Your thoughts on brandable / pronounceable 5 letter names

[b.a]

Hi,
whats are your thoughts on brandable and pronounceable LLLLL.com domains
For example - quick and randomly checked: paols.com (currently available)
Is it worth investing on these type of names?

 

[-REECE-]

I think they're about 2-3 years from primetime should domaining continue to experience the growth it has lately.

I don't think most of what's left is a sound investment at present. You'd likely be better off with LLL or LLLL.coms for the time being until the 5 letter market has more time to mature.

 

[Andrei P.]

Unfortunately it's not possible to register all possible CVCVC, VCVCV. Add to these names nice sounding CVCVCV that are also brandable and are regfee alternative to CVCVC for small companies. And huge companies that can pay millions for names don't appear every month and even every year. This niche IMHO is still quite vague. However I have some nice names like shaqe.com or eFrau.com that I like very much.

 

[Bill]

It will be awhile before they are all registered. If you find a nice name, I would register it. You will have to hold on to for a few years for the value to rise. LLLL.com's have been heating up recently. Too bad I didn't hold on to mine....

-Bill

 

[VURG]

I think that there are some good names available. It may be 2-3 years before they take off but that doesn't mean that the best time to buy them is in 2-3 years. The best ones may be well gone by then. Like with any type of name, a lot of care needs to be taken to pick the best.

For development purposes I would prefer paols.com to the random LLLL.com that are difficult to get for under $15 the majority of the time.

 

[AussieDomainer]

I am currently holding about 600 5L.com domains and sell them for about 600% - 700% profit quite regularly. I will be massively expanding my portfolio of them soon as I think they are a good all round investment but that's just my opinion and my experience.

 

[tpruby]

There's too many millions of them to grab at reg fee. I predict that there will not be a strong demand from end users...all the sales and the market will be domainer driven...to each other.

 

[HcDomains]

I think still some long way to wait brandable LLLLL.COMs burst. I'd rather to invest in premium CVCV.Mobis instead of LLLLL.Coms

 

[Andrei P.]

I am currently holding about 600 5L.com domains and sell them for about 600% - 700% profit quite regularly. I will be massively expanding my portfolio of them soon as I think they are a good all round investment but that's just my opinion and my experience.

Any examples?

 

[skylineleong]

How many possible LLLLL.com (A-Z)?
Else LLLL.com?
Thanks

 

[labrocca]

I been grabbing LLLLL's when they are pronouncable and brandable. There are more interesting word combinations with 5 letters that you can pronounce than with 4.

Here are some of my recent aquisitions.

Sluxo.com
Voglo.com
Witza.com (going to be my new network hub)
Grusp.com
Thuza.com
Agoti.com
Reomo.com
eZood.com
Fruny.com


Now they may or may not look so great to you BUT...I think I can sell one or two of those within a couple years for mid $xxx. In 5 years I may even get $x,xxx for a couple. Eventually every pronouncable 5 letter dotcom will be taken. What will be left is total crap like zzxta.com (available) and such.

I am currently holding about 600 5L.com domains and sell them for about 600% - 700% profit quite regularly. I will be massively expanding my portfolio of them soon as I think they are a good all round investment but that's just my opinion and my experience.

I agree.

One last part I want to post. You can't compare 4L's to 5L's. 4L's seem to be geared toward end users as acronyms while the 5Ls are going to pushed as brandables. I believe whole-heartedly that brandables are worth more as a portfolio. As more and more people open websites they are going to need dotcoms that they can create a brand around. You can't do it with an acronym.

 

[deleted984054565403]

One last part I want to post. You can't compare 4L's to 5L's. 4L's seem to be geared toward end users as acronyms while the 5Ls are going to pushed as brandables. I believe whole-heartedly that brandables are worth more as a portfolio. As more and more people open websites they are going to need dotcoms that they can create a brand around. You can't do it with an acronym.

I agree -- but that's actually forcing me to buy more six- and seven-character pronounceable, made-up words that may sound better than five-letter ones.

I've said this many times before: if you're going to register or buy a brandable domain, get the one that sounds the best, not the one that's the shortest (in most cases). I know I'd rather have a six-letter domain that passes the "phone test" than a five-letter domain that has to be spelled out.

Jesse, you bring up a great point how <4L domains are used for acronyms (usually), while >5L domains are used as pronounceable words.

You're absolutely correct in saying "usable" domains are more valuable than "collectible" domains like most random 4L domains that people only own because they're four letters.

 

[DotWeekly]

How many possible LLLLL.com (A-Z)?
Else LLLL.com?
Thanks

26x26x26x26x26 = 11,881,376 5 Letter combos

26x26x26x26 = 456,976 4 Letter combos

26x26x26 = 17,576 3 letter combos

26x26 = 676 2 letter combos

How many of the above are pronounceable, who knows. Depends on the person, country, age (baby, adult) lol etc.

The lower the number (5L, 4L, 3L, 2L) and clearer the pronounceable, the more it's going to cost.

For reg fee factor, Nice and clear 5L's are a Bargain, since they ARE the only ones at Reg Fee! :imho:

 

[zero_haze_au]

Totally Agree with eTab and Labrocca.

5 Letter .coms are perfect for new online companies who are looking for a short funky brandable names.

Although there is a vast amount of LLLLL.coms still available, finding a brandable one is becoming harder by the day.

Most of my best 5 Letter domains i registered back in 2004 and now buying some more up in the after market.

 

[-REECE-]

Nothing wrong with doing like AussieDomainer and flipping them now, but for those whom are holding them for the future, carefully think about the total cost of ownership.

$7 in 2008
$8 in 2009
$9 in 2010
Rough guess at wholesale registrar fees (taking into account annual Verisign price hikes or lost interest should you choose to register them for multiple years now).

That's $24 over 3 years. That doesn't account for the lost opportunity cost. If you resell each of your LLLLL.coms that you registered today in 2011 for $50, you'd only have achieved a 100% ROI. Pretty easy to get that over 3-4 years in alot safer domaining investments.

On the other hand, suppose you got that name in 2009, now you're only paying $17 versus $24 and have doubled your ROI.

The question is of course timing. Some people started regging triple premium LLLL.coms right after quad premium LLLL.coms ran out and are selling their triple premium + J, which they've paid $20+ renewing over the last 3 years (2006,2007,2008) for $60, while I sell my triple premium + Q (which I regged in August 2007 for $7) for $40+.

My Profit: 6x costs
Theirs: 3x costs

So even though they might have a better name and get a bit more for it, I end up with double the return they do, just for timing the market a bit better.

 

[zero_haze_au]

I'm holding out, hopefully for an XXXX value.

My portfolio of names is becoming very expensive. Very rarely do i sell domain names and i have never sold a 5 or 4 letter name, even with some offers around the 3/400 mark.

For now parking and developed websites cover my costs.

 

[skylineleong]

Please visit "Reece" blog, it very helpful.

http://4letternoob.wordpress.com/

 

[-REECE-]

Thanks mate!

I'll be publishing some interesting data on the most common first and last letters used in 4 letter dotcoms selling at various price points later today, this should hopefully help those interested in LLLLL.coms as well.

A little spoiler: Some of the premiums do not outperform the non-premiums.

Please visit "Reece" blog, it very helpful.

http://4letternoob.wordpress.com/

 

[labrocca]

The lower the number (5L, 4L, 3L, 2L) and clearer the pronounceable, the more it's going to cost.

Well let's put that to the test. yofie.com vs yfie.com ...which has more value?

I believe brandables are best with a 5-7 letter combination. The key imho isn't having just a handful but instead having a large enough selection for a buyer to choose from. A good end-user buyer might fork over $1k for a solid nonsense brandable like Witza.com.

My opinion in no way means to deter investors from 4Ls but the differences should be noted. I think brandables are a very different target than 4L buyers which for the time being appear to be "collectors" via other domainers.

I am also doubtful that 5Ls will sell out within the next decade but no matter...there are only so many pronouncable combinations.

Oh and btw..I have a neat tool that lets you create random names which could be used to also generate domain names too.

http://www.namefunk.com/random/

hehe...

 

[.X.]

I like them a lot, I started regging them in 2006, I currently own 214 5L.com.

Adzaz.com
Alotz.com
Teeoz.com
ozoar.com
Gamzy.com
utuff.com
awbot.com

And the list goes on.

I agree with "labrocca and Etab"

I wont be selling any of mine i doubt, I will keep buying them though