis-a-vis that particular buyers (as perceived by the buyer in so far to the name serves to fulfill their needs), because of the nature of the values attached to brandables, ie. being subjective, meaning they holds meanings to a smaller pool of investors compared to the names more defined by objective metrics. However, it should be noted that inspite of their generally non-inherent values, there is a thing veneer of objectivity involved in the makeup of a brandable too, short of which it'd be cumbersome to ascertain their market value.

 

[namelancer]

And the moment a company decides that such and such oddball name is a great name for their company, then the value of that oddball domain goes up. If that happens at some point, then the name becomes good, if it sells.

You see, you have just proven my earlier point, that the judge of value resides in the eye of the beholder:

Answer:... the eyes of the beholder

 

[xynames]

“Eye of beholder” in the context of this thread, from my original post, simply means that someone wants the domain and wants to buy it. If sold for a good price, it is a good domain.

 

[namelancer]

If sold for a good price, it is a good domain.

But what if it's initially sold at a good price by the original holder, but consequently at a loss to the re-seller who later resold it, would it still be a good domain ? Or, if a domain of questionable quality gets sold at over-value, does it make it a good domain ?

 

[namelancer]

There are definitely bad domains bought by inexperienced people. The market isn't always right. You might pass on a terrible domain yet it would have sold right away. Or you might pick u a great domain yet no one buys it.

Yes, you have grasped the difference between a good or bad domain and a good or bad buy. A good domain sold at under-price would definitely be a bad buy while a bad domain sold at over-value netting a healthy profit would be classified as a good bye. In addition to that, the saleability factor of a domain can be driven by the reputation or negotiation skills of the seller (market is full of such examples).

 

[xynames]

What do you think?

All that matters from perspective of good/bad is that it sold for a good price.

 

[namelancer]

All that matters from perspective of good/bad is that it sold for a good price.

So, a domain like natural beauty, presumable having been sold at a fair market price years ago, now turned out to be poor/good investment (depending on a perspective), being both a bad sell to the initial re-seller who surely had higher hopes for it than seeing disappear under the noise of auction bells at a loss and a good buy to the current owner who got it for a bargain.

 

[namelancer]

I think that a good domain, if held on to long enough, will sell for a decent price, when the right buyer who needs it comes along,

However, it takes a spark of a reluctant seller (holding for longer than what is reasonable, prudent or recommended in terms of the length of time for regurgitating the investment), an eager but incompetent buyer, or over-prices domains for your argument to collapse on impossibility of resolving such inner conflicts.