Domain Spotlight:

uRide.com

dummyThere, I admitted it.

And I’m not a complete dummy either.

I study the comps more than most, particularly for the commodity-like short domains, because I own a bunch of CCC.com, and I analyzed both LLLL.com and NNN.org (and .com and .net) comps in detail prior to making a couple portfolio acquisitions earlier this year.

Yet, I continue to be surprised at what domains sell for, especially the relative value of one domain vs another ‘similar’ domain.

Take for example a few domains that I sold at NameJet this month:

  • 05P.com and 09T.com sold for $670 and $810 respectively in March. My 01D.com should be about the same since they’re all NNL starting with a zero? Nope, 01D.com went into a mini bidding war and sold for $2,510.
  • 8K9.com sold for $858 on May 21, and then my 8F9.com came up just a few days later. With only one letter difference, it will surely be about the same price, right? No, it sold for less than half: $416.
  • AYEV.com is somewhat pronounceable, so it’s worth much more than LZFQ.com, with its Z and Q, correct? Not so fast, AYEV for $230 and LZFQ for $360, within days of each other.
  • ZTII.com has a repeating letter, so it’s probably worth more than the two above? Nope, it sold for $165. Yeah, yeah, vowels suck now, right?
  • Now that we’ve learned vowels suck, 5YV.com is surely worth more than 5UY.com? No, 5YV.com didn’t hit reserve, while 5UY.com sold for $550. (They both had the same reserve.)
  • The repeating number in 323.org clearly makes it more valuable than 375.org? Wrong again — 323.org sold for $770 and 375.org nearly doubled it at $1,500.
  • 878.org has not one, but two, of the highly desirable 8’s, so it’s probably worth more than 323.org and 375.org combined? Nope, it sold for $1,311, less than 375.org.

I know every domain is unique, but call me confused.

I’ll continue to monitor the marketplace, study the comps, and make informed decisions (educated guesses?), but I suspect I’ll continue to be surprised at every turn.

May 31 2015
Domain Spotlight:

uRide.com

7 Replies to “It’s Incredible How Little I Know About Domain Pricing”

  1. This article could have come from either one of us because we’re on the same boat. I’ve found two kinds of people when it comes to domain pricing. Those who realize they can’t nail down a short domain.com value in this market. And those who are lying.

  2. Comps only tell you part of the story, the variables in each transaction are just too many to accurately predict the outcome of public auction and not all of them are related to the domain quality per se.

    And in most cases the sale price is reflective of the lowest amount the seller is willing to take to let go of the domain at that point in time…

    So if you see a bargain, grab it, you might never get the opportunity/price again.

  3. I would guess that the high value for 01D is that it’s short for One Direction.

    1. I was thinking along the lines of it having two consecutive numbers in a row: 0..1..

      I own a similar CCC.com with 01 and it receives a lot of interest.

  4. Does anyone besides myself have problems acquiring twitter and gmail handles for your domain names? After i do maybe three or for names they flag my phone number and say i have used my alloted email addresses with that number…is there anything else i can do to solve this problem?

    1. Write to WIPO, USPTO and OAMI to say YOU HAVE RIGHTS to Facebook, Twitter, Gmail accounts etc. that match your own domains.

      Domains are Intellectual Properties, already part of the Intellectual Property Codes of many countries, so they deserve protection in those situations. Facebook, Twitter etc.CAN NOT permit others to use account that match your domains.

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