The Daily recap of Shane’s Auction Picks, the 24th and 25th of February
Shane mentioned a name that would be good on BrandBucket.com below so I thought I’d talk about my experience with them. Also a few weeks ago someone commented on a post asking it their 5L pronounceable domain was worth anything because they hadn’t sold it in the 5 days they owned it. So it seems like a good time to talk about my experience with these things. It’s a dynamic topic and will take us longer than this article to wrap our heads around the whole thing.
I started listing names on Brand Bucket about a year and a half ago. I owned some 4L’s that were brandable and keyword domains but I didn’t have any made up short domains. Since then I’m coming close to or over 1000 domains listed and have sold about 23 domains with them. The types of domains range from two word com’s, to made up short names, and even some one word .ly domains. I think the first time I heard of Brand Bucket was on the DomainsSherpa.com. Mike Cyger interviewed the founder of BB Margot Bushnaq.
One of the first thing to discuss if we want to better understand selling brandable domains is to identify the different types of brandable domains. Keep in mind this is just what I think and what I’ve worked out, there’s no textbook or regulation on these things.
You can break brandables down into two basic groups, made up words and real words. I won’t say keywords because that usually connotes a word with some metric that we use to determine value, be it search volume, CPC or ad competition. While keywords are included in the “real words” group they’re a sub category.
When you’re looking at made up names you have to determine some sort of benefit or think “why would this name work” as a brand. The principles here are the same ones that apply to our Chinese domain principles to a certain degree, Short, Memorable, and instead of meaning we’re replacing that with pronouncability (and other linguistic nuances). Can you say it easily. The last one is a grey area sometimes, there are alot of brandable’s in use today that are prounouncable but don’t pass the radio test.
Within the category of made up words we can break the names into two groups:
Completely made up names like CVCV or CVCVC names that have no root word, and
Root word names that are modified to be catchy usually with a suffix or some other modification.
some popular suffixes are “ster, eo, io, illo, there’s hundreds of them and you can make your own if you want. These are usually popular or trendy words, or words in highly competitive niches, where a new company or startup needs to stand out.
We’ll get to the other types tomorrow, but now that we’ve identified some brandable name types, How do we sell them and why don’t people just make up their own?
The first thing is exposure and presentation. You can have the best made up, easy to say, memorable domains, that would make awesome brands, but if they’re locked away, odds are no one is going to find them.
You can’t expect the average person who has a great idea or product to always come up with the right name. Making and finding awesome names is your job as a domainer. That’s what you specialize in. Sure people will think up names and check to see it they’re available, maybe it’s a nickname or a name they use as their twitter handle or x-box live name, but most of the time they’re going to seek out naming experts. Successful people know they’re not good at everything, if there’s a simple, quick way to find a great name and brand they’ll take that, saving time and money in the long run.
This is where Brand Bucket has come in for me. Not only did their platform allow me to list and sell names that I already owned, it opened my eyes to the possibility of finding good made up names very cheaply and selling them for hundreds or thousands of times profit. To consistently sell these name you need a platform that is marketed and has a reputation as the place to come for brandable business names.
You want to engage as many Senses as possible with the potential customers. This name is something that they are going to put lots of blood, sweat, tears and money into. Not the actual name that you made up, but all that the name will be and represent in the future. If the buyer can see the name highlighted and surrounded by a cool looking logo, they can immediately begin to identify with the name. They’ll picture company letter head, business cards, pens, mugs, whatever, with this name and logo. Some made up short names look great without having a complicated logo, they can have a certain symmetry to them. The customer will say the name and listen to it roll off the tongue. They will say it in sentences and pretend to answer the phone with it. If there’s a way for them to smell and taste the name that would work great too.
So this is sort of an overview, I’d like to go more in depth with my BrandBucket experience, but I’ll spread it out so those that are already asleep won’t have so much scrolling to do to get to the auction recap. One point to end with, on what I think is a major false narratives in the domain industry. I’ve heard time and time again about names that aren’t currently registered being worthless, “If they haven’t been registered yet, they’re not worth anything, because someone would have registered it already”. People simply don’t know what they want in a name, they don’t know where or how to find it, they don’t know how much it costs, or the value of a good name. You can still hand register names in any category that will sell. I have sold names for thousands of dollars, that I hand registered in the same week, because of the right exposure and presentation. To Quote Rosener “With that being said” use caution, knowledge, understanding, keep learning, find acceptable risk and a dash of luck, to buy and sell these names.
So don’t run out and hand register a bunch of crap tomorrow.
Yesterday’s Average 4L Chip Sales as listed on LLLLsales.com $2,934.22
388288.com Good way to start off the day. Pretty special name here.
4,100 USD Nice pattern and Sales price
TVQ.com Don’t see names this high on Godaddy very often. Six figure name IMO so it has room to run
79,000 USD
5280.net No bidders at $100. Certainly worth more than that
Ends Tomorrow, almost to $300
Y9.net A lot shorter, and actually more rare, than a LL.net And the price reflects it
6,000 USD
YellowLamb.com Most color + animal dot coms are worth $12. No bidders
? I typed in LavenderLamb.com and that’s taken too lol, but PeriwinkleLamb.com is available
PotClinics.com I don’t even know if these are a thing but it sure sounds like a thing
350 USD Yeah it’s like a basketball clinic, were aspiring pot growers come to learn and share ideas.
UEPO.com , 676 USD It’s kind or pronouncable i quess.
UZKD.com , 320 USD
ZOYV.com, 310 USD
Here’s your daily collection of the lower boats. We’re all hoping the float with the rising Chinese tide
KDE.net Usually the LLL.nets are over at Namejet. This one must have lost her way
1,580 USD
SayUncle.com Not sure if they use this term any more. Saying this was the same as tapping out. I know, sounds like I’m 80 years old
449 USD People know what it means, it’s easy to remember. I think it would make a good brand.
DFC.cc LLL.cc have been money for a while
2,055 USD
BRTM.com Such great letters yet so little uses of it as an acronym. CHIP
?
997887.com Somebody is going to be able to buy some pretty solid patterns today
1,302 USD
007722.com And yet another one. Lesser quality but still a nice pattern
1,001 USD look at those beautiful double zero’s
138233.com,
231 USD
Not a pattern but no zeros or fours so you got that goin’ for ya
RSRX.net, 240 USD
NZDL.net, 236 USD
ZBSX.net, 236 USD
XTPB.net, 236 USD
AppMetrics.com Sounds like a big business. Billions of app downloads
10,149 USD, Wow Bigger than I thought.
CUZ.cc I guarantee the word cuz has zero value here. All because of LLL
347 USD
DQRY.com This ugly name is worth $2K. Don’t hate, appreciate
2103 USD
55LX.com Double 5. Worth owning IMO
110 USD Seems like a good deal, I thought it would go a little higher.
MTRY.com A CHiP at only $400 but probably because seller isn’t updating his bids
Not Sold
Portfolio of 50 LLL.coms. Don’t get to buy 50 at a time very often
Unsold at 17.6K
87934.com I will say that Domain Holdings doesn’t have very high reservers on their numerics
1,054 USD
ShoeGuide.org Not a bad name. Selling it as a website and the website is just awful. But it makes $5 a month
5100 USD No Idea on this
ChinaBuzz.com Love the name. Sellers account name is not good for getting a good price
Unsold
WKT.net Has soared past reserve. It was the most obvious gap fill in domains. LLL.nets had to move up with LLL.coms and yet very few people took advantage of it
3500 USD
HFB.net Had a much higher reserve and yet still met it quickly
3450 USD
DI8.com Very nice CCC.com ending in 8. Met reserve already
2650 USD
PremiereLabs.com Sounds like the best lab around. And you can be the best for under $50 right now. 17 years old
215 USD Makes me think it’s in the UK, dogs in the UK playing soccer.
Winday.com 17 years old. Already the name of an electronics company and a thong. So you know its good. Also means “Windy” in Boston talk
1,575 USD I needed to do more research on this, obviously to confirm that it is indeed a thong brand. The first result on the google serp is Winday.club… Strong work .club. But it’s some kind of multi level marketing company and it’s in Spanish, so doubt it’ll stay number 1 on SERP for long.
OSE.net Great English acronym letters. E gives you a discount , I guess the o does as well
1,670 USD
AAW.net Ditto. These are the types of LLL.net that I think have great enduser potential. But still a good investment either way IMO
1,625 USD
Pangs.com I’m going to guess all the bids are because they think its Chinese.
1,385 USD Multiple sudden or sharp pains.
GraphicDesigner.cc No bids at $12. I’m not saying you can sell this for profit. Just saying its a pretty awesome keyword for $12. But I guess you can get that in many TLDs now
?
FindAJobAlready.com 2K backlinks. 900 visitors a month, and a PR2. And the name is pretty memorable as well
1,000 USD Ahrefs.com has 3 times the links and the anchor text seems to be legitamate, but who know what goolgle animal could affect the traffic.
VRShowcase.com Virtual Reality . Eventually you’re going to be walking around the DomainShane store touching these domains off the shelf
325 USD That is a great idea. I can’t wait to start virtually running marathon’s. I don’t run any now, so I feel like I’d have a chance of keeping pace with Shane and A-Aron.
Cyberos.com 19 years old. I’ve realized lately that the word Cyber is still relevant. I used to think it dated a site.
?
Kinby.com I love these 5L.com names. Never sell very many but don’t have to if they’re cheap enough
120 USD, I’ll talk about this above. Names like this need love and attention to sell.
BuzzWok.com Sounds like a brand bucket type name
182 USD The one above sounds more like a Brandbucket name, this sounds like an electric wok with a short in the wiring.
GetItYourself.com No bidders. I’ve heard this a few times and if I do I know somebody is mad in the house. Really like this call to action name
133 USD Great name for a vending machine ad campaign.
NUMX.com 395 USD
SAOK.com ? just sold for $790 in Jan and $3500 in 2014
Two 14 year old LLLL.coms. Didn’t they know back in 2002 that vowels were bad? Geeesh
FF88.net I wouldn’t put this on here but if this were a dot com it would be $3K or more
107 USD
OTVP.com, 317 USD
RCVP.com, 650 USD
VLYY.com, 380 USD
VVJG.com, 385 USD
SXLA.com, 393 USD
JCUO.com, 327 USD
Can I interest anyone in a boat? Much cheaper than most LLLL.com but it still floats
138532.com, 200 USD
NHSB.net, 225 USD
XRMT.net, 205 USD
YMCF.net, 215 USD
The LLLL.nets keep moving every day. Inch by inch
You Jinxed them, They lost 15% compared to yesterday.
KHR.co, I wish I would have bought more and by more I mean at least one
611 USD
FWP.biz Same here. Although I can at least say I almost bought a portfolio of 100 of these. For $15 each. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse
351 USD
JXX.tv Let’s welcome dot tv aboard the Chinese train
277 USD
DZYX.cc Letters I used to avoid like the plague. Now I hunt them……..and dot cc. Times change quickly
128 USD
8855333.com I can’t believe I am starting to list 7Ns but these great patterns are fetching more than lesser quality 6Ns
295 USD
QIVT.com,
$300.00 I quess this is why you add reserves. Sold for over $500 in Dec. Or Don’t try and flip something when it’s just not there. Maybe the auction was cancelled and it’s the same owner. Paying $500 for this and expecting to flip it for a profit puts your break even price at $630ish. To even make a 10% return you’d have to get over $700- $140 =$560.
EXCQ.com, $330.00 Here’s another negative flip from commission. Sold for $300 in Dec. $330 -$66= $264
XKUZ.com, 347 USD, and Another… If you’re going to set your money on fire, email me, I’ll buy them without commission.
FYVB.com, 325 USD Every single one of these damn things… $320 in Dec.
HWVJ.com. 325 USD Yay! Only a $5 loss on this one. Sold for $265
OUQW.com 300 USD
I didn’t think I could find a cheaper boat for you but these are ….or were when I posted them. Entry level LLLL.coms
HYMY.co the next logical movement from LLL.co
?
12233.info And the scary thing is I think it goes for more than $25
?
TN85.com thought this was a pretty good price under $25. IMO
Mitt.com One of my favorite names on the board today. It’s been up for sale a few times …and Ive liked it each time
Unsold
FNF.co If you like dot co you have to love this one
625 USD
Nerdy.com I don’t think anyone expected it to get this high
41,300 USD Yikes! Does this name come with a station wagon full or nerds?
Firewall.io Flippa truly is the king of .io. It does 75% or more of all the aftermarket sales for these
3400 USD
NY.VC I really like this one and I don’t even like .vc Renewal is a bit high ($63) so probably the reason most people are passing. Not really a big deal if you are a venture capitalist
Unsold, Renewals are $39 at name.com. I have 3 LL.vc’s. 1 is Chinese Premium letters andhas been getting $1500 offers the last couple of months. There are several the sold at Sedo for around $2500. And Yes all the Inquiries were from China.
288763.com A nice little 6N.com with a double 8
Unsold
11.org Somebody has made a nice bid for this dot org
20,0000 USD from 1 bidder.
1787.com Fantastic NNNN.com up and reserve is already hit
1 day to go at $20K
XHPY.com Met reserve under $1600
1900 USD
FOR OTHER GREAT NAMES FOR SALE MAKE SURE TO VISIT CAX.COM
NameJet Action
| nssg.com | Time Left:15h 21m | High Bid:$2,250 |
| 1405.com | Time Left:15h 23m | High Bid:$11,000 |
| npck.com | Time Left:15h 26m | High Bid:$1,210 |
| gfts.com | Time Left:15h 36m | High Bid:$3,077 |
| vllv.com | Time Left:15h 37m | High Bid:$500 |
| cdpm.com | Time Left:15h 38m | High Bid:$2,000 |
| howtocook.com | Time Left:15h 39m | High Bid:$3,900 |
| ovvv.com | Time Left:15h 40m | High Bid:$2,920 |
| mcfp.com | Time Left:15h 58m | High Bid:$2,101 |
| gandex.com | Time Left:16h 15m | High Bid:$69 |
| eradication.com | Time Left:16h 17m | High Bid:$74 |
| pppq.com | Time Left:16h 26m | High Bid:$4,000 |
| qlt.net | Time Left:16h 27m | High Bid:$550 |
| qpb.net | Time Left:16h 28m | High Bid:$2,410 |
| wqp.net | Time Left:16h 30m | High Bid:$776 |
Recap Quick Overview
| 388288.com | 4,100 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|---|
| tvq.com | 79,000 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| y9.net | 6,000 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| potclinics.com | 350 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| uepo.com | 676 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| uzkd.com | 320 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| zoyv.com | 310 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| kde.net | 1,580 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| sayuncle.com | 449 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| dfc.cc | 2,055 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| 997887.com | 1,302 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| 007722.com | 1,001 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| 138233.com | 231 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| rsrx.net | 240 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| nzdl.net | 236 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| zbsx.net | 236 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| xtpb.net | 236 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| appmetrics.com | 10,149 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| cuz.cc | 347 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| dqry.com | 2103 USD | 02/22/16 | GoDaddy |
| 55lx.com | 110 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| 87934.com | 1,054 USD | 02/24/16 | Flippa |
| ShoeGuide.org | 5100 USD | 02/24/16 | Flippa |
| WKT.net | 3500 USD | 02/25/16 | Sedo |
| HFB.net | 3450 USD | 02/25/16 | Sedo |
| di8.com | 2650 USD | 02/25/16 | Sedo |
| premierelabs.com | 215 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| winday.com | 1,575 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| ose.net | 1,670 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| aaw.net | 1,625 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| pangs.com | 1,385 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| findajobalready.com | 1,000 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| vrshowcase.com | 325 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| kinby.com | 120 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| buzzwok.com | 182 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| getityourself.com | 133 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| numx.com | 395 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| ff88.net | 107 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| otvp.com | 317 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| rcvp.com | 650 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| vlyy.com | 380 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| vvjg.com | 385 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| sxla.com | 393 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| jcuo.com | 327 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| 138532.com | 200 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| nhsb.net | 225 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| xrmt.net | 205 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| ymcf.net | 215 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| khr.co | 611 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| fwp.biz | 351 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| jxx.tv | 277 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| dzyx.cc | 128 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| 8855333.com | 295 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| qivt.com | 300 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| excq.com | 330 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| xkuz.com | 347 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| fyvb.com | 325 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| hwvj.com | 325 USD | 02/24/16 | GoDaddy |
| ouqw.com | 300 USD | 02/23/16 | GoDaddy |
| fnf.co | 625 USD | 02/24/16 | Flippa |
| Firewall.io | 3400 USD | 02/25/16 | Flippa |
| Nerdy.com | 41,300 USD | 02/25/16 | Flippa |
| xhpy.com | 1900 USD | 02/25/16 | Sedo |
Yesterday’s Reported 4L Chip sales.
| rlmt.com | $2,250.00 | 2/24/2016 | NameJet |
| ccnm.com | $2,609.00 | 2/24/2016 | NameJet |
| yyph.com | $2,083.47 | 2/24/2016 | Sedo |
| mqzg.com | $2,196.07 | 2/23/2016 | 4.cn |
| dbnh.com | $2,300.00 | 2/23/2016 | NameJet |
| bbdr.com | $2,101.00 | 2/23/2016 | Sedo |
| drpk.com | $7,000.00 | 2/23/2016 | Sedo |
That picture could be any of us. Except you maybe 🙂
True, my face is way too fat.
Nice post Josh – I look forward to reading the rest.
Thanks Travis