Who keeps dropping these domains?

[DomainBFF]

Something that has always bugged me about the aftermarket and drop catching is that it doesn't make sense.

There's constantly a fresh supply of LLLs and generic keywords that should never be dropped.

The only thing I can come up with is domainers are just dying, but even then your family should have some way to access your assets.

Anyone who owns one of these domains surely is well aware of the value, so why are they always dropping without fail?

I just don't get it..

 

[Kate]

You said it, people die. But they don't often leave a continuity plan behind them, so the portfolio is out of reach for the heirs/family.

Other possible reasons: companies/partnerships are dissolved and domain assets are abandoned. Not everybody realizes the value of domain names.
For instance, the majority of people have no idea that all LLL.com are taken, or that any LLL.com is valuable.

Also, some drops are not real drops. It's domainers auctioning them. Or letting them expire to gauge interest from other domainers.

 

[gilescoley]

I assume when you say llls, you aren't referring to lll.com names? I don't see many of those on the drop lists??

 

[AEProgram]

Great question and im sure everyone at some point wonders abut this.

if its a super good name like lll or meaningful lll or single word In most cases its a regular person who has no clue what they have. Like many here when we see a good name dropping I go check what other names they own there are many reasons for doing this, but automatically you get to see who the owner was if no privacy was set up, and without fail it was just some regular person with that being their only domain or maybe a few more.

I am sure there are cases where health or other life crisis or worse takes a hold and they forget to renew.

If you ever watch those antique roadshows on tv you hear stories about people buying 50k worth of art at a garage sale for 5 bucks or finding some valuable painting sitting by some garbage. Again the question begs did the owner not know?

Also with domains even if you have truly good domains you will rarely get contacted by someone looking to buy them. But when you do get contacted the chances of a sale are very high.

This means you can sit with a name for years with no one interested and thus leading someone who doesnt know better that their domain is worthless.

Always remember, not everyone knows what you know.

Last but not least some large portfolio holders have been thinning their inventory. Some of the names they are allowing to drop to us seem wonderful but for the guy holding names 1000 times better they seem worthless especially after renewing it 15 years and even reducing the price to 250 bucks for a year prior to letting it drop.

 

[matrigaldo]

How many people do you know overestimating their properties, thinking what they have value hundreds or thousands of dollars but you secretly (or not so secretly) know those properties don't worth anything?

Now: how many domainers do you know overestimating their domains, thinking they own $xxx,xxx domains while they barely worth $xx ?

Similarly there are a lot of people underestimating their properties, and talking about domains or web-properties, there are a lot of people ignoring all the market around domains, web services, and similar, and when they dismiss their hobbies, or decide to change name to their company, or just forget to renew the domain because they're not using a website anymore, here you have all those drops.

However, in my opinion, most of the premium drops keeps happening for personal issues of the owners (death or other bad things, unfortunately).

 

[hookbox]

There are 140 million dot coms registered and the vast majority not registered by domain investors. You may see a name drop that is worth thousands but those that don't know about domain values don't want to spend 10 bucks to re-register it because they simply just don't know.

 

[hookbox]

.

 

[Poldermaffia]

Something that has always bugged me about the aftermarket and drop catching is that it doesn't make sense.

There's constantly a fresh supply of LLLs and generic keywords that should never be dropped.

The only thing I can come up with is domainers are just dying, but even then your family should have some way to access your assets.

Anyone who owns one of these domains surely is well aware of the value, so why are they always dropping without fail?

I just don't get it..

Is true that your domain names can be secured in your testatment?
Say you have a portfolio as xxx.xxx!

 

[The New Guy]

With so many domains dropping every day, quality is in the eye of the beholder. There are relatively few that are commodities (3-4 letters, 5 or fewer numbers), the rare worthwhile english word, and maybe some pure valuable keyword combos.

The rest depend on their potential usefulness to the right end user. I have some domains I dropped many years ago that were picked up by some of the larger domain holders and listed for $10,000 - $20,000. Those domains were potentially useful to me while I had projects planned, but they're only going to be valuable to one or two people who have the exact same idea for the exact same project - which is why after a decade or more those domains are still listed for sale.

 

[DomainVP]

Here is a video of rare high end luxury cars that have been abandoned all over the world... just sitting there waiting for the right person to find the right loophole and take it for themselves.

I'm guessing good dropped domains come from the following circumstances:

• Death / Health
• Failed business
• They don't know domains are worth more than $12.99 annually
• They have tried to sell their names incorrectly and are letting them drop
• Ownership of better quality names and are thinning their portfolio
• Billing / Registration Mishaps

Have a full domain management and contingency plan, and this won't happen.

 

[tomcarl]

What may seem valuable to someone who sees a resale potential of $xxx could simply be scraps that fell from the table of person who owns a portfolio of $xx,xxx names.

Some people get wrapped up into other aspects of their lives and are away from the internet for whatever circumstances.

Some people die.

Some people become hooked on drugs.

Some people were on the internet 10 years ago and it was just a handreg to them they held on to and never did a minute more of research about the domain industry...

List goes on...

 

[AEProgram]

hey one more reason, they got super rich and the domains mean nothing to them

 

[Rado_Ch]

hey one more reason, they got super rich and the domains mean nothing to them

Now THAT would be a shocking turn of events, wouldn't it :D

 

[Doron Vermaat]

People change email addresses, credit cards expire, companies that own domains that we're once registered for projects are acquired or go bankrupt, and yes, sometimes people die. Or they just can't be bothered to renew that domain they registered many years ago when they had a certain idea or plan that never got realized. Or the guy that dropped Linda.com after they broke up..

 

[DnEbook]

Tech guy/girl moves on and doesn't tell anyone 'hey you better renew business.com'