Back on June 30th, 2015 I featured an article written by domain investor Oliver Holger about why LLLL.com with No Vowels or V should be worth 2.5 times what they were at that point in time. More than half the comments at that time said the logic behind the article was flawed. Those people may have been right about the logic but they were dead wrong about the results. The predictions were pretty much on the money. They have since settled to the $2000 to $2500 range but that’s pretty damn close to the $2500 range he predicted. And he and many others have profited handsomely from investing in these types of names.
Now Oliver is back with Jack Kalfayan to discuss what they feel is another undervalued segment of the LLLL.com market.
Emergence of Quad-Premium LLLL.coms – With Oliver Hoger and Jack Kalfayan
In the previous article , we wrote about China’s sudden and impactful entrance into the domain industry and their interest in Chinese-premium four-letter.coms (Chip LLLL.coms). But what does that mean for the LLLL.com market as a whole, and more specifically, for western quad-premium LLLL.coms?
A little information before we proceed.
As mentioned in the previous article, Chinese-premium LLLL.com: A premium domain name that is composed exclusively of the following letters: Q, W, R, T, Y, P, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, Z, X, C, B, N, and M. These letters are referred to as Chinese-premium letters.
Western-premium LLLL.com: A premium domain name that is composed exclusively of the following letters: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,L,M,N,O,P,R,S, and T. These letters are referred to as western-premium letters.
Let’s look at how this translates into the value of quad-premium LLLL.coms.
There are 160,000 (20*20*20*20) premium four-letter combinations, out of which 50,625 (15*15*15*15) are west + Chinese premium. This means there are 109,375 possible west-premium LLLL.com combinations that contain at least one vowel.
Let’s take a look at LLL.coms. There are 8,000 (20x20x20) premium combinations, out of which 3,375 (15*15*15) are western + Chinese premium. This leaves us with 4,625 possible west-premium LLL.com combinations that contain at least one vowel.
By dividing these two numbers (109,375/ 4,625), we can conclude that triple-premium LLL.coms should be worth, on average, approximately 23.5 times more than their four-letter counterparts.
Analysis of recent public sales dating back to September 2015, excluding domains that sold over $200,000, which skew the number, shows that the average sale price for triple-premium LLL.coms containing at least one vowel is $37,023. Important note: as most domainers know, private sales generally tend to be higher.
By dividing the number by 23.5 (total number of quads divided by total number of triples), we estimate that the average value of a LLLL.com containing at least one vowel should be $1,575.
Since domaining isn’t a perfect science, there are some arguments that should be considered from both sides.
Firstly, an argument can be made that LLL.coms are scarcer than LLLL.coms and consequently should have a higher innate value. Strong argument indeed.
On the flip side, an argument can be made that the return on investment for LLLL.coms is considerably higher than LLL.coms. Since three-letter.coms have been going up in value for a long time, it is difficult to find any at discounted prices and so the ROI is generally between 10% and 100%. As for four-letter.coms, only recently has the market caught on to their value and cheap prices can still be found which offer ROIs of up to 1000%.
Since it is difficult to quantify both arguments, let’s move forward under the assumption that the rarity and ROI factors nullify themselves.
Four-letter.coms offer the highest ROI yield in the industry. Here are some recent sales that show the potential upside for your quad-only LLLL.com investments:
lian.com sold for $220,950 on 1/24/2016
toot.com sold for $31,805 on 1/15/2016
nodo.com sold for $11,017 on 12/15/2015
tisf.com sold for $10,000 on 12/15/2015
iset.com sold for $12,299 on 12/15/2015
mape.com sold for $16,000 on 12/7/2015
addd.com sold for $10,001 on 12/1/2015
cich.com sold for $10,000 on 11/23/2015
hora.com sold for $36,999 on 11/22/2015
epos.com sold for $30,100 on 11/20/2015
coba.com sold for $14,110 on 11/20/2015
bboo.om sold for $18,400 on 11/12/2015
egib.com sold for $34,451 on 10/13/2015
abag.com sold for $16,882 on 9/29/2015
ieie.com sold for $11,000 on 9/21/2015
aise.com sold for $19,509 on 8/29/2015
fbet.com sold for $55,392.00 on 5/20/2015
aoao.com sold for $49,900.00 on 5/29/2015
Surprisingly, quad-premium LLLL.coms have lagged behind for a long time. Unlike Chinese-Premium LLLL.coms that gained value in what almost seemed like overnight, quads are slowly gaining traction and there is definite opportunity in this niche. They are undervalued and on the rise.
Recent sales of western-premium LLLL.coms dating back to December 2015, excluding domains that sold over $10,000, which skew the number, have shown an average sale price of approximately $1,130. As we established, the average value should be $1,575 and that number should continue to rise as more domainers enter the market, more domainers learn and understand their value, and as more become unavailable as a result of end-user acquisitions. It is easy to see that quad-premium LLLL.coms are still severely undervalued and there is still plenty of opportunity in the quad-premium LLLL.com market.
There are certain patterns that are considered special, rare, and more valuable than others. Let’s break them down.
- com (Consonant- Vowel- Consonant- Vowel)
- com (Vowel- Consonant- Vowel- Consonant)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 2- Letter 2)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 1- Letter 1- Letter 2)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 2)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 1- Letter 2)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 2- Letter 1)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 1- Letter 1)
- com (Letter 1- Letter 1- Letter 2- Letter 1)
As mentioned in the article on Chinese premium LLLL.coms, when a four-letter.com is a combination of both Western and Chinese premium letters, they have more value because they appeal to a larger demographic, fit the criteria for being premium in all markets, and have higher potential for end-user acquisitions.
Best of luck in your domaining world,
Jack Kalfayan and Oliver Hoger