Why I Think 3 Char & LLL Names are Overated & Overpriced

[Grrilla]

There is no doubt that mixed LLL and 3Char LN domains can be treated as a commodity and that a profit can be made- I've made a profit from them, myself. My highest sale for a mixed LN domain was $450 and my highest LLL sales were for 2 LLL.biz names that sold for $1500 each. I've had a dozen sales in the $100- $250 range for *strong, intuitive* mixed LN, 3 char .com/.net names,(examples would be- 4Dr/4MD/4Rx/2Mr/4IC/4AA/4BA etc), and approx 100 reseller bracket sales of LLL and mixed 3char info .biz and .us in the $35- $150 range.

It is, true that there are a finite number available, which attaches a certain air of prestige to the category. Being short, also, gives names in the LLL and LN 3char category the advantage of being easy to remember and clutzes are less likely to mis-type them. But what does finiteness have to do w/ usefulness? And, in all honesty, how much impact does the length of a name, really, have on search habits of online users? The answer is to both is, very little. If a site delivers a desirable product people wil flock to it, regardless, of the domain name. If they misspell it and land at the wrong page they will adjust the spelling and make changes that will get them to where they want to be. Additionally, the increased use of bookmarks takes spelling and the length of the url more and more out of the value equation on a daily basis.

And what is the standard that supports and sustains the 3 character domain market, (and for that matter, the 3LLL market), to begin with? The 3 Char and the 3LLL markets are both supported by traders, speculators and collectors and is given an occasional boost from a high profile, large ticket, enduser sale. But what is the % of the available 17,576 possible LLL names and 47,656 3 character names, in the .com namespace, that enjoy enduser mega sales- the kind of sale that make speculators, (including myself), so starry eyed? And what direct, relationship do the vast majority of LLL and 3 char names have w/ internet commerce? Keyword popularity? Some special SEO benefit? Advertiser bid amts? Ease of development?

I have been a huge supporter of LLL and 3 character names and have registered them for over three years but have, recently, done an about face. Why?

1) As I've gotten deeper into development I have come to rely more on search term popularity and advertising bid amts to determine the relative usefulness of a name. Usefulness is the the underlying standard for the domain "currency" and is the basis for the criteria I prefer to use in evaluating a name's worth- not the supply and demand economics of a speculators marketplace that is, almost, entirely supporting all of the 3 character market prices and the majority of the LLL domain values.
2) Finiteness is relative. There are only 17,576 possible LLL domains in each namespace. Big deal! Is the name intuitive? Does it have some, special, intrinsic attribute that makes it compelling to potential visitors? Is it more useful than a popular keyword search term? In a sense, all domains are finite- there is only one of each.
3) The majority of companies that are the, likeliest to be enduser candidates for a given 3char/LLL name could give a hoot about having their initials on a website or having their product represented by a 3 character acronym website.
4) LLL/3char require more resources to promote than do good keywords.
5) The prices are inflated. I have found and am working in a unique, relatively, untapped name category that does what a good 3 character acronym does but, does it better. It requires the same amount of advertising, publicity and promotional work as that of a 3 char name but the initial outlay for a domain is regfee.
6) Write down 20-30 of the very, best 3 character, mixed LN acronyms that you can think of. Run a search.
7) Create a list of 100 consecuitive LLL domains. Run a search.

One can expect to realize a reasonable profit from trading in the 3 character market but there are no special, intrinsic attributes that are attached to 3 character domains and there is no unique quality that would distinguish the 3char category from any other name category, apart from a high level of interest from speculators. There are other categories that have a stronger relationship w/ the business of ecommerce, that require less resources and work to achieve better marketing results and that offer more value for the investor and his customers.

 

[johnny6]

Unfortunately, a domain is worth what people pay for. People pay large for LLL. And why not? It's SHORT. It's MEMORABLE. Attention spans are SHORT for browsers. Memorable is key. Have to disagree entirely with you.

 

[Chappy]

Oh oh, someone questioning LLL value.....where's Zesty?!

All I can say is - each to their own....and best of luck to everyone!

 

[zestydomains*com]

Grrilla,

Great to hear from you and your comments are thought provoking. I'd like to take a moment to offer some comments to your assessment.

LLL domains have been strong performers over the years and currently enjoy a continued strong run.

They do have their significant strengths, which include:

1. Much of the world works, thinks and functions in acronyms. For example:
abc, cbs, nbc, tnt, aaa, bbb, nba, nfl, afl, nfc, irs, nsa, csi, cia, doa, add, acc, sec, fbi, bnb, mlb, aol, ibm, oac, wac, seo, dea, fda, nsa, qvc, pdq, irl, vzw, dna, ahl, cpa, cna, mba, phd, pos, mvp, usa, sos, led, lcd, std, stp, kfc, wwf, wwe, pow, dot, dmv, faq, pdf, www, etc...

And then there are the 3 letter words: cat, dog, mop, pen, zoo, boo, too, dig, rig, pig, wig, rug, run, ton, see, sea, fee, bee, mad, dam, tar, par, bar, far, war, ten, six, two, one, yes, hog, bog, nog, log, can, ban, fan, man, men, dew, few, pew, met, mat, hat, bat, was has, ate, fat, sex, hex, try, buy, die, pie, tie, pot, tot, hot, red, bed, wed, fed, boy, toy, sow, mow, how, cow, jig, gig, leg, beg, mug, tug, hug, bug, tee, pee, cot, got, get, bet, wet, and, ...

And then there are such things as stock symbols (NYSE company symbols for example such as: aai, aap, abb, abd, abi, abk, abm and more - reference a ton more at http://www.poweropt.com/optionable.asp )

And Car names (such as nsx, rsx, tsx, wrx, gti, gts...)

And School Initials (such as unc, usc, fsu, uga, uva...)

And Names (such as bob, ted, joe, tom, ann, jan, lee, rob, art...)

And other abbreviations (such as ave, mrs, lol, brb, btw, dtd, eta...)

And then our very own domain extensions, such as: com, net, org, biz...

And then tons more applications throughout the world (including using letters not so popular in english, but very commonly used in other parts of the world, such as the use of x, v, q, z, in german or chinese for example (all within emerging domain marketplaces).

2. Acroynms are easy to remember and easy to market.

3. New acronym uses are created daily, and LLL combos that may not seem exciting today could be the next big thing (just look at wii for example).

There are indeed 17,576 LLL combos out there, but so many of them are so commonly used and a huge number of them are in end-users hands. Yes, the LLL namespace has its speculators, as does all of domaining, but LLL domains represent about the most stable category of domains for value and growth potential, with more and more falling into end-users hands as time goes by.

Again, Grrilla and all, great points. I hope this is helpful to the debate.

By the way...I might actually argue that LLL domains are fairly underpriced...but to do so might make it tougher to keep buying behind the scenes

 

[Optinom]

The high price of 3 letter domains is neither because the small scale web-developers desire not because they're easy to remember. I wouldn't say random three letter combos are easy to remember than a 1 word name or a pronouncible 4 or 5 letter word.

The point is, many big organisations (as pointed out by zesty) have 3 letter acronyms. "3" is an optimal length for acronyms. Any company would easily get the full length domain. Well, come-on its easy to get a 8 letter or 10 letter domain, that too isn't a generic keyword (mostly).

Now the price of LLLs is coz of this: There's a very good probability that there are atleast a few companies that have acronyms as LLL (some combination). They'd fight against each other to win the domain. The potential for big money is here.

Even if there aren't multiple companies having same acronym, big MNCs like to own the names at any cost! $xx,xxx isnt a big money for them.

Good topic to discuss!

 

[briman1970]

Gold is quite useless too... but dang if they didn't go and base the worlds economy on it.

 

[barefoottech]

Gold is quite useless too... but dang if they didn't go and base the worlds economy on it.

Actually ,GOLD has had several uses down through History. That combined with it's physical properties is why it has been valued by various civilisations upto present times.
It's most common industrial use at present , the electronic industry , has such a high demand for it , that it is directly responsible for the current high value. Most countries are no longer are using it as a Currency standard.

 

[equity78]

Great discussion here Mike you said you made a change when you started focusing on development that makes sense you don't need LLL to develop.

 

[Grrilla]

Unfortunately, a domain is worth what people pay for. People pay large for LLL. And why not? It's SHORT. It's MEMORABLE. Attention spans are SHORT for browsers. Memorable is key. Have to disagree entirely with you.

I posed my opinion to engage a discussion and I am prepared for and acceptant of disagreement. However, the problem that I have w/ your response, (other, than having seen it 1000 times, already), is that it's is too relative to be meaningful or useful. Of course it is true that "it's all in the eyes of the beholder." Everything can be reduced to selective perception but I was hoping for something a bit more complex and original.

As I was writing this I saw zesty's post pop up. I was hoping to see you, zesty, and knew you would have something thought provoking to offer. You have a vested interested in the category and given much thought to supporting your position and there, probably, will be little I will dispute. (I haven't read your post,yet, but I will read it in detail before I responding directly.) Before I do that I would like to make a distinction that may preempt some, potential, debate.

I would estimate that there are only a few hundred or so domain name marketers who are true, LLL/3char specialists and who have the knowledge, experience, resources and portfolio necessary for the level of success that zesty has enjoyed. However, his success is not a carbon-copy reflection of the market, (although from zesty's perspective, his own success couldn't reflect anything other than 3char/lll being the most successful name category) but his succes doesn't necessarily, extend or transfer over to the domain name market and all other domain name marketers.

Because an individual can point to their success and say "Look! It works! Here I'll show you how it's done." does not mean that it is a maxim. People listening to Stephen Spielberg talking about his success shouldn't mistake his success for their own potential for success in the film industry. Nor should they assume that the motion picture business will provide the most fertile grounds for success.
Zesty's success and the the success of the few hundred specialists who have cultivated the market for this category, does not corellate directly with the state of the marketplace or w/ other's potential for success within it.

I feel that there is more substance to keyword terms for the reasons mentioned in me OP. But I get ahead of myself. Time to read the other posts.

New-> :hehe: The arguments supporting lll/3char names haven't changed very much from what they were when I used them. I'll get back into this more tomotrow but I'm, actually, more interested in what others have to say than in engaging in a debate. Don't get bashful on me. Please feel free to address any of the questions that I have posed in the OP.

Great discussion here Mike you said you made a change when you started focusing on development that makes sense you don't need LLL to develop.

May have something to do w/ why I've been selling them off, as well. :hehe:

Don't get me wrong. This is not an either-or situation. I've profited from LLL/3Char. I have some that I am keeping because they work in conjunction w/ name groups that I have for my mini-nets.

I am not trying to put LLL marketers on the defensive and I am not trashing the enterprise. I'm raising some questions and sharing my perspective, which has undergone some changes over the past 6 mos.

 

[harpo]

Great discussion here Mike you said you made a change when you started focusing on development that makes sense you don't need LLL to develop.

Yes of course but intrinsically senergenically physically and romantically and pontifaically and morphogenically and bewithidly....... can be intwined with growth that carries and spawns equity.
like walking two dogs with one leach or or multitasking

for example you develope a LLL.com the traffic grows but also the
raw value of the acronym matures over time too ,, so its a double yammy
you get development and traffic plus the value of the LLL.com
plus you dev towards a ppc goal and poof your looking at a huge increase in a sale if one ever cares to depart with the name.....
the ever insatiable hungry domainers and collectors who feed on lll.com will love to pounce on such a gem..... and once they taste the blood of ppc its easier to reliquesh the tenacious hold an alcoholism addiction than a domain money addiction, so i dont see the over value of this type of domain property ever decreasing unless we have a major reccession ..

Great post i always enjoy reading thought on the 3 chars and three letter domains...specially from gorrilla baseball man, but just watch kid gorrilla it will only rise in value this type of iproperty. lll and 3 chars.......

 

[peterstannard]

Why LLL's (and 3 characters) are popular and increasing in price = simple supply and demand.

 

[floatingworld]

IMHO the value of LLL .coms will always hold, but I can't understand the rising value of LLL in the other TLD domains such as .info + .biz which I think are mostly driven by speculation. Grrilla is probably right in cashing in his chips here. How come an appraisal of a LLLL .biz will draw a 'this is a junk extension..less than reg fee' comment, but a LLL .biz will catch an oooh! its rare! ??? (I will make an exception for ccTLDs in some cases)

 

[devyl]

IMHO the value of LLL .coms will always hold, but I can't understand the rising value of LLL in the other TLD domains such as .info + .biz which I think are mostly driven by speculation. Grrilla is probably right in cashing in his chips here. How come an appraisal of a LLLL .biz will draw a 'this is a junk extension..less than reg fee' comment, but a LLL .biz will catch an oooh! its rare! ??? (I will make an exception for ccTLDs in some cases)

I think that's the WHOLE thing... LLL.com's, .net's, .org's, .biz's, etc are simply harder to find because they are pretty much all owned by either private individuals or major companies. When one shows up for sale, it's like someone selling a 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-500. They're rare and don't happen very often, so people pay tons of money for them versus other cars (or domains in this case).

 

[gingeman]

great post michael- I'm glad you have taken this stance on 3 character domains (-more for me :hehe: )

I think there are several key points inherent in the value of any 3 character domain that has been mentioned, but not elaborated on enough.

1. The value of a domain as an acronym- admittedly some are going to be easier to remember than others -aa1 dot com sold for $3001.00 on snapnames last week, whilst several 3 character .coms changed hands for under $70. There will always be some 3 character domains that are better than others. New companies are constantly being formed or finding a web presence and the potential for any 3 character domain to have genuine end-user value rises daily. (Also, an 3 character that may have few acronyms in english may be far more common in another language)

2. Memorability- even when the domain is not in use as an acronym, a shorter domain will have greater memorability for more people than most longer names. I realise this is a HUGE generalisation, but there is some truth in it. Basic semiotics would explain that whilst a longer name could easily be more memorable to many, and appear to those people like it is far more memorable than an average 3 character, everyone on this planet has different words that they find easier to remember, due to different experiences in life. This leads to the next point - international memorablility and ease of typing. This is for me where the argument for 3 character's stands strongest- whilst a 5-6 letter english word might be very memorable to people in the UK or States- what about the non-english world? Simple 2/3 letter combinations may well be easier to remember and type for people in say, China, with or without numeric values- than a word they have no experience of. (incidentally- several of my suppliers of ironmongery in my day job are companies in China, and at least two use a LLN.com as their actual website). As we move towards an ever more international market in most consumer goods and services, I can only see the value of names that are memorable to everyone increasing.

3. The final arguement I would put forward in defense of 3 character's is what Mike has used to argue their overpricing- the reseller market. The reseller market for 3 character domains is STRONG, there is little denying that. Because of this, 3 character domains are a much lower risk investment than some other domain names. Certain generic words etc etc, demand a very specific end user in order to fulfil their potential. This may never happen, or require a large amount of activity chasing down prospective buyers than 3 character domains. The strong reseller market is unlikely to dwindle :imho: and because of this I will be happy to continue to collect more and more, knowing that even if none of them were to command a huge end-user price one day I could still sell them if I got in a rut, and most likely get a better return than on many things I could put my money into.

Great post though mike- maybe a poll would be interesting on this one.

Chris

 

[johnny6]

I posed my opinion to engage a discussion and I am prepared for and acceptant of disagreement. However, the problem that I have w/ your response, (other, than having seen it 1000 times, already), is that it's is too relative to be meaningful or useful. Of course it is true that "it's all in the eyes of the beholder." Everything can be reduced to selective perception but I was hoping for something a bit more complex and original.

More complex and original? Why? Too relative to be meaningful or useful? What? What's relative about the FACT that 3 letter acronyms are short and memorable and thus have gone for increasingly high amounts? Nothing. It's called a synopsis of valid answers to a fairly silly complaint.

Acronyms are the way of business, the way of organizations. The reason for this is almost certainly cognitive - but we're talking domains, not neuroscience... but it's a fact that things are easier to remember in small chunks.. and you get no smaller and chunkier than a 3 letter grouping.

Surely you concede that WHO is easier than World Health Organization... UN is easier than United Nations..... IBM is much more memorable than International Business Machines Corporation....

It's just common sense.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Nice points, most
As background/foundation, I do believe that the limited number of 3 letter / 3 char domains does make them intrinsically valuable in the .com namespace, and 3 letter in the .net / .org namespace as well. These extensions are entrenched with a ready-made audience, even if the extensions don't always match the content of the site (SEO rat-turds using .org for selling car insurance and other crap ). As well, I'm no Zesty or Chappy ( YB! ), but I too have a vested interest in seeing 3 letters in the big 3 continue to rise in value (And 3 character .com's for that matter), so you get to take my comments with a grain of salt as well.

Other extensions are, :imho: , predominantly speculative. The recent run-up in 3 letter .us names was not driven by end users hopping on the chance to get a 3 letter .us name for the website, but rather an influx of domainers and dropping 3 letter .us's that pushed awareness; and as well, I think the coming of ".eu" highlighted the strength of the .us by comparison. However, going from about 1 year ago when a certain user (Will remain nameless ) couldn't sell a few hundred 3 letter .us's for a dollar each, to today when even the mediocre names go for $50+ on TDNAM/elsewhere... it's a little hard to believe. That and the .eu/.info/.biz/.cc etc. push for 3 letters is speculative, again, :imho: . A little bit of bitterness here as well, most likely, because I sold a few dozen 3 letter .us's for $10-$20 each only a few months ago

However, after 10+ years of desirability, if not large scale buyouts, 3 letter .com's are the strongest bedrock on which to base a portfolio, and barring the dissolution of the current structure of domain names / ICANN , I don't see their value ever decreasing.

If one was to base the value of 3 letter .com's on Snapnames transactions, then I would have to agree that their value is overpriced, but Snap has been, and remains, an entity into itself where prices are not based on anything rationale.

I feel like I'm getting off topic... focusing in on 3 letters/3 characters is so hard without bringing in a lot of other "junk" in

Refocusing, will follow-up after selling all of my 3 letters to Saggy/vaxis/zesty

-Allan :gl:

 

[fonzie_007]

Domaining is inherently a speculative business. Domaining in the LLL realm is no different. I've done the opposite as Micheal lately--I've been focusing more on LLL domains, escpecially in the LLL.us market.

As .com prices continue to rise, smaller businesses that cannot afford com prices will be looking for alternative extensions, such as .us. For instance, a company seeking a LLL domains such as "AFL" probably will be priced out of the .com market as AFL_com would fetch mid xx,xxx and potentially higher. The company may, however, have x,xxx to spend on an alternative tld/cctld for AFL.net, .org, .us, etc..

I'm expecting .us domains to continue to rise in popularity, not just among domainers but also among end-users Will .us domains ever acheive the status of .com? No, probably not. Of .de? Possibly. As the .us extension gains popularity, I expect LLL.us domains to go up in value significantly to end-users.

 

[Shorty]

Grrilla, I half agree with you, but half agree with zesty.

In my opinion, 3 chars are most definitely overpriced. People talk of supply and demand without truly understanding the concepts behind them. The demand for them that people speak of is almost entirely speculative in nature, because it's mostly other domainers looking to eventually resell in the future. The genuine end user demand is far lower, which is the figure that people should look at. Unfortunately, most dont, and as a result they overspend in the belief they're getting a bargain and can easily make an immediate profit. This is why right now, demand is deceptive and appears high.

At the same time I think zesty makes an excellent point by saying there is lot of use for them absolutely everywhere you go. I dont think they're overrated. As he said, what appears to be a random selection of numbers and letters now could be tomorrow's new acronym. Therefore that domain instantly gains value and becomes useful. I know i'd like to be the one to own mp3.com or bmw.com before they became famous, would you?

 

[anyweb]

The unsolicited reasons that end users have given me for wanting to pay a premium for LLN dot coms include:

1.It means something in their country or language
2.They are easy to type for the programmers when writing and testing scripts that will be eventually used for live web sites for other domains that are already in use
3.The buyer has named their project, product or company that name
4. The buyer thinks 3 characters means the same as 3 letters ( who am I to argue when they have already paid)
5. The name is easy to remember
6. They are cheap ( <1k )
7. They are partial British post codes
8. There have been no LLN dot coms available to register for over 2 years

 

[Chappy]

I believe acronyms (particularly 3-letter) have been increasing in popularity throughout the world in recent years. This trend has been common with many companies hoping to retain their brand recognition while simultaneously moving away from what they saw as an outdated image: American Telephone and Telegraph became AT&T (its parent/child, SBC, followed suit prior to its acquisition of AT&T and after its acquisition of a number of the other Baby Bells, changing from Southwestern Bell Corporation), Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC, British Petroleum became BP to emphasize that it was no longer only an oil company (captured by its motto "beyond petroleum"), Silicon Graphics, Incorporated became SGI to emphasize that it was no longer only a computer graphics company. DVD now has no official meaning: its advocates couldn't agree on whether the initials stood for "Digital Video Disc" or "Digital Versatile Disc", and now both terms are used.

Initialisms may have advantages in international markets: for example, some national affiliates of International Business Machines are legally incorporated as "IBM" (or, for example, "IBM Canada") to avoid translating the full name into local languages. Similarly, "UBS" is the name of the merged Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation.

At the end of the day, 3-letter domains remain the low-risk option for many domainers. This is quite simply the easiest way to buy low and sell high within a relatively short period of time. Having said that, I want you all to stop buying 3-letters so I can have them all to myself.... :yell: