If you read the blog you know I am fascinated with Chinese domain investors. As a business person you are always looking for new markets. Trying to get into markets that have high barriers to entry so that once you’re in it takes a bit of work for others to follow. The Chinese domain market is such a market for an American investor. The barriers to entry are the language, the currency, and the difficult financial transactions. 4.cn is trying to make all of that easier and if you follow the great prices their auctions are reaching, then you hope they succeed. Take a look at some of the prices of some of the domains at auction and there is still several days left at auction.
BaoBei.com “Baby” is at $140,000 with 14 days left
Zy.com is at $77,000 in a no reserve auction
838.com is at $47,000 and 14 days left
798.com $39,000 with more to come
And these are the types of names that are selling there but never get reported because 4.cn doesn’t report names and the list makers aren’t checking. If any of these names make reserve (ZY already has) they will be atop many of the weekly list and the monthlys as well. While 4.cn does advertise with me this isn’t an ad or an instructional guide on how to best use 4.cn or sell in the Chinese market. Those are things you’ll have to do your own due diligence to learn. All I can offer is to put you in touch with an English speaking broker or assistant. The domain investing world is HUGE and it’s much bigger than the United States, Europe, or other English speaking countries. China has more people than any other country in the world and they LOVE domains, especially numbers. Combine that with a percentage of the country that is flush with cash and you’ll see how much growth we still have in our industry. We just have to move into a new, uncomfortable market to tap it.
This is something to seriously consider. Although I don’t see myself entering into this market I can definitely understand its potential. How many domains have you sold using the 4.cn marketplace?
Nothing wrong with doing a quick flip on 4.cn but I don’t think the fundamentals are there for this type of domains to appreciate in value in the mid/long term.
BaoBei.com for 140K is not the best decision in one’s life, imho
JS,
You’re probably right. The worlds largest and fastest growing population is probably not something you’d want to be a part of. China is probably just a fad
JS you are right if you are buying there, I think Shane is saying to use that platform as another opportunity to sell.
RH – I agree
Shane – I get what you’re saying, and I too believe China is the place to be, my point is that pinyin and digits may not be the best way to approach this market in the mid term.
JS,
I think what Shane is saying is that you can’t confine yourself to “American” thinking. To think internationally, you have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of every culture. The word “baobei” is known to about 1.5 billion people. The word “baobei” is not going away. Crap like “BaoBeiirehdbtersgd” may be going away, but not “Baobei”. As an American (or whatever culture other than Chinese) you might see it as worthless,but I think there are 1.5 billion people who say otherwise.
The other thing one cannot disillusion themselves to is that they can be all things to all people.
Either learn it and be a student of the Chinese market or stick to what you know. Again IMO
There is a whole world of other languages in .com to explore. A good place to start is idnforums.com.
How much is Hotel.com worth in Chinese?
Bank.com in Russian?
Car.com in Japanese?
Ticket.com in Spanish?
Lots of direct nav traffic to these premium generic names in other languages. Premium names in foreign languages can be purchased for a fraction of the English version.
Some of the Chinese trading sites can be brutal for non-natives to navigate and access but there is still good activity under the wire for idn’s. shhhhhh.
Cheers.
Steve,
You just won me $20. I bet a friend that you or someone from IDNs would be on here promoting your wares. I’m not saying you are wrong in your assessment of opportunity, just saying that you’re predictable 🙂
Pointing out opportunities is always a good idea imho. Your welcome.
Well??? Spit it out already. Who had to let go of their twenty? The suspense is killing me!
Spot on….
I’m from Australia, and I can tell you, anything that’s happening in the US, or Europe, is a drop in the bucket compared with what’s happening in China (and India)…..The sheer scale of those markets & the deals – right now – is breathtaking!
Asia is where all the real money is being – and will be – made for the foreseable future, imo.
“You just won me $20. I bet a friend that you or someone from IDNs would be on here promoting your wares”.
I actually have never sold any of my idn names on idnforums or anywhere. I have been receiving more offers on them lately some even from the previous owners wanting them back. I’ll be keeping them. I also just received another parking payment from namedrive. idn’s suck.
You still never gave us your learned opinion of the value of any of those names.
ps.
“promoting your wares”
As mentioned I wasn’t selling anything. If mentioning a site is selling wares then ok. But I think I would need to have some names listed for sale at idnforums to be considered “selling my wares”.
So actually so far you owe your “buddy” the $20. Until someone actually promotes an idn they have at the forum, you took $20 that wasn’t yours. tsk tsk tsk.